According to the Washington Post, the National Weather Service is firing William Proenza, who once headed the National Hurricane Center, for revealing to the Post that looming budget cuts would harm forecasting effectiveness (something that can affect public safety and the profits of business).
A leaked draft of the replacement rule suggested Interior would leave handling of fracking data to the industry-run "FracFocus" project, which has come under criticism by environmental and watchdog groups for being hard to use and incomplete.
"The United States will struggle to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to promised levels by 2020, a report from a prominent think tank warned this week, but the federal government, states and industry already have the means at their disposal to achieve such goals."
The Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity filed suit in Alameda County Superior Court charging that the California Department of Conservation's Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources was not following the state's own law.
"HOUSTON -- A federal judge in New Orleans on Tuesday approved an agreement between BP and the Justice Department for the company to plead guilty to 14 criminal charges and pay $4 billion in penalties for the 2010 oil well blowout and spill in the Gulf of Mexico that left 11 workers dead and fouled hundreds of miles of shoreline."
ExxonMobil is the last defendant in a landmark lawsuit in New Hampshire over contamination of drinking water withthe gasoline additive MTBE. Citgo is in talks to settle out of court.
"The Supreme Court refused on Tuesday to consider reducing the Environmental Protection Agency's authority to set air quality standards, leaving intact a tough new limit on sulfur dioxide emissions in a victory for the Obama administration."
President Obama's vow to address climate change in his second Inaugural Address January 21 could actually prove more than bold words. Despite the failure of the 111th and 112th Congresses to pass a cap-and-trade bill or any other major climate change legislation, Obama clearly has the power to limit greenhouse gas emissions himself, using his Supreme Court-tested executive authority under the Clean Air Act and other powers. Key Congressional Democrats are urging him on.
"MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- New federal rules approved Thursday could help save lives at dangerous mines with a pattern of safety violations and put more responsibility on companies to find and fix hazards, the U.S. Department of Labor said."
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