Energy & Fuel

"The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined a request from BP to block payments to businesses while the oil giant appeals its 2010 Gulf of Mexico disaster settlement. For the time being, the decision upholds the ruling by the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans that under terms of the settlement, businesses claiming damages from the undersea eruption need not prove direct harm."

"A remote wetland near Itasca State Park, already undercut by three crude oil pipelines, is one of several fragile, isolated habitats along the proposed path of the 610-mile Sandpiper crude oil pipeline across northern Minnesota."

"WASHINGTON — If the Keystone XL pipeline is not built — and more oil from the Canadian oil sands is moved by rail — there could be hundreds more deaths and thousands more injuries than expected over the course of a decade, according to an updated State Department analysis of the contested project that was released Friday."

"Design problems with a blowout prevention system contributed to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster, and the same equipment is still commonly used in drilling four years after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, according to a report issued by the federal Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board."

Colorado's experience may prove that EPA's new carbon rule is survivable.

"President Barack Obama’s plan to fight global warming underestimates pollution from natural gas, according to scientists studying how leaks affect the climate."

"SAN FRANCISCO -- Environmental advocates seeking to curb Chevron's plans to modernize and expand its Richmond oil refinery sued Bay Area air-quality regulators Thursday, claiming they approved construction based on outdated reports that understated the plant's greenhouse gas emissions and the pollutants it would spew into surrounding neighborhoods."

"Federal safety regulators warned on Thursday that another disastrous offshore oil well blowout could happen despite regulatory improvements in the four years since a BP well explosion in the Gulf of Mexico killed 11 workers and dumped millions of gallons of oil into the sea."

"Will Russian President Vladimir Putin get richer thanks to a sweetheart government coal deal in Montana? Last month the Treasury Department informed Congress that Mr. Putin personally held an interest in an international oil and gas investment fund called the Gunvor Group, run out of Geneva, Switzerland. Team Putin adamantly denied his involvement, but the Treasury Department insisted it was right."

"Hundreds of scientists have signed a letter sent to Canada’s prime minister blasting a federal review recommending the approval of the Northern Gateway tar sands pipeline as biased, Canadian media reported."