Recent Updates
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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...
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San Diego will seek lifting of seal removal order
Environmental 07/23/2009The city of San Diego said Tuesday it will go to court to ask a state judge to lift an order requiring the immediate removal of a colony of federally protected harbor seals from a La Jolla cove. The announcement by City Attorney Jan Goldsmith was the...
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Court makes it harder to challenge forest rules
Environmental 03/04/2009The Supreme Court has made it harder to challenge federal regulations governing timber sales and other policies in national forests. In a 5-4 decision Tuesday, the court says environmental groups cannot pursue a lawsuit against forest regulations tha...
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EPA to regulate mercury from cement plants
Environmental 01/17/2009Federal regulators have settled a lawsuit with environmental activists and nine states over standards for mercury emissions from cement plants, the plaintiffs announced Friday.Earthjustice, an environmental law firm based in Washington, sued the Envi...
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CA Sues to stop Bush's Butchering of Endagered Species Act
Environmental 01/02/2009California's Attorney General went into Federal Court Tuesday in an effort to stop a midnight regulation by the Bush Administration that would exempt federal agencies from a key requirement of the Endangered Species Act, saying the move in the waning...
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Navy, environmentalists settle sonar lawsuit
Environmental 12/28/2008The Navy has settled a lawsuit filed by environmentalists challenging its use of sonar in hundreds of submarine-hunting exercises around the world.The Navy said Saturday the deal reached with the Natural Resources Defense Council and other groups req...
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Court hears case Wednesday on Navy sonar, whales
Environmental 10/08/2008The Supreme Court is weighing whether presidential power in wartime can override environmental concerns in a case that pits the Navy's submarine-hunting training against protection for whales.The Bush administration, in arguments Wednesday, is asking...
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Court says EPA air pollution rule is illegal
Environmental 08/20/2008A Bush administration rule barring states and local governments from requiring more air pollution monitoring is illegal, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.In a 2-1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit threw out...
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No decision on Exxon Valdez interest payments
Environmental 08/13/2008The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to decide whether Exxon Mobil Corp. must pay interest on punitive damages awarded in the nation's worst oil spill.In a brief order, the court said the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in San Francisc...
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Judge: EPA must regulate ship water discharge
Environmental 07/24/2008An appeals court Wednesday upheld a ruling ordering the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate the water discharged from ships as a way to protect local ecosystems from invasive species.The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said it agreed with t...
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EPA dropped wetlands cases after high court ruling
Environmental 07/08/2008The Bush administration didn't pursue hundreds of potential water pollution cases after a 2006 Supreme Court decision that restricted the Environmental Protection Agency's authority to regulate seasonal streams and wetlands.From July 2006 through Dec...