The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency should move forward with tougher standards it has developed for ozone and toxic emissions because they will help protect Latinos’ health in Texas and other states, environmental and Latino groups said Tuesday. Latinos would have a higher risk of disease and death without the standards and would be affected more than other groups because they’re more likely to live in polluted areas, according to a report released by five groups  More »

Reports of oil slicks near the Macondo well site in the Gulf in August prompted BP to send ROVs to the sea floor to inspect the well for leaks. Video footage was posted on a government web site this week.  More »

Researchers say tar balls washed on to Gulf of Mexico beaches by Tropical Storm Lee prove that oil left over from last year’s BP spill isn’t breaking down as quickly as some assume.  More »

Some Fairhope officials have been served with subpoenas by federal investigators examining a $639,000 oil spill contract with state Sen. Trip Pittman, Mayor Tim Kant said.  More »

The Texan who chairs the House Judiciary Committee says he wants an independent investigator to look into a loan guarantee the Energy Department approved for the now-bankrupt California company Solyndra LLC. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, wrote a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder today seeking an outside lawyer to probe Solyndra’s bankruptcy case to determine “whether politics played a role in influencing the Obama administration to favor Solyndra over more financially stable loan applicants.”  More »

Former President Jimmy Carter said renewable energy is unlikely to produce large amounts of power in the near future, but the nation’s natural gas reserves could put the U.S. on a path to energy security, according to a Platts press release.  More »

Both foes and supporters of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline to connect Alberta, Canada with Gulf Coast refineries are set to square off at a public meetings that begin next week in Port Arthur and other cities along the project’s proposed route.  More »

The Houston oil giant said the new fund will specifically address environmental issues in China’s Bohai Bay after two spills at a company-operated field in June, while a separate fund will go to any damages arising from the incidents.  More »

Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa Jackson nearly quit after President Barack Obama decided to delay new ozone standard rules, according to a New York Post article.  More »

A week after it was first reported, the Coast Guard says crews continue to clean up an oil leak from an abandoned well in Bayou Dupont in the Barataria basin.  More »

A U.S. energy firm has begun exploratory drilling for oil and gas off the coast of Cyprus, the divided island’s energy chief confirmed Monday, despite strong warnings from Turkey not to do so.  More »

With a Valero refinery in the background, environmental activists gathered in Hartmann Park in east Houston Sunday to protest the Keystone XL pipeline, which they say will lead to more pollution in smog-filled Houston.  More »