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3.18.13
Oil Spill
In BP oil spill trial, attention turns to Halliburton, Transocea
By Richard Thompson, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
updated March 15, 2013 at 5:19 PM
The massive civil trial to determine liability for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico
oil spill shifted its focus last week from BP, the owner of the Macondo
well, to its partners in the ill-fated drilling operation.
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2013/03/in_bp_oil_spill_trial_attentio.html#incart_river
Transocean defense takes center stage at Gulf oil spill trial
Houston Chronicle
NEW ORLEANS — Transocean's defense takes center stage Monday as the fourth
week of the civil trial over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill begins.
http://fuelfix.com/blog/2013/03/18/transocean-defense-takes-center-stage-at-gulf-oil-spill-trial/
BP asks federal judge to halt approval of billions in payments for
fictitious 'losses'
By Mark Schleifstein, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
March 15, 2013 at 7:02 PM
BP asked a federal judge on Friday to block the Deepwater Horizon claims
administrator from awarding what it said could be billions of dollars in
payments for "business economic losses" that it says are based on
"fictitious" claims of economic damage.
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2013/03/bp_asks_federal_judge_to_halt.html#incart_river
BP files suit to block oil spill settlement payments, accuses Patrick
Juneau of changing terms
By The Associated Press
updated March 15, 2013 at 7:43 PM
NEW ORLEANS -- BP sued Friday to block what could be billions of dollars in
settlement payouts to businesses over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2013/03/bp_files_suit_to_block_oil_spi.html
Pensacola Beach seeks second BP grant
Pensacola News Journal
Pensacola Beach officials plan to apply for the second round of BP Gulf
Seafood-Tourism Promotional Fund grants, after receiving $800,000 of the
grants last year.
http://www.pnj.com/article/20130315/NEWS09/303150010/Pensacola-Beach-seeks-second-BP-grant
Bob Dudley: Three Years After the Spill, BP Gets Bullish
BP CEO Bob Dudley explains why it is investing in the U.S. despite its
legal woes, and why young women should become petroleum engineers.
Wall Street Journal
By HOLMAN W. JENKINS, JR.
Houston
Mamas, let your sons grow up to marry female subsea petroleum engineers.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323393304578360231786253620.html
State News
Lab owner wants charges of falsifying records tossed
by Associated Press
Published: March 18,2013
WATER VALLEY — A defense lawyer is asking a federal judge to dismiss
charges against the owner of environmental laboratory accused of falsifying
records on industrial wastewater samples.
http://msbusiness.com/blog/2013/03/18/lab-owner-wants-charges-of-falsifying-records-tossed/
DMR's remote-controlled toy helicopter considered a drone
Clarion Ledger
The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources wanted to fly a two-pound
toy helicopter with a camera attached over remote marshland to monitor
invasive species.
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20130318/NEWS01/303180020/DMR-s-remote-controlled-toy-helicopter-considered-drone
National News
Louisiana looking at nutrient management plan for dead zone
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BATON ROUGE -- Four Louisiana agencies are gathering information on
nutrients in watersheds across the state with an eye toward reducing their
impact on the Gulf of Mexico and "dead zones."
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/03/17/4534779/louisiana-looking-at-nutrient.html
EPA cuts deal with Florida on pollution rules, delighting business and
angering environmentalists
Tampa Bay Times
If Florida legislators and regulators will take certain steps, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency says it will back off imposing new water
pollution regulations on the state's waterways.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/water/epa-cuts-deal-with-florida-on-pollution-rules-delighting-business-and/2109235
Major changes for greenhouse gas standards?
Politico
By: Erica Martinson
March 18, 2013 04:38 AM EDT
Signs are growing that the Environmental Protection Agency will miss its
April deadline to finish creating landmark greenhouse gas standards for new
power plants — a key piece of President Barack Obama's expected climate
agenda.
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/03/major-changes-for-greenhouse-gas-standards-88962.html?hp=l9
EPA likely to delay climate rules for new power plants
Washington Post
By Juliet Eilperin, Published: March 15
The Obama administration is leaning toward revising its landmark proposal
to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from new power plants, according to
several individuals briefed on the matter, a move that would delay tougher
restrictions and could anger many environmentalists.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/epa-may-delay-climate-rules-for-new-power-plants/2013/03/15/28e9d37e-8cda-11e2-b63f-f53fb9f2fcb4_story.html?hpid=z1
Obama renews green push, urges Congress to break 'cycle of spiking gas
prices'
The Hill
By Ben Geman - 03/15/13 04:12 PM ET
President Obama on Friday urged Congress to use revenues from oil-and-gas
production to wean cars and trucks from oil, breaking the cycle of gasoline
price spikes "once and for all."
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/288519-obama-renews-green-push-urges-congress-to-break-cycle-of-spking-gas-prices
A Science of Signs of Spring
Naturalists Study What Warming Temperatures Would Mean for Plants, Animals
Wall Street Journal
By ROBERT LEE HOTZ
To chart the advent of spring, thousands of volunteer naturalists are
logging when cherry trees and lilacs first blossom, when Monarch
butterflies and hummingbirds fly north, when insects stir and robins nest.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324392804578362390372836254.html?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_News_3
Fish Populations in the United States Rebound
NY Times
By MICHAEL WINES
Many commercial fishing stocks off the United States coast that were
depleted by decades of overfishing are returning to abundance, thanks
largely to a 1996 law that effectively ordered limits on catches until the
fish populations had rebounded, a newly released analysis of federal data
on fish populations states.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/16/science/earth/fish-populations-in-us-rebound-since-1996-catch-limits-law.html?ref=earth&_r=0&pagewanted=print
Days of Promise Fade for Ethanol
NY Times
By JOHN ELIGON and MATTHEW L. WALD
MACON, Mo. — Five years ago, rural America was giddy for ethanol.
Backed by government subsidies and mandates, hundreds of ethanol plants
rose among the golden fields of the Corn Belt, bringing jobs and business
to small towns, providing farmers with a new market for their crops and
generating billions of dollars in revenue for the producers of this
corn-based fuel blend.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/us/17ethanol.html?ref=earth&pagewanted=print
Tornado debris study could lead to better warnings
by Jeff Martin
The Associated Press
03.18.13 - 07:22 am
ATLANTA — Photos and mementoes that were snatched up and blown hundreds of
miles during a Southern tornado outbreak two years ago are giving
researchers new insight on how debris is carried by the storms and how it
could threaten the public.
http://djournal.com/view/full_story/22003677/article-Tornado-debris-study-could-lead-to-better-warnings?instance=lead_story_left_column
