Plans to export US natural gas stir debate

WASHINGTON (AP) — A domestic natural gas boom already has lowered U.S. energy prices while stoking fears of environmental disaster. Now U.S. producers are poised to ship vast quantities of gas overseas as energy companies seek permits for proposed export projects that could set off a renewed frenzy of fracking.

Expanded drilling is unlocking enormous reserves of crude oil and natural gas, offering the potential of moving the country closer to its decades-long quest for energy independence. Yet as the industry looks to profit from foreign markets, there is the specter of higher prices at home and increased manufacturing costs for products from plastics to fertilizers.

Companies such as Exxon Mobil and Sempra Energy are seeking federal permits for more than 20 export projects that could handle as much as 29 billion cubic feet of natural gas a day.

If approved, the resulting export boom could lead to further increases in hydraulic fracturing, a drilling technique also known as fracking. It has allowed companies to gain access to huge stores of natural gas underneath states from Colorado to New York, but raised widespread concerns about alleged groundwater contamination and even earthquakes.

The drilling boom has helped boost U.S. natural gas production by one-third since 2005, with production reaching an all-time high of 25.3 trillion cubic feet last year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

In recent months, however, production has begun to level off as the glut of natural gas keeps U.S. prices down. In response, producers have begun pushing to export the fuel to Europe and Asia, where prices are far higher.

Approval of all the projects currently under review by the Energy Department could result in the export of more than 40 percent of current U.S. production of liquefied natural gas, or LNG, which is gas that's been converted to liquid form to make it easier to store or transport.

The prospect of a major expansion of U.S. gas exports has tantalized business groups and lawmakers from both parties, and they're urging the Obama administration to move faster to approve the projects as a way to create thousands of jobs and spur economic growth. Increased exports also would help offset the nation's enormous trade deficit.

But consumer groups and some manufacturers that use natural gas oppose expanded exports, saying they could drive up domestic prices and make manufacturing more expensive. Many environmental groups also oppose LNG exports because of fears that increased drilling could lead to environmental damage

"Exporting natural gas will have serious implications for public health, the environment and climate change," said Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club. "Building these terminals means lots of new fracking, and more fracking means more risks for Americans."

Bill Cooper, president of the Center for Liquefied Natural Gas, an industry group, called natural gas a safe, clean-burning alternative to coal and oil.

"LNG exports are a huge opportunity for the United States economy, our workers and our geopolitical relationships" with countries such as Japan that are seeking to import natural gas, Cooper said. "LNG exports will create jobs, increase government revenue and benefit consumers."

The administration has not said whether it will approve the projects. The issue is among the main challenges for Ernest Moniz, President Barack Obama's nominee to be energy secretary.

Federal law requires the Energy Department to determine that projects are in the public interest before granting export permits to countries that do not have free-trade agreements with the U.S.

Moniz, a physics professor and former top officials at the department in the Clinton administration, is widely seen as sympathetic to the natural gas industry. At a Senate hearing last month, he called the "stunning increase" in natural gas production a "revolution" that has led to reduced emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases that cause global warming.

A recent study commissioned by the department concluded that exporting natural gas would benefit the U.S. economy even if it leads to higher domestic prices for the fuel, as is likely.

Michigan-based Dow Chemical Co. and other manufacturers have criticized that study, saying it relied on 2-year-old data that doesn't account for increased demand for natural gas by manufacturers, trucking fleets and power plants.

Dow, which uses natural gas to power its plants and make products from plastics to pharmaceuticals, has argued against unfettered exports and said that could lead to price spikes that could harm the U.S. economy.

But John Felmy, chief economist for the American Petroleum Institute, the largest lobbying group for the oil and gas industry, said restricting trade to control prices "is bad for the economy" and could result in lower domestic investment and production, hampering jobs and economic growth.

"We cannot and should not build around a wall around United States," Felmy said.

