[Watchdogs] Lamar Smith

Fri Feb 19 15:53:18 CST 2010

Just an FYI - Mr. Smith does NOT represent ALL of Travis County - I am represented by Mr. Lloyd Doggett.
Pat Scott
SanLeanna, TX

Pat Scott(semi retired)
"Some men look at constitutions with sanctimonious reverence ... too sacred to be touched. They ascribe to the men of the preceding age a wisdom more than human, and suppose what they did to be beyond amendment."
Thomas Jefferson

--- On Fri, 2/19/10, watchdogs-request at pec4u.org <watchdogs-request at pec4u.org> wrote:

From: watchdogs-request at pec4u.org <watchdogs-request at pec4u.org>
Subject: Watchdogs Digest, Vol 22, Issue 10
To: watchdogs at pec4u.org
Date: Friday, February 19, 2010, 12:00 PM

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Today's Topics:

   1. Fwd: PEC Press Releases (joesummy at moment.net)
   2. The Promise of Shale Gas (joesummy at moment.net)
   3. TEXAS ENERGY NEWSCLIPS (joesummy at moment.net)

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Message: 1
Date: Fri, 19 Feb 2010 07:59:47 -0600
From: <joesummy at moment.net>
To: <watchdogs at pec4u.org>
Subject: [Watchdogs] Fwd: PEC Press Releases
Message-ID: <591c3981ef726fbab09e4534719e5ce6 at erfw.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

PEC Press Releases

///////////////////////////////////////////
U.S. Congressman speaks at PEC headquarters

February 17, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
U.S. Congressman speaks at PEC headquarters
U.S. Representative Lamar Smith, R-Texas, spoke about fiscal restraint,
the  
federal budget, energy legislation, health care reform and national  
security at Pedernales Electric Cooperative?s headquarters in Johnson City

on Tuesday, Feb. 16. Smith represents the 21st Congressional District,  
which includes Bexar, Blanco, Comal, Kerr, Kendall, Real and Travis  
counties.

Smith, the ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, began his 

presentation by challenging the notion promoted by a nationally-renowned  
columnist that America?s reign as a great nation is coming to an end.

?I think that is something we need to challenge. I think if we choose the 

right policies in Washington, if we get our financial house in order and  
get our priorities straight, we will continue to be a great nation,? Smith

said. ?It all depends on the choices we make."

The congressman spoke about the importance of cutting spending in  
Washington, and he said he takes President Barack Obama at his word that
he  
and the congressional leadership want to work with Republicans to reduce  
the federal deficit. Smith also said the most recent budget proposal was a

?source of concern? that sets records for tax increases, spending and the 

size of the deficit.
Smith said the United States government hasn?t had a balanced budget since

the late 1990s. He said it is essential the nation?s leaders begin  
practicing financial restraint.

?In 2009, for the first time in history, the United States spent two  
dollars for every one dollar we took in,? Smith said. ?No government, no  
family, no industry, no organization can do that for very long. Sooner or 

later, you?ve got to pay it back.?

Talking about the energy issues facing America, Smith said he wants more  
alternative energy such as wind and solar. He said the U.S. needs better  
technology to access the oil and natural gas within its borders. Smith
also  
advocated for more nuclear power, and he said that technological  
improvements over the past 30 years should calm public concerns about the 

safety of nuclear plants.

With regard to health care in the United States, Smith said there are
about  
14 million long-term, low-income people in the country who do not have  
access to health insurance. He said that while more than 50 percent of  
Americans oppose the health care overhaul proposed by Democrats, there are

several bipartisan measures that Congress could pass to give those
citizens  
the help they need.

After his presentation, Smith fielded questions from PEC  
employees.Copyright (c) 2009 Pedernales Electric Cooperative, Inc., All  
Rights Reserved.
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Message: 2
Date: Fri, 19 Feb 2010 08:12:23 -0600
From: <joesummy at moment.net>
To: <watchdogs at pec4u.org>
Subject: [Watchdogs] The Promise of Shale Gas
Message-ID: <8352bf86621de6a3f5d6cb42f1f8ced3 at erfw.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8

Energy Central EnergyBiz Insider   

        If you cannot view this email, view it online here [1]
         Click here [2] to add EnergyCentral to your Safe Sender list

         FEBRUARY 19, 2010 

Ken Silverstein
EnergyBiz Insider
Editor-in-Chief

Advanced drilling and completion techniques are the critical means by
which natural gas developers now hope to probe vast amounts of shale gas,
considered by many to be able to fuel much of the country's electric
generation for decades to come. But before that aspiration can be
achieved,
producers must solve the environmental complexities. 

