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The U.S. has become the world’s top exporter of liquefied natural gas. President Biden is finding that this superpower status comes with its own set of headaches. In the past two years, hundreds of cargoes loaded with supercooled gas departed the U.S. Gulf Coast as foreign buyers turned to America for energy supplies. Developers of export terminals have seized the momentum to advance plans to build new plants and crank out even more LNG. Now, climate activists and Democratic lawmakers are exhorting the Biden administration to halt this expansion. They argue that the federal government, which has to approve LNG...

The Gulf of Mexico reached record heat in the first half of August, setting the stage for an intense hurricane season in a region that is no stranger to devastating storms. Average temperature data from the Southeast Regional Climate Center from Aug. 1-15 indicated record high temperatures on coastal stations, across an unbroken swath of coast stretching from Matamoros in northeastern Mexico to Miami. ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT Average Gulf Coast temperatures reach record highs BY ZACK BUDRYK - 08/16/23 3:31 PM ET SHARE TWEET A man walks his dog along the beach Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020, in Galveston, Texas, as...

A deadly bacteria with a roughly 50 percent fatality rate worldwide has made its way to the US Gulf Coast, where it has been declared endemic by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC has confirmed three cases of infection from the bacteria Burkholderia pseudomallei, which can cause potentially lethal melioidosis if not treated. “It is an environmental organism that lives naturally in the soil, and typically freshwater in certain areas around the world. Mostly in subtropical and tropical climates,” Julia Petras, an epidemic intelligence service officer with CDC’s National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, told...

A deadly bacteria that kills up to 50 percent of people it infects has now been listed as endemic along the US gulf coast. Dr Julia Petras, an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) who made the warning, said Burkholderia pseudomallei was now likely lurking in soil and stagnant water across the 1,600 miles from Texas to Florida. People infected with the bacteria suffer melioidosis, a severe condition that can trigger pneumonia and sepsis and can be fatal. Doctors are now on alert for the disease, which can initially be misdiagnosed as another infection. The CDC...

A potentially deadly germ has made its way to the U.S. Gulf Coast, health officials warned this week. So far, three cases of infection from the bacteria Burkholderia pseudomallei have been reported to the U.S. CDC. The bacteria causes melioidosis, which can be fatal if left untreated. "It is an environmental organism that lives naturally in the soil, and typically freshwater in certain areas around the world. Mostly in subtropical and tropical climates," said Julia Petras. Melioidosis is now considered endemic to the U.S. Gulf Coast and infections may be seen from Texas to Florida, Petras said. But because most...

With Hurricane Ida intensifying over the Gulf of Mexico Saturday and barreling towards the Gulf Coast, thousands of fleeing residents clogged highways as they raced inland, and the New Orleans airport cancelled all of Sunday's inbound and departing flights. As of Saturday night, Ida was whipping winds of 105 mph and is about 145 miles southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River, according to the National Hurricane Center. Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards said that the storm will be 'one of the strongest hurricanes to hit anywhere in Louisiana since at least the 1850s.' Forecasters predict it could make...

WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. energy company says a cyberattack forced it to temporarily halt all operations on a major pipeline that delivers roughly 45% of all fuel consumed on the East Coast. Colonial Pipeline said the attack took place Friday and also affected some of its information technology systems. The company transports gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and home heating oil from refineries primarily located on the Gulf Coast through pipelines running from Texas to New Jersey. The Alpharetta, Georgia-based company said it hired an outside cybersecurity firm to investigate the nature and scope of the attack and has also...

(...) Motiva is currently assessing the impacts of Winter Storm Uri after record low temperatures necessitated the shutdown of its Port Arthur Manufacturing Complex on Sunday, February 14," said the company in its Feb. 19 statement. (...)

Gore's, Talbott's Red Russian roots How they 'Hammer'-ed out Washington-Moscow policy Posted: October 3, 2000 Loutchansky's name surfaced again last year, when the Washington Post revealed that first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton's two brothers, Tony Rodham and Hugh Rodham, were involved in a $118 million scheme to grow and export hazelnuts in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. Their partner in the venture was Aslan Abashidze, who said his financial adviser was Loutchansky. Abashidze is a reputed member of a Russian organized crime family.The Rodham brothers at first balked and then agreed to national security adviser Sandy Berger's request that...

A Planned Parenthood employee testified in court that she wanted to “move forward” and sell fetal livers for $750 each. Transcripts show that Tram Nguyen, who identifies herself as a healthcare administrator at Planned Parenthood of the Gulf Coast, said that she wanted to proceed with a deal to sell fetal livers for $750 each or combos of fetal livers and fetal thymi for $1,600. Nguyen testified in March 2019 as part of the trial of the Center for Medical Progress’ David Daleiden, who secretly recorded and released videos exposing Planned Parenthood employees discussing buying and selling fetal body parts....

Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division announced today an expansive health care fraud enforcement operation across the Gulf Coast, involving charges against a total of 11 individuals across four federal districts for their alleged involvement in various schemes to defraud Medicare, Medicaid and TRICARE and to obtain oxycodone and other controlled substances by fraud. The conduct allegedly resulted in more than $515 million in fraudulent billings. Those charged included physicians, licensed social workers, as well as other medical and business professionals. In addition, in the state of Louisiana, 22 defendants, including 19 certified mental...

Refiners in the United States are stocking up on heavy crude, pushing prices higher, as the Trump administration prepares to slam more punitive measures on Caracas after the inauguration of Nicolas Maduro as president of Venezuela for a second term after elections considered illegitimate by Washington. Reuters reports that officials from the presidential administration met with oil industry executives to discuss the measures on the table, including the suspension ofrefined product exports to Venezuela or Venezuelan crude oil imports into the United States. Gulf Coast refiners have a limited choice of supplier when it comes to heavy crude. Besides local...

[Reuters] In the two years since Washington lifted a 40-year ban on oil exports, tankers filled with U.S. crude have landed in more than 30 countries, ranging from massive economies like China and India to tiny Togo. The repeal has unleashed a flood of U.S. shale oil, undercutting global crude prices, eroding the clout of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and seizing market share from many of its member countries.

Hurricane Harvey took out a number of OIL REFINERIES. One problem was FLOODING. This meant that backup equipment would not function because of flooding. Another concern is that of a refinery explosion such as has occurred in the past (Texas City - 1947 and 2005, Carson - 1985 and 2016). In such explosions surrounding areas might cause injuries and damage to surrounding property. Another concern is terrorism. Possible simple fix? Same used for Mississippi River. The force of water is extremely powerful. So how is it controlled - earthern levees and other works. Probably the minimum height for refineries might...

Mexico and Canada have been waging a silent battle for market share in the U.S. crude oil refining market. Since 2006, crude oil exports from Canada and Mexico to the U.S.’ largest refining complex in the U.S. Gulf Coast (Petroleum Administration for Defense Districts 3 or “PADD 3” or “Gulf Coast”) has changed dramatically. A Crude History: Canada vs. Mexico Historically, Canada and Mexico have both brought significant oil supplies to refiners in the U.S. In 2006, Mexico and Canada were both exporting 1.7 million barrels per day of oil to the U.S.; however, Mexican and Canadian crude oil market...

The transcript accompanying the latest undercover Planned Parenthood video has an employee of the group admit she finds it “fun” to dissect fetuses for their organs and would “enjoy” the opportunity to do it on behalf of fetal tissue purchasers.The exchange isn’t included in the 15-minute edited video released Tuesday by the Center for Medical Progress (CMP), but is instead buried deep in the 119-page transcript accompanying it (a full-footage version of the video hasn’t been released yet). In the exchange, Melissa Farrell, director of research for Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, admits she and her co-worker would find it enjoyable...

HOUSTON — TransCanada has begun moving oil into the Keystone XL pipeline’s southern leg, which runs from Oklahoma to the Texas coast, a company spokesman said Monday. “TransCanada is pleased to confirm that at approximately 10:04 am Central Time on Saturday, December 7, 2013, the company began to inject oil into the Gulf Coast Project pipeline as it moves closer to the start of commercial service,” TransCanada spokesman Shawn Howard said in an email. The pipeline owner will need to fill the newly constructed line before it can begin delivering oil to refineries along the Gulf Coast, including those in...

WASHINGTON, March 18 (UPI) -- Washington has given Petrobras America Inc. permission to start oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico, a regulator said. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement gave Petrobras approval to use a floating production storage offloading facility at its Cascade-Chinook project in the Gulf of Mexico. The approval marks the first time FPSO technology will be used in U.S. waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The oil and gas project is about 165 miles off the coast of Louisiana in 8,200 feet of water. The FPSO has a production capacity of...

Noble Corp. in January announced plans to move one of its deep-water drilling rigs out of the Gulf of Mexico amid a spill-related slowdown in activity. This week, the Swiss-based driller made good on its promise. It loaded the Noble Clyde Boudreaux, an ultra-deepwater semisubmersible, on a ship in Pascagoula, Miss., that will carry the rig 5,000 miles to Brazil, where it has a contract with Shell. That new contract, starting in April, will last for a year and is $290,000 per day less than the previous Gulf lease, Noble said. Noble, Diamond Offshore and other offshore drilling contractors have...