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| SeaWorld says San Diego killer whale is pregnant Tuesday, Apr 29, 2014 07:37 PM PDT  By Sharon Bernstein SACRAMENTO Calif. (Reuters) - A killer whale at SeaWorld is pregnant, the San Diego theme park said Tuesday, a development welcomed by the company but decried by animal rights activists trying to outlaw the breeding of captive orcas and "Shamu" shows that feature them doing tricks. The news of the pregnancy comes weeks after California lawmakers effectively killed a closely watched bill that would have banned SeaWorld from continuing its breeding program and from using killer whales to perform tricks at its California park. "The calf's birth is expected in December," said spokesman Dave Koontz. Killer whales have a 17 1/2 month gestation period. Full Story | Top |
| Senator Reid opens door to Keystone pipeline vote Tuesday, Apr 29, 2014 05:15 PM PDT  By Timothy Gardner and Thomas Ferraro WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, in an abrupt election-year shift in strategy, opened the possibility on Tuesday of allowing a vote on congressional approval of the long-delayed Keystone XL oil pipeline. "I'm open to anything that will move energy efficiency," Reid, a long-time foe of the project, told reporters. He was referring to a bill that would save energy through tougher building codes sponsored by Senators Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat, and Rob Portman, an Ohio Republican, that the Senate is expected to consider as early as next week. Details were unclear, but in exchange for Republicans supporting the efficiency bill, Reid could permit a vote on a measure that would allow Congress to approve the bill of the pipeline. Full Story | Top |
| Washington state governor unveils carbon reduction plan Tuesday, Apr 29, 2014 05:03 PM PDT By Rory Carroll SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Washington Governor Jay Inslee outlined policies on Tuesday to cut greenhouse gas emissions from the state, including a carbon cap-and-trade program, although he will need approval from the state legislature before implementing the measures. Inslee said the new policies were needed to ensure the state met limits set in 2008 requiring it to hit certain emission reduction targets in 2020, 2035 and 2050. In addition to the cap-and-trade program, Inslee also called for an end of the use of electricity generated from coal, a reduction in emissions from cars and trucks, increased funding for clean energy and energy efficiency programs, and a reduction in the state government's carbon footprint. Inslee directed a task force comprised of 21 leaders from business, labor, health and public interest organizations to make recommendations to him on the design and implementation of the cap-and-trade program. Full Story | Top |
| Patton Boggs' latest case versus Chevron over pollution award tossed Tuesday, Apr 29, 2014 04:40 PM PDT  By Casey Sullivan NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New York federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by Patton Boggs accusing Chevron Corp of "bad faith" litigation tactics while the Washington law firm tried to enforce a multibillion-dollar pollution judgment. In granting Chevron's motion to dismiss the case, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan on Tuesday agreed with a 2013 recommendation by U.S. Magistrate Judge James Francis that Patton Boggs did not have legal standing to sue. The lawsuit was the most recent of three that Patton Boggs had filed against Chevron in connection with its efforts to enforce an $18 billion judgment obtained in Ecuador in 2011. Plaintiffs lawyers led by Steven Donziger had claimed Chevron polluted Ecuador's rainforest. Full Story | Top |
| Patton Boggs' latest case vs Chevron over pollution award tossed Tuesday, Apr 29, 2014 04:39 PM PDT  By Casey Sullivan NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New York federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by Patton Boggs accusing Chevron Corp of "bad faith" litigation tactics while the Washington law firm tried to enforce a multibillion-dollar pollution judgment. In granting Chevron's motion to dismiss the case, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan on Tuesday agreed with a 2013 recommendation by U.S. Magistrate Judge James Francis that Patton Boggs did not have legal standing to sue. The lawsuit was the most recent of three that Patton Boggs had filed against Chevron in connection with its efforts to enforce an $18 billion judgment obtained in Ecuador in 2011. Plaintiffs lawyers led by Steven Donziger had claimed Chevron polluted Ecuador's rainforest. Full Story | Top |
