Laws & Regulations

"U.S. regulators this autumn may impose new standards for rail tank cars that carry crude oil that are tougher than the latest design adopted by railroads in 2011, a top industry safety executive said on Tuesday."

"In a big win for environmentalists, the Supreme Court on Monday effectively endorsed the Obama administration’s efforts to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from sources like power plants, even as it criticized what it called the administration’s overreaching."

"The proposed Clean Power Plan, which aims to slash carbon emissions from existing electric power plants burning fossil fuel, may allow some of the most polluting coal-fired power plants in the country to continue operating without having to slash their emissions."

"More than two-thirds of Americans support President Barack Obama’s new climate rule and more than half say the U.S. should address global warming even if it means higher electricity bills, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll."

"OTTAWA -- Years of social disruptions by environmentalists and First Nations, lengthy court battles and a possible stand-off between Ottawa and British Columbia lie ahead after Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s approval of the fiercely contested Northern Gateway pipeline."

"Trains carrying a potentially more flammable crude oil have begun rolling with little notice through Sacramento and California in the last year, prompting concerns about safety and calls for more transparency, but state officials said Friday they have decided for now not to release information to the public on where those trains run or how many there are."

"'What gets everybody really suspicious is that you don't have access to watch it, which raises all kinds of issues about transparency.'"

"Drive just an hour and half north of San Francisco and you're in Drakes Estero, or estuary, named for the first English explorer to lay claim to California."