Environmental Politics

"Though B.C. has said the project could net $5-billion worth of economic activity, local natives say they'll give their lives to stop it."

"BP significantly increased its spending on advertising after the April 20 Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill. BP spent $93.4 million on newspaper, magazine, television and Internet advertising in the three months after the disaster, three times what it spent in the comparable period in 2009, the company reported to Congress."
 

"Last night, Michael Bromwich, the new director of the Interior Department's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement (formerly known as the Minerals Management Service), circulated an email to staffers outlining new ethics policies for employees who deal with offshore drilling, an attempt to reform his run amuck division's rep for being too cozy with oil and gas interests."

"The world's most high-profile climate change  sceptic is to declare that global warming is 'undoubtedly one of the chief concerns facing the world today' and 'a challenge humanity must confront', in an apparent U-turn that will give a huge boost to the embattled environmental lobby."

"Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) conceded her primary race Tuesday night after she failed to close the gap on attorney Joe Miller in the ongoing vote-counting process." That means Murkowski will be replaced as ranking Republican member of the Senate Energy Committee.

"The Department of Interior issued a new draft policy on scientific integrity on Tuesday, a long overdue addition to the agency's manual outlining the rules and regulations for employees when it comes to ensuring that their decisions are based on sound science."

"They say the ballot initiative to suspend the state's climate change law would hurt low-income communities already suffering the most from pollution."

"An Albemarle County [Va.] Circuit Court judge has set aside  a subpoena issued by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to the University of Virginia seeking documents related to the work of climate scientist and former university professor Michael Mann."

"The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 'needs to fundamentally reform its management structure and strengthen its procedures,' finds a report issued today by the InterAcademy Council, an Amsterdam-based organization of the world's science academies."

"Five out of nine members of a scientific panel that advises [California] state on toxic chemicals have been fired in recent weeks, following disputes with the chemical industry and a conservative group that targets environmental laws."