Archive for September 5th, 2014

BP ‘grossly negligent’ in 2010 U.S. spill, fines could be $18 billion

Reuters: A U.S. judge has decided that BP Plc was “grossly negligent” and “reckless” in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill four years ago, a ruling that could add nearly $18 billion in fines to more than $42 billion in charges the company took for the worst offshore environmental disaster in U.S. history. BP said it would appeal Thursday’s ruling by U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier in New Orleans, Louisiana, who held a trial without a jury last year to determine who was responsible for the April 20, 2010 rig...

Warming ocean temperatures may not bring rain to parched California

Reuters: The Pacific Ocean phenomenon called El Nino, which can lead to storms in the U.S. Southwest and other places, will likely start soon, but may not bring hoped-for relief to drought-parched California, U.S. government meteorologists said on Thursday. Scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in a report the likelihood was increasing that El Nino, characterized by a warming of the ocean temperature in the eastern Pacific near the equator, would be weak this year. A...