4.8.13
Oil Spill
Meeting set to coordinate RESTORE Act funding projects in Jackson County
Sun Herald
By LEIGHANNE LOCKHART — llockhart@sunherald.com
PASCAGOULA -- In an effort to get a head start on Jackson County projects
that need RESTORE Act money, the Chamber of Commerce will host its
Breakfast Roundtable on Thursday morning.
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/04/05/4574405/meeting-set-to-coordinate-restore.html
BP to begin presenting its defense Monday in Gulf oil spill trial
By Richard Thompson, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
April 06, 2013 at 10:41 PM
The end is in sight for the civil trial of BP and its partners in the
ill-fated Macondo oil and gas exploration well, but not before the British
oil giant has its day in court.
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2013/04/bp_to_begin_presenting_its_def.html
BP to call 1st witness at trial over Gulf spill
The Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS — BP is scheduled to call its first witness Monday at a trial
designed to determine causes of its April 2010 well blowout in the Gulf of
Mexico and assign fault to the companies involved in the deadly disaster.
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/04/08/4577285/bp-to-call-1st-witness-at-trial.html
Federal judge rejects BP's attempt to block oil spill claim payments
By Richard Thompson, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
April 05, 2013 at 8:13 PM
A federal judge on Friday rejected BP's attempt to block the Deepwater
Horizon claims administrator from awarding what it said could be billions
of dollars in payments for "business economic losses" that the British oil
giant contends are based on "fictitious" claims of damage.
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2013/04/federal_judge_rejects_bps_atte.html
Judge rejects BP request to block payment on some Gulf spill claims
Houston Chronicle
NEW ORLEANS — A federal judge Friday threw out BP's request for an
injunction to block payment of what BP alleges are fictitious business
economic loss claims by plaintiffs who weren't harmed by the Gulf of Mexico
oil spill.
http://fuelfix.com/blog/2013/04/05/gulf-oil-spill-judge-rejects-bp-injunction-request-in-claims-dispute/
BP Using New Process to Search for Oil on Pensacola Beach
WEAR
PENSACOLA BEACH, Fla. -- BP crews and the U.S. Coast Guard are searching
for oil on Pensacola Beach. But now they're taking a different approach.
http://www.weartv.com/news/features/top-stories/stories/bp-using-new-process-search-oil-pensacola-beach-30662.shtml
Film to aid in plan to get BP funds
Pensacola News Journal
Nature Conservancy state officials were in Pensacola on Thursday filming a
collection of interviews about what needs to be done to restore the
Pensacola Bay system.
http://www.pnj.com/article/20130407/NEWS01/304070020/Film-to-aid-in-plan-to-get-BP-funds
State News
College, university partner on water quality initiative
by MBJ Staff
Published: April 5,2013
MISSISSIPPI GULF COAST — Representatives from Pearl River Community College
(PRCC) and Mississippi State University (MSU) met recently with state and
federal environmental and conservation officials at the MSU campus in
Biloxi to discuss a partnership that will expand voluntary efforts to
achieve water quality improvements along the Gulf Coast and train PRCC
Honors Institute students to monitor water quality in the region.
http://msbusiness.com/blog/2013/04/05/college-university-partner-on-water-quality-initiative/
Barge accident on MS River causes asphalt to leak in water
WLBT
The U.S. Coast Guard is assisting with a barge accident on the Mississippi
River that caused asphalt to leak into the water.
http://www.wlox.com/story/21903179/barge-accident-on-ms-river-causes-asphalt-to-leak-in-water
Federal appeals court to hear climate change suit
The Associated Press
JACKSON, MISS. — A federal appeals court has agreed to review a three-judge
panel's ruling that a group of Mississippi coastal landowners can sue
energy and chemical companies on allegations that linked greenhouse gas
emissions to Hurricane Katrina.
