The North American Plastics Alliance will promote environmentally friendly handling of plastic and a better public understanding of the material’s benefits.  More »

Exxon has captured about 910 barrels of oily water from the river, the EPA said. About 1 percent of that volume is crude, indicating an estimated 9 barrels of oil out of as many as 1,000 that spilled from a July 1 pipeline rupture have been cleaned, according to the EPA.  More »

General Electric, a leading producer of gas-turbines and wind power, wants Congress and the Obama administration to pass a clear energy policy that sets green standards while recognizing natural gas’ importance as a backbone to alternative energy plants. The company unveiled a “FlexEfficiency” power plant in Paris Saturday that uses wind and solar energy but relies on natural gas for reliability, but Paul Browning, president and CEO of G.E. thermal products, said Thursday that unclear U.S. policies could prevent investors from buying into the ultimately more efficient but initially expensive plants.  More »

General Electric, a leading producer of gas-turbines and wind power, wants Congress and the Obama administration to pass a clear energy policy that sets green standards while recognizing natural gas’ importance as a backbone to alternative energy plants. The company unveiled a “FlexEfficiency” power plant in Paris Saturday that uses wind and solar energy but relies on natural gas for reliability, but Paul Browning, president and CEO of G.E. thermal products, said Thursday that unclear U.S. policies could prevent investors from buying into the ultimately more efficient but initially expensive plants.  More »

The nation’s largest natural gas producer touts the fuel’s benefits and newfound abundance in the U.S. as well as responds to growing controversy about hydraulic fracturing, the leading method for extracting it.  More »

The national survey of likely voters found that 75 percent do not believe the country is sufficiently developing its own resources.  More »

Companies such as Atlanta-based Southern Co. and Republican lawmakers are protesting the pending regulations that are aimed at cutting emissions under the Clean Air Act from toxics such as mercury and at reducing smog and acid rain.  More »

The Bayou City placed 16th in the newly released U.S. and Canada Green City Index, a study conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit on behalf of Siemens, that graded 27 major U.S. and Canadian cities on environmental performance and policies.  More »

If signed by Gov. Chris Christie, New Jersey would be the first state in the U.S. to outlaw hydraulic fracturing, an oil and gas extraction method that environmentalists say poses a threat to groundwater supplies but that the oil and gas industry defends as a time-tested practice that is safe.  More »

After completing a new environmental analysis prompted by the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the federal government is on track to sell oil and gas leases in the central Gulf of Mexico next spring,  More »

Oil major Royal Dutch Shell has put out a set of five principles aimed at demonstrating the company’s committment to protecting the water, air and other resources in the communities where it drills and produces oil and gas using hydraulic fracturing.  More »

Obama administration officials today defended their plan for studying how drinking water may be affected by the hydraulic fracturing process used to extract natural gas from underground rock formations.  More »