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By AARON E. LOONEY

GONZALES — Leaders of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality said their agency has become “smaller and smarter,” while facing budget cuts and other challenges.

DEQ Secretary Peggy Hatch said that her department receives no state general fund dollars, but operates on revenues from fee and fine collections and grant funding.

“We’ve had to tighten our belts very much to address our budget shortfall,” said Hatch, because DEQ is facing cuts of $12 million and a $132 million budget in the next fiscal year.

Hatch was joined by DEQ Deputy Secretary Alex Appeaning in addressing a gathering of Ascension Parish government, business and industry leaders Wednesday night at the Gonzales Civic Center.

Hatch said her staff has been “very creative” in how it is cutting back on spending. This includes a 20 percent work-force reduction, vacating office and lab space, cutting its vehicle fleet by 22 percent and contracting lab work, among other moves.

“We’re not asking for any general fund money this year and, while I’m in charge, I don’t plan on asking for general fund money in the future,” Hatch said.

Another way DEQ has streamlined operations includes making more of its services electronic, Hatch said. One of these is a new program to submit discharge monitoring reports for water permits.

“We’re the first state to be recognized by the EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) for that program,” she said.

While DEQ continues cleanup efforts following last year’s Deepwater Horizon oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, Hatch said, her agency also continues cleanup in the aftermath of 2005 Hurricane Katrina. She added that those efforts “will likely continue for about another two years or more.”

DEQ’s mission is not only to protect the environment, but to support job growth and economic development, of which wastewater infrastructure is a vital part, Appeaning said.

“We conducted an assessment that shows a $6 billion need in wastewater infrastructure improvement in this state,” he said.

DEQ’s Revolving Loan Program, which funds wastewater infrastructure improvements, addresses that need, Appeaning said.

“When we came in three years ago, the program had $122 million just sitting in the account,” he said. “Only five municipalities had active projects.”

Three years later, after visiting all 64 parishes and speaking with more than 300 Louisiana mayors, Appeaning said, the program now funds $300 million in projects spread among 94 municipalities.

Another issue on the horizon is the upcoming EPA ozone attainment standard, which is set to change in July, Hatch said. The current eight-hour ozone standard is 75 parts per billion.

“We look great with 75,” Hatch said. “However, it could go anywhere from 60 to 70 in the new ratings.”

If the standard goes to 60 parts per billion, Louisiana  would likely enter non-attainment status, Hatch said.

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April 21 (Bloomberg) — The Obama administration created a working group to explore whether oil and gasoline prices are being driven higher by illegal manipulation, the Justice Department said.

The working group, which includes representatives of federal agencies and state attorneys general, will check for fraud, collusion or misrepresentation at the retail and wholesale level, the department said in a statement today. The group also will examine investor practices and the role of speculators and index traders in oil futures markets.

“Rapidly rising gasoline prices are pinching the pockets of consumers across the country,” Attorney General Eric Holder said in the statement. “We will be vigilant in monitoring the oil and gas markets for any wrongdoing so that consumers can be confident they are not paying higher prices as a result of illegal activity.”

With a presidential election 19 months away, President Barack Obama faces increasing political pressure over rising gasoline prices. Crude oil futures have increased 22 percent and gasoline surged 34 percent this year as Middle East unrest reduced supply and the global economic rebound bolstered fuel demand. Both futures contracts touched the highest levels this month since the records reached in 2008.

The average price nationwide of regular gasoline at the pump was $3.84 a gallon yesterday, the highest since Sept. 16, 2008, AAA said on its website.

Part of Task Force

The energy market working group is part of a financial fraud enforcement task force. In a memo to the task force, Holder said Obama asked him to work with federal agencies and state attorneys general to ensure laws weren’t being violated on oil and gas prices.

Holder also wrote that it is “clear that there are lawful reasons for increases in gas prices, given supply and demand.” In cases in which there is illegal conduct, state and federal officials should take “swift action,” he wrote.

The president’s job approval rating, which started rising after he reached a deal on tax cuts with congressional Republicans in December, reversed course in late January as turmoil in the Middle East began driving up gasoline prices.

A Washington Post-ABC News poll released April 19 found that 47 percent of Americans approve of Obama’s job performance, down seven percentage points since January. Even with signs of improvement in economic indicators, 44 percent of Americans said they believed that the economy is deteriorating, the worst reading for the poll in two years.

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By T. BOONE PICKENS & JOHN HICKENLOOPER | 4/22/11 8:16 AM EDT

The United States consumes 20 million barrels of oil per day, with only seven million of that produced domestically. In January, the U.S. spent $32.6 billion on imported oil, at roughly $89 per barrel. At the current price of $105, we could spend an additional $100 million per day. That means nearly $500 billion leaving America’s economy in one year!

