Latest news with #GulfCoast
Reuters
10 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
US regulators approve some construction at Venture Global's CP2 LNG plant
HOUSTON, May 30 (Reuters) - U.S. regulators gave Venture Global (VG.N), opens new tab permission on Friday to proceed with some construction activities at its proposed CP2 LNG facility in Louisiana, according to a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission document. Venture Global is proposing to build a 20 million metric tons per annum plant at Calcasieu Pass. FERC approved the plant's entire construction last week. If constructed, CP2 would be the largest LNG plant in the U.S., helping the country remain the leading exporter of the superchilled gas and making Venture Global the country's largest LNG exporter. The plant has been at the center of a fight between the energy sector and environmentalists seeking to limit future LNG projects on the U.S. Gulf Coast. Venture Global has not yet given the project the final financial go-ahead, but its CEO Mike Sabel said in an earnings call this month that the company had already spent $5 billion on the project and raised another $3 billion to continue work.
CBS News
12 hours ago
- Business
- CBS News
Supreme Court deals blow to opponents of plan to move oil along Colorado river
The United States Supreme Court, in a decision out Thursday, overruled a lower court in favor of a plan to construct an 88-mile railroad in Utah that would link with Colorado rail lines as a route to ship hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude oil daily to the Gulf Coast for refining. The plan calls for trains loaded with waxy crude extracted from the Uinta Basin area of Utah to pass along rail lines along the Colorado River, including through Glenwood Canyon. Uinta Basin Railway The unanimous ruling, with Justice Neil Gorsuch abstaining, deals a blow to a consortium of environmental groups and Eagle County, which oppose the plan. The Supreme Court cited a U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that indicated the Surface Transportation Board, which has oversight in approving the rail construction project, did not adequately include a study of all important issues relating to the environmental effects of the project, including oil drilling and refining at its eventual destination. Such a study is required under the National Environmental Policy Act, known as NEPA. The completed study was 3,600 pages, and the Supreme Court said the requirements called for by the lower court were too much. CBS Writing the majority opinion, Justice Brett Kavanaugh stated, "Simply stated, NEPA is a procedural cross-check, not a substantive roadblock. The goal of the law is to inform agency decision making, not to paralyze it." "They definitely told the circuit courts to, 'Hey, you need to knock this off.' But it was all based off of Supreme Court decisions that have been going on for quite some time," said Jonathan Stearmer, legal counsel for a seven-county group backing the rail line construction. A past ruling, Department of Transportation v. Public Citizen, called for lessening the red tape associated with NEPA, saying federal agencies need not study environmental consequences that lie outside their jurisdiction. "I think what won the day is that our position that we decided to take in the case was already the Supreme Court's position from 20-plus years ago. There were a couple circuit courts across the country that have chosen not to follow that Supreme Court precedent, and so it created a split in the circuits," said Stearmer. CBS In Colorado, there were objections to the Supreme Court's ruling about the Uinta project. "We're sorry to see the Supreme Court conclude that under this environmental review process, the Surface Transportation Board can ignore some of the harmful environmental impacts that come from this project," said Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser. "They take a very narrow approach here, and they are allowing the Surface Transportation Board latitude to allow this project to go forward with some real harms." An attorney for Eagle County, Nate Hunt, said the ruling was not a complete loss, pointing out that there are still some issues ruled on unanimously in the Circuit Court that the Supreme Court left standing. "It ruled on a litany of issues that it deemed that the Surface Transportation Board had violated, not just under NEPA, but under three other federal statutes. None of those issues were appealed to the Supreme Court," said Hunt. Stearmer noted that the potential for damage from the waxy crude that would be shipped out of the Uinta Basin would be lessened in a spill because the oil is more like wax at ambient temperature and less damaging. "I think that's a nonsensical argument. This project would facilitate millions of gallons of waxy, crude oil being transferred across Colorado through the Rocky Mountains on two-mile trains and within a stone's throw of the Colorado River," said Hunt. He said Eagle County and the environmental groups would continue to try to stop the project. But the court's ruling could affect other environmental issues. "The Supreme Court's decision on what NEPA means is going to be nationwide. It's going to affect how projects all over the country are going to be reviewed under NEPA."
Yahoo
a day ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Houston weather: Chance for storms Friday morning, afternoon
The Brief Isolated Storms This Evening Better Chance For Storms Friday Morning & Afternoon A Bit Hotter & Drier by the Weekend Hurricane Season Begins Sunday, June 1 HOUSTON - Storms will be possible on Friday morning, which has been the case for several mornings this week. A few more storms are possible this evening. Coverage doesn't look as high as Wednesday, but we could still see additional rainfall. This pattern will probably repeat for Friday with a better chance for storms Friday morning. This will be associated with a weak cold front dropping into the area. Brief heavy rain, small hail and gusty winds, along with frequent lightning will be possible Friday morning. A few more storms may fire up near the front Friday afternoon and evening. On Friday, high temperatures will get close to 90 again. Low 90s are on the way for the weekend with even lower rain chances. Look for around a 20 percent chance for rain Saturday with a 20% chance for Sunday. The 2025 Atlantic Hurricane Season begins on Sunday. All is looking quiet for now with Saharan dust moving across the Atlantic Ocean. NOAA is predicting 13-19 named storms, 6-10 hurricanes and 3-5 major hurricanes. Now is the time to prepare. The Source Information above provided by your Gulf Coast Weather Authority Team.
