On October 15, 2025, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry issued an executive order establishing new criteria and policy guidance for the state's Class VI underground injection control program for carbon sequestration.

Four days of legislative hearings on the complex and lengthy House energy and climate bill with over 50 witnesses concluded last Friday and the talks to nail down the details of the legislation - and the necessary number of votes to pass it - heated up in preparation for the subcommittee mark-up that is expected the week of May 4.

In the Senate, who will draft provisions for distributing allowances? Boxer? Baucus? Reid? All of the above?

Legislators introduced a number of climate-related bills in the past week.

The explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig and subsequent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has captured the attention of the general public, as well as government officials, on a historic scale.

Mark-up of the Senate energy bill wrapped up this week with provisions that would establish an Alaska Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Permit Processing Coordination Office, enhance financing for the Alaska gas pipeline, and introduce incentives for small Alaska hydropower projects.

The explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig and subsequent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has captured the attention of the general public, as well as government officials, on a historic scale

At the end of March, House Democrats released a draft energy and climate bill that would establish a cap-and-trade regime and a "twenty-five by twenty-five" national Renewable Electricity Standard.

In a letter to Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson provided assurances that EPA GHG regulations will accommodate biofuels .

On February 2, the Senate approved an amendment (proposed by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA)) to the pending comprehensive energy bill that would establish a Task Force...

Aided by a push from the President, Democrats on the House Energy & Commerce Committee apparently are closing in on a deal on the Waxman-Markey (ACES) bill, which would pave the way for introducing a new version early next week and following that with a markup in the full 59 member House Energy and Commerce Committee .

Today, Secretary Salazar announced that the Department of the Interior will not withdraw the Polar Bear Special 4(d) Rule, commenting that “the Endangered Species Act is not the proper mechanism for controlling our nation’s carbon emissions.”

The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) recently took important steps to address the legal and regulatory uncertainties that have, to date, hampered the development of wind and hydrokinetic renewable energy projects on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).

With identification of polar bear critical habitat, federal Endangered Species Act rulings are forming a new regulatory landscape for federal, state and Native lands in Alaska.

Congress is back in session, and policy makers are once again considering major proposals that will affect federal regulation of energy and natural resources.

Chairmen Waxman and Markey reached an agreement with moderate Democrats last week and released a new, 1,000 page version of the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES).

Alaska State Senator Kim Elton has been appointed Director of Alaska Affairs at the U.S. Department of the Interior. His appointment comes as Alaska once again grabs headlines.

This edition focuses on a number of federal developments of interest to Alaska as we move into the second session of the 111th Congress.

On October 15, 2009, the Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") issued a new Clean Water Act Enforcement Action Plan ("Action Plan").

Alaskans who traveled to Washington, D.C. earlier this month experienced an 80 degree variation in temperature. It may be 40 below in Alaska, but it’s springtime in D.C., and as partisan politics heat up we can expect a strong push to enact federal energy and climate change initiatives by summer’s end.