Spikes in fuel prices touch every American, affecting food and transportation costs. This jeopardizes jobs and our fragile economic recovery.

More than ever, we need a comprehensive national energy policy to reduce reliance on foreign oil, increasing our nation’s wealth instead of depleting our strength.

In short, we need to change the way we transport goods and use energy. The federal government has to establish a national energy policy focused on domestic sources and innovation in the private sector.

U.S. natural gas reserves offer a substantial opportunity for rebuilding our economy and increasing our energy security with a clean and sustainable domestic fuel. Natural gas is 30 percent cleaner than gasoline or diesel. Unlike diesel, natural gas vehicles produce no particulate emissions.

With so much domestic natural gas, it is selling for about $5 per Mcf (1,000 cubic feet). This is far less than the world price – now between $8 per Mcf and $12 per Mcf.

The U.S. has an abundance of natural gas, and recent developments in extracting gas from shale deposits mean we could soon be an exporter —even if we increase domestic demand. Embracing this clean-burning fuel has tremendous potential for creating jobs and enhancing our energy future.

Natural gas is an excellent resource for power generation, and is the only substitute for diesel in powering heavy-duty trucks. There are eight million 18-wheelers in the U.S., and converting this fleet to domestic natural gas could cut in half our dependence on the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

In fact, converting any of the 250 million automobiles that Americans drive —or the light truck fleet we rely on for transporting goods — to domestic natural gas would further reduce our need for imported oil.

Bipartisan legislation, which was just introduced, focuses on jumpstarting the use of natural gas fuel in our country’s transportation sector by offering tax credits to encourage the production and purchase of natural gas vehicles.

Natural gas could be ideal to use with intermittent renewable energy sources because it helps stabilize the baseload power, keeping the standard output constant.

Weld County, Colo., for example, is looking into an “energy park,” where abundant natural gas from the Denver Julesburg Basin, along with renewable energy, would provide a clean, reliable baseload for power plants. The combination boosts local economies with good jobs and revenue.

With a cleaner domestic energy policy, the United States will no longer be held hostage to foreign dictators or unstable regimes. Smartly developing our abundant natural gas resources would provide our country with a significant and immediate advance toward energy security and economic recovery. Developing natural gas will also allow America to reduce oil imports and our trade imbalance.

Obviously, natural gas development must be held to a high-standard to protect our environment. But using clean-burning natural gas will reduce harmful carbon and mercury emissions and protect our air, the environment and public health.

Unleashing the spirit of American know-how and ingenuity and developing domestic energy resources like natural gas are part of a broader strategy we desperately need to get our economy back on track.

Let’s be bold and get this strategy moving.

T. Boone Pickens is founder and chairman of BP Capital and architect of the Pickens Plan, a blueprint for reducing foreign energy use. John Hickenlooper is the Democratic governor of Colorado.

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By Kathrine Schmidt

GALLIANO — Locals gathered Wednesday to improve planning and response to disasters, such as last year’s BP oil spill.

The morning meeting held in Galliano between Lafourche officials and a representative from Shell was the first gathering of the newly formed Lafourche Energy Council, a group that aims to improve collaboration among government groups, nonprofits and the oil industry.

The main purpose is “to start a dialogue between our local emergency personnel from all agencies and private oil companies to share as much knowledge as possible so that everyone is more prepared for any similar disaster in the future,” Lafourche Parish President Charlotte Randolph says in a written news release. “Through this council, everyone will have a better understanding of each agency’s role in any disaster, and private industries will help educate the agencies on what their companies are doing in the Gulf, helping us all to work together more efficiently.”

Randolph did not return a call requesting further comment.

Officials from the parish’s cities, towns and ports attended. Speakers included U.S. Rep. Jeff Landry, R-New Iberia, Wes Kungel, a staffer for U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and Mark Kosiara of Shell.

Chris Boudreaux, who coordinates Lafourche’s emergency-management efforts, told of lessons learned during last summer’s Gulf oil spill.

“While Lafourche Parish is prepared for any emergency, we also learn from every experience as a way to improve our response,” Boudreaux said. “We obtained a lot of knowledge this summer, and now our office will work to transfer that knowledge into our hazard plans to ensure that knowledge is retained locally.”

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U.S. Congressman Charles Boustany, the Republican who represents Louisiana’s 7th Congressional District, said the federal government must make structural budget changes in order to reduce the national debt.

“We’re seeing an acceleration in the debt right now, and some of that is from Obama policy, but the debt itself is bipartisan,” Boustany said Thursday evening. “Both parties played a part.”

Boustany spoke to a group of about 30 Acadiana residents during a Tea Party of Lafayette town hall meeting at the South Regional Library.

Though Boustany was scheduled to discuss several issues — like health care, redistricting and energy policy — the conversation stuck in orbit around the national deficit and cutting federal spending.

