FORBES– On a cold December Chicago afternoon John Rowe stands at a window in his office, a dim, quiet, three-room suite lined with history books and sprinkled with objets d’art, including a stone horse from the Tang Dynasty and an Egyptian sarcophagus. From his 54th floor perch he is looking north to the high-rises of the Gold Coast below and the frigid waters of Lake Michigan shimmering with weak, fading winter light beyond. “You can’t sit up here in the afternoon and see the lights come on and not love this job,” he says.

Spoken like a true utility man. Rowe, 64, the longest-serving utility executive in the industry and chief executive of Exelon ( EXC – news – people ), the country’s most valuable utility by market value, is indeed in the catbird seat. While Exelon and the rest of the utility industry has been battered by a weak economy and suddenly low electricity demand and prices, Exelon has a lot to look forward to. Soon after Rowe created Exelon in 2000 with the merger of the Chicago utility Unicom (parent of Commonwealth Edison) and the Philadelphia utility Peco, he sold off most of the company’s coal plants and focused the company on nuclear. He created a generation subsidiary that sells the power produced by 17 reactors, by far the largest nuclear fleet in the nation and the third biggest in the world (after those of Electricité de France and Russia’s Energoatom).

The gas that billows out of those iconic nuclear plant cooling towers is water vapor. Exelon’s nukes turn out 130 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity every year and not a single metric ton of carbon dioxide, the most important greenhouse gas. That’s a nice place to be now that it appears that Washington–helped along by Rowe’s lobbying–is going to impose a price on carbon, either through a cap-and-trade bill that has passed the House of Representatives or through Environmental Protection Agency regulations. While its carbon-heavy competitors would have to raise prices, Exelon would benefit greatly. Under the House bill, estimates Bernstein Research’s Hugh Wynne, the present value of Exelon’s earnings stream would increase by $14 a share, or 28%.

Read more about Exelon’s Carbon Advantage

© 2011 Forbes

Photo by Flickr user Unanoslucror

GUARDIAN– Environmentalists reacted angrily after BP predicted it would be back drilling in the Gulf of Mexico within months despite facing billions in financial penalties over the Deepwater Horizon disaster – and despite balls of tar still washing up on beaches.

The oil giant’s finance director, Byron Grote, told City analysts: “We expect to be back and actively drilling during the second half of the year.” Such a return would be a major victory for BP – which last summer was threatened by a proposed law to ban the company from the Gulf for up to seven years.

“BP’s reckless approach led to the worst oil disaster in American history, but one year later they’re off the hook and ready to take more risks,” said Phil Radford, director of Greenpeace USA. “It’s a testament to the political influence of these big oil companies that right now Tony Hayward is sailing his luxury yacht rather than facing criminal charges,” he added.

Continue reading about BP Plans to Drill in Gulf of Mexico Within Months.

© 2011 Guardian

BET– As the 2012 presidential elections draws closer, the arguments for and against President Obama grow more heated. Last night, an outright shouting match between two of America’s most notable Black leaders—Cornel West and Al Sharpton—gave an indication as to just how important this election will be.

West, a Princeton professor and author, and Sharpton, a controversial civil rights icon, sat on a panel of experts on the Ed Schultz-led special program A Stronger America: The Black Agenda. The talk soon turned to what African-Americans can and should expect from Obama. Sharpton, whose recent National Action Network conference saw an Obama cameo, believes people are being too hard on the president. West vehemently disagreed.

Read full article about Cornel West Calls Obama Mascot of Wall Street Oligarchs.

© 2011 BET

Photo by flickr user Joe Crimmings

RAW STORY– US authorities fined cosmetics and drugs giant Johnson & Johnson $70 million on Friday for bribing doctors in Europe and paying kickbacks for contracts under a UN relief program in Iraq.

The Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission said since 1998 the firm had paid doctors and hospital administrators in Greece, Poland and Romania for contracts and to promote its drugs and medical devices.

Johnson & Johnson also paid kickbacks between 2000-2003 for 19 contracts under the UN Oil for Food Program, which provided humanitarian supplies to Iraqis while the country, still ruled by Saddam Hussein.

Read full article about Johnson & Johnson Fined for Bribing Doctors.

© 2011 Raw Story

Photo by flickr user Be Futureproof

DEMOCRACY NOW!– Republicans and Democrats are already gearing up for the 2012 election, projected to be the most expensive in history. Obama is expected to formally kick off his re-election bid on April 14, and his campaign could raise as much as $1 billion. In a move criticized by progressives, Obama has appointed former White House deputy chief of staff Jim Messina as his campaign manager. Obama’s move has drawn scrutiny over Messina’s ties to corporate America, his push to drop the public option from healthcare reform, and his lack of support for gay rights. We speak with journalist and author Ari Berman about his new profile of Messina in The Nation. “Messina has a ‘take no prisoners’ style; the problem is, the people he’s often taking prisoner are Democratic activists and grassroots organizers,” Berman says.

For the full transcript, click here.

© Copyright Democracy Now!, 2011