Free Republic

Labor unions are beseeching senators to pass legislation that would approve the Keystone XL pipeline by circumventing a government review process that threatens to stretch into 2015. In a letter to senators today, five unions, the National Association of Manufacturers and the American Petroleum Institute say the bill is essential to free the pipeline from “political limbo.” “After nearly six years of countless polls and five exhaustive federal reviews stating the pipeline is safe to build and will create thousands of jobs, we have unfortunately seen political rhetoric and gamesmanship take precedence over policy and leadership,” the groups say. The...

A man who could have coached at the Division I level, but chose not to, Don Meyer had as much influence on the game of basketball as any other coach in college history. Meyer, who died of cancer Sunday at the age of 69, leaves behind an unequaled legacy.... Meyer returned to coaching, in a wheelchair, and surpassed Bob Knight as the all-time winningest coach in NCAA history in 2009. Meyer retired in 2010 second only to Duke's Mike Krzyzewski in wins. Overall, Meyer won a combined 923 games over 38 years at Hamline, Lipscomb University, and Northern State. Even...

For more than a century, the global oil and natural gas supply picture changed only a decade at a time. In the past half-decade, however, the picture has changed with startling speed. That has been particularly true in America. New technologies opened regional production in areas including North Dakota's Bakken Shale and Texas' Eagle Ford basin.

WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven today announced the U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded more than $17 million in grants with funds appropriated by Congress to improve airports in Minot, Grand Forks, Bowman, Devils Lake and Jamestown. Hoeven is a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “DOT’s decision to award more than $17 million to improve North Dakota’s airports reflects our ongoing efforts to improve infrastructure across North Dakota, especially in the rapidly growing western portion of our state that continues to see increased demand at airports,” said Hoeven. “It remains imperative that we work to meet this increased demand...

Not a lethal weapon I’ve done some fencing and I can tell you that the “weapons” involved are to actual blades as cap guns are to rifles.The most dangerous thing about them is the risk of the tip snapping off and hitting someone. It’s more of a risk in North Dakota where it gets really cold.But zero tolerance insanity has taken over every campus. “The current interpretation of the non-weapon policy in North Dakota State University (NDSU) …understands our fencing equipment as weapons,” says the club’s coach Enrique Alvarez.Alvarez has been fencing since his early teens. He says despite their...

Oil production will continue to soar in the six major U.S. shale plays, with more barrels pumped per rig, according to federal projections released Monday. Total oil production in the six regions is expected to grow to 4.43 million barrels per day in June, an increase of 75,000 barrels per day compared to May, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The federal agency expects oil rigs will produce an average of 271 barrels per day each, an increase of one barrel over May. The projection reflects the growing efficiency of rigs since the U.S. energy boom began. In June...

N.D. Official Sparks Outrage With Attack on Common Core Expert Written by Alex Newman N.D. Official Sparks Outrage With Attack on Common Core Expert It began as a quiet plot by at least one North Dakota education official to personally attack and defame an expert on Common Core, Dr. Duke Pesta, who was set to give public speeches and briefings to lawmakers exposing the dangers of the Obama administration-pushed nationalization of schooling. The plan, however, backfired — big time. Within days, the scheme against Dr. Pesta had been exposed, along with at least one official involved in it. Now, the...

Mark Udall, D-Colo., is facing calls on both sides to clarify his position on the Keystone XL pipeline. The Keystone XL pipeline wouldn't run through Colorado, but it's about to take center stage in the state's politics. The Senate is near certain to vote this week on legislation that would approve the oil-sands pipeline, and that's leaving Sen. Mark Udall—a Democrat facing a tough reelection challenge—with an unenviable choice to make. If Udall votes yes, he'll anger a liberal base that has put blocking the pipeline at the head of its environmental charge. But if he votes no, his opponent...

Frustrated with President Barack Obama’s reaction to Russian action in Ukraine, a group of Republican senators said Wednesday they will introduce legislation outlining a more muscular response. “What we’ve seen from the administration is a lot of rhetoric,” Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, the top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, said on the Senate floor Wednesday morning. The White House has been dealing “with the situation after something bad has already occurred,” he said. Earlier this week, violence flared up in another area of Ukraine that hugs the Russian border, as the new government in Kiev criticized local police...