Many of the TPL members expressed disgust with current spending levels and were passionate about reducing the national debt. Boustany answered questions and updated the group on efforts to solve the budget problem.

Boustany talked at length about the “Roadmap for America’s Future,” a budget plan put together by U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. He backed this plan as a good start, at the 30,000-foot level, to solving the budget problems.

Boustany said more detailed plans need to come together, and he said a solution won’t happen overnight.

“To tackle the debt ceiling issue, we have to get this administration and the Democrats in the Senate to agree to structure budget changes,” Boustany told the group.

Such structural changes could include a balanced

budget amendment, Boustany said. However, he said he would prefer a spending cap tied to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product, or GDP.

“If we can cap government-wide spending at 20 percent of the GDP, then I think we can get to where we need to go,” Boustany said.

Boustany said federal government spending has historically been around 20 percent of the GDP but has increased to about 25 percent of the GDP during Obama’s administration. He said that spending level is “unsustainable.”

He said such a spending cap could get the country back to primary balance, meaning the government wouldn’t be losing ground from interest payments, by 2015. By 2020, he said such a plan would create “major reductions.”

Boustany also backed another major reform to the budgeting process. He said instead of a new budget for every fiscal year, he would support passing bi-annual budgets.

Budgeting for two years at a time, Boustany said, would allow Congress to spend one year amending and passing budget proposals and the next year overseeing the budget and more closely monitoring how money is being spent.

“A bi-annual budget makes sense,” Boustany said. “It would give us more time to dig around.”

Boustany said he also wants to clean up the tax code to eliminate some tax credits and deductions he considers either fraudulent or wasteful. He said he also wanted to examine some penalties in the tax code.

One audience member asked Boustany about the Fair Tax, which would drastically reshape the taxing system. Boustany said he hasn’t studied that plan enough to take a stance on it.

Boustany said Republicans are pushing for budget reforms at every possible opportunity.

“We’re taking multiple bites at this apple,” he said.

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By Lisa Murkowski

With gasoline prices in many areas above $4 a gallon, energy concerns are once again making headlines. Prices have more than doubled since the start of 2009 and are projected to remain at excruciating levels for the foreseeable future.

We know from experience that high energy prices harm American families and businesses. Aside from pain at the pump, it’s harder to balance budgets or even buy groceries when transportation costs soar. Many experts have concluded that if prices remain high, economic growth will languish. At stake is our fragile recovery from the recent recession.

High energy prices therefore demand a strong policy response. For years, however, federal lawmakers have routinely ignored the supply side of the equation and the fact that — if we chose to — we could absolutely produce more oil here in America.

For that reason, I welcomed President Obama’s recent pledge to increase domestic production. It was a big step, and I hope his administration heeds the message. But I’m also deeply concerned by some of the information presented about America’s energy potential. Left unchallenged, it will contribute to a mistaken belief that increased domestic production is not truly possible.

The president said this month that “even if we doubled the amount of oil that we produced, we’d still be short by a factor of five.” That’s simply incorrect. Doubling our production would trim imports nearly in half. Boosting production by a factor of five is not currently feasible, but if it were, it would make the United States the world’s largest producer.

Perhaps most misleading is his claim — also made by others — that the United States has “about 2, maybe 3 percent of the world’s proven oil reserves; we use 25 percent of the world’s oil.” That line is crafted to make the audience think that America is both running out of oil and using oil at an unsustainable rate.

In truth, “reserves” is just one of several categories used to quantify oil and, on its own, misrepresents America’s potential. To classify a barrel as a reserve, you have to drill, prove the oil is there, and meet strict criteria established by the Securities and Exchange Commission. It’s not an easy process.

Right now, America has an estimated 22.3 billion barrels of oil reserves. But that’s hardly the whole story. A recent Congressional Research Service report that I commissioned with Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma found that the United States’ recoverable oil resources are estimated at 157 billion barrels. That is seven times as much as our reserves and doesn’t even include the roughly 900 billion barrels of unconventional oil resources nearing commercialization.

Consider this: While our nation’s oil “reserves” have never reached 40 billion barrels, we’ve managed to produce nearly 200 billion barrels since 1900. Between 2008 and 2009, America’s oil reserves rose more than 8 percent, even as roughly 2 billion barrels were produced. That was made possible by our substantial resource base. Reserves alone have never provided the full picture.

Those who repeat the 2 percent argument are falling into an old trap. Government officials have claimed since 1919 that America is “running out of oil.” Nearly a century later, we are still the world’s third-largest oil producer, behind Saudi Arabia and Russia. Our consumption levels may seem high, but in fact they’re directly proportionate to America’s share of the global, petroleum-based economy.

