Democratic Bill Would Prevent Oil And Gas Drilling In ANWR. According to E&E News, “Democrats on the House Natural Resources Committee today introduced legislation that would repeal language in the 2017 tax law that allows oil and gas drilling in a portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The ‘Arctic Cultural and Coastal Plain Protection Act’ would reverse the controversial measure championed by the Alaska delegation and enacted late last year to open the 1.5-million-acre coastal plain of ANWR to energy development. The language, included in the Republican-led tax reform package, was a major setback for conservation groups and other decadeslong opponents of oil and gas drilling in the site, considered the crown jewel of the National Wildlife Refuge System. ‘Although Republicans in Congress snuck a dangerous drilling provision into their tax bill last year, it’s not too late to keep drills out of this iconic landscape,’ said Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), the bill’s sponsor. ‘But time is not on our side: We need to repeal this oil and gas giveaway soon to ensure that the Arctic Refuge’s coastal plain remains unspoiled for future generations to experience and enjoy.’” [E&E News, 5/22/18 (=)]

 

Ohio Farmers Could See More Goods Exported To China Under ‘Potential Deal.’ According to Columbus Dispatch, “Ohio farmers could be beneficiaries of an apparent thaw in U.S. and China trade relations, as the two lowered their swords over the weekend after hurling threats of tariffs. The temporary truce and China’s vague promise to buy more U.S. goods, was announced Saturday. But it appeared to put a hold on tit-for-tat tariffs on a host of goods, including a proposed 25 percent tariff on soybeans. That’s important to Ohio, which exported more than $1 billion worth to China in 2016. The big winner of the understanding could be farmers, including those in Ohio, if China’s promise to substantially increase its imports of U.S. agricultural goods is true. … Other potential winners are corn farmers. China’s pledge to buy more energy from the U.S. could mean natural gas, or oil, but ethanol is another possibility. China has kicked off big ethanol projects of its own to produce the fuel, which can help lower emissions from cars, something that plagues many Chinese cities. Ethanol is made from corn, the largest U.S. crop. ‘It is a potentially huge market for ethanol,’ Zulauf said, adding that if China doesn’t buy U.S. ethanol, it might buy our corn to make ethanol. ‘That may open the corn market to U.S. exports.’” [Columbus Dispatch, 5/2/18 (=)]