Legal

A coalition of 69 environmental groups has urged President Obama to “employ any legal means” to halt hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and suggested a federal moratorium until further environmental studies of the practice are completed.

A coalition of 69 environmental groups has urged President Obama to “employ any legal means” to halt hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and suggested a federal moratorium until further environmental studies of the practice are completed.

Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future, also known as PennFuture, has filed a lawsuit against an Ultra Petroleum subsidiary, alleging that some of the company’s facilities in the Marcellus Shale violate the federal Clean Air Act and state regulations.

Legal challenges and other obstacles have caused California to postpone for one year the implementation of its proposed carbon emissions cap-and-trade program, which was scheduled to start Jan. 1. Although still “on track” to begin next year, it has been put off until 2013, the regulator responsible for implementing the 2006 climate change law (AB32) told a state Senate committee last Wednesday.

Legal challenges and other obstacles have caused California to postpone for one year the implementation of its proposed carbon emissions cap-and-trade program, which was scheduled to start Jan. 1. Although still “on track” to begin next year, it has been put off until 2013, the regulator responsible for implementing the 2006 climate change law (AB32) told a state Senate committee Wednesday.

Subject to the economy and some legal factors, the need for added natural gas pipeline and storage capacity in the Pacific Northwest is a no-brainer; it is just a matter of when, not if, according to senior executives at Northwest Natural Gas Co., speaking on a second quarter earnings conference call Wednesday. Earnings increased quarter over quarter for the most recent period and were flat for the first half of this year compared to the same period in 2009.

A federal appeals court Thursday removed a legal challenge standing in the way of Shell Oil Co.’s plans to drill three exploratory wells off Alaska’s coast this summer.

A federal appeals court Thursday removed a legal challenge standing in the way of Shell Oil Co.’s plans to drill three exploratory wells off Alaska’s coast this summer.

Michael Williams, who sits on the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC), has asked Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott for a legal opinion on whether the RRC would have authority to halt drilling in the Barnett Shale.