U.S.: al Qaeda has interest in strikes on energy infrastructure

Washington (CNN) -- The Department of Homeland Security and the FBI have warned police across the United States that al Qaeda has a "continuing interest" in attacking oil and natural gas targets, a department spokesman said Friday.

The warning issued Thursday came as a result of information seized during the May 2 raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, a U.S. official said.

"We are not aware of indications of any specific or imminent terrorist attack plotting against the oil and natural gas sector overseas or in the United States," Homeland Security spokesman Matthew Chandler said.

"However, in 2010 there was continuing interest by members of al Qaeda in targeting oil tankers and commercial oil infrastructure at sea."

It is "unclear if any further planning has been conducted" since the middle of last year, Chandler said.

CNN obtained a copy of a DHS/FBI intelligence bulletin that says al Qaeda has been interested in "targeting unspecified oil tankers abroad" as a means to "draw the West into an extreme economic crisis" by disrupting a significant portion of the oil supply for several years.

The advisory says al Qaeda wanted to target oil tankers in the Indian and Atlantic oceans, as well as the Arabian Sea, but the terrorist group "was opposed to targeting tankers in coastal areas with large Muslim populations."

The warning says al Qaeda "believed an effective method for sinking oil tankers was to hijack them and then detonate explosives from the inside." The group thought it would be more difficult to stage an attack from outside a ship, as it could "require several explosive charges since tankers are divided internally into multiple watertight sections."

The bulletin says in 2010 al Qaeda tried to get information about the size, layout and construction of oil tankers to help with attack planning. The document says al Qaeda also recognized the importance of pre-attack surveillance of a possible target and recommended conducting trial runs.

The U.S. official said there's "not a lot of detail" concerning the information, and strikes against the oil infrastructure have "long been part of the al Qaeda playbook."

"No specific attack method was identified in 2010 and there was no reference to a specific date or time of the threatened attack. The global marine industry operates under an international convention intended to prevent terrorist incidents from occurring on commercial ships and in port facilities," the official said.

"If actionable intelligence is received and additional security measures are necessary, requirements or guidance is conveyed through a U.S. Coast Guard-issued Maritime Security Directive and/or Port Security Advisory -- neither have been issued at this time."

The U.S. operation to kill bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan, collected a trove of material from the compound, including 10 hard drives, five computers and more than 100 storage devices such as disks and thumb drives, a senior U.S. official said.

Investigators are poring over the items for intelligence. Not long after the raid, investigators said materials taken from bin Laden's compound revealed details about a possible attack on the 10th anniversary of 9/11.

The material suggests that al Qaeda was particularly interested in striking Washington, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

U.S. authorities have found that al Qaeda appeared especially interested in striking on significant dates such as July Fourth, Christmas and the opening day of the United Nations.

As early as February 2010, al Qaeda members discussed a plan to derail trains in the United States by placing obstructions on tracks over bridges and valleys, an alert said, according to one law enforcement official.

The U.S. official said Friday that "if we discover information that points to an imminent threat, the United States government will, of course, swiftly take appropriate measures."

"As for the oil tanker information that is out there, just like the train information from earlier this month, we encourage our partners and the press not to be surprised that we found ideas for terrorist plotting in the home of the world's most wanted -- and most dangerous -- terrorist."

CNN

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Obama's weekly address: Sticking to clean energy

President Obama stuck to a familiar subject for his weekly address today: the need to develop clean energy sources to combat rising gas prices.

Ignoring the chance to "spike the football" by recounting the killing of Osama bin Laden by U.S. special forces at the beginning of the week, the president instead reprised a theme he has used the past two weeks.

"The only way we can avoid being held hostage to the ups and downs of oil prices is if we reduce our dependence on oil," Obama said. "That means investing in clean, alternative sources of energy, like advanced biofuels and natural gas. And that means making cars and trucks and buses that use less oil."

The speech was taped Friday at Allison Transmissions in Indianapolis, Indiana, a manufacturer of hybrid technology. The visit was part of Obama's effort to invest in his priorities, including energy, education and innovation, even while working with Republicans in Congress to reduce budget deficits.

Democrats in Congress, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, also have focused on energy lately as a potential winning issue for their party. They want to eliminate the tax breaks enjoyed by oil and gas companies, something House Speaker John Boehner has said Republicans might consider.

Hi. I'm speaking with you today from the Allison Transmissions plant in Indianapolis, Indiana. I came here because this is a place where American workers are doing some big and impressive things.

The hybrid technology they manufacture here already powers nearly 4,000 buses all over the world -- buses that have already saved 15 million gallons of fuel. Soon, they'll expand this new technology to trucks as well. That means more vehicles using less oil, and that means jobs -- more than 200 new workers at this plant alone.

That's important because even as the economy is growing after one of the worst recessions in our history; even as we've added more than 2 million new private sector jobs over the past 14 months; I still meet and hear from Americans struggling to get out of their own personal recessions.

A lot of folks are still looking for work. And many folks who do have jobs are finding that their paychecks aren't keeping up with the rising costs for everything from tuition to groceries to gas. In fact, in a lot of places across the country, like Indiana, gas is reaching all-time highs.

So although our economy hasn't been the focus of the news this week, not a day that goes by that I'm not focused on your jobs, your hopes and your dreams. And that's why I came here to Allison Transmissions.

The clean energy jobs at this plant are the jobs of the future -- jobs that pay well right here in America. And in the years ahead, it's clean energy companies like this one that will keep our economy growing, create new jobs, and make sure America remains the most prosperous nation in the world.

Allison Transmissions is also part of the ultimate solution to high gas prices. We know there are no quick fixes to this problem. In the short term, we're doing everything we can to boost safe and responsible oil production here at home -- in fact, last year, American oil production reached its highest level since 2003.

