EnvironmentalRSS

  • December 16, 2009

    USDA, Dairy Producers Forge Clean Energy Pact

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture has penned a deal with domestic dairy producers to slash greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by the year 2020, partially through boosting manure-to-energy projects on American dairy farms.

  • December 16, 2009

    Groups Ask 9th Circ. To Block Shell Offshore Drilling

    Conservation groups and an Eskimo whaling management organization have filed lawsuits challenging the approval of a proposal submitted by a Shell Oil Co. subsidiary to conduct offshore drilling in the Beaufort Sea, contending that plan could threaten sensitive wildlife habitats.

  • December 16, 2009

    House Urges USTR To Keep Ecuador Trade Benefits

    Members of the U.S. House of Representatives have urged the U.S. trade representative not to cancel trade benefits to Ecuador despite questions Chevron Corp. — involved in a multibillion-dollar environmental lawsuit with the country — has raised about compliance with a trade program.

  • December 16, 2009

    Colo. Appeals Army Chemical Weapons Ruling

    Colorado's health and environmental agency is taking a battle with the U.S. Army over the disposal of chemical weapons being stored at a state facility to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit after a lower court ruled the weapons are not subject to state regulation.

  • December 15, 2009

    Enviro Groups Seek More Federal Action On TVA

    A consortium of environmental groups is urging the federal government to end the alleged special treatment being given to the Tennessee Valley Authority and clarify the utility provider is not immune from federal prosecution for violations of federal environmental law.

  • December 15, 2009

    Valero Snaps Up Trio Of Ethanol Plants For $272M

    Valero Energy Corp. has agreed to buy three ethanol plants in the Midwest for $272 million, the company announced Tuesday.

  • December 15, 2009

    Khanjee Appeals Ill. Power Plant Fine To 7th Circ.

    Khanjee Holding (U.S.) Inc. has appealed a November ruling in a case brought by the Sierra Club that dictates the company must fork over nearly $500,000 in fines and fee awards for trying to build a power plant in Illinois with an invalid environmental permit.

  • December 15, 2009

    Murkowski Aims To Block EPA Greenhouse Gas Rules

    Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, is planning to introduce a legislative measure that would prevent the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act.

  • December 14, 2009

    Emissions Limits Can't Halt Climate Change: USDA

    The rate of climate change in the 21st century will very likely outpace the change of the previous 10,000 years, even if more stringent emissions controls are adopted, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report forecasting the effects of climate change on U.S. ecosystems.

  • December 14, 2009

    Experts Axed From Wood Treatment Pollution Suit

    A federal judge has banned the testimony of two experts for a plaintiff accusing Koppers Industries Inc. and Beazer East Inc. of polluting Grenada, Miss., with a wood treatment facility, awarding the defendants summary judgment on a slew of claims including gross negligence and conspiracy.

  • December 14, 2009

    Jackson Walker Hires Energy Regulatory Veteran

    Former Austin-based Winstead PC attorney Gary D. Compton has joined Jackson Walker LLP as a partner in the firm’s environmental and legislative group, bringing with him a roster of clients who are front-runners in alternative and renewable energy development.

  • December 14, 2009

    US, Others Launch $350M Energy Efficiency Programs

    Speaking at the Copenhagen climate conference on Monday, U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced a series of new programs, backed by $350 million in international funding, that are designed to boost renewable energy and efficiency technologies in developing nations.

  • December 14, 2009

    Calif. Court Invalidates Water Use Agreements

    A California judge has tentatively ruled to invalidate a dozen contracts that make up a landmark 2003 pact to reduce the state's reliance on the Colorado River, citing funding the state pledged to provide to address environmental concerns for the Salton Sea.

  • December 11, 2009

    2nd Circ. Sticks GPU With Liability For Tar Cleanup

    GPU Inc. will have to chip in for the cleanup of two polluted gas manufacturing plants operated by a former subsidiary of Associated Gas and Electric Co., after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld a lower court determination that the utility provider should share liability for the environmental contamination.

  • December 11, 2009

    DC Circ. Tosses Challenge To CAA Rulemaking

    A federal appeals court has nixed a construction industry trade group’s attempt to revise emissions regulations under the Clean Air Act, ruling that the challenge to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s rulemaking is time-barred.

  • December 11, 2009

    EPA Adds 2 HCFC Regulations To Protect Ozone

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has signed two final rules regulating chemicals in an effort to reduce greenhouse gases and cut ozone-depleting pollutants.

  • December 11, 2009

    Carbon Markets Raise Fears Of Speculation

    With the scope of worldwide carbon markets set to increase — particularly if the U.S. Congress passes a cap-and-trade bill and the international community hammers out a successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol — critics fear the financial services industry will exploit the system for monetary gain and compromise its environmental integrity.

  • December 11, 2009

    Recycled Tire Turf Likely Poses Low Risk: EPA Study

    A new limited study from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency shows that recycled tire materials used in playgrounds and artificial turf appear to pose a low risk of leaching lead and zinc into the air, but the regulator warned that it needed more data before reaching a final conclusion.

  • December 11, 2009

    EPA, South Dakota Seek $87M for SD Mine Cleanup

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state of South Dakota have asked CEGA Services Inc. and Commonwealth Mining Co. to chip in more than $87 million in cleanup costs for a South Dakota gold mining site contaminated with more than a century’s worth of hazardous substances.

  • December 10, 2009

    Asarco Exits 'Successful' Ch. 11 Plan

    More than four years after filing the largest environmental bankruptcy in U.S. history, facing down tens of thousands of asbestos claims and coughing up $1.79 billion for cleanup and restoration, copper miner Asarco LLC has exited Chapter 11 protection, wrapping up bankruptcy proceedings a federal judge said ranked among the most successful in recent history.