CBS News
a day ago
- Business
- CBS News
Tornadoes from Hurricane Milton have left lasting scars on Fort Pierce community
While Hurricane Milton made landfall on Florida's west coast in October 2024, it was the tornadoes on the east coast that delivered the most tragic blow, particularly in Fort Pierce, where an EF3 tornado claimed six lives and left a neighborhood in ruins. A Gulf coast storm with Florida east coast devastation Though Milton's eye hit the Gulf side, the storm system spawned at least 45 tornadoes across Central and Southern Florida, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The most destructive struck Spanish Lakes Country Club Village in Fort Pierce, turning a retirement community into a disaster zone. "It sounded like a plane that fell out of the sky," said Jackie Scott, who rode out the tornado in a small space with her dog and two cats. "I didn't even realize that part of the roof was gone." Scott's home was later reduced to debris. Though she survived without injury and received FEMA assistance within weeks, she now lives in a new mobile home in another part of Fort Pierce. Her original lot remains vacant. Rebuilding and financial strain after Hurricane Milton Scott is one of the few who feel lucky. Others, like Jeanna McKamey, are still in a prolonged struggle with bureaucracy and financial burdens. "Everything had flown away, just was ripped into pieces," McKamey recalled. Her attempts to rebuild have been slowed by FEMA paperwork, county permitting issues, and mounting costs. "We were looking at $20,000 to $40,000 just to put a carport and porch back on," she said. The financial toll means she and her husband have shelved retirement indefinitely. Mobile home insurance, too, has become nearly unattainable. "It was like over $4,000," Scott said of her quote while shopping for coverage for her new home. Psychological toll and a changed landscape in Fort Pierce Michael Bass, whose concrete home withstood the storm, has decided to move out of the neighborhood. He said the trauma is now built into the view. "I got feedback from the open houses that, you know, 'I don't want to live in your devastation.' That's when it dawned on me," Bass said. Months after the tornado, the debris is gone — but so are many homes. Entire blocks remain as empty lots, haunting reminders of what was lost. A warning as 2025 hurricane season begins As a new hurricane season gets underway, Fort Pierce residents like Jackie Scott are urging others to take preparedness seriously. "If it's going to be bad, leave," she said. "I stayed because I had no choice, and I would've stayed anyways, because I was that stubborn." For many in Fort Pierce, recovery is ongoing — not just of homes and property, but of peace of mind. What began as a hurricane turned into a life-altering event, one that still feels surreal for those who lived through it.
New York Times
2 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
Supreme Court Curbs Scope of Environmental Reviews
The Supreme Court unanimously ruled on Thursday that a federal agency had done enough to consider the environmental impact of a proposed 88-mile railway in Utah. The ruling limits the scope of environmental reviews required by federal law in all sorts of settings. The proposed railway would connect oil fields in the Uinta Basin in northeast Utah to a national rail network that runs next to the Colorado River and then to refineries on the Gulf Coast. 'An agency may weigh environmental consequences as the agency reasonably sees fit,' Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh wrote for five justices. The court's three liberal members agreed with the decision's bottom line but on narrower grounds. Justice Neil M. Gorsuch was recused. The Surface Transportation Board, a federal agency that regulates rail transportation, approved the Utah project in 2021 after conducting a review that yielded a 3,600-page report. Environmental groups and a Colorado county sued, saying the report had not taken account of some ways in which the railway could do harm to the environment. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled for the challengers. The environmental impact statements required by a 1970 federal law, the National Environmental Policy Act, can be quite elaborate. Paul D. Clement, a lawyer representing seven Utah counties that support the project, told the justices when the case was argued in December that the law was 'the single most litigated environmental statute.' He added that the board had acted responsibly. 'It consulted with dozens of agencies, considered every proximate effect and ordered 91 mitigation measures,' he said, referring to measures intended to, among other things, dampen noise pollution and protect wildlife. 'Eighty-eight miles of track should not require more than 3,600 pages of environmental analysis.' William M. Jay, a lawyer for the challengers, said at the argument that the report did not consider all the reasonably foreseeable results of the project, like oil spills and sparks that can cause wildfires, as required by the federal law. The case, Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colo., No. 23-975, was argued before an eight-member court after Justice Gorsuch recused himself, apparently over concerns that his ties to Philip F. Anschutz gave rise to a conflict of interest. Neither Mr. Anschutz, a billionaire and Republican donor, nor his companies are parties to the case, and the letter announcing Justice Gorsuch's recusal gave no reasons. But the proposed railway could benefit companies in which Mr. Anschutz has an interest. Justice Gorsuch represented Mr. Anschutz and his companies as a lawyer, benefited from his support when he was being considered for a seat on an appeals court and once served as a keynote speaker at an annual party at his ranch.