But over the long term, the only way we can avoid being held hostage to the ups and downs of oil prices is if we reduce our dependence on oil. That means investing in clean, alternative sources of energy, like advanced biofuels and natural gas. And that means making cars and trucks and buses that use less oil.

Other countries know this, and they're going all in to invest in clean energy technologies and clean energy jobs. But I don't want other countries to win the competition for these technologies and these jobs. I want America to win that competition. I want America to win the future.

Now, I know that in a difficult fiscal climate like the one we're in, it's tempting for some to try and cut back our investments in clean energy. And I absolutely agree that the only way we'll be able to afford the things we need is by cutting the things we don't and living within our means. But I refuse to cut investments like clean energy that will help us out-innovate and out-compete the rest of the world. I refuse to cut investments that are making it possible for plants like this one to grow and add jobs across America.

We can do this. I don't just believe that because I see it happening in plants like this. I believe that because I believe in the Americans making it happen in places like this. I'm optimistic about our economic future, because for all the challenges we face, America is still home to the most entrepreneurial, most industrious, most determined people on Earth. There's nothing we can't accomplish when we set our minds to it. And that's what we'll keep doing as long as I have the privilege of being your President.

Thanks, and have a great weekend.

USATODAY.com

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High gas prices prompt Justice Department to eye energy industry

Regular gas is nearly $5 a gallon at a service station this week in Washington. STORY HIGHLIGHTSNEW: Obama promises to ensure companies don't take advantage of U.S. consumersThere is no current evidence of illegal conduct, Attorney General Holder says"We will be vigilant in monitoring the oil and gas markets," he saysHe notes there are "lawful reasons" for increases in gasoline prices Washington (CNN) -- Prodded by growing public frustration over sharply rising gasoline prices, the Justice Department on Thursday announced the formation of a team -- the "Oil and Gas Price Fraud Working Group -- tasked with the goal of ensuring consumers are not victims of price gouging.

Gas prices exceeding $4 per gallon or higher are "tough" for most Americans, President Barack Obama told an audience in Reno, Nevada. "We are going to make sure that no one is taking advantage of American consumers for their own short-term gain."

"This gas issue is serious," the president said. "It hurts."

CNNMoney: Why is gas outpacing oil in price?

Attorney General Eric Holder made no secret the move is a direct response to public angst, not to current evidence of any illegal conduct.

"Rapidly rising gasoline prices are pinching the pockets of consumers across the country," Holder said in a written statement released at the Justice Department.

Gas price jumped while he was still pumping

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High Prices, Debt Crisis May Doom Obama's Green Energy Plans

Reuters

As Congress and President Obama spar over spending cuts for the next year and beyond, new questions are being raised over whether the U.S. can afford the clean energy subsidies that the president has championed in several appearances this year and in his budget for fiscal year 2012.

Obama is asking taxpayers to cough up $8 billion in clean energy subsidies next year -- $3.2 billion for energy efficiency and renewable energy programs, $300 million in credit subsidies to promote those projects, and another $550 million dollars to support "game-changing clean energy technologies."

Click here to get the taxpayer calculator to add up your contribution to clean energy spending.

"We say to the utilities, you've got to get this much energy from renewable sources, and then wind is competing with solar, which is competing with natural gas. And there's a healthy competition out there," the president said at a recent town hall meeting at a wind turbine plant run by Gamesa Technology Corporation in Fairless Hills, Pa.

But critics question whether there really is healthy competition among old fossil and new clean technologies when subsidies are taken out of the equation.

"When companies come to Congress or to the federal trough for their renewable project, it usually means that they have failed in the private sector," said Marc Morano, of Climate Depot, a website devoted to debunking the theory of man-made climate change.

He says an increasing number of studies point to deep inefficiencies of many so-called clean energies.

"In Europe, it's actually costing more to heat the windmills than the windmills are producing in the winter in the United Kingdom. I mean they're just not energy efficient," Morano said.

But supporters of the clean energy subsidies counter that fossil fuel production has long been subsidized.

"Clearly there's a double standard," said Kevin Smith of Solar Reserve, a company that builds utility scale solar arrays in the Southwest U.S. "If you look at what's happened with natural gas, oil and coal subsidies over the last 50 years, those industries have received billions and billions of dollars. They've built profitable industries that are now very successful."

Even Morano suggests that as the technologies evolve, renewable energies may one day prove to be more competitive. But that day may be a long way off.

Indeed, a recent article in the Las Vegas Sun which examines a heavily subsidized solar array project outside of Boulder City, Nev., supports much of what Morano claims.

The piece profiles a huge 775,000 solar panel array built and operated by Sempra Generation. Taxpayers fronted $42 million in tax credits for the array -- fully a third of it's total cost. While the project created about 350 construction jobs at a time of near record high unemployment, it now employs only five full time workers and provides no electricity to Nevada.

A spokesman for Sempra Generation told Fox News that the project, built last year, has now become a net revenue generator for taxpayers, and produces enough electricity for about 14,000 homes. The company mostly sells it's electricity to utilities in California.

For some, the larger question is whether the Obama administration, in the present climate of belt-tightening will allow carbon-based energies to truly compete with renewables on a level playing field -- a subsidy-free playing field.

Days before his confirmation as secretary of energy, Steven Chu told an interviewer that the United States needed to get gasoline prices up to European levels, where current prices are hovering around $8 a gallon.

More than two years later, that hope is approaching reality -- a result of increasing world demand, instability in key oil producing regions of the world and the Obama administration's resistance to freeing up domestic federal lands and waters to oil and natural gas drilling as well as coal mining.

The limit of a fragile economy's tolerance for high energy prices may be tested in the months to come, as will the president's hopes for a clean energy future.

Should taxpayers subsidize any energy technology?customer surveys

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