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US to open direct peace talks with Taliban

By Jeremy Herb - 06/18/13 08:21 PM ET

The Obama administration will open direct peace talks with the Taliban in Qatar in the next few days.

The startling announcement Tuesday came the same day four Americans were killed during a rocket attack at Bagram Air Field, outside of Kabul.

U.S. and NATO forces handed over the lead on combat operations in Afghanistan to Afghan security forces separately on Tuesday.

President Obama, who has made ending the decade-long Afghanistan War a priority, sought to tamp down expectations for the talks, while Republicans greeted the announcement with skepticism.

“This is an important first step toward reconciliation, although it is a very early step,” Obama said at the G-8 summit in Northern Ireland on Tuesday. “We anticipate there will be a lot of bumps in the road.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), however, argued the U.S. should not begin talks until the Taliban have been militarily defeated and the Obama administration has clearly defined its post-2014 U.S. troop presence.

“Talking to them now, before we make a commitment about a post-2014 footprint, is giving them a wrong signal,” Graham told reporters Tuesday. “The best way to talk with the Taliban is ensure them you will defeat them on the battlefield, and they’re not assured of that.”

Obama, who just weeks ago vowed to turn the page in the U.S. “war on terror,” said the process would not be “easy or quick” and would be pursued “in parallel with our military approach.”

“We, in the meantime, remain fully committed to our military efforts to defeat al Qaeda and to support the Afghan National Security Forces,” Obama said.

Officials emphasized talks would take place between the Afghanistan government and the Taliban, with the U.S. playing a side role.

“The core of this process is not going to be the U.S.-Taliban talks — those can help advance the process — but the core of it is going to be negotiations among Afghans, and the l

Critics challenge Obama administration’s plan for natural gas exports

Posted on June 18, 2013 at 3:55 pm by Jennifer A. Dlouhy

Pipelines run from the offshore docking station to four liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanks at the Dominion Resources Inc. Liquefied Natural Gas facility in Cove Point, Md. A domestic natural gas boom already has lowered U.S. energy prices while stoking fears of environmental disaster. Now U.S. producers are poised to ship vast quantities of gas overseas as energy companies seek permits for proposed export projects that could set off a renewed frenzy of fracking. (AP Photo/Matt Houston, File)
Pipelines run from the offshore docking station to four liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanks at the Dominion Resources Inc. Liquefied Natural Gas facility in Cove Point, Md. (AP Photo/Matt Houston, File)

Lawmakers and energy industry representatives were critical of the Obama administration’s approach to natural gas exports on Tuesday, with at least one trade group accusing the government of violating federal law in reviewing applications to sell the fossil fuel overseas.

At issue is the Energy Department’s decision last December to give priority to companies that had already launched a pre-filing process with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission as part of their bids to build facilities to liquefy natural gas so it can be shipped overseas. The Energy Department is vetting those export applications individually; FERC’s role is evaluating the physical facilities.

Companies need both approvals to build the export terminals and start selling gas to countries that don’t have free-trade agreements with the United States. So far, just one firm — Houston-based Cheniere Energy — has cleared both hurdles, for its Sabine Pass liquefaction project in southwest Louisiana.

The goal of the Energy Department’s approach was fairness, insisted Christopher Smith, the assistant secretary for fossil energy, during testimony before a House subcommittee Tuesday.

“W

China 'Hair Stockings' May Help Scare Off 'Perverts,' Everyone (PHOTO)

The Huffington Post | Posted: 06/17/2013 4:18 pm EDT | Updated: 06/18/2013 2:14 pm EDT

This might be the strangest way of keeping aggressive men at bay, but we have to give it major points for being clever.

"Super sexy, summertime anti-pervert full-leg-of-hair stockings, essential for all young girls going out," @HappyZhangJiang describes the item on China's popular microblogging service, Sina Weibo.

They remind us somewhat of the less playful, more functional "anti-rape" lingerie developed recently by three engineering students in India. That garment is wired to deliver an electric shock to sexual attackers and can send an alert message, with GPS coordinates, to the attacked woman's friends and family.

The idea behind the hair stockings, we're guessing, is that lewd gropers wouldn't come anywhere near you. Tongue-in-cheek, but inventive nonetheless.

huffingtonpost

House passes controversial late-term abortion ban

By Pete Kasperowicz - 06/18/13 06:45 PM ET

The House voted Tuesday to impose a nationwide ban on abortions after 22 weeks of pregnancy, over Democratic objections that the bill represents a dramatic attempt by Republicans to restrict abortion rights.