Whether to approve natural gas exports is "a huge question that's facing the federal government right now," said Sarah Ladislaw, an energy analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Expanded exports not only could raise natural gas prices, but also could hinder development of renewable forms of energy such as wind and solar power that do more to combat climate change, Ladislaw said.

"How do you put yourself on a pathway to reduced (carbon) emissions over the longer term while not killing this golden goose which is providing low-cost energy to the United States right now?" Ladislaw asked.

Natural gas results in fewer carbon emissions than other fossil fuels such as coal or oil, but still leaves a significant carbon footprint. Environmental groups also worry that more fracking could harm drinking water supplies or cause other problems.

Kevin Book, an analyst for ClearView Energy Partners, a research and consulting firm, predicted that the administration will approve some new exports, but nowhere near the 20 projects that are pending before the Energy Department.

"Everything we see from the administration suggests they embrace the idea of a small first-allocation" of LNG export permits, Book said. "They are looking for some subset to test the market."

U.S. officials also must consider competition from countries such as Canada and Australia, where new LNG export terminals also are being proposed. The facilities cost billions of dollars and take years to complete.

Only one U.S. license has been granted so far, to Houston-based Cheniere Energy Inc. for an export terminal in Louisiana's Cameron Parish. Proposals to build plants from Maryland to Texas and Oregon are pending from energy giants such as Exxon Mobil and Conoco Phillips, as well as Virginia-based Dominion Resources Inc. and Canadian-based Veresen Inc.

The Energy Department has promised to decide on a case-by-case basis, but must finish wading through nearly 200,000 comments filed on a study last year that concluded more exports would translate to net economic benefits for the U.S.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said officials should seek a "sweet spot" for LNG exports — allowing enough to spur drilling and increase gas supplies, but not enough to create export-driven price hikes.

Under the right approach, energy companies can "make enough money to continue producing, U.S. manufacturers have an affordable, stable supply of natural gas, and the environment is not only protected, but actually benefits from greater use of natural gas and lower CO2 emissions," Wyden said.

___

Follow Matthew Daly on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MatthewDalyWDC

View the original article here

State senator comes out during gay marriage debate

State Senator Karen Peterson (photo: state of Delaware)

Delaware State Senator Karen Peterson came out as lesbian during the floor speeches of a debate about legalizing gay marriage, multiple outlets reported.

Sen. Peterson said, "If my happiness somehow demeans or diminishes your marriage, you need to work on your marriage," according to Think Progress.

Via Think Progress:

No one chose to be gay. We are what God made us. We don’t need to be fixed. We aren’t broken. [...] My partner Vicki and I have been together for 24 years. Last year, we entered into a civil union. [...] If my happiness somehow demeans or diminishes your marriage, you need to work on your marriage.

The Delaware Senate voted to approve marriage equality legislation, making Delaware the 11th state the recognizes the marriages of same-sex couples. Governor Jack Markell has said he will sign the bill into law.

Victory Fund broke the news about Sen. Peterson via Twitter:

Reactions were positive as others learned of the news via the social network.

A similar incident occurred earlier this year, when, during a debate on gay marriage, Nevada state Senator Kelvin Atkinson announced that was gay.

Last week, Rhode Island became the 10th state to legalize gay marriage.

View the original article here

10 senators to watch in the background check debate

Constitution Daily looks at the possible Senate swing votes on the contentious issue of background checks for some gun purchases, and the key players in the floor debate.

The Senate might start the debate over a background check compromise proposed last week by two senators, Joe Manchin and Pat Toomey, on Tuesday. That will mark the start of the official public debate over an issue that many see as the most meaningful change in a series of measures proposed after the Sandy Hook shootings.

Three other measures are currently seen as having a good chance of passing in the Senate: tougher measures against “straw” purchasers of guns used in crimes; more efforts to divert resources to mental health programs; and more funding for security for schools.

Currently, the Democrats have 53 votes in the Senate and two independent senators who usually vote with the Democrats. Most likely, 60 votes will be needed for any amendment to be added to legislation.

