Natural Gas

Louisiana Planning Massive ‘Mystery’ Data Center
The center would be powered by a new, 1,500-megawatt natural gas plant, which critics say will drive up emissions and contribute negatively to the region’s air quality.

High Ozone Levels Threaten New Mexico Oil Town
The small community of Loving, New Mexico has higher ozone levels than dense cities like Los Angeles.

Berkeley Voters to Decide on Building Gas Tax
The city could tax large buildings that use gas in lieu of enacting a law that would have banned gas-powered buildings altogether.

California Cities Suspend Natural Gas Bans Following Court Ruling
A Ninth Circuit court ruling forced Berkeley to reverse its ban on natural gas in new buildings, prompting other cities to suspend their own efforts to promote all-electric buildings.

Texas Grid Holds Up to Freezing Temperatures
Efforts made to prepare the state’s infrastructure for winter storms after 2021’s disastrous freeze are paying off.

Berkeley Natural Gas Ban Remains Reversed
A court declined to revisit its decision to invalidate a city ban on natural gas hookups.

Massachusetts Moves Toward Decarbonization
The state developed a framework for planning to phase out natural gas, denying industry calls to allow hydrogen and renewable natural gas.

Energy Reliability on the Ballot in Texas
Texans will decide on November 7 whether to subsidize electricity generation to strengthen the power grid to prevent blackouts, but only with the construction of new natural gas power plants.

Making Natural Gas Power Plants Cleaner
Carbon capture and storage has long been associated with coal-burning power plants. Calpine Corp. hopes to apply the controversial technology to existing natural gas power plants, beginning with a pilot project to start this month in the Bay Area.

Berkeley’s First-in-Nation Natural Gas Ban Overthrown by Court Ruling
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Berkeley does not have the power to mandate electric hookups in new development because a federal rule preempts the local regulation.

Why the Gas Stove Debate Misses the Point
Banning gas-powered appliances is one part of a broader toolkit of changes in building codes that could vastly improve efficiency.

Marin County Mandates Building Electrification
Starting January 1, all new buildings in the county must be electric-powered, while multifamily apartment buildings will be required to provide electric car chargers.

Rationing Energy
American motorists may complain about the 'pain at the pump,' but there is no shortage of gasoline, unlike the availability of natural gas in Europe.

Europe's New Energy Infrastructure Begins to Emerge
When Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin hoped to quickly redraw national boundary lines in Eastern Europe. The region's energy infrastructure, particularly pipelines carrying natural gas, may change sooner.

Energy War Comes to the European Union
When President Putin ordered Gazprom to turn off the valve on pipelines carrying Russian gas to Poland and Bulgaria, he effectively expanded the Russia-Ukraine war to the European Union, threatening their economic well-being and way of life.

Withholding Energy as a Weapon
As Russia intensifies its offensive in Ukraine, energy security has become a matter of urgency for Poland and Bulgaria after Russia announced they will suspend the flow of natural gas through its pipelines to these two NATO and EU members.

Hooked on Russian Gas
The EU relies on Russia for 45% of its natural gas imports and 27% of its crude oil imports. Germany's dependency is a major reason why it won't ban these imports despite Russia's war in Ukraine. Two natural gas pipelines explain part of the problem.

European Union Takes Initial Step to Ban Russian Energy Imports
After a second day of talks in Brussels, ambassadors to the European Union agreed to ban coal imports from Russia as evidence of widescale atrocities committed by Russian troops in Ukraine surfaced after their withdrawal from the outskirts of Kyiv.

U.S. to Help European Union Achieve Energy Security
President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced in Brussels the formation of a joint task force to help the European Union reduce dependence on Russian energy in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Sanctioning Russian Energy Exports
European leaders chose not to join the U.S. in an embargo of Russian energy products largely because of dependence on natural gas. Similarly, the world needs the 11% of crude oil that Russia exports. What can the U.S. do to lessen this dependence?
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