Recent Updates
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US court tosses water restriction on metro Atlanta
Environmental 06/28/2011A federal appeals panel handed Georgia a victory Tuesday by finding metro Atlanta can legally tap a reservoir that provides water to roughly 3 million of its residents and tossed aside a lower court order that would have severely restricted access to...
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Court hears arguments in new global warming case
Environmental 04/19/2011The Obama administration and leading power companies are going before the Supreme Court in an effort to block a global warming lawsuit aimed at forcing cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. The justices are hearing arguments Tuesday in the court's second...
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Coalition sues Calif. over Newhall Ranch permits
Environmental 01/04/2011A coalition of environmental and Native American groups on Monday sued the California Department of Fish and Game over permits issued to build 21,000 homes on Los Angeles County's last major tract of undeveloped land.The coalition, which filed the su...
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Federal court denies stay for Texas in EPA case
Environmental 12/31/2010A federal appeals court has blocked Texas' effort to stop the Environmental Protection Agency from forcing states to regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Wednesday declined to issue a s...
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Californians Reject Proposal To Suspend Climate Law
Environmental 11/03/2010A California ballot measure that would suspend the state's climate law was failing early Wednesday after most ballots had been counted. The measure, called Proposition 23, was rejected by 61.4% of the voters, compared to 38.6% who voted in favor, aft...
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Groups seek judge's removal from drilling case
Environmental 08/03/2010Several environmental groups have asked a federal appeals court to disqualify a judge from a lawsuit over the Obama administration's initial six-month moratorium on deep-water oil drilling.U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman overturned the temporary d...
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BP wasted no time preparing for oil spill lawsuits
Environmental 07/05/2010In the immediate aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, BP publicly touted its expert oil clean-up response, but it quietly girded for a legal fight that could soon embroil hundreds of attorneys, span five states and last ...
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BP says it will pay for Gulf spill's cleanup
Environmental 05/03/2010BP PLC said Monday that it will pay for all the cleanup costs from a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that could continue spewing crude for at least another week.The company posted a fact sheet on its Web site saying it took responsibility for...
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Dentist pleads guilty to dumping waste in NJ ocean
Environmental 03/15/2010A Pennsylvania dentist has pleaded guilty to dumping medical waste into the ocean, causing numerous beach closures in New Jersey.Thomas McFarland had unsuccessfully sought to enter a pretrial intervention program that would have spared him a criminal...
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U.S. court reinstates emissions suit vs. utilities
Environmental 09/22/2009A U.S. Appeals Court reinstated on Monday a 2004 lawsuit by eight states and the city of New York against five of the largest U.S. utilities over their carbon dioxide emissions.The lawsuit was dismissed in October 2005 by U.S. District Court Judge Lo...
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Ship operator pleads guilty in SF Bay oil spill
Environmental 08/15/2009The Hong Kong-based company that operates the cargo ship that caused a 2007 oil spill in San Francisco Bay pleaded guilty Thursday to criminal charges. Fleet Management Ltd. pleaded guilty to charges of obstruction, making false statements and neglig...
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Court blocks road construction in national forests
Environmental 08/06/2009A federal appeals court Wednesday blocked road construction in at least 40 million acres of pristine national forests.The decision by a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reinstates most of a 2001 rule put in place by President Bil...