Graham Corporation announced that the Board of Directors has appointed Alan Fortier, President of Fortier & Associates, Inc., as a Director for a term expiring at the 2009 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. Mr. Fortier founded Fortier & Associates, a strategy and profit improvement consulting firm, in 1988. His firm serves Fortune 100 multi-national companies and [...]

The head of DuPont Co. says the chemicals producer expects sales to solar energy customers will more than triple within the next five years.
Chief Executive Charles O. Holliday Jr., speaking at the Sanford Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference, said DuPont expects increased demand for renewable energy sources like photovoltaics — or solar — and ethanol made [...]

New strains of genetically modified corn will play a key role in meeting soaring demand as U.S thirst for ethanol fuel cuts into supplies, a top seed company scientist said on Friday.
Dupont’s Bill Niebur, the firm’s vice president for genetics research and development, said demand for ethanol means the race is on to rapidly ramp [...]

The battle lines have been clearly drawn between the Democrats in Congress, a handful of major names in the international mining industry and the National Mining Association and its coal company members.
The Democrats’ victory in last year’s elections means Congress’s stance on environmental issues has changed dramatically. Gone is the champion of mining and big [...]

South Dakota company said Monday it plans to build the first commercial scale cellulosic ethanol plant in the U.S., meaning it will use corn stalks and leaves — not just the kernels — to produce the renewable motor fuel.
With an investment of about $200 million, Broin Companies plans to expand the capacity of an existing [...]

BACK in 1999, when she was the head of refining at Chevron, Patricia A. Woertz told a group of energy officials that it was time to stop mixing agricultural policy with fuels policy.
In that same speech, at a fuels conference in Washington, Ms. Woertz also publicly expressed worry about the unintended consequences of a federal [...]

Direct Energy Chairman and CEO Deryk King has promoted two members of his leadership team to key positions within the company’s North American operations. The announcement comes on the heels of record first-half profits for the subsidiary of U.K.-based Centrica plc.
Phillip W. Tonge has been named President of U.S. Operations, responsible for leading Direct Energy’s [...]

Now that both houses of Congress have passed bills opening up the U.S.’s outer continental shelf to drilling, oil and gas companies are celebrating, right?
Wrong.
The tough battle still lies ahead. And the whole tale starkly illustrates the challenges business faces navigating the political shoals of Washington.
WIDE GAP IN BILLS.
For starters, companies and industry groups lobbied [...]

Cygnus Oil and Gas Corporation has announced the appointment of three new members to its Board of Directors - Mr. Ted E. Davis, Mr. Ralph D. McBride, and Mr. Alfred J. Moran. The Cygnus Board is now composed of four independent directors in addition to our Chairman and CEO.
Mr. Ted E. Davis retired in 2000 [...]