Relying on reserves to depict America’s oil excludes all of the lands that have never been explored. My home state of Alaska, for example, holds an estimated 40 billion barrels of oil — the equivalent of more than 60 years’ worth of imports from the Persian Gulf — that are excluded from reserve figures. Ignoring that supply underestimates America’s oil and leads us away from one of the best solutions to our various energy challenges.

If our country endeavored to produce more oil, we could slash imports and stanch the flow of dollars sent to foreign suppliers. At the same time, we could create thousands of jobs in this country and generate hundreds of billions of dollars in government revenue.

In this era of fiscal restraint, our most effective energy strategy may be to have oil work itself out of a job by using revenue from production to facilitate the deployment of alternatives. A firm commitment to greater production and lower consumption would also send a message to OPEC that the United States will no longer tolerate high oil prices.

It’s time to acknowledge how much oil America really has — and expeditiously bring more of it to market.

The writer, a senator from Alaska, is the ranking Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

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By Kathrine Schmidt

HOUMA — Oilfield executives Monday assured members of Congress that new equipment to bring deepwater blowouts under control is ready and capable of subduing a Macondo-like disaster in days or weeks instead of the three months that BP’s rogue well spewed last summer.

But members of the U.S. House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee peppered officials from the Exxon-led Marine Well Containment Co. and the Houston-based Helix Corp. about just how quickly the equipment could be brought to bear and where the U.S. stands on offshore safety.

“If there were another event tomorrow, how quickly could the well be capped?” Chairman Doc Hastings, a Republican congressman from Washington, told Marty Massey, CEO of the Marine Well Containment Company and Owen Kratz, CEO of Helix.

Hastings asked the companies to continue to explain the systems to the public and inspire confidence in their capabilities.

Kratz said the Helix system could get a runaway deepwater well under control in as little as four days if the well’s integrity is stable and 10-17 days if there are problems with the casing, as happened with BP’s Macondo well.

The containment company, which now has 10 members and will represent about $1 billion in investment, has its interim system prepared, made up of a “capping stack” that can shut the well or funnel oil to the surface. The system can handle 60,000 barrels of fluid per day at depths of up to 8,000 feet. The final version will be able to handle 100,000 barrels per day at up to 10,000-foot depths, the company says.

Committee members also tried to determine how the U.S. containment capacity compares to standards in Brazil, the North Sea and Africa and whether it would be necessary to pass laws relating to containment requirements.

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New Estimates Of Methane Leakage From Drilling and Pipelines Outweighed By Emissions Reductions At Power Plants

WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–A new study based on revised Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates of the greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from natural gas finds that gas-fired electricity still produces 50 percent fewer emissions than does coal-fired generation. The reduction in GHG is even greater when compared to coal-fired plants built at least 30 years ago.

The paper was written by Gregory C. Staple, CEO of American Clean Skies Foundation, and Joel N. Swisher Ph.D., director of technical services for Camco International, a carbon offset developer, and a consulting professor of engineering at Stanford University.

The study – available at cleanskies.org/ghgemissions – updates existing studies by incorporating 2011 EPA estimates of fugitive methane emissions from producing natural gas.

These new EPA estimates have triggered controversy about the extent of fugitive methane emissions from gas drilling, especially in shale gas formations. However, even assuming the EPA’s new emissions estimates are correct, the Staple-Swisher study found that, using the latest Department of Energy (DOE) data on electricity generation, the fuel chain emissions from existing gas-fired power is still about 52 percent less GHG intensive on average than is existing coal-fired generation.

The new Staple-Swisher paper also corrects the misleading impression about the overall GHG footprint of gas and coal recently offered by a team of Cornell researchers led by Professor Robert Howarth. The full text of the Howarth report can be found at http://www.eeb.cornell.edu/howarth/Howarth%20et%20al%20%202011.pdf.

The Howarth team compared the estimated GHG footprint of shale gas versus coal based solely on the theoretical amount of energy input for power generation. This disregards the efficiency advantage of modern gas-fired generation in terms of the electric energy output — kilowatt hours. In contrast, the Staple-Swisher paper uses the most recent EPA and nationwide DOE data to calculate GHG emissions from both the production and combustion portion of the fuel chain for all natural gas-fired and coal-fired electric power. The comparison is based on GHG emissions per kilowatt hour generated and also uses conventional internationally accepted values for estimating the climate impact of various GHG emissions over 100 years. By contrast, the Cornell team looked primarily at a 20-year time horizon and used novel values for weighting the comparative climate impact of methane and other greenhouse gases, rather than the 100-year period that climate scientists and researchers regard as most accurate and useful for estimating the impact of methane and other greenhouse gases.

In sum, the new paper shows that, using the most current U.S. national inventory data and standard international assumptions on the global warming impact of various gases, as compared to coal-fired power, the large comparative GHG advantage of natural gas-fired power plants continues to outweigh the estimated methane leakage from natural gas production.

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