| Alstom accepts 10 billion euro GE bid for its energy unit Tuesday, Apr 29, 2014 04:36 PM PDT  By Matthieu Protard and Maria Sheahan PARIS/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The board of Alstom accepted General Electric's 10 billion euro ($13.82 billion) bid for its energy unit on Tuesday, several sources familiar with the situation told Reuters. Sources said GE is not in exclusive talks with Alstom. The French transport-to-turbines group is also set to receive an offer from its much larger German competitor Siemens AG , which said it had sent a letter to Alstom after its managing and supervisory boards had decided to make an offer. Alstom is expected to make a statement about the two offers early on Wednesday, before its shares, suspended since late last week, resume trading. Full Story | Top |
| EPA's U.S. Supreme Court win a boost for pending carbon rules Tuesday, Apr 29, 2014 04:35 PM PDT By Valerie Volcovici WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Supreme Court decision on Tuesday upholding U.S. rules that curb air pollution that floats across state lines was seen as a boost for the Environmental Protection Agency's upcoming plan to crack down on carbon emissions from power plants. The top court backed a federal regulation requiring 28 Midwestern and Appalachian states that cause smog and soot-forming emissions to limit pollution from their smoke stacks before it wafts downwind, mostly to eastern states. The D.C. Circuit court in 2012 had sided with the industry and certain states that said the EPA exceeded its authority by issuing a national plan. Lawyers said the 6-2 Supreme Court decision to side with the EPA was a timely boost for the agency as it moves to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from the country's power plants using a different section of the Clean Air Act. Full Story | Top |
| Study finds Fukushima radioactivity in tuna off Oregon, Washington Tuesday, Apr 29, 2014 03:24 PM PDT By Shelby Sebens PORTLAND Ore. (Reuters) - A sample of albacore tuna caught off the shores of Oregon and Washington state have small levels of radioactivity from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, researchers said on Tuesday. But authors of the Oregon State University study say the levels are so small you would have to consume more than 700,000 pounds of the fish with the highest radioactive level to match the amount of radiation the average person is annually exposed to in everyday life through cosmic rays, the air, the ground, X-rays and other sources. Still, the findings shed some light about the impact of the meltdown on the Pacific Ocean following the March 2011 tsunami and subsequent power plant disaster, said Delvan Neville, a graduate research assistant at OSU and lead author of the study. "I think people would rather have an answer on what is there and what isn't there than have a big question mark," Neville said. At the most extreme, radiation levels tripled from fish tested before Fuskushima and fish tested after. Full Story | Top |
| High court revives rules on air pollution Tuesday, Apr 29, 2014 02:58 PM PDT  By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court handed President Barack Obama a victory on Tuesday by upholding a federal environmental regulation requiring some states to limit pollution that contributes to unhealthy air in neighboring states. By a 6-2 vote, the court said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency acted reasonably in requiring 28 states to reduce emissions from coal-fired power plants of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, which can lead to soot and smog. Writing for the majority, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg called the EPA rule a cost-effective way to allocate responsibility for emission reductions among upwind states, and that the EPA need not consider each state's proportionate responsibility for the emissions in question. The regulation in question is viewed by industry and conservative critics in Congress as part of what they call the Obama administration's "war on coal" because of the pollution controls it imposes primarily on coal plants. Full Story | Top |
| Putin sees no need to sanction West, may review energy ties Tuesday, Apr 29, 2014 02:54 PM PDT Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Moscow saw no need for counter sanctions against the West, but could reconsider the participation of Western companies in its economy, including energy projects. "But if something like that continues, we will of course have to think about who is working in the key sectors of the Russian economy, including the energy sector, and how." The United States on Monday unveiled a new round of sanctions aimed at business leaders and companies close to Putin, while the European Union followed up on Tuesday by naming 15 Russians and Ukrainians to its blacklist, moving to freeze assets and deny visas. "Regarding the second package, it's not clear at all what this is linked to, because there is no cause and effect link with what is happening now in Ukraine and Russia," he said. SIGNIFICANT TIES Though some Western oil companies left Russia in recent years because of a difficult business climate, U.S. companies Exxon Mobil and Chevron Corp, along with British major BP, have significant ties there. Full Story | Top |
