Air Pollution
A federal court in Texas ordered ExxonMobil to pay more than $14 million in Clean Air Act civil penalties for pollution from its petroleum and petrochemical complex in Baytown, Texas.
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oil
Train Disaster Case Appears to Run Aground in 1st Circuit
Victims of a crash that virtually incinerated an entire Canadian town argued that the railroad is playing games with the courts, but the judges seemed unsure.
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In Israel, Mayo Provides Miracle for Endangered Turtles
Only a handful of sea turtles survived after a disastrous oil spill blackened most of Israel’s shoreline and reached beaches of neighboring Lebanon.
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Damage From Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Long-Lasting for Dolphins
Researchers found the 2010 oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico spewed petroleum that significantly damaged dolphins’ immune systems.
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Russian Magnate Breaks Wealth Record Despite Pollution Fine
Russia’s richest man Vladimir Potanin has set a new wealth record despite his mining giant Norilsk Nickel being slapped this month with a $2 billion fine over an Arctic fuel spill.
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Court: Nigerian Farmers Can Sue Shell in UK Over Pollution
Britain’s Supreme Court ruled Friday that a group of Nigerian farmers and fishermen can sue Royal Dutch Shell PLC in English courts over pollution in a region where the Anglo-Dutch energy giant has a subsidiary.
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Greener Pastures: Shell Plans Steady Drop in Oil Business
Royal Dutch Shell, one of the multinationals that has defined the oil industry, is slowly turning away from the fossil fuel that made its fortune over the decades but also worsened a global climate crisis.
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Russian Mining Giant Handed $2B Fine Over Fuel Spill
Russian mining giant Norilsk Nickel on Friday was fined nearly $2 billion after one of its subsidiaries became the source of a giant fuel spill in Russia’s Arctic last year.
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Shell Must Pay Nigerian Farmers for Oil Spills
The verdict is a big win for environmentalists, who want to see Shell held responsible for one of the world’s most polluted places, the Niger Delta.
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Iranian Guard Drones in Drill Mirror Those in Saudi Attacks
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard conducted a drill Friday that saw “suicide drones” crash into targets and explode, triangle-shaped aircraft that strongly resembled those used in a 2019 attack in Saudi Arabia that temporarily cut the kingdom’s oil production by half.
Read moreContempt Trial
A federal judge in New York “reluctantly” granted Steven Donziger’s request to postpone his contempt trial, set for Jan. 19, to May 10. Donziger helped indiginous Ecuadoreans win a $9.8 billion verdict against Chevron for polluting the Amazon rainforest.
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Norway’s Top Court Rejects Climate Challenge to Arctic Oil Exploration
Norway’s Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down a challenge from environmental groups trying to stop oil exploration in the Arctic, after a historic battle over the country’s climate change commitments.
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Scientists Warn Massive Red Sea Oil Spill Is Imminent, and It Will Be Catastrophic
Oil from a decaying tanker in the Red Sea must be removed immediately to prevent an environmental disaster four times the size of the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, a team of international scientists warned Tuesday.
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‘External Source’ Causes Oil Tanker Blast Off Saudi Arabia
An oil tanker off Saudi Arabia’s port city of Jiddah suffered an explosion early Monday after being hit by “an external source,” a shipping company said, suggesting another vessel has come under attack off the kingdom amid its yearslong war in Yemen.
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EPA Can’t Claw Back Names of ‘Happy Hour’ Oil Lobbyists
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency cannot claw back documents it disclosed by mistake revealing the names of oil lobbyists who planned a chummy “happy hour” outing with senior EPA officials, a federal judge has ruled.
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US Adds Chinese Chipmaker, Oil Giant to Security Blacklist
The U.S. government has stepped up a feud with Beijing over security by adding China’s biggest maker of processor chips and a state-owned oil giant to a blacklist that limits access to American technology and investment.
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Oil Giant Walloped With Fines Over Brazil Bribe Scheme
The U.S. affiliate of one of the world’s largest energy trading firms struck a more than $160 million deal Thursday to resolve bribery investigations here and in Brazil.
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Venezuela Judge Convicts 6 American Oil Execs, Orders Prison
Six American oil executives held for three years in Venezuela were found guilty of corruption charges by a judge Thursday and immediately sentenced to prison, dashing hopes of a quick release that would send them home to their families in the United States.
Read moreLithuanian Railway Fine
Though it affirmed that Lithuania’s national railway company abused its dominant market position, keeping Latvia’s service from participating in certain oil transportation, the European General Court set the fine Wednesday at $23.8 million, a reduction of nearly $10 million.
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Norway Court Begins Review of Arctic Oil Licenses
Norway’s Supreme Court began examining Wednesday a case brought by two environmental groups seeking the cancellation of oil licenses granted by the Norwegian state in the Arctic.
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