Tag Archives: big oil

Dutch Court Rules Shell Must Cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions

The ruling sets a significant precedent. It clearly opens the door to climate change litigation against other energy companies, such as Total, BP, Exxon, Mobil, or Chevron, among others. Ultimately, when all the legal maneuvering to escape culpability is over from well-financed Big Oil, fossil fuel suppliers will be forced to increase and/or speed emission reduction plans and their implementation. Continue reading

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2013 – Make Money or Go Broke for Alternative Fuels Industry?

The legal and regulatory climate has turned against alternative fuels. The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. recently said that EPA’s 2012 requirement for refiners to use cellulosic biofuel – or to purchase credits instead – was illegal since no cellulosic ethanol fuel was produced last year that the refiners could blend into gasoline. The decision came from a lawsuit brought by the American Petroleum Institute, which is actively fighting alternative fuels. The U.S. sends more than $1,000,000 a minute to oil exporting nations, many of whom are hostile to us. Continue reading

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BP Fined Again, this time for Oil Spill Violations in Maryland

EPA alleged that BP Products violated federal regulations requiring oil storage facilities to conduct drills and exercises to respond to oil spills. The civil penalty is EPA’s highest to date for violations of oil drills and exercises requirements where there was no discharge of oil. BP, of course, was responsible for dumping 5 billion gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico after a blowout on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig killed 11 men. A former BP worker is under indictment for the disaster in an ongoing investigation that has thus far not reached executive levels. Continue reading

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President Obama Kicks Keystone Pipeline Decision down the Road – after 2012 Election. Corruption Charged at State Dept.

True to form, Obama caught between his political desire to appear to be encouraging energy independence and his need to bolster waning support among environmentalists in what could be a tough bid to keep his job, today ordered the State Department to look at alternative routes that would avoid the Sand Hills in Nebraska. This effectively kicks the political problem down the road until after the 2012 Presidential election. Nevertheless, it does not address larger policy and environmental issues surrounding the tar sands derived oil pipeline. Continue reading

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