Chevron asks judge to send New Orleans' coastal land-loss suit to federal court

Oil giant Chevron Corp. has asked that a lawsuit related to coastal erosion filed against it and a handful of other energy companies by the City of New Orleans last week be moved to federal court. The suit, filed a week ago in Orleans Civil District Court, alleges Chevron and 10 other companies are liable for making the city vulnerable to storm surges because of the drilling and dredging though marshes and wetlands those companies undertook decades ago.

Chevron said Thursday after filing its motion that the energy industry’s activities have always been carried out under federal supervision and in accordance with federal laws and regulations. “Disputes challenging decades of federally authorized operations, carