Journalists hurrying to get up to speed on environmental or energy issues can get objective background from reports by the Congressional Research Service (an arm of the Library of Congress), which does not release them to the taxpaying public that funded them. We thank the Federation of American Scientists' Government Secrecy Project for publishing them.
"A new study says oil from the Deepwater Horizon disaster is still trapped in Alabama's beaches four years later."
"India plans to speed up environmental clearances and the modernization of the country’s railway network to meet its target of doubling coal production in the next five years, said the country’s coal secretary."
"President Vladimir V. Putin said Monday that he would scrap Russia’s South Stream gas pipeline, a grandiose project that was once intended to establish the country’s dominance in southeastern Europe but instead fell victim to Russia’s increasingly toxic relationship with the West."
"Plunging oil prices sparked a drop of almost 40 percent in new well permits issued across the United States in November, in a sudden pause in the growth of the U.S. shale oil and gas boom that started around 2007."
"Falling oil prices show the 'high risk' of fossil fuel investments compared with renewable energies, the U.N.'s climate chief said on Monday at the start of 190-nation talks on a deal to slow global warming."
"Compared with eye-catching renewable power technologies like wind turbines and solar panels, energy efficiency is nearly invisible. But advocates say doing more with less power may be an even more critical weapon in the fight against climate change and offers big economic benefits, too."
"Missouri environmental advocates who have fought for stricter oversight of coal ash waste are eagerly awaiting the mid-December release of new federal rules that will require, for the first time, detailed data."
"Russia's ruble hit a new all-time low on Monday, dropping about 5 percent as declining oil prices and the conflict in eastern Ukraine weigh on the country's economic prospects."
"FAIRBANKS -- The city of North Pole [AK] filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the two most recent owners of the oil refinery within its borders over sulfolane contamination that has spread into residents' groundwater."
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