Two factors complicate the process: Some Democrats could split from the caucus, based on how they feel the issue affects their constituents, and any bill passed by the Senate still needs to be approved by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

Three Democrats, Mark Begich, Heidi Heitkamp, and Mark Pryor, may not vote in favor of the Manchin-Toomey amendment. So the Democrats would need to get eight GOP senators to make up the difference.

Based on the reports coming out of Washington, here are the senators to watch as this very public discussion over the Second Amendment unravels this week.

1. Majority Leader Harry Reid. It will be up to Reid to manage the amendment process in the House and how (and when) votes are taken. With a filibuster and numerous other amendments possible, Reid will have the final say on how key parts of the debate proceed.

2. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. The Republican from Kentucky doesn’t support background checks in their current form. If McConnell changes his stance, possibly from the introduction of a rival background check proposed by a GOP senator, it could present some Democrats with a dilemma.

3. Max Baucus. The Democratic senator from Montana didn’t vote to block the gun control bill from going to the full Senate, but said he wouldn’t support it in the end. He didn’t comment on the Manchin-Toomey amendment.

4. Mary Landrieu. The Louisiana Democrat is expected to have a tough re-election battle. She told CNN recently that she supported background checks in theory but would vote to reflect her constituents’ wishes.

5. Susan Collins. The Maine Republican said over the weekend that she will vote to support the Manchin-Toomey background check amendment.

6. John McCain. The former presidential candidate from Arizona is on the fence and has supported background checks in the past. If McCain endorses the Manchin-Toomey amendment, he could bring several other Republicans with him.

7. Tom Coburn. The senator from Oklahoma has proposed an alternative amendment that would greatly limit record-keeping and give states the option to expand enforcement. Senator John Thune is rumored to be the lawmaker who will introduce the Coburn amendment.

8. Mark Kirk. The Illinois Republican publicly supported the Manchin-Toomey amendment last week, giving the bill another GOP vote.

9. Kay Hagan. The first-term North Carolina Democrat is being targeted in an ad campaign from Michael Bloomberg’s anti-gun group. She has publicly supported background checks, but she also comes from a state that went to Mitt Romney in the 2012 election.

10. Pat Toomey. The Pennsylvania senator’s late entrance into bipartisan negotiations over background checks helped craft a compromise with Joe Manchin. Toomey is also making the rounds on news talk shows to discuss the amendment.

To be sure, other senators will have a public, vocal role in the debate process, from Democrat Chuck Schumer to Republicans Rand Paul and Ted Cruz. But the vote could come down to a bipartisan effort to influence some of the GOP members who opposed a filibuster, including Kelly Ayotte, Jeff Flake, and Dean Heller.

Recent Constitution Daily Stories
Tax Day trivia: Why do we have the IRS (and other factoids)?
The forgotten man who almost became president after Lincoln
10 facts about Thomas Jefferson for his 270th birthday
Postal Service hints at bailout in delaying Saturday service cuts

Also Read

View the original article here

Giffords Staffer Memorial Shadowed by Gun Debate, Boston Attack

Gabe Zimmerman

WASHINGTON - Amid a national debate on gun control, a meeting room in the Capitol was dedicated today to a congressional aide killed in the 2011 mass shooting in Tucson, Ariz.

Gabe Zimmerman was killed when a gunman opened fire at a constituent meet-and-greet event hosted outside a Tucson supermarket by then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, killing six and shooting the congresswoman in the head. Giffords, her former staff members, and husband Mark Kelly were among those in attendance at the ceremony for her lost colleague.

"He was called the constituent whisperer," Kelly said. "Because if there was ever a grumpy or agitated constituent at the office or at an event, Gabe was the only person that could figure out how to console them. He had a gift with people."

The afternoon event was not intentionally timed with the national debate on gun rights, but Kelly, an astronaut who has taken an ardent role as a gun control activist with his wife since the tragedy, remarked on the coincidence.

