Archive for December, 2009
Heating Oil Weekly Roundup: List of Year-End Lists
As the year closes, everyone is taking a look back, so this week’s roundup gives you the best of the “best of” stories.
At MIT Technology Review, Kevin Bullis offers up the top energy stories of the year. Some of the choices were expected—the rush for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale, carbon capture, and biofuel—but [...]
Happy New Year from HeatingOil.com!
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We hope you’ve been enjoying the addition of two new video series—“This Week in Heating Oil” and “Heating Oil Price Preview”—to HeatingOil.com. Whether we’re recapping the biggest heating oil stories of the week or trying to gauge the next move heating oil prices will make, these videos aim to provide information that [...]
Read More »HeatingOil.com Weather Report: December 31, 2009
Today’s Northeast Weather: A mix of rain and snow will hit coastal areas today from Boston to Baltimore, with morning snow giving way to rain. A winter weather advisory has been issued for parts of Virginia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. Light snow could fall on upstate New York and northern New England, but those [...]
Read More »HeatingOil.com Weather Report: December 31, 2009
Today’s Northeast Weather: A mix of rain and snow will hit coastal areas today from Boston to Baltimore, with morning snow giving way to rain. A winter weather advisory has been issued for parts of Virginia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. Light snow could fall on upstate New York and northern New England, but those [...]
Read More »Heating Oil Price Trend for December 31: +1¢
Drawdowns in oil inventories lifted the price of crude and heating oil yesterday. Crude stockpiles fell by 1.5 million barrels and distillates, which include heating oil and diesel, fell by 2 million barrels. Though such declines in inventories point to rising demand, this week’s reports did not move the markets the way they did last [...]
Read More »NYC Study Warns of Dangers of Hydrofracking
“Introduction of hundreds of tons per day of fracturing chemicals into the watershed over a period of several decades will likely be accompanied by the gradual dispersion of low levels of toxic chemicals into the environment and potentially the [New York City] water supply via multiple transport pathways.”
That’s from the just-released “Final Impact Assessment Report” [...]
Are Cuts in Methane (Not Carbon) Emissions the Solution to Global Warming?
In an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal, two scientists say that even the most ambitious proposals made at Copenhagen to reduce carbon emissions won’t reverse global warming. So what would they have us do? According to Robert Watson, former chair of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), and Mohamed El-Ashry, senior fellow [...]
Read More »Senator Gillibrand of NY Calls for More Applicants for Heating Assistance
The recession has led many people to apply to LIHEAP (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program) for the first time. Vermont’s program could assist record numbers of people, Ohio adjusted its guidelines to be able to help more residents, and Pennsylvania’s LIHEAP didn’t expect to be able to meet the demand for assistance. However, New [...]
Read More »US Moves Ahead of Canada in Clean Energy
Canada is now lagging behind the US in efforts to develop clean energy, reports the Vancouver Sun. Experts involved in Canada’s wind energy industry, one of the country’s fastest growing renewable energy industries, say that Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government is moving away from President Barack Obama’s clean-energy initiatives. And they want the Harper government [...]
Read More »Democratic Senators Are Latest Threat to Cap and Trade
Washington, not Copenhagen—that’s where the real test for the Obama administration on carbon reduction may be.
As the London Times reported Monday, members of the President’s own party are defecting from the administration’s agenda. Several Democratic senators are urging the President to table climate change legislation for at least a year, until 2011—after the 2010 congressional [...]
Read More »HeatingOil.com Weather Report: December 30, 2009
Today’s Northeast Weather: Cold temperatures will continue through the region, with dry conditions providing a break before a storm system is expected to bring snow and rain over the weekend. Sun will give way to clouds as the day advances, and by tonight there could be some precipitation in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Roads should [...]
Read More »Heating Oil Price Trend for December 30: +3¢
Cold weather continued to drive up the price of heating oil on Tuesday. Despite large supplies—stockpiles of distillates, which include heating oil, are 50 percent higher than at this time last year—the cold spell has spurred buying on NYMEX and lifted heating oil prices. As the US Northeast tries to stay warm, demand for heating [...]
Read More »After Threats, Russia Agrees to Deal on Oil Transit to EU
At least this year’s dispute didn’t escalate into January 2009’s crisis when natural gas shipments were halted and residents of 20 Central European countries shivered. No, this time an agreement was reached before Russian threats to cut off supplies to Slovakia, Hungary, and the Czech Republic were carried out. As it was in January [...]
Read More »Businesses Volunteer Data on Carbon Emissions, Even Without Legislation
Copenhagen didn’t result in any binding agreement, and a Senate climate bill still looks a long way off, but some businesses are reporting their carbon emissions anyway.
The Carbon Disclosure Project, a London-based nonprofit, collects the emissions reports and shows businesses how they stack up to other firms in their industry. This information can help businesses [...]
As Refineries Close, Families and Communities Struggle
What do you do when you lose your job—a good job—of 34 years, and whatever comparatively few jobs remain in your industry are located states away?
If you have a good answer, tell Harry Schaeffer of National Park—he’d like to know.
Schaeffer is one of more than 1,000 refinery workers in New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania who [...]
HeatingOil.com Weather Report: December 29, 2009
Today’s Northeast Weather: Cold and mostly dry weather will cover the Northeast today, with lightening lake-effect snow providing the only moisture. The snowstorm has been replaced with gusty winds that will diminish in the evening. Temperatures in northern New England and New York State are frigid, with some in the single digits, while temperatures near [...]
Read More »Heating Oil Price Trend for December 29: +4¢
Cold weather and signs of economic recovery caused oil prices to rise yesterday. US retail sales increased during the holiday season, and China reported that its economy grew by more than 8 percent in 2009. Some analysts think rising fuel demand in China will raise crude and heating oil prices through the coming year. Below-average [...]
Read More »Iraq Threatens OPEC’s Power Over Oil Prices
Iraq is threatening to throw a serious wrench into OPEC’s plans, reports Business Insider. OPEC members have said they are content with oil prices in the range of $70–80 per barrel and maintained their production targets at their recent annual meeting. But Iraq might not adhere to OPEC’s production quotas. The cash-poor country recently auctioned [...]
Read More »Biodiesel Tax Credit Put Off Until Next Year
The biodiesel industry has been anxiously awaiting an extension of its $1-per-gallon tax credit—due to expire December 31—but it may not happen soon enough to save some biodiesel plants.
According to Reuters, Senators Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) said the Senate Finance Committee would take up the biodiesel tax credit along with a variety [...]
Senate to Vote on EPA Regulation of Greenhouse Gases
With Copenhagen’s lackluster result and the Senate climate bill in limbo, EPA regulations seem more likely than ever to be the tool used to regulate emissions of greenhouse gases. However, Senate opponents of EPA regulation, led by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), have a chance to block the EPA from working further on any new regulations, [...]
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