"Reversing oil and natural gas pipelines or switching the product they're carrying can have a 'significant impact' on the line's safety and integrity—and 'may not be advisable' in some cases, federal regulators told pipeline companies in a recent advisory."
The Senate's vote next week on legislation to force approval of the Keystone XL pipeline may come down to a handful of Democrats, who are now being courted aggressively by advocates on both sides of the debate."
"The U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued an updated alert last week stating that a variant of the BlackEnergy malware had infiltrated the SCADA systems that control critical infrastructure, including oil and gas pipelines, water distribution systems and the power grid."
"The controversial government program that funded failed solar company Solyndra, and became a lighting rod in the 2012 presidential election, is officially in the black."
"Halliburton Co. is in talks to buy Baker Hughes Inc. in a deal that would combine two of the largest and oldest names in the energy business as plunging oil prices send the industry into a downturn."
"ANCHORAGE -- Six environmental groups sued Monday to throw out a federal agency rule that concludes oil exploration off Alaska’s northwest coast has a negligible effect on walrus."
"The U.S. State Department must halt plans to expand an oil sands pipeline route from Canada to Wisconsin until possible environmental harm has been closely studied, several green groups said in a lawsuit filed on Wednesday."
"Lightning strikes in the United States will likely increase by nearly 50 percent by the end of the century as the world gets warmer and wetter, a new study says."
"Two years ago, in a preemptive move, Shell sued a host of environmental and advocacy groups to prevent them from suing Shell over its plans to drill for oil in the Arctic. On Wednesday, a federal appeals court called Shell's legal strategy 'novel' and ruled it unconstitutional."
"Legislation to force the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline picked up support Thursday as more Democratic senators signed on to Sen. Mary Landrieu's effort."