As expected, the vote fell out mostly along party lines. The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act was passed in a 228-196 vote — just six Democrats voted for it, and six Republicans opposed it.

With limited exceptions, the legislation would ban the abortion of a fetus younger than 20 weeks old, or at 22 weeks of pregnancy under a different measuring system. The ban would be backed by possible fines against doctors, as well as prison sentence of as many as five years.

[color=#00CC00][b]As controversial as the bill is, however, today's House vote likely ends the process in Congress, as the Democratic Senate is not expected to consider it at all. President Obama threatened to veto the measure on Monday.[/b][/color]

Debate on the bill was tense on the House floor from the start, when Democrats asked why Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) — who does not sit on the bill's committe of jurisdiction — was managing the bill. Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) said it's acceptable under the rules of the House to allow "appropriate" people to manage the bill.

But several Democrats suggested it's because the sponsor of the bill, Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), made the controversial comment last week that rape usually doesn't result in pregnancy. Franks is on the Judiciary Committee, but he never spoke about his own bill during the hour-long debate.

They also said it was because Republicans have no women on the committee of jurisdiction and wanted to put a woman's face on the bill; Republicans never answered that charge.

Democrats said the lack of any input from women on the committee showed in the final product, and argued that the final bill is based on

Top industry lobbyist says US oil and gas production could grow even more

Posted on June 18, 2013 at 12:23 pm by Harry R. Weber

American Petroleum Institute chief Jack Gerard said Tuesday that U.S. gas prices and the unemployment rate would be higher if not for the tremendous growth in oil production in America over the last few years.

Gerard asserted during a meeting with the Houston Chronicle editorial board that keeping those measures from worsening is as important as creating a jobs boom and reducing pump prices.

“Think of what the unemployment rate would be if we didn’t have the job growth we are already seeing,” Gerard said. “We need to put it in context and think how much worse it would have been if not for what has been happening over the last four or five years.”

EIA: US daily crude supply could surge to 10M barrels by 2040

During his eight years in the White House, former President George W. Bush invoked a standard refrain during each of his State of the Union addresses: America is way too dependent on foreign oil.

In his 2005 address, at a time when the unemployment rate was at 5.2 percent and the country had just come off a year in which 2.3 million new jobs were created, Bush said enacting his pro-energy industry policies was “essential to expand this economy and add new jobs.”

Eight years later, the U.S. is producing record amounts of oil, energy firms are expanding their operations and the country is on a path to one day in the not too distant future becoming energy independent. Yet, the unemployment rate is at 7.6 percent and the country, through the first five months of the year, is on pace to add only about 2 million jobs in 2013.

Eagle Ford: Carrizo Oil & Gas hikes oil production projections

Gerard argued that there exists today a great opportunity to make the promises of the past come true. He urged the current administration to stand with the industry, rather than against it.

“If you want to see the energy performanc

What price of corn is needed to make ethanol blends competitive?

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

By SCOTT IRWIN AND DARREL GOOD

Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics, University of Illinois

URBANA, Ill. — We and others have written extensively about the impending ethanol blend wall. The blend wall is defined as the maximum amount of ethanol that can be consumed in the domestic motor fuel market if ethanol blending is limited to 10 percent of total motor fuel consumption.

The blend wall becomes an issue when the implied RFS mandated requirement for renewable or conventional biofuels consumption exceeds the size of the blend wall.

Technically, there is not a mandate for conventional biofuels consumption. There is a mandate for total consumption of biofuels and a mandate for consumption of advanced biofuels.

Since advanced biofuels have generally not been economically attractive, consumption of those fuels has not exceeded the mandate so that the difference between the total and advanced mandate has been met with conventional biofuels, almost entirely corn-based ethanol. It is this difference that is thought of as the mandate for conventional biofuels.

Routes

As we have noted before, there are a number of pathways for meeting the RFS mandate for biofuels consumption when the implied mandate for conventional biofuels exceeds the blend wall.

These include: use blending credits (in the form of Renewable Identification Numbers, or RINs) accumulated from previous discretionary blending to meet current year blending requirements; borrow against future blending requirements to meet current year blending requirements; discretionary blending of advanced biofuels; or expand consumption of higher ethanol blends in the form of E15 or E85.

The use of blending credits was an attractive alternative for meeting blending requirements that exceeded the blend wall until the price of RINs credits exploded beginning in January this year.

