On May 15, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held the seventh meeting of the Advisory Panel on Reconstruction of the Legal Basis for Security in his long quest to advance the reinterpretation of its ‘Pacifist’ Constitution and to allow finally for the exercise of Japan’s right to collective self-defense. During the meeting, the members of… Keep reading →
A European court ruled former Russian oil company Yukos’ shareholders are entitled to $50 billion because the Russian government illegally expropriated assets and orchestrated the firm’s demise. Collecting the money, however, will be no easy task. “It is the tribunal’s view that Yukos was the object of a series of politically-motivated attacks by the Russian… Keep reading →
Crude oil transportation in the US ballooned to 1 million barrels per day in recent years as production swelled beyond existing pipeline infrastructure capacity. A series of explosive accidents involving crude oil train cars has sparked regulators to strengthen rules and safety measures governing these pipelines on wheels. “Tens of thousands of these older tank… Keep reading →
Billionaire activist Tom Steyer came under the microscope last week when the New York Times profiled his role in managing a fund that invested heavily in Australian coal. Now a climate change mitigation crusader and democratic funder, some have called Steyer’s former Wall Street activity his Achilles’ heel, but many in the environmental community rushed… Keep reading →
It appears confirmed that a Russian surface-to-air missile fired by Ukrainian separatists loyal to the Kremlin took down a Malaysian passenger jet over Eastern Ukraine yesterday. If it is in fact confirmed the Putin regime supplied the weapon, “there will be serious diplomatic consequences,” Kenneth Yalowitz, a retired senior US diplomat who served several tours… Keep reading →
EPA Chief Gina McCarthy took umbrage with a New York Times article published earlier this week – and featured in one of our News Roundups – that claimed powerful environmental group Natural Resources Defense Council played “an influential role” in designing the agency’s high-profile carbon rule for existing power plants. In an internal memo McCarthy… Keep reading →
The incredible oil production growth coming from the Bakken Shale formation – from 200,000 barrels per day to 1 million b/d in 5 years – has also brought significant volumes of associated natural gas to the surface. With oil trading at higher prices than those currently paid for natural gas, infrastructure needed to bring that… Keep reading →
The American Bird Conservancy is suing the Obama Administration over a rule that would allow wind farm operators to kill a certain number of federally protected eagles for a period of 30 years without threat of prosecution. The group says the rule is illegal because the US Fish & Wildlife Service never had an opportunity… Keep reading →
The Rockies Express (REX) natural gas pipeline, originally designed to transport gas from production centers located in the western US, has reversed some of its flow capacity in the opposite direction as a result of booming gas production from eastern shale resources like the Marcellus. Initially, a lateral pipeline extension will ship moderate gas volumes… Keep reading →