| Oregon candidate's call for urine samples latest offbeat move Tuesday, Apr 29, 2014 02:53 PM PDT By Shelby Sebens PORTLAND, Oregon (Reuters) - A candidate for Congress is soliciting mass urine samples from Oregonians as part of his day job as a scientist, a move some see as a novel approach to improving modern medicine and others call just another odd move in an offbeat political career. Art Robinson, a Republican making his third bid to unseat Representative Peter DeFazio, a Democrat, last week sent out thousands of fliers across Oregon asking for volunteer urine samples. Robinson, co-founder of the nonprofit Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine, said he is hoping to get 15,000 samples to help calibrate a machine that could use urine profiles to help predict if a person will develop degenerative diseases such as cancer. "We have to have urine sample form people from all walks of life," he said. Full Story | Top |
| Iran's Rouhani suggests critics benefited from sanctions Tuesday, Apr 29, 2014 02:50 PM PDT By Mehrdad Balali DUBAI (Reuters) - President Hassan Rouhani, in a riposte to hardliners who suggest he is capitulating to the West, accused critics of his government on Tuesday of using lies and exaggeration to oppose his policies, including Iran's nuclear talks with world powers. In an interview on state television, Rouhani suggested his critics were a "tiny minority" who had profited from sanctions and feared losing out if curbs were removed with an eventual resolution of Iran's nuclear dispute with the West. Rouhani and his negotiators have been under strong pressure from Islamic hardliners opposed to the talks with the United States and five other powers seeking curbs on Iran's nuclear program in return for an end to sanctions against Tehran. As the talks move toward a possible deal by late July, the hardliners, many of them hold-outs from the administration of former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have stepped up their campaign, accusing Rouhani of sacrificing national pride and revolutionary identity for the sake of an agreement. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. offers $5 million for Chinese businessman accused of Iran dealings Tuesday, Apr 29, 2014 02:50 PM PDT  The United States offered a reward of up to $5 million on Tuesday for a Chinese businessman accused of supplying missile parts to Iran, and targeted companies from China and Dubai for allegedly helping Iran evade weapons and oil sanctions. In a signal Washington will keep pressure on Iran over its nuclear program, the U.S. Treasury Department said it was sanctioning eight of Chinese businessman Li Fangwei's Chinese companies for allegedly procuring missile parts for Iran. The U.S. State Department said it was offering a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Li, who is also known as Karl Lee. Li has been the target of U.S. sanctions in the past for his alleged role as a principle supplier to Iran's ballistic missile program. Full Story | Top |
| U.N. renews Western Sahara mission, but without rights monitors Tuesday, Apr 29, 2014 02:25 PM PDT  By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council renewed a U.N. peacekeeping mission in the disputed North African territory of Western Sahara for another year on Tuesday, and urged all sides to respect human rights, but it did not call for the United Nations to monitor abuses as rights groups have advocated. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, like the rights advocacy groups, has called for the U.N. peacekeeping mission, known as MINURSO, to monitor and report on human rights abuses in the territory, traditionally backed by France, Morocco has long rejected the idea. Full Story | Top |
| Alstom accepts GE offer for its energy unit: sources Tuesday, Apr 29, 2014 02:19 PM PDT PARIS (Reuters) - The board of French transport-to-turbines group Alstom has accepted General Electric's offer for its energy unit, two sources familiar with the situation told Reuters. Both sources said GE was not in exclusive talks with Alstom, which is also set to receive an offer from Germany's Siemens. One source said GE had offered to pay about 10 billion euros ($13.82 billion) for the unit. (Reporting by Geert De Clercq) Full Story | Top |
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