The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) released a report titled “Leveraging Natural Gas to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions”. This report examines the implications of expanded natural gas use in the economy, and recommends plans of action to maximize the climate benefits of natural gas.

A recent study done by Columbia University and the University of Oklahoma published in the 12 July 2013 issue of Science suggests that large (magnitude 7 or above) earthquakes from all over the globe can trigger smaller quakes at waste fluid injection sites where pressure from the fluids has pushed faults close to failure. At some injection locations, a swarm of remotely triggered earthquakes appears to act as a warning sign that large earthquakes related to human activities may be imminent. Several areas in Oklahoma, Colorado, and Texas showed this correlation.

On May 23, 2013 the Subcommittee on Energy of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee held a hearing on Restoring U.S. Leadership in Weather Forecasting. With witness testimony from Mr. Barry Myers, Chief Executive Officer of AccuWeather, a private weather forecasting company, and Mr. Jon Kirchner, President of GeoOptics, a private environmental data company, the hearing focused on how to improve budgeting and cooperation between federal weather organizations and the private weather industry.

National flood insurance rates are set to rise at the end of the month. Beginning October 1, 2013, owners of repetitively flooded homes and the most subsidized policyholders of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) will begin paying 25 percent more each year for flood insurance until their rates accurately reflect the level of risk associated with their properties.  The increases are targeted at 1.1 million policyholders that own homes along hazardous shorelines that are worth less than the claims paid out by the federal government.

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) published a report that examines federal laws and regulations pertaining to the export of natural gas, crude oil, and coal. This report provides an overview of federal laws and regulations and agency roles in authorizing and regulating the export of these fossil fuels. Any party wishing to export fossil fuels must comply, as appropriate, with the Natural Gas Act, a general ban on crude oil exports, and other various laws and regulations applicable to the construction and operation of exporting fossil fuels.

The House and Senate Appropriations committees released their non-emergency discretionary spending allocations for fiscal year (FY) 2014 this June. The Senate Appropriations Committee requested $1.058 trillion in non-emergency discretionary funds, while the House Appropriations Committee requested $967 billion. These bills authorize funding levels for all of the subcommittees, including the subcommittees on Commerce, Justice, Science; Energy and Water Development; and Interior and the Environment.

On May 22, 2013, the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee held a hearing to confirm Anthony R. Foxx as the new Secretary of Transportation. Foxx, the current mayor of Charlotte, N.C., has been criticized by some Republicans for his lack of direct experience working in the transportation sector. Despite these reservations, Foxx faced few objections during the hearing and is expected to be confirmed without difficulty. A simple majority vote in the Senate is required to confirm his nomination - at the time of publication no vote had been scheduled.

On June 5, 2013 the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology Subcommittees on Research and Technology held a hearing to review the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Act Reauthorization of 2013 (H.R. 1786). The act, introduced by Randy Neugebauer (R-TX), would reauthorize the multi-agency National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program (NWIRP).

For most of September, Congress was focused on considering a budget for 2014 before the 2013 fiscal year ended on September 30th. Congress, however, has failed to pass a budget or a Continuing Resolution (CR) and so all non-essential government services are shutting down, and thousands of non-essential government employees, including those at the National Science Foundation, the Department of the Interior, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and NASA, are being furloughed.  

EPA – The Environmental Protection Agency issued a final rule revising the deadline for submitting requests for use of best available monitoring methods. The rule applies to petroleum and natural gas facilities under the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule. [Wednesday, May 1, 2013 (Volume 78, Number 84)]