Legislation to authorize the beginning of construction on the $3.3-billion Keystone XL pipeline has cleared the House and Senate. But project advocates' victory may be short-lived: President Obama has vowed to veto the bill when it reaches his desk.
Related Links: Construction Groups Say Obama Immigration Directive will Slow Down Search for Legislative Fix (ENR, 11/21/14) DHS Secretary Johnson's statement on judge's injunction A federal judge in Texas has put a temporary hold on President’s Obama’s executive actions aimed at protecting millions of illegal immigrants from being deported.The injunction, which U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen issued on Feb. 16, came just two days before a new program that the president's directives established was to go into effect. The. Justice Dept. says that the president was on solid legal ground in issuing the directives on Nov. 20 and adds that
The House has approved a measure to authorize building the Keystone XL pipeline, but the 270-152 vote fell short of the two-thirds majority required to override a promised presidential veto.
Related Links: Clean Coal: Is CCS Fossil Fuels' Best Hope? (ENR, 2014) Clean Coal Viable, DOE panel says (ENR, 2010) The U.S. Dept. of Energy has pulled out of the $1.65-billion FutureGen carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) demonstration project in Meredosia, Ill. striking a perhaps fatal blow to the project just as it was gearing up to begin construction.A DOE official said on Feb. 4 that the project had not achieved sufficient progress in securing additional financing to supplement the $1 billion allocated by DOE through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. Those unused funds have been
President Obama’s nearly $4-trillion budget proposal for fiscal year 2016 has a picture of a bridge on its cover, reflecting one of the main elements inside the book: substantial spending on infrastructure, especially the initial year's $478-billion, six-year surface-transportation bill.
The Senate has approved legislation authorizing construction to begin on the controversial and long-delayed $3.3-billion Keystone XL oil-pipeline project. The Senate passed the bill on Jan. 29 by a 62-36 vote.
Related Links: AGC Survey BLS Union Membership Data Breakdown by Industry Eighty percent of the nearly 1,000 construction firms that responded to an Associated General Contractors of America survey said they plan to expand their payrolls in 2015. But shortages of skilled employees at the craft and professional levels continue to be a problem for many firms, according to the survey.To attract more workers, firms are providing better benefit packages, but the problem persists, AGC economist Ken Simonson told reporters on Jan. 21.Among respondents trying to hire workers, 87% report difficulties in filling positions. Walt Fegley, president and COO of
Alaska lawmakers and state officials are vowing to fight President Obama's Jan. 25 announcement that he will ask Congress to designate 12.3 million acres of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), as well as four Alaskan rivers, as wilderness areas off-limits for oil and gas development.
As DC Water's assistant general manager of wastewater treatment, Walter Bailey played a key role in the public utility's decision to implement an innovative system to create a better class of biosolids at the Blue Plains advanced wastewater treatment facility.
Related Links: Judge's ruling on BP Spill Estimate Energy company BP says it hopes to reduce its Clean Water Act fines in the Deepwater Horizon oil-spill trial's penalty phase, which began on Jan. 20, to the "lower end of the statutory range."U.S. District Court Judge Carl Barbier ruled on Jan. 15 that BP should pay penalties for 3.2 million barrels of oil spilled in the 2010 disaster. That number is much lower than the 4.19 million bbl the federal government cited. Barbier said both sides presented strong arguments, adding, "There is no way to know with precision how much oil
