Environmental groups, including the Sierra Club and Earthjustice, sued the Biden administration Monday to stop the sale of oil and gas drilling rights in the Gulf of Mexico. The lawsuit, filed in Washington, DC federal court, seeks to prevent the auction of approximately 13,600 blocks on 73.3 million acres by the U.S. Department of the […]
What happens to oil after an oil spill? Previously, scientists have focused on one of three fates: it is degraded by microorganisms, it evaporates or it ends up on the beach. But a new study of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico reveals another option. Almost 10 percent of the […]
In a huge win for environmental groups, a federal judge has canceled more than 80 million acres of oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico. Judge Rudolph Contreras of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the Biden administration failed to sufficiently take climate change into consideration when […]
By Jessica Corbett As Louisiana residents and officials begin the recovery process in the wake of Hurricane Ida, environmental campaigners responded Thursday to reporting of a suspected oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico by saying such scenes “are reminders that when we drill, we spill.” “On top of the devastation that people are still […]
By Julia Conley A fire that raged for hours in the Gulf of Mexico Friday offered the latest illustration of the climate emergency and the urgent need to end fossil fuel extraction and invest instead in burgeoning renewable energy industries. An underwater gas pipeline controlled by Mexico’s state-owned oil company, Petroleos Mexicanos, also known as […]
By Karen L. Smith-Janssen Colette Pichon Battle gave a December 2019 TEDWomen Talk on the stark realities of climate change displacement, and people took notice. The video racked up a million views in about two weeks. The attorney, founder, and executive director of the Gulf Coast Center for Law & Policy (GCCLP) advocates for climate […]
Last week’s projections that two tropical storms will wallop the Gulf Coast simultaneously will not pan out, as Tropical Storm Laura veered away from Florida and slowed down slightly. Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Marco has stayed the course, but lost strength as it barrels towards Louisiana and Texas, according to CNN. On Sunday night, Marco was […]
The devastation to lives and homes caused by Hurricane Katrina masked a massive crude oil spill that the hurricane caused by damaging rigs and storage tanks in the Gulf of Mexico. The damage was made worse a few weeks later when Hurricane Rita struck the area. The federal regulators that oversee oil and gas operation […]
By Nik Martin A vast expanse of brown seaweed stretching across the Atlantic is a threat to tourism but a boon to marine life, U.S. researchers have said. A report by the University of South Florida, published on Thursday, showed satellite images of the biggest ever bloom of the sargassum seaweed, which last year extended […]