Texas sued for anti-ESG laws
Texas was sued on Thursday by a nonprofit whose members support environmentally-friendly policies, and which seeks to block a state law targeting businesses that support reduced reliance on fossil fuels. The American Sustainable Business Council claimed that the 2021 law, known as Senate Bill 13, violates the free speech rights of its members by prohibiting Texas from investing or contracting in businesses which…
New York City Sues Exxon, BP, Shell Over Climate Change
New York City on Thursday sued three major oil companies and the top industry trade group in state court, arguing that the companies are misrepresenting themselves by selling fuels as "cleaner" and advertising themselves as leaders in fighting climate change.The lawsuit comes after a federal appeals court this month rejected the city's effort…
EU Energy Watchdog Sanctions Bosnia over Non-compliance with Rules
The European Union's energy watchdog has extended sanctions against Bosnia for another two years over the Balkan country's failure to comply with the body's gas and electricity sector regulations.Bosnia has been sanctioned for much of the period since 2015 due to its persistent failure to amend legislation in accordance with the Second Energy Package in the gas sector…
The Emerging U.S. Offshore Wind Industry in a Post-COVID-19 World
Join a webinar on June 17, 2020 for the global release of a major new market study on the depth, breadth and growth prospects of the Offshore Wind Market -- https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_UR5uY1boTOKdAAcAXDbR4gJust when it was looking like the offshore wind industry was finally about to take off in the United States, the COVID-19 pandemic…
SoCalGas Completes more California Aliso Canyon Well Tests
More wells passed safety inspections at the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility in Los Angeles, Southern California Gas Co said on Monday, but the company has more work to do before it can inject gas into the giant field the utility shut last fall due to a massive methane leak that was not plugged until February. Under state law, SoCalGas cannot inject gas into Aliso Canyon until the California Division of Oil…
U.S. States Sought to Keep Exxon Climate Probe Secret
A pact that 15 U.S. states signed to jointly investigate Exxon Mobil Corp for allegedly misleading the public about climate change sought to keep prosecutors' deliberations confidential and was broadly written so they could probe other fossil fuel companies. The "Climate Change Coalition Common Interest Agreement" was signed by state attorneys general in May…
Brazil Law to Ban Samarco Dam Design Could Pass in 2016
A Brazilian state law to ban upstream tailings dams, the design used for the dam that collapsed at the Samarco mine last November, could be passed this year, an environmental official for the state of Minas Gerais told Reuters on Wednesday. Anderson Silva de Aguilar, the subsecretary for environmental regulation, said Samarco, which is co-owned by Vale SA and BHP Billiton…
ORB Exploration to Pay $700,000 for Oil Spills
Louisiana company to pay over $700,000 in penalties and costs to settle U.S. In the most recent federal-state coordinated enforcement efforts against oil spills in and around the Gulf of Mexico, ORB Exploration LLC (ORB) has agreed to pay civil penalties and state response costs and to implement corrective measures to resolve alleged violations…
Oil Spill Response: Responder Immunity Analyzed
On February 16, 2016, Judge Carl J. Barbier of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana granted summary judgment in favor of the various commercial oil spill response companies involved in the federal government’s response to the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. The responders had been sued by numerous individuals claiming that they incurred damages…
In downturn, N.Dakota's Oilfield Firms Jostle for Tiniest of Jobs
Oilfield service companies eager for work amid plunging crude oil prices have until the end of Wednesday to bid for a guaranteed job: plugging a North Dakota well abandoned by a producer closing up shop in the No. 2 U.S. oil patch. Whichever oilfield service company does the plugging, be it Halliburton Co, Schlumberger NV or another firm, the job could bring in more than $20,000.
Carolina CAT Leads NC Solar Farm Project
Carolina CAT Power Systems, a provider of service, parts and sales of power generation equipment, is completing the final stages of construction for a new 10-acre solar farm in Shelby, N.C. Scheduled to open in late June 2015, the site will contain 9,828 panels and produce 3MW DC of electricity, enough to power approximately 250 homes, which will be procured by Duke Energy and added back to the North Carolina power grid.
Calif. Oil Spill Cited by Foes of Offshore Drilling Plan
Environmentalists urged California regulators on Wednesday to reject a proposed expansion of the only offshore drilling operation still permitted in state waters along the Santa Barbara coastline, seizing on public outrage over last week's nearby oil spill. Privately owned Venoco Inc is seeking permission to drill on 3,400 acres (1,400 hectares)…
Environmentalists Cite Shell Lease in Seattle Port Suit
A coalition of environmental groups sued the Port of Seattle on Monday to stop the lease of a terminal to Royal Dutch Shell Plc's Arctic oil drilling fleet, arguing a proper environmental review was never conducted, court records showed. Earthjustice, along with other groups including the Sierra Club, filed the suit in a Washington state court…
California Fines 4 Shipping Firms
The California Air Resources Board has fined four shipping companies a combined $146,719 for failing to switch from dirty diesel “bunker” fuel to cleaner, low-sulfur marine distillate fuel upon entering Regulated California Waters – within 24 nautical miles of the California coast. “State anti-pollution laws require shippers to do their part to protect air quality,” said ARB Enforcement Chief Jim Ryden.
Nebraska Landowners sue Keystone XL Developer
Seven Nebraska landowners on Friday filed suits against the company behind the Keystone XL pipeline, alleging that a state law that cleared the way for the massive project violates the state's constitution. The legal action comes a week after the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled in support of the pipeline, which aims to take Canadian oil to refineries along the U.S.
US Justices Weigh Antitrust Lawsuits Related to Energy Crisis
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday wrestled with the question of whether a federal law governing the natural gas market would allow energy companies to evade state antitrust claims made over the western U.S. energy crisis between 2000 and 2002. The court appeared divided during oral arguments in the case, with the liberal justices voicing some support for the industrial and commercial users of natural gas who filed the lawsuits.
NY Court Revives $1b Suit over Russian Oilfield
New York's top state court on Thursday reinstated Canadian oil company Norex Petroleum Ltd's $1 billion lawsuit claiming that two billionaires used armed soldiers and corrupted Russian court proceedings to gain control of a Siberian oilfield. In a unanimous decision that reversed two lower courts, the Court of Appeals in Albany rejected claims by the billionaires…
Kentucky Could Meet EPA Emissions Goal
Kentucky may be well positioned to meet a carbon emission target for power plants set by federal regulators, even as U.S. Senate candidates there blast the plan, saying it will cripple the state's coal industry. The Environmental Protection Agency seems to have listened to feedback from state officials before the rollout on Monday, said John Lyons, Kentucky's assistant secretary for climate policy.
