In an annual review of the world energy market, BP PLC said growth in energy consumption slowed to 1.8 percent from 2.4 percent in 2011. Demand continued to grow in China and India, which together accounted for almost 90 percent of the global increase. But even growth in developing countries was slower than it has been over the last decade.

For more on this story, visit: BP: Global demand for energy slows – Connecticut Post.

The payments include $4bn for criminal charges and $525m to security regulators. BP will plead guilty to 11 felony counts of misconduct or neglect in relation to the deaths of 11 men aboard the Deepwater Horizon when the rig blew up and sank in April 2010, as well as misdemeanour counts under the clean water and migratory bird acts. The company will plead guilty to lying to Congress.

For more on this story, visit: BP to pay $4.5bn penalty over Deepwater Horizon disaster | Environment | The Guardian.

From Ducks Unlimited :::

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Nov. 15, 2012 – BP announced today that it will plead guilty to several criminal charges under a settlement agreement reached with the U.S. Department of Justice over its role in the 2010 disaster involving the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, in which an estimated 200 million gallons of crude oil leaked into the Gulf of Mexico. Under the terms of the settlement, BP will pay approximately $4.5 billion in installments over a five-year period, with nearly $2.4 billion going to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), an independent non-profit conservation group chartered by Congress in 1984. NFWF will directly oversee the use of those funds to maximize benefits for fish and wildlife habitats in the Gulf Coast region.

The $4.5 billion settlement does not resolve penalties that could result from violations of the Clean Water Act. These penalties could range as high as $20 million if BP is found guilty of gross negligence.

“Ducks Unlimited applauds the decision to direct a significant portion of the settlement funds to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation,” DU CEO Dale Hall said. “NFWF is the appropriate organization to manage these funds and determine how they can best be used to benefit Gulf Coast fish and wildlife and the people who depend on these resources for their livelihood and recreation. NFWF’s role in managing these funds is good news for the people and wildlife of the Gulf Coast.”

The Gulf Coastal Prairie region winters up to 14 million waterfowl in some years and is one of Ducks Unlimited’s highest conservation priorities. These wetlands comprise the most important wintering area for waterfowl in North America, yet they are also among the most threatened. In Louisiana alone, more than 16 square miles of fertile marsh are lost each year to erosion and subsidence, and extensive levee systems along the Mississippi River now prevent sedimentation from rebuilding these lost wetlands. Roughly 1 million of the 3.1 million acres of Louisiana coastal wetlands that existed just a century ago have disappeared, and the continuing loss has been equated to losing a football field-sized area of coastal marsh every hour.

“NFWF and DU, working with other conservation-minded partners, are committed to restoring, enhancing and protecting the Gulf Coast’s remaining coastal wetlands,” Hall said. “These funds will go a long way toward achieving those goals for the region’s important wildlife resources, including wetlands and waterfowl.”

Ducks Unlimited Inc. is the world’s largest non-profit organization dedicated to conserving North America’s continually disappearing waterfowl habitats. Established in 1937, DU is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, with special events, projects and promotions across the continent. Ducks Unlimited has conserved more than 12 million acres thanks to contributions from more than a million supporters across the continent. Guided by science and dedicated to program efficiency, DU works toward the vision of wetlands sufficient to fill the skies with waterfowl today, tomorrow and forever. For more information on our work, visit www.ducks.org. Connect with us on our Facebook page at facebook.com/DucksUnlimited, follow our tweets at twitter.com/DucksUnlimited and watch DU videos at youtube.com/DucksUnlimitedInc.

Audubon CEO Comments on BP Settlement

National Audubon Society President and CEO David Yarnold released the following statement upon news today that BP has settled criminal charges arising from the 2010 gulf oil disaster with the Department of Justice for $4.5 billion.

“This settlement matches the unprecedented offense BP committed,” said Audubon President and CEO David Yarnold. “But they still have to make amends for the environmental damage their crimes caused. And the Department of Justice drove a fair settlement, but BP needs to compensate the Gulf Coast in the form of civil damages. The rule has to be: You break it, you buy it.”

Link to the BP settlement press release, now posted on audubon.org:

http://www.audubon.org/newsroom/press-releases/2012/audubon-ceo-comments-bp-settlement

David Hogan and his wife sued BP and NALCO Co. – which made the Corexit oil dispersants – and a host of other defendants, including Halliburton, Transocean, ConocoPhillips, Xplore Oil & Gas and Stuyvesant Dredging Co.

After BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded on April 20, 2010, unleashing the worst oil spill in U.S. history, BP hired contractors to spray and inject more than 1.8 million gallons of Corexit into the Gulf of Mexico, according to the complaint.

For more on this story, visit: Horrific Injuries Linked to BP Dispersant Corexit.

The dolphins, among more than 700 that have washed up on Gulf shores since the last two years, are a crucial component of the investigation now underway to decide the cost to BP of restoring the wildlife and environment damaged by the biggest offshore spill in US history.

For more on this story, visit: Deepwater Horizon aftermath: how much is a dolphin worth? | Environment | guardian.co.uk.

In separate federal lawsuits filed Tuesday, the groups asked judges to force the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to set base guidelines for state water quality standards and for wastewater treatment, both aimed at reducing pollution in the Mississippi River Basin.

For more on this story, visit: Gulf ‘Dead Zone’ Lawsuit Brought Against EPA By Environmental Groups.

In a first step of a long legal battle, the interior department said BP, rig operator Transocean and contractor Halliburton between them broke 15 rules governing offshore drilling ahead of the 20 April 2010 explosion.

For more on this story, visit: BP and partners face $45m in fines over Gulf oil spill | Business | guardian.co.uk.

BP spokesman Daren Beaudo said the company had sent several mini-submersibles into the water over the weekend to investigate the source of the sheen — a shiny coating that floats on the surface of the water which could come from leaked or spilled oil — but had concluded “that it couldn’t have been from anything of ours.”

Read more here: BP Investigates New Oil Sheen in Gulf of Mexico | Common Dreams.

The company has a long history of oil spills at its Alaskan pipelines – accidents which have hurt its public image in the US, where around 40% of its assets are based.

Read more here: BP reports new pipeline leak at Lisburne oilfield in Alaska | Environment | guardian.co.uk.

Philippe Cousteau dipping his hand into oil on a Louisiana beach in May of 2010.

NEW ORLEANS — The cleanup of oiled beaches along the Gulf of Mexico has reached a point where crews, heavy equipment and thorough scrubbing can cause more damage to the ecosystem than good, the Coast Guard said Friday.

Birds, sea turtles, fish and other species are more likely to be harmed by an aggressive cleanup than by simply leaving remnants of oil and letting it slowly degrade, the Coast Guard said.

Read more here: Gulf Oil Spill Cleanup: Coast Guard Wants It Scaled Back.

(u.s. coast guard)

BP released the findings of its internal probe of the Deepwater Horizon disaster on Wednesday. The 193-page report accepts some of the blame for the explosion and subsequent spill, but also points the finger at its partners in the operation. In the eight key findings in the report, the company only directly takes responsibility for one of the problems that led to the disaster.

via BP’s Internal Report: Spreading the Blame Around | Mother Jones.

Scientists discovered the new microbe while studying the underwater dispersion of millions of gallons of oil spilled into the Gulf following the explosion of BP’s Deepwater Horizon drilling rig.

And the microbe works without significantly depleting oxygen in the water, researchers led by Terry Hazen at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, Calif., reported Tuesday in the online journal Sciencexpress.

via New microbe discovered eating oil spill in Gulf | Tampa Bay Online.

The site is poised to become the chief benefactor of a bill signed into law Thursday by Gov. Chris Christie that will help finance enough wind energy to power 1 million homes and provide up to $100 million in tax credits for wind energy facilities.

“We’re taking an abandoned, contaminated site which is an eyesore and turning it into the future of New Jersey’s clean, renewable energy,” said Jeff Tittel, director of the Sierra Club’s New Jersey chapter. “Wind is a win, win, win for New Jersey.”

via NJ governor signs offshore wind energy bill – Connecticut Post.

via BP’s Damage Control: A Timeline | Mother Jones.

via Connecticut lab says Gulf seafood safe thus far | The Day.

“There’s lots of oil and gas here,” Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles said at a news briefing. “We’re going to have to think about what to do with that at some point.”

via Despite disaster, BP says it might drill again at same site | The Day.

via Coast Guard lab in Conn. tests origins of Gulf oil – Courant.com.