"Some people say that a good guy with a gun can stop a bad guy with a gun," he continued. "I always remind people that there was a good guy with a gun at the Safeway that morning. But in the chaotic 15 seconds that unfolded where 33 rounds were shot, he didn't have any time to react."

Kelly said it was "no surprise" to him to learn that Zimmerman reportedly ran towards the gunfire unarmed during the shooting.

Giffords had difficulty speaking at the event due to head injuries she sustained in Tucson, and allowed her husband to speak on her behalf. The ceremony was also attended by Zimmerman's family, Vice President Joe Biden, House Speaker John Boehner, and representatives Nancy Pelosi, Jeff Flake, Steny Hoyer, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, and Ron Barber - the last a former staffer for Giffords and her successor in office.

Along with the remembrance of Zimmerman today came an added tone from the bombings Monday at the Boston Marathon.

"You probably more than anyone in this room today can understand how the people in Boston feel today," Biden told the assembled family. "Lots of times we're united in our victories, but more often we're united in our tragedies. It gives you a window into how difficult things are for other people."

Although he admitted words of encouragement in a time of tragedy could seem "hollow," he recollected a conversation with his own mother following the death of his first wife and daughter in a car accident.

"She said, 'Joey, if you look hard enough something good will come out of everything bad,'" he said, gesturing to Gabe Zimmerman's father, Ross Zimmerman. "We will come out of what's happened in Boston stronger, and believe it or not you will be stronger. He's in your bloodstream, pal. He's part of you. There's no way - there's no way it ever goes away."

Ross Zimmerman said the fact that the dedication of the room to his son would come a day after the attack on the Boston Marathon was "strange and surreal," as he and his son were avid marathon runners. But he asked for future lawmakers roaming the halls of congress to see the plaque hanging in the Zimmerman Meeting Room and remember the ideals of public service for which his son strove.

"An echo of Gabriel will persist, perhaps for centuries," Ross Zimmerman said. "That isn't worth the loss but the echo is good and true."

Also Read

View the original article here

However court rules, gay marriage debate won't end

NEW YORK (AP) — However the Supreme Court rules after its landmark hearings on same-sex marriage, the issue seems certain to divide Americans and states for many years to come.

In oral arguments Tuesday and Wednesday on two cases involving gay couples' rights, the justices left open multiple options for rulings that are expected in June. But they signaled there was no prospect of imposing a 50-state solution at this stage. With nine states now allowing same-sex marriages and other states banning them via statutes or constitutional amendments, that means a longer spell with a patchwork marriage-rights map — and no early end to bruising state-by-state battles in the courts, in the legislatures and at the ballot box.

A decade ago, opponents of same-sex marriage were lobbying for a nationwide ban on gay nuptials. They now seem resigned to the reality of a divided nation in which the debate will continue to splinter families, church congregations and communities.

"It's a lot more healthy than shutting off an intense debate at the very moment of its greatest intensity," said John Eastman, chairman of the National Organization for Marriage and a law professor at Chapman University in Orange, Calif.

By contrast, supporters of same-sex marriage believe a nationwide victory is inevitable, though perhaps not imminent. Many of them see merit in continuing an incremental hearts-and-minds campaign, given that many opinion polls now show a majority of Americans supporting their cause.

"No matter what the Supreme Court decides, we are going to be in a stronger place in July than where we before," said Evan Wolfson, president of Freedom to Marry.

"We have the momentum and we have the winning strategy," Wolfson said. "We are going to win the freedom to marry, whether in June or in the next round, when we go back to the court with more states, more public support and perhaps new justices."

Even if the Supreme Court shies away for now from any broad ruling in favor of marriage rights for gay couples, its decisions in June could produce major gains for gay-rights activists.

In one case, the justices could strike down a section of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act that denies legally married same-sex couples a host of federal benefits available to straight married couples. In the other, concerning California's Proposition 8 ballot measure banning same-sex marriage, the Supreme Court could leave in place a lower court ruling striking down the ban. That would add the most populous state to the ranks of those already recognizing gay marriages: Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont and Washington, plus the District of Columbia.