In addition, the supply of RINs cre

Dem. Rep.: Rape 'not so bad' to GOP

By Elise Viebeck - 06/18/13 01:38 PM ET

A leader of the House Pro-Choice Caucus suggested Tuesday that Republicans don't have strong feelings against rape.

The remark came as Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) criticized the GOP's proposed ban on late-term abortions ahead of a House vote on the measure.

Slaughter slammed Republican members of the House Judiciary Committee, all men, who rejected a rape exception to the bill during its markup last week.

"I'm of the opinion now … that if you really were to question all of them, that there is a sort of continuity of thought that rape is really not so bad and that the likelihood of getting pregnant is small," Slaughter told a press conference.

Slaughter alluded to controversies on rape and abortion that dogged the GOP in 2012, such as former Senate candidate Todd Akin's (R-Mo.) remark that victims of "legitimate rape" rarely become pregnant.

Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), the bill's sponsor, also came under fire from Democrats last week when he said that the "incidence of rape resulting in pregnancy [is] very low."

The House is preparing to vote on the late-term abortion ban, which would punish doctors who terminate pregnancies after 22 weeks.

The version approved by the Judiciary Committee on Wednesday only allowed exceptions for women whose lives are in danger.

Additional protections for some rape and incest victims were quietly added by the Rules Committee last week at the behest of GOP leadership.

If passed, the legislation would be the strongest congressional move against abortion rights in a decade.

GOP members of the Judiciary Committee shot down the proposed rape exception during markup because it did not include a requirement that women report the crimes against them.

The bill's new language outlines rape and incest exceptions to the abortion ban as long as the crimes are reported.

Supporters argue that the 22-week ban is necessary because fetuses can f

States, green groups delay lawsuit amid Obama climate rumors

By Ben Geman - 06/18/13 09:12 AM ET

States and environmental groups are delaying litigation to force carbon emissions rules for power plants, citing reports the White House will soon unveil plans to address climate change.

“Due to public reports that the President will be announcing major action on climate change very soon, the Attorney General has decided to postpone a lawsuit on this matter for a short period of time,” said Melissa Grace, spokeswoman for New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

New York is one of a dozen states and cities that on April 17 threatened to sue the Environmental Protection Agency in as few as 60 days.

The litigation would be aimed at forcing completion of delayed rules, floated in draft form more than a year ago, that would set emissions standards for new power plants.

The cities and states also want the EPA to carry through on its commitment in a 2010 legal settlement to require carbon standards for existing power plants.

Other states that jointly threatened to sue with New York included Massachusetts, Oregon, Washington state and New Mexico.

Three green groups — the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the Sierra Club and the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) — that issued a similar 60-day lawsuit threat have also held back, at least for the moment.

“NRDC's reason for holding off is that we want to see what the administration announces,” said David Hawkins, the NRDC’s director of climate programs, in an email Tuesday. An attorney with the EDF said the group is awaiting news from the White House.

“We are not filing suit today, although we are carefully considering all of our options for next steps. And we are certainly awaiting the President’s announcement of his blueprint for climate progress with keen interest,” said Megan Ceronsky, an attorney with the EDF, in an email.

“With Congress’s failure to lead and our communities hard-hit with dro

Obama administration set to defend LNG export reviews

Posted on June 18, 2013 at 9:31 am by Jennifer A. Dlouhy

Christopher Smith, acting assistant secretary for fossil energy at the Department of Energy, speaks on current government research on oil and gas during the Offshore Technology Conference at Reliant Park Thursday, May 9, 2013, in Houston. ( Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle )

Lawmakers and energy industry leaders will scrutinize the Obama administration’s handling of applications to export U.S. natural gas during a congressional hearing Tuesday. (See below for live coverage)

A major issue: Whether the Energy Department should be giving greater priority to companies who have inked agreements, secured financial commitments and filed with federal regulators as part of their bids to build massive multi-billion-dollar facilities to liquefy natural gas so it can be shipped overseas.

So far, the Energy Department has pledged to individually review the applications to export natural gas to countries that don’t have free-trade agreements with the United States, following an order it established in December. That order gave preference to companies that had begun a pre-filing process with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

But the Energy Department’s process has drawn criticism both from companies that believe their export applications should be considered sooner, because they are further along in the FERC review process, as well as firms that had not entered the pre-filing process with FERC before the order was set last year. Still others insist the Energy Department should be moving more slowly in considering applications to export liquefied natural gas, lest widespread foreign sales of the fossil fuel hike prices domestically.

Christopher Smith, the assistant secretary for fossil energy, is set to defend the process when he testifies before a House subcommittee Tuesday morning.

