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Arch Coal Inc. has applied for a permit for its Spruce No.1 coal mining operation in central Appalachia, but the United States Environmental Protection Agency has indicated it may veto the permit over environmental concerns. Mountaintop coal mining has been the focus of strong protests from environmental groups, as well as the Obama government because of the severity of its impact upon the environment.

The planned federal rules on industrial greenhouse-gas emissions could delay construction projects, bury them in paperwork and negatively affect state environmental policies to control climate change, say state regulators, who want the federal government put the brakes on the rules.

Greenhouse gases have been classified as a health hazard by the Environmental Protection Agency in a move that has businesses concerned over the economic impact. It is anticipated that new emissions rules for heavy industries will follow.

New electric power plants, factories and oil refiners will have to get permits to emit greenhouse gases if a proposal by the United States Environmental Protection Agency is accepted. Under the rules, new industrial facilities would have to acquire current technology to control carbon-dioxide emissions.

Following warnings by China that a trade war might ensue if countries impose carbon tariffs, United States Secretary of Energy Steven Chu said that adjusting tariffs could be a weapon to protect manufacturing in the United States.

Between $50,000 to $100,000 has been invested in Clean Energy Fuels Corp. by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and her husband. The company is owned by Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens and could benefit from natural gas use legislation Pelosi favors. A spokesman for Pelosi said the investment is not in violation of House ethics rules and does not constitute a conflict of interest.

The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has tossed out a Environmental Protection Agency rule that stopped states from applying their own stronger pollution-monitoring rules.

The United States Senate is pushing its bill designed to curb speculation in the commodity futures market. High petroleum prices have been attributed by some to energy market speculation.

Dominion Resources Inc.'s plan to expand a liquefied natural gas facility at Cove Point, Maryland was approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, but that approval was rejected by the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which questioned the safety of the project and its ability to progress without leakage.