With California included, that group would account for about 28 percent of the U.S. population.

Meanwhile, legislative efforts to legalize same-sex marriage are under way in Illinois, Minnesota, Rhode Island and Delaware, and lawsuits by gay couples seeking marriage rights have been filed in several other states. In Oregon, gay-rights activists hope to place a measure on next year's ballot that would overturn a ban on gay marriage approved by voters in 2004. Legislators in Nevada are debating a bill that could lead to repeal of a similar ban there.

In advance of the Supreme Court hearings, gay-marriage backers mustered support from a broad array of interest groups, including labor and religious leaders, major corporations, even dozens of prominent Republicans who co-signed a brief filed with the high court. In the past few weeks, a parade of politicians have publicly endorsed same-sex marriage for the first time, including Republican Sen. Rob. Portman of Ohio and Democratic Sens. Kay Hagan of North Carolina, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, Jon Tester of Montana and Mark Warner of Virginia.

Former President Bill Clinton chimed in, too, writing that he now regretted his decision to sign the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996 and urging that it be struck down. President Barack Obama's administration also asked that DOMA be declared unconstitutional and that Proposition 8 be struck down.

For gay-marriage opponents, it's been an occasionally daunting period as they watch a steady stream of prominent politicians and institutions join the rival side.

The conservative American Family Association's website, for example, listed some of the many well-known corporations that are now supporting same-sex marriage — including Google, Microsoft, Citigroup, Apple, Nike, Facebook and Starbucks. The website suggests that Americans opposed to gay marriage should boycott these companies, but the president of the Mississippi-based association, Tim Wildmon, acknowledges that would be impractical.

"There's too many of them to effectively boycott," he said in a telephone interview.

Wildmon expects the U.S. to remain divided over gay marriage for a long time and hopes neither Congress nor the courts try to interfere with the right of states to set their own policies.

"That's just the way it's going to be," he said. "If you want to be a homosexual married couple, move to a state that accepts it."

Such interstate moves could indeed occur, but with a potential cost for the states being forsaken, said gay rights lawyer Jon Davidson of Lambda Legal. "Maybe that's what some states want, but the outpouring of business support for us indicates a lot of businesses don't want that to happen," he said. "It creates all sorts of problems."

Among some conservatives, there's been frustration at the frequent exhortation from gay-rights activists that the Supreme Court should be "on the right side of history" by endorsing same-sex marriage.

"It requires no courage, at this point in history, to side with gay marriage advocates," Maggie Gallagher, a co-founder of the National Organization for Marriage, wrote in a commentary. "Respecting the rights of the millions of Americans who disagree, and respecting the boundaries of our Constitution, is staying on the right side of history."

Conservative radio commentator Rush Limbaugh, on his show Wednesday, suggested the spread of same-sex marriage was indeed inevitable. He cited signs of increasing divisions among Republicans on the issue.

"Whether it happens now at the Supreme Court or somehow later, it is going to happen," Limbaugh said. "It's just the direction the culture is heading. ... The opposition that you would suspect exists is in the process of crumbling on it."

In any case, it's unlikely that some of the most conservative states — those that adopted gay-marriage bans by overwhelming margins — will recognize same-sex marriages unless forced to by the courts.

A likely result is a steady stream of state-level lawsuits by gay couples, according to Boston-based lawyer Mary Bonauto, whose work with Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders helped legalize same-sex marriage in several New England states.

"There are committed gay couples in every state who want to stand up and make that legal commitment to marriage," Bonauto said. "They're not going to go away. ... They believe our national promise of equal protection under the law applies to them, too, not just to the East and West coasts and Iowa."

Depending on how such lawsuits fare, Bonauto said, "I think this issue could be back at the Supreme Court in a number of years."

___

Follow David Crary on Twitter: http://twitter.com/CraryAP

View the original article here