“The Department of Energy is committed to moving this process forward as ex

Victoria Justice Releases New Single ‘Gold’ — Listen

Mon, June 17, 2013 3:41pm EDT by hlavery

Check out Victoria’s latest track and tell us what you think: Is this the perfect summer song?

Victoria Justice released her first official single “Gold” during On Air with Ryan Seacrest on June 17, and we think it’s the perfect summer jam! The former Victorious star has us hooked with this fresh and catchy son, and we especially love her wise words for a certain boy in the new song. She sings: “Hey, boy, watcha gonna do. If you want me like I want you, then man up and make your move. I’m gold, gold.”

It sounds like Victoria knows exactly what she what she wants: “I know you inside out, so I’m asking now. Take a chance on me. How much clearer can I be?” This summer, the Nickelodeon star will be on the Summer Break Tour with Big Time Rush — so she has some time to break out more new songs! We can’t wait to hear what else she has coming up on her album! So HollywoodLifers, what do YOU think about Victoria’s new single? Let us know what you think!

WATCH: Victoria Justice New Single ‘Gold’

hollywoodlife

Iowa renewable fuels group sees more stations in state carrying E15

1:40 PM, Jun 17, 2013 | by Christopher Doering

Despite allegations that six Iowa gas stations are being forced to stop selling fuel blended with 15 percent ethanol because oil companies don’t want to supply them, a top official with the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association said he was optimistic that many more stations would agree to carry it later this year.

Monte Shaw, executive director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, said after slowly building the ranks of stations carrying E15 — a blend of fuel containing 15 percent ethanol — to a half dozen he was confident that other businesses within the state, including smaller chains with about 50 stations in their portfolio, would soon want to sell it to motorists.

“We’re having some very good conversations right now,” Shaw said in an interview without naming the companies. “I am optimistic that we can land one of those.”

Shaw said just how many companies would agree to sell the corn-based blend this fall is uncertain. He said by October if smaller companies decide to carry E15 “then we’re looking at counting by the dozens” of stations, but if some of the mid-sized or large businesses embrace it the total could be “in the hundreds.” Shaw added that some of the bigger chains are evaluating E15 but so far they have not signaled whether they are interested in carrying the fuel.

desmoinesregister

Gov. Quinn signs bill to regulate fracking

By Julie WernauTribune reporter
2:58 p.m. CDT, June 17, 2013

Gov. Pat Quinn today signed sweeping legislation to regulate horizontal hydraulic fracturing, better known as "fracking." The move, which was expected, adds a bevy of restrictions and protections to an industry that while legal, was largely unregulated.

Legislators, who overwhelmingly supported the bill, say they hope the new regulations will encourage the oil and gas industry to invest in Illinois, bringing jobs. Many oil and gas companies have held off on investing in drilling operations pending the outcome of proposed regulations.

"It's about jobs, and it's about ensuring that our natural resources are protected for future generations," Quinn said. "I applaud the many environmental advocates and representatives from government, labor and industry who worked with us to make Illinois a national model for transparency, environmental safety and economic development."

The legislation calls for oil and gas drillers to be subject to one of the toughest disclosure laws in the country. It also gives individuals the opportunity to appeal permits and launch lawsuits when they suspect the law has been skirted.

"We know high-volume fracking is already underway in Illinois, and this legislation is needed more than ever to protect the environment while allowing for job creation and economic growth not just in downstate communities but throughout Illinois," said State Sen. Michael Frerichs (D-Champaign), who sponsored the legislation along with Rep. John Bradley (D-Marion).

Environmental groups helped hash out the law, which places most of the responsibility for enforcing the law with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, together the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

Environmental groups said they would have preferred a moratorium on fracking over concerns about the impact a potential oil boom could have on the environment and public health but said t

LCFS report: 2013 a banner year for Calif. biodiesel consumption

By CalETC | June 17, 2013

Industry leaders and investors are heartened by faster-than-expected developments in alternative fuels, according to an industry report released June 13.

The alternative fuels market has evolved much faster than anticipated, reveals the report, produced by a coalition of investors, utilities, and makers of alternative fuels and vehicles. For example, sales of electric vehicles are beating early projections, the surge in natural gas supply is helping decrease the carbon intensity in the transportation of merchandise, and biodiesel and renewable diesel are being consumed in much higher quantities than ever before. Although the cellulosic ethanol industry has struggled to produce projected volumes, other alternatives have emerged in unforeseen ways.

