Overnight Energy: Obama rolls out new Arctic drilling rules

ARCTIC DRILLERS GET NEW RULES: The Obama administration rolled out a suite of new rules Thursday aimed at improving the safety of offshore oil and natural gas drilling in the Arctic Ocean.

The contentious regulation from the Interior Department immediately faced derision, both from the industry due to its $2.05 billion cost, and from environmentalists for not completely blocking Arctic drilling.

{mosads}The rule was made final Thursday despite a dearth at the moment of industry interest in the Arctic, due mainly to high costs and difficulty. No company is currently drilling in the Arctic using offshore rigs, and no companies have plans to soon.

Nonetheless, officials said the rule is necessary to govern any future drilling.

“The regulations we are issuing today support the Administration’s thoughtful and balanced approach to any oil and gas exploration in the Arctic region,” Janice Schneider, Interior’s assistant secretary for land and minerals management told reporters Thursday.

“The rules help ensure that any exploratory drilling operations in this highly challenging environment will be conducted in a safe and environmentally responsible manner, while protecting the marine, coastal, and human environments, and Alaska Natives’ cultural traditions and access to subsistence resources,” she added.

The oil industry slammed the regulation.

“This is an unfortunate turn by this administration and will continue to stifle offshore oil and natural gas production,” Erik Milito, upstream director for the American Petroleum Institute, said in a statement. “We remain concerned about various regulatory activities related to offshore energy development including today’s proposals for Arctic operations.”

Greens, meanwhile, said Arctic drilling still needs to be banned.

“Where we drill, we spill,” said Neil Lawrence, Alaska director at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “The Arctic is harsh, fragile, remote, and pristine. We can’t contain or clean up the oil from a blowout in these waters.”

Read more here.

ANOTHER EPA AIR POLLUTION LAWSUIT: Conservation and public health groups are taking the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to court in an attempt to force an update of two air pollution standards.

The Center for Biological Diversity and Center for Environmental Health on Thursday sued the EPA over its handling of sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides, two pollutants regulated by federal clean air laws.

The groups say the agency has blown through last year’s deadline for updating the federal standards on those pollutants. Their lawsuit looks to compel the EPA to update them faster than the agency is currently planning.

“There’s no reason to delay stronger protections for millions of Americans suffering from dirty air linked to coal and gas pollution,” said Jonathan Evans, environmental health legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity.

The EPA doesn’t respond to pending litigation against it. But a spokeswoman said the agency plans to propose an update for the nitrogen dioxide standard this November, and release a final rule next summer, with sulfur dioxide standards coming two years later.

Read more here.

550,000 ASK FOR GRAND CANYON PROTECTIONS: Environmentalists and American Indian leaders have gotten 550,000 people to sign a petition asking President Obama to designate a new national monument near the Grand Canyon.

It’s the latest attempt by the monument’s supporters to show that there’s strong local and national support for the 1.7 million-acre proposal, which would block potential threats to the Grand Canyon watershed like uranium mining, the Phoenix New Times reports.

“The Grand Canyon is a culturally significant area which sustains life for many tribal people and cultures, [and] it is encouraging to see the outpouring of support from across all walks of life for the [monument],” Shan Lewis, president of the Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, said of the petition.

FORMER UN CLIMATE CHIEF NOMINATED FOR SECRETARY GENERAL: Christiana Figueres, the former executive secretary of the United Nations framework convention on climate change, has been nominated to become the new secretary general of the UN.

Figueres, a major player in the crafting of the Paris climate deal, left her post this month, to be succeeded by Patricia Espinosa. Current UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon leaves that position later this year.

Figueres has reportedly expressed her interest in succeeding Ban and adding a new emphasis on climate change as the head of the UN. Luis Guillermo Solís, the president of Figueres’ native Costa Rica, formally nominated her for the position on Thursday, The Guardian reports.

AROUND THE WEB:

An environmental group has intervened to defend a moratorium on natural gas drilling in the Delaware River Basin, StateImpact reports.

Scientists are hoping to use the International Space Station to begin tracking wildlife back on Earth, The Atlantic reports.

A federal judge has approved a restructuring plan for bankrupt coal giant Alpha Natural Resources Inc., The Wall Street Journal reports. It includes a deal with federal regulators to relieve Alpha of some of its mine reclamation obligations.

BONUS AROUND THE WEB:

Here’s a livestream of bears hunting for salmon at Katmai National Park in Alaska. You know you want to click.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Check out Thursday’s stories:

-Groups sue EPA over air pollution standards
-Obama toughens Arctic drilling rules
-White House reviewing new efficiency standards for ceiling fans
-June breaks monthly temperature record in US
-GOP probes EPA response to NY state water contamination
-US urges Puerto Rico to spray for mosquitoes to stop Zika
-House bill would up Fish and Wildlife funding by $1.3B

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