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/04/08/4577280/federal-appeals-court-to-hear.html
Friends of Boley moving closer to non-profit status
By Jeremy Pittari
The Picayune Item
PICAYUNE — Friends of Boley are now one step closer to obtaining their
501c3 status as a non-profit organization after receiving corporate status.
http://picayuneitem.com/local/x1319126306/Friends-of-Boley-moving-closer-to-non-profit-status
National News
Study: EPA rules will fuel shift away from coal
The Hill
By Ben Geman - 04/05/13 11:06 AM ET
A new study finds that Environmental Protection Agency pollution rules
could increasingly prompt power companies to abandon coal and turn to
natural gas — even if gas prices soar above their currently low levels.
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/292047-study-epa-rules-will-fuel-shift-away-from-coal
US carbon emissions drop as gas displaces coal
The Hill
By Ben Geman - 04/05/13 12:56 PM ET
A switch from coal to natural gas in electricity production helped drive
down energy-related U.S. carbon dioxide emissions in 2012 to their lowest
level since 1994, the federal Energy Information Administration said Friday
.
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/292083-us-carbon-emissions-drop-as-gas-displaces-coal
Crabs, supersized by carbon pollution, may upset Chesapeake's balance
Washington Post
By Darryl Fears, Published: April 7
It is the dawn of the super crab.
Crabs are bulking up on carbon pollution that pours out of power plants,
factories and vehicles and settles in the oceans, turning the tough
crustaceans into even more fearsome predators.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/2013/04/07/a0c29f48-972f-11e2-b68f-dc5c4b47e519_story.html?hpid=z2
EPA Informs Court of Plan to Reconsider Cellulosic Ethanol Requirement for
2011
Friday, April 5, 2013
Bloomberg
The Environmental Protection Agency will voluntarily reconsider the
cellulosic ethanol blending requirement for 2011, the agency told a federal
appellate court in an April 3 motion (American Fuel & Petrochemical
Manufacturers v. EPA, D.C. Cir., No. 12-1249, 4/3/13).
http://www.bna.com/epa-informs-court-n17179873200/
Fracking Coalition Upsets Both Greens and Drillers
By KEVIN BEGOS Associated Press
PITTSBURGH April 7, 2013 (AP)
Like a marriage the in-laws don't approve of, a new plan to strengthen
standards for fracking is creating unusual divisions among
environmentalists and supporters of the oil and gas industry.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/fracking-coalition-upsets-greens-drillers-18901474#.UWKZq5PCaSp
Senate GOP blasts EPA for release of private business info to environmental
groups
The Hill
By Pete Kasperowicz - 04/05/13 12:12 PM ET
Senate Republicans on the Environment and Public Works Committee this week
criticized the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for improperly
releasing private personal and business information to environmental
groups.
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/292079-senate-gop-blasts-epa-for-release-of-private-business-info-to-environmental-groups
Cattlemen object to EPA disclosure
Lincoln Journal Star
There's no love lost between the Nebraska Cattlemen and the Environmental
Protection Agency, and the state's largest cattle organization spoke out
again on Friday about its latest source of disenchantment with the federal
watchdog agency.
http://journalstar.com/news/local/cattlemen-object-to-epa-disclosure/article_9225b7da-988b-58bd-9825-bbece8ab0017.html
Tyson agrees to roughly $4M penalty in EPA suit involving anhydrous ammonia
across 4 states
By Associated Press, Published: April 5
ST. LOUIS — Tyson Foods Inc. will pay roughly $4 million in civil penalties
to settle allegations related to eight accidental anhydrous ammonia
releases that caused multiple injuries and one death over four years, the
U.S. government and the company said Friday.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/tyson-agrees-to-roughly-4m-penalty-in-epa-suit-involving-anhydrous-ammonia-across-4-states/2013/04/05/f54cb9c6-9e06-11e2-9219-51eb8387e8f1_story.html
Opinion
Jamie Miller's transparency and trust plan just what DMR needs
By Mississippi Press Editorial Board
April 05, 2013 at 2:50 PM
Jamie Miller perhaps put it best moments after the Mississippi Senate
overwhelmingly confirmed the 40-year-old Gulfport man Thursday as the next
executive director of the state Department of Marine Resources.
http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-opinion/2013/04/jamie_millers_transparency_and.
