Some 30 energy companies are off the hook for now. "So many members of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals have recused themselves from a rehearing of a lawsuit that charges energy companies with contributing to the effects of Hurricane Katrina by emitting greenhouse gases that the court cannot conduct the rehearing."
California Republican Richard Pombo, who was ousted by voters in 2007 from the Congressional seat from which he championed extraction over environment, is trying to return. A tight four-way primary this week will be key.
"The Obama administration said Tuesday that it had begun civil and criminal investigations into the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, as the deepening crisis threatened to define President Obama’s second year in office."
The BP Gulf oil spill is inspiring re-evaluation of how to prevent low-probability but highly catastrophic environmental risks. In Oregon, the terminals and pipelines proposed for handling imported liquified natural gas are getting a very hard look.
"The Center for Biological Diversity Thursday filed a lawsuit against Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and the Minerals Management Service to strike down the agency's exemption of 49 Gulf of Mexico drilling projects from all environmental review."
"The Obama administration scrambled to respond on Sunday after the failure of the latest effort to kill the gushing oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. But administration officials acknowledged the possibility that tens of thousands of gallons of oil might continue pouring out until August, when two relief wells are scheduled to be completed."
"President Barack Obama Thursday rejected charges he was slow to respond to the Gulf of Mexico "tragedy" and clamped down on the oil industry, as he tried to contain political blowback from the crisis."
"MIAMI — Facing more than 100 lawsuits after its Gulf of Mexico oil spill killed 11 workers and threatened four coastal states, oil giant BP is asking the courts to place every pre-trial issue in the hands of a single federal judge in Houston. That judge, U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes, has traveled the world giving lectures on ethics for the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, a professional association and research group that works with BP and other oil companies. The organization pays his travel expenses."
"Colorado Democrat Diana DeGette withdrew a proposed amendment today from House water legislation that would have expanded regulation of a controversial oil and gas production technique some say has contributed to groundwater pollution."
"The smart grid of the future will require new rivers of data flowing between utilities and customers. But who will carry the data, and how will it be channeled?"
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