At issue is how to retrieve such vast resources without harming water
quality. The problem is that the shale is a sedimentary rock that holds
natural gas 2,000-12,000 feet deep in the earth. To get it out, developers
use a process known as hydraulic fracturing whereby millions of gallons of
water and chemicals are pumped into the ground, allowing the natural gas
to
flow to the wellbore. 

Advocates of hydraulic fracturing say that virtually all of the treatments
are water and sand; although they acknowledge that the 0.5 percent that
are
chemical additives will multiply and must therefore be addressed. The
potential fallout could affect marine life and water quality. 

Some eastern states with access to the Marcellus Shale Formation are
exploring the possibilities of recycling the wastewater. But until that
process can be commercialized, some state regulators are expressing
concern
about local drinking water supplies. 

Two decades ago, drilling for shale was not economical. It cost too much
while developers couldn't get enough gas to pay for it all. But today that
has changed. Modern technologies translate into more production: One gas
well today can generate twice as much as a single gas well did in 1985,
say
natural gas groups. The drilling footprint of well pads, meanwhile, has
decreased by as much as 70 percent. 

The Potential Gas Committee reported in 2009 that the estimated natural
gas resources rose by 35 percent from 2006 to 2008. It pegs that number at
2,074 trillion cubic feet, which includes proven reserves -- an increase
that is largely attributed to shale formations and the ability of advanced
drilling and hydraulic fracturing to allow recovery of the gas. Of the
total, shale accounts for about a third. 

"We have always known that this shale gas has existed as gas-in-place,"
says Dr. John B. Curtis, principal author of the Potential Gas Committee's
report and who is a professor at the Colorado School of Mines, in a
telephone interview. "But technology has allowed us to convert this to a
technically recoverable resource." 

Overall, the Gulf Coast, including the Gulf of Mexico continental shelf,
slope and deepwater, remains the country's richest resource area, the
report says. That is followed by the Rocky Mountain, Atlantic and
Mid-Continent regions, which together account for 87 percent of the
2008-assessed traditional resource, it continues. 

RECYCLING POTENTIAL 

The process of exploring for shale gas begins with horizontal drilling.
Such a technique starts the same as "vertical drilling" but then moves
laterally. It uses a drainage network to siphon off the available gas.
Vertical wells, by comparison, go straight down. And while vertical
drilling is cheaper than horizontal drilling, it is less productive. 

But if developers want the shale gas to start flowing they must then use
hydraulic fracturing, according to Dr. Curtis. That's because the shale
formations are so far beneath the earth's surface and yield gas so slowly
that it then becomes necessary to "stimulate" the well further by
"fracturing" it. That procedure has proven to be safe for several decades,
he adds, noting that several existing studies come to this conclusion. 

"Of the tens of thousands of wells we drill yearly, only a small number of
them have ever shown to have any proven contamination of water supplies
from the fracturing technique," says Curtis. "To reach the shale
formations, you must go far below the drinkable water supplies and you
therefore encounter water that is naturally very salty and often
considered
corrosive." 

But the problem is that some water used in the fracturing treatment itself
is flowed back up the wells as a normal part of the fracturing treatment.
An _Associated Press_ story says that between 15 percent and 40 percent of
the water used in the fracturing treatment flows back to the well operator
with chemicals in it that sewage treatment facilities are not equipped to
remove. Authorities in Pennsylvania, meanwhile, have become alarmed that
some drinking water supplies used by 700,000 people and tied to the
Monongahela River were not up to snuff. 

Unlike the West where such wastewater can just evaporate, Appalachia is
too humid. Therein lays the potential to recycle the wastewater, which the
_Associated Press_ story says is spawning a rash of entrepreneurial
activity. It specifically points to a facility in Fairmont, W.V. that can
treat 200,000 gallons of water a day. 

