Colombia and Ecuador battle to protect vital wetlands during drought
As water and energy restrictions hit both countries, rural communities in Colombia and Ecuador fight to protect fragile high altitude wetlands which regulate the area's waters cycles. Scientists say that climate change and human activity have exacerbated the effects of El Nino, which has led to drought in Colombia and Ecuador. The grassroots activists of the two countries have worked with international advocacy groups such as Conservation International to save water and protect the high altitude wetlands called paramos.
U.S. Climate Bill Exempts most of Oil Industry from Methane Fees
The U.S. Senate climate bill’s fee on oil and gas industry methane emissions will cover less than half the sector’s releases of the powerful greenhouse gas, thanks to concessions made to win over party holdout Joe Manchin, according to a review of the legislation and interviews with lawmakers that negotiated it.The reduced scope of the fee is among numerous changes made by Senate Democratic leadership to secure a deal on the hard-won Inflation Reduction Act, which is being hailed as the biggest climate package in U.S.
Exxon Suspended from Climate Advocacy Group It Helped Form
Exxon Mobil Corp was suspended from advocacy group Climate Leadership Council (CLC) that looks to make policies to address climate change, the CLC said on Friday.The move comes a little over a month after an Exxon lobbyist said the company supports a carbon tax publicly because the plan to curb climate change would never gain enough political support to be adopted.
WFO Launches Floating Offshore Wind Committee
Global industry advocacy group World Forum Offshore Wind (WFO) has created a new working group - the Floating Offshore Wind Committee (FOWC) - to promote the acceleration of commercial-scale floating offshore wind.FOWC will tackle areas from policy-making through health and safety to maritime spatial planning.According to WFO, the new initiative aims outperforming the installed capacity and cost competitiveness seen with bottom-fixed offshore wind today.
Drilling Ban Proposals Divide Democrats
In the southeast corner of New Mexico, new houses, hotels and jobs are sprouting like flowers in the desert. Trucks hauling equipment and laborers jam once-barren highways on the way to thousands of oil rigs.The Democrats who control the state's government have lofty plans for the billions of dollars in projected tax revenues from the drilling industry in the Permian Basin, the world’s biggest oil field, starting with an overhaul of New Mexico's ailing public education system.
ADNOC Logistics Joins LNG MFI
The LNG Marine Fuel Institute, a non for profit organization based in Perth, announced the membership of ADNOC Logistics & Services with the growing coalition of companies committed to Australian LNG is the primary marine fuel in transition to carbon free shipping.Captain Mohamed Al Ali, Senior Vice President - Ship Management at ADNOC Logistics & Services said: “Our partnership with LNG MFI will add value for the development of LNG as a marine fuel…
HazSub Spill Response Plans
On August 18, 1990, the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90) was enacted into law. Section 4202 of that Act amended the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA or Clean Water Act) to require tank vessels and marine transportation-related facilities to prepare and submit to the US Coast Guard plans for responding, to the maximum extent practicable, to a worse case discharge, and to a substantial threat of such a discharge, of oil or a hazardous substance carried in bulk as cargo.
Singapore MPA, Société Générale Join LNG Advocacy Group
The liquefied natural gas (LNG) advocacy group SEA\LNG has announced the appointment of Paul Taylor representing Société Générale and Capt M. Segar representing MPA (The Maritime and Port Authority) of Singapore as Directors of SEA\LNG Ltd.Following elections last December, Tahir Faruqui and Xavier Pfeuty also join the SEA\LNG Board as new directors representing Shell and Total Marine Fuels respectively.Welcoming them to the Board, reappointed Chairman Peter Keller said: “2018 was an exciting year for the LNG industry and our coalition.
Trump Rails Against Oil Prices, OPEC Pushes Back
U.S. President Donald Trump accused OPEC on Friday of "artificially" boosting oil prices, drawing rebukes from some of the world's top energy exporters."Looks like OPEC is at it again. With record amounts of Oil all over the place, including the fully loaded ships at sea. Oil prices are artificially Very High! No good and will not be accepted!" Trump wrote on Twitter.It was unclear what triggered the tweet, Trump's first mention of OPEC on social media during his term.U.S.
Trump Orders EPA to Speed Air Quality Permits
U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to speed up its decision-making on air quality permitting to make it easier for manufacturers to expand and open new plants. "These actions are intended to ensure that EPA carries out its core missions of protecting the environment and improving air quality in accord with statutory requirements, while reducing unnecessary impediments to new manufacturing and business expansion essential for a growing economy," Trump said in a memorandum.