Lawmakers are rallying around the 150-year-old U.S. Capitol Dome, weather-whipped and torn open by acid rain, worried that if an 11th-hour restoration isn’t fully funded, its most important traits could be lost forever. “If this work isn't done,” warned Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., “we're going to lose the dome, we're going to lose it as it truly, historically is.” A big fix, added Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., is needed, “so that we don't lose these treasures forever.” The two Senate appropriators are joining to help Architect of the Capitol Stephen T. Ayers secure the money needed to complete the $60...

Oil production on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota has become so large that it would rank among the top 10 oil producing states in the nation, a tribal leader said Tuesday. Tex Hall, chairman of the Three Affiliated Tribes — Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara — said the more than 1,000 wells in the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation produce in excess of 180,000 barrels of oil a day. Compared directly with state production, that puts them among the top 10 oil producers in the nation. “It’s a modern day gold rush. It’s a modern day Deadwood, South Dakota,”...

Regulators are hopeful that excessive natural gas flaring will soon be a thing of the past in North Dakota. At a public hearing scheduled for April 22, the Mineral Resources director will listen to comments regarding production curtailment to reduce flaring in order to then draft an order to be voted on at the May Industrial Commission meeting. The order will have the force of law, according to Director Lynn Helms, and he hopes to have it take effect June 1 to coincide with the gas capture plans order. In March, the commission voted to require a gas capture plan...

OSLO, Norway, April 16 (UPI) -- The United States can help allay European energy security fears by making more liquefied natural gas available, U.S. Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said from Oslo. Hoeven met with Norwegian leaders to address energy security fears in the region. He said that, while Norway has a key role to play as one of the top oil and gas suppliers in the region, it can't solve the problem alone." The only real, long-term solution is to make additional liquefied natural gas supplies available, and this means the United States has a strong role to play as a world...

...The announcement made it clear that Canadian pipeline backers will not get the answer they wanted in time for the summer construction season, pushing completion of the project until 2015 — at best. The State Department said it needs more time to prepare its recommendation to the president because the pipeline route is mired in uncertainty. A legal dispute is underway in Nebraska over the route and it is unlikely to be resolved before next year.... Speculation had been rampant about whether the Obama administration might try to punt the politically sensitive decision until after this year’s midterms. That’s because...

The Obama administration has extended a key review period for the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, Fox News has learned, potentially pushing off a decision until after the midterm elections.

The Obama administration once again has punted on a final decision for the Keystone XL pipeline, announcing ahead of the holiday weekend that it is extending a key review period indefinitely -- a move that could push off a determination until after the midterm elections. Republicans, as well as red-state Democrats who want the pipeline approved, slammed the administration for the delay. "It's absolutely ridiculous that this well over five year long process is continuing for an undetermined amount of time," Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.H., said in a statement.

You really have to admire the chutzpah. In her 2012 campaign, Senator Heidi Heitkamp worked long and hard to brand herself not as a liberal Democrat, but as an “independent” who would “stand up” to President Barack Obama. Such rhetoric was necessary in a state where Obama lost by more than 20 points, and Heitkamp herself won by just a few thousand votes. It’s hard to imagine Heitkamp being in the US Senate now had she not campaigned so hard against Obama. But she did, and she won, and then spent her first year in the US Senate voting with...

Net oil imports to the United States could plummet to zero by 2037 because of booming production in South Texas’ Eagle Ford Shale and North Dakota’s Bakken Shale, a branch of the Energy Department projected in a new report.

BISMARCK, N.D. -- A federal judge on Wednesday overturned a North Dakota law that bans abortions when a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which can be as early as six weeks into pregnancy and before many women know they're pregnant. U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland said the law is "invalid and unconstitutional" and that it "cannot withstand a constitutional challenge." The state attorney general said he was looking at whether to appeal the decision by the Bismarck-based judge. North Dakota is among several conservative states that have passed new abortion restrictions in recent years, but abortion rights supporters called North...

WILLISTON, N.D. — The blood-drenched man had survived a brutal attack: Beaten with brass knuckles, shocked with a stun gun, slashed with a razor blade, then dumped 40 miles away in Montana, he staggered to a farmhouse for help. His path eventually led authorities back to a quiet backyard in this oil boom town. What they uncovered was a large-scale methamphetamine ring that had found a home in a state long known for its small-town solitude, its slow pace and peaceful pastures. The members of this violent gang were all relative newcomers to Williston. They called themselves "The Family," the...