Similar technologies could soon come of age given that the U.S. Department
of Energy is projecting natural gas use to rise by 13 percent by 2030. The
objective then becomes to protect local ecologies and to maintain the
quality of drinking water supplies 

"Hydraulic fracturing of the Marcellus Shale will require large volumes of
water to fracture the rocks and produce the desired amount of gas," says
the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. "Each well
may
use more than one million gallons of water. The department is assessing
the
chemical makeup of these additives and will ensure that all necessary
safeguards and best practices are followed." 

Hurdles still obstruct natural gas production. But developers have reason
to be positive. The increased demand for cleaner burning fuels is
providing
the impetus to improve drilling techniques that can deliver shale gas. If
the industry is to reach its potential, however, new disciplines must
emerge and especially those that can preserve environmental standards. 

[63] mailto:service at energycentral.com

------------------------------

Message: 3
Date: Fri, 19 Feb 2010 08:15:19 -0600
From: <joesummy at moment.net>
To: <watchdogs at pec4u.org>
Subject: [Watchdogs] TEXAS ENERGY NEWSCLIPS
Message-ID: <0a7ff9a1713e63955db1e33ecea1557b at erfw.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8

Texas Energy Report website http://www.texasenergyreport.com [1] has been
updated.

MORNING CALL: THE NEWS CLIPS YOU NEED TO SEE. 

Lead
COUNCIL OKS CPS RATE HIKE
ONCOR: YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW DUMB THE GRID IS
HEALTH DEPARTMENT STUDIES IMPACT OF NATURAL GAS FACILITIES ON DISH
RESIDENTS
OILPATCH FACES LITTLE DEMAND GROWTH IN DEVELOPED NATIONS

Oil & Gas
REPORT: INDIAN FIRM TO HIKE BID FOR LYONDELLBASELL
SCHLUMBERGER IN TALKS TO BUY SMITH INTERNATIONAL 
ANADARKO DISCOVERS EAST AFRICAN BOUNTY
GAS DRILLERS FIND A WELCOME MAT IN NEW YORK STATE 
NIGER CAPITAL IS CALM AFTER COUP 
OIL FALLS TO NEAR $78 AFTER FED RATE MOVE
PANEL REQUESTS DATA ON FRACTURING
EFFECTS OF OIL TAX INCREASE DOMINATE DEBATE IN JUNEAU
NEW OILFIELD IN MEXICO COULD HELP RESCUE INDUSTRY 
SCARONI: REMEMBER: THEIR OIL, NOT OURS 
AAA FINDS GAS PRICES FALL FOR A FIFTH STRAIGHT WEEK
HOUSE ENERGY AND COMMERCE COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE HYDRAULIC FRACTURING
SAUDI ARRESTS WANTED MILITANT IN MAJOR OIL CENTRE (REUTERS) 
CONCERNS RAISED OVER GAS FLARING IN UGANDA
FUEL SHORTAGE HITS GREECE AMID STRIKES 
GAS-TO-ENERGY AGREEMENT APPROVED BY WILL COUNTY
DEVON ENERGY TO DIVEST BRAZILIAN ASSETS IN 2010

Utilities
CITY'S SMOG CONCERNS MAY CHOKE POWER PLANT
CUSTOMERS SAY ONCOR GAVE THEM COLD SHOULDER AFTER RECORD SNOW
GOOGLE CLEARED ON POWER BID 
SIERRA CLUB SUES LUMINANT OVER COAL PLANT POLLUTION
REPORT: WARNING ISSUED JUST BEFORE CONN. EXPLOSION

Alternatives & Renewables
E.U. COUNTRIES VIE TO MEET RENEWABLE GOALS
POTENTIAL FOR US WIND ENERGY IS 10.5 GW
SOLAR ENERGY CONTINUES TO MAKE ITS CASE - NOW AS A JOB CREATOR
MAINE RESIDENTS PUSH BACK AGAINST WIND POWER FARMS

Regulatory
MICHAELS: THINK TEXAS IS MAD AT OBAMA OVER HIS ENERGY POLICIES? THE GREENS
AREN'T HAPPY, EITHER
GRAHAM FLOATS 'CLEAN ENERGY' STANDARD AS CLIMATE TALKS CONTINUE
SC LEGISLATORS WANT NUCLEAR WASTE PAYMENTS HALTED
VIRGINIA FILES CHALLENGE TO E.P.A. GREENHOUSE GAS REGULATION Thank you for
your interest! 

Links:
------
[1] http://www.texasenergyreport.com

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