New Projects in Brazil's Amazon? Not Without Congressional Approval, says court
Brazil's government has been told that development projects, including hydropower dams, in protected areas can no longer go ahead without the prior approval of lawmakers. Last week's ruling by the supreme court followed the use by the government in recent years of the controversial "provisional measure", a legal instrument that allowed the president to approve projects by reducing the size of protected areas. Campaigners said the decision should ensure the country's forests and reserves, including the Amazon rainforest, were better protected.
Energy Industry Says 'No Thanks' to Trump Offer of Marine Sanctuaries
In a bid to boost energy development, U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is considering shrinking or eliminating 11 marine sanctuaries designed to protect 425 million acres of coral reefs, marine mammal habitats and pristine beaches. The review is part of a broader strategy to open new areas to oil and gas drilling and “put the energy needs of American families and businesses first,” according to the order Trump signed in April that triggered it. But interviews with energy industry representatives signal the effort will likely miss its target.
Oil/Chemical Spills from Harvey Are Big, but Dwarfed by Katrina
More than 22,000 barrels of oil, refined fuels and chemicals spilled at sites across Texas in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, along with millions of cubic feet of natural gas and hundreds of tons of other toxic substances, a Reuters review of company reports to the U.S. Coast Guard shows. The spills, clustered around the heart of the U.S. oil industry, together rank among the worst environmental mishaps in the country in years, but fall far short of the roughly 190…
US Gasoline Prices Climb as Refineries Gradually Restart
U.S. retail gasoline prices climbed Tuesday, even as oil refineries rumbled back into service after Hurricane Harvey disrupted operations along the Texas coast. The average gasoline price was $2.648, 30.2 cents higher than a month ago, according to motorist advocacy group AAA. Gasoline prices normally retreat after the U.S. Labor Day holiday weekend. Benchmark U.S. gasoline futures fell more than 3 percent, however, as refineries restarted. U.S. oil refiners are estimated to have 3.67 million barrels a day of capacity shut during the week to Sept.
Retail Gasoline Prices Surge in Harvey's Choppy Wake
Nearly a quarter of U.S. refining capacity out; Motiva down for two weeks; Corpus Christi starts to reopen. Retail U.S. gasoline prices hit two-year highs and global shipping routes were scrambled as the nation's largest refiners remained shut on Friday, even as Harvey was losing strength. Major fuel pipelines feeding the U.S. Northeast and Midwest have been either closed or severely curtailed, prompting shortages in some areas and dramatic spikes in wholesale prices.
U.S. Biofuels Mandates Under High Stakes Scrutiny
U.S. biofuels regulations, which mandate mixing corn-based ethanol into gasoline, have lately drawn together a diverse cast of political opponents. They include an upstart gas station owners' trade group, a former Obama administration environmental adviser and billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn, who owns a refiner and served as U.S. President Donald Trump's special advisor on business regulation - until he resigned Friday amid allegations of a conflict of interest.
Record Number of U.S. Motorists Forcasted for July 4 holiday
The number of Americans traveling by car for the Fourth of July holiday will hit a record high this year, fueled by a growing economy and relatively low gasoline prices, the nation's largest motorists' advocacy group said on Thursday. The forecast for strong driving numbers will be welcomed by U.S. refiners, which are banking on summer driving season to draw down high product inventories and resurrect margins from seasonal lows. Oil prices have sagged in recent weeks because of a glut of supply worldwide…
Green Power Law Impacting U.S. Utilities
In the last four years, North Carolina has become the second largest solar market in the United States, behind only California. It has installed more solar energy than Texas, which has nearly three times the population; more than Arizona, which has twice as many sunny days; and more than New York, which has far more aggressive renewable energy targets. North Carolina’s solar boom is rooted in a federal law enacted four decades ago – one that has only recently had much impact.
U.S. Senate set to Grill Trump's EPA Pick
Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, President-elect Donald Trump's choice to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, will face tough questions from lawmakers on Wednesday about his ties to the energy industry, in what is expected to be another highly contentious confirmation hearing for Trump's Cabinet-in-waiting. Pruitt, 48, is a climate change skeptic who sued the agency he intends to run more than a dozen times as Oklahoma's top prosecutor…
Senate Panel Questions Trump's EPA Pick Over Energy Ties
Democratic Senators quizzed Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, President-elect Donald Trump's choice to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, over his energy industry ties, during a contentious confirmation hearing on Wednesday that was occasionally interrupted by protests. Pruitt, 48, is a climate change skeptic who sued the agency he intends to run more than a dozen times as Oklahoma's top prosecutor. He also chaired the Rule of Law Defense Fund, a group of conservative attorneys general that vehemently opposed a number of EPA regulations.
