Green Options » laws

Interior Sued to Obtain Oil Royalty Revenue Information

Ruedigar Matthes — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 22:08:18 +0000

Is the U.S. Interior Department wrongly withholding information that will reveal whether taxpayers are being ripped off in a controversial oil and gas royalty program? Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) seem to think so, according to a lawsuit they filed today. Interior claims that disclosure of bidding and contracting information about its Royalty-In-Kind (RIK) sales would reveal oil company trade secrets.

The Royalty-In-Kind Program is responsible for managing Minerals Revenue Management’s (MRM) commercial oil and gas sales activity. The RIK Program is currently selling over 800,000 MM-Btu of natural gas per day and over 150,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

Simply put, Interior acts as an oil broker, selling this oil and gas in order to obtain its shares. Royalty payments on oil and gas from offshore tracts and public lands are one of the federal government’s greatest sources of non-tax revenues, making over $4 billion in 2007. RIK allows companies to pay federal royalties in the form of oil or natural gas rather than cash.

An investigation last September found that Interior employees (19 RIK marketers and other RIK employees - approximately 1/3 of the entire RIK staff) were engaging in sex and drug parties with oil officials, and 8 of the 19 employees received gifts exceeding the allowable limit.

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Malaysian State Mulls Shark Finning Ban After Boycott Threat

Alex Felsinger — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 19:47:25 +0000

Sabah, a large Malaysian state, is considering banning the practice of shark finning after scuba divers threatened to boycott the country.

The Semporna Tourism Action Council proposed the ban because they believe sharks are largely responsible for the area’s booming touring industry. The council includes members of the Sabah Fisheries Department, Sabah Tourism Board, and even a representative of the World Wildlife Fund.

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The Twelve Days of sustainablog: Email, Passover, and Water

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 01:19:34 +0000

Spring sprang with a vengeance in April, and despite the bouts of Spring fever, we took our laptops outside to enjoy the new season while keeping the posts flowing.

No foolishness here… just good stories from the wide world of sustainability. Here’s a few of our best…

April 2008

Kelli Best-Oliver introduced us to Readymade magazine’s new digital edition.
Tim Hurst looked forward to the ROTHBURY Music Festival, and the green practices that festival organizers were putting into place.
Bill Chameides from Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment explained how renewable energy sources can help conserve water.

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Prohibited Green Technologies

Philip Proefrock — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 14:48:54 +0000

Green technologies make good sense to most of us, but incomplete or uncoordinated implementation can lead to circumstances where green technologies are not able to provide the full benefits that they can. In some instances, regulatory requirements can even lead to making green technologies counterproductive.

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Garbage Pollution Not Just A Modern Issue

Michael dEstries — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 19:22:53 +0000

I live in a college town, and as such, have to deal with a massive amount of pollution from students more interested making it home in a drunken stupor than what to properly do with that bottle of J.D. in their hands. Alas, it's me, a garbage bag, and the occasional cleanup to avoid becoming awash in crap.

According to Italian researchers, such acts of pollution have been a problem since the early days of Rome. Two inscriptions were discovered late last month warning against garbage dumping in the ancient Roman town of Herculaneum.

Using infrared reflectography, the researchers discovered decrees by two joint magistrates, Rufellius Romanus and Tetteius Severus, promising swift punishment with fines or lashes. From the article,

"The town's social makeup was rather different from Pompeii's. But the fact that 'no dumping' decrees were repeated over and over on the board, means that this was a serious problem in the town," Herculaneum scholar Mario Pagano told Discovery News."

Hmmm…perhaps it's time we honored the same traditions and put lashes back into the system? I jest, but I'm sure your average college student would be quick to recycle that bottle of beer, rather than throw it on my front lawn. "When in Rome…."

Article Link: Ancient Italian Decree: No Dumping