ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS

• Supreme Court to Hear Exxon Valdez Case
• EPA Head Won't Talk About WH Waiver Role
• Great Lakes Funding Called Inadequate
• Coal Industry Spending on Election Ads
• Ethanol Fuels Fire Concerns
• Truffle Industry Under Threat

ANIMALS

• Wind Farms May Threaten Whooping Cranes
• Off the Menu, Reindeer Run in Alaska

RECENT CASE SUMMARIES

• Pac. Merchant Shipping Ass'n v. Goldstene

ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS:

SUPREME COURT TO HEAR EXXON VALDEZ CASE
(AP) - The Supreme Court will consider whether to prevent victims of the Exxon Valdez disaster from collecting a $2.5 billion judgment, nearly 19 years after the tanker dumped 11 million gallons of oil into Alaska waters. Read more...

EPA HEAD WON'T TALK ABOUT WH WAIVER ROLE
(AP) - The head of the Environmental Protection Agency refused to say Wednesday whether the White House sought to influence his decision denying California a waiver needed to implement a tailpipe emissions-reduction law. Read more...

GREAT LAKES FUNDING CALLED INADEQUATE
(AP) - Local governments devote about $15 billion annually on Great Lakes environmental programs and the U.S. and Canadian governments isn't paying their fair share, a new report says. Read more...

COAL INDUSTRY SPENDING ON ELECTION ADS
(AP) - Facing a bruising fight over climate change, the coal industry is on the political offensive this election year to ensure that no matter who wins in November, so does coal. Read more...

ETHANOL FUELS FIRE CONCERNS
(AP) - The nation's drive toward alternative fuels carries a danger many communities have been to slow to recognize: Ethanol fires are harder to put out than gasoline ones and require a special type of firefighting foam. Read more...

TRUFFLE INDUSTRY UNDER THREAT
(AP) - Philippe Daniel opens a slim briefcase so buyers can glimpse his wares, then snaps it shut with a wary glance over his shoulder. Daniel is not dealing in contraband but in truffles - tubers prized for their heady fragrance and rich, earthy flavor. . . Daniel used to deal in big quantities. But for the past five years, drought has been parching the Var region of southeast France as well as truffle-producing regions in Italy and Spain - and today he can fit his entire weekly harvest in a single plastic bag. Read more...

ANIMALS:

WIND FARMS MAY THREATEN WHOOPING CRANES
(AP) - Whooping cranes have waged a valiant fight against extinction, but federal officials warn of a new potential threat to the endangered birds: wind farms. Read more...

OFF THE MENU, REINDEER RUN IN ALASKA
(AP) - From sausages to stews, reindeer are usually a main dish in Alaska. But the antlered animals were the main event at Anchorage's first annual running of the reindeer. Read more...

RECENT CASE SUMMARIES:

PAC. MERCHANT SHIPPING ASS'N V. GOLDSTENE
(U.S. 9th Circuit) - In an action brought to enjoin the enforcement of state regulations limiting emissions from the auxiliary diesel engines of ocean-going vessels within twenty-four miles of California's coast, an injunction against the rules' enforcement is affirmed and reimposed as the Clean Air Act section 209(e)(2) preempts the Marine Vessel Rules and requires California to obtain EPA authorization prior to enforcement because the Rules are "emissions standards" that require that engines "not emit more than a certain amount of a given pollutant." Read more...