A joint maritime investigation by the Coast Guard and the Interior Department is looking into the possibility that the firefighting response by private boats triggered events that caused the Deepwater Horizon to sink and the oil to spew. The Coast Guard’s actions are also part of this investigation.
According to the testimony outlined in a report by the Center for Public Integrity published this week:
” An official maritime investigation led by Coast Guard Capt. Hung M. Nguyen in New Orleans is examining whether the salt water that was sprayed across the …

Byron York at the Washington Examiner reports that a staffer working for Sen. Chuck Grassley (R. Iowa) found this little tidbit in a Bureau of Labor Statistics notice dated March 16 - there is “no widely accepted standard definition of ‘green jobs.’” The staffer then looked back at some of the Labor Dept. announcements:
“U.S. Department of Labor Announces $100 Million in Green Jobs Training through Recovery Act
U.S. Department of Labor Announces $150 Million in “Pathways Out of Poverty” Training Grants for Green Jobs
U.S. Department of Labor Announces Nearly $190 Million …

The resolution introduced by Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) to deny the EPA the power to regulate carbon and other greenhouse gases was defeated yesterday 47-53. Six Democratic senators, however, crossed over to support the Murkowski resolution - Evan Bayh (Ind.), Mary Landrieu (La.), Blanche Lincoln (Ark.), Ben Nelson (Neb.), Mark Pryor (Ark.) and Jay Rockefeller (W.V)

The oil spill has been a challenge testing environmental nerves.

This week has been a good week for Cape Wind.
On Wednesday, Ken Salazar, U. S. Secretary of the Interior, announced that the Interior Department has given its final approval of the Cape Wind project. At the same time, a Massachusetts Superior Court judge dismissed a lawsuit against Cape Wind brought by the Town of Barnstable and the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, among others, seeking to stop the off-shore wind farm.
The plaintiffs in state action argued that the state Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs limited its review of the …

The Environmental Protection Agency confirmed Monday that it will not require power plants, refineries or other large carbon dioxide emitters to obtain permits before January 2011.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Lisa Jackson, the EPA administrator has delayed implementation of new regulations because she faced “strong pressure from state regulators, lawmakers and various industry groups.”

After nearly a year of negotiations with the state’s utility companies, Massachusetts officials announced a set of new energy efficiency standards on Friday in what is anticipated to be the most ambitious plan in the nation.

The Securities and Exchange Commission issued an interpretive release on Wednesday in an attempt to offer guidance to public companies regarding the need to  disclose the impact of environmental legislation and regulation on their businesses.

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Representative Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., has introduced legislation that would prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gases. Calling the EPA regulation “boneheaded,”  Pomeroy further stated that the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions under the current provisions of the Clean Air Act is dangerous, irresponsible and just plain wrong.

At first the course in carbon trading at the University of  Houston seemed like a sensible environmental idea, particularly because the business school teamed up with the law school.  But now that the Obama Administration has just announced that it is awarding clean energy tax credits, educators might be taking a more serious look at the interface between the environment and the legal issues involved.  Obama Awards $2.3 Billion in Clean-Energy Tax Credits