"Regulators who are supposed to police offshore oil and gas drilling are spread too thinly, poorly trained and hampered by outdated technology, according to a study by an Interior Department review board appointed after the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico."
"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will roll out more regulations on greenhouse gases and other pollution to help fight climate change, but they will not be as strong as action by Congress, a senior administration official said."
"Another BP employee is refusing to testify in the investigation into the cause of the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, invoking his Fifth Amendment right to not produce testimony that could incriminate him."
A round-up of resources: from the recent Enbridge spill in Michigan to multiple spills over time by Houston-based Plains All American Pipeline; hearings of the US House Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials; availability of pipeline maps; Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration info on safety standards, inspections, stakeholder communications; and much more.
A federal appeals court has ruled that the National Park Service is violating the First Amendment with its current rules requiring permits for demonstrations, gatherings, and public "expressions of views" on National Park System lands.
On the National Conference of State Legislatures website, you'll find information on new or proposed environment and natural resources legislation, including consumer laws. Topics include climate change and air quality, water, land use, waste, environmental health, healthy communities, federal issues, and much more.
"Dozens of environmental and conservation groups were pleased Thursday as Solicitor General Elena Kagan won confirmation as a U.S. Supreme Court Justice on a Senate vote of 63-37, largely along party lines."
"Democrats on Tuesday gave up trying to pass even a scaled-back energy bill this summer that would have removed liability ceilings on oil companies, a reaction to the BP oil spill."
"A confidential survey of workers on the Deepwater Horizon in the weeks before the oil rig exploded showed that many of them were concerned about safety practices and feared reprisals if they reported mistakes or other problems." Key equipment, such as the failed blowout preventer, had not been inspected in nearly a decade.
"None of the five witnesses called to testify will appear at Wednesday’s hearing of the U.S. Coast Guard-Interior Department probe into what caused the Deepwater Horizon oil rig to explode."
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