“We know now that the low carbon fuel standard is exceeding our expectations and driving us towards a clean fuels future,” said Eileen Tutt, executive director of the California Electric Transportation Coalition (CalETC). “The standard is doing exactly what it was designed to do—open the way for new fuels and technologies to compete fairly in the marketplace.”

The report analyzes recent developments in the transportation sector and presents three scenarios that ratchet down the carbon intensity of transportation fuels 10 percent to meet the goal of California’s low carbon fuel standard by 2020.

In addition to the three scenarios, the report offers these main conclusions:

a) California’s LCFS is achieving its goal of encouraging technological innovation through private investment;

b) The standard’s goals are achievable within its timeline, given current market conditions and revised estimates of low-carbon fuel availability out to 2020.

“The market has certainly taken some unexpected turns—we’re seeing very interesting, if nascent developments from alternative fuel providers that are both encouraging and reflective of the mark

Alberta’s oil sands raise flaring emissions as rules lag

Posted on June 18, 2013 at 6:42 am by Bloomberg

In the farming country of northwest Alberta, heavy oil wells are becoming more common than cattle and combines. Along with money and jobs, the boom has brought smells and fumes that are adding to the greenhouse gas emissions from Canada’s oil sands.

Emissions from flaring, or burning of natural gas, methane and hydrogen sulphide associated with oil production, have risen in each of the last three years as drillers increased activity and the government failed to implement new industry targets.

“There’s no new absolute target to reduce flare or vent emissions,” said James Vaughan, who works at the Alberta Energy Conservation Board’s surveillance branch, in an interview. “The economics for conserving gas just doesn’t seem to be there” because of a decline in natural gas prices.

Flaring by companies including Husky Energy Inc. (HSE) is rising even as the Canadian government touts the country’s efforts to limit emissions to win support for TransCanada Corp. (TRP)’s Keystone XL pipeline. Prime Minister Stephen Harper met his European counterparts last week in Paris and London, appealing for them to stop EU plans to single out Alberta as a source of high-polluting energy.

Environmental groups such as

Report Shows Dismal Start to Iowa Corn Crop

Story Created: Jun 17, 2013 at 10:56 PM CDT
(Story Updated: Jun 17, 2013 at 10:56 PM CDT)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - The latest crop report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows Iowa's cornfields have been hit hard by the wet spring.

Twelve percent of the crop is in poor condition, worse among the 18 leading corn growing states. Monday's report says 4 percent is very poor while 34 percent is fair and 50 percent is good or excellent. Eleven percent of corn plants haven't emerged from the ground yet and 6 percent of the crop hasn't been planted. Normally the crop is all in by now and 99 percent emerged.

The USDA already assumes the average amount of corn expected to be harvested per acre in the U.S. to be reduced to 156.5 bushels per acre down from 158 bushels estimated a month ago.

Obama: ‘Iranian people rebuffed the hardliners and the clerics’

By Jonathan Easley - 06/17/13 11:00 PM ET

President Obama said Monday that the Iranian people have “rebuffed the hardliners and the clerics” in the country by electing a moderate president over the weekend.

“I think it says that the Iranian people want to move in a different direction,” Obama said in an interview with Charlie Rose on PBS.

“The Iranian people rebuffed the hardliners and the clerics in the election who were counseling no compromise on anything, any time, anywhere,” he added.

The Obama administration has been criticized by some for not supporting the “green revolution” that flared up in Iran in 2009 in protest of the reelection of hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The protests fizzled shortly after a government crackdown.

Obama on Monday said the more peaceful election in 2013 was evidence of a “more positive atmosphere” in the country.

“You know, if you contrast this with the violence and suppression that happened in the last presidential election, obviously you have a much more positive atmosphere this time,” he said.

The president added that the election results showed “a hunger within Iran to engage with the international community in a more positive way.”

Moderate candidate Hassan Rouhani won the presidency in an upset victory on Saturday. Rouhani won more than 50 percent of the vote on the first ballot to avoid a run-off, and shortly after received the blessing of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who has the final say.

Rouhani was widely viewed as the most friendly candidate toward the West, and civil rights activists are hopeful the new president will bring about greater personal freedoms in the theocratic state.

Still, Obama tempered his optimism for reform in the country, pointing out that Khamenei remains the most powerful figure.

“Mr. Rowhani, who won the election, I think indicated his interest in shifting how Iran approaches many of these international questions,

Corn 4 delivery in December lost 0.9% to $5.2825 a bushel after dropping 4.6% last week

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Imagine how inexpensive ethanol will be at the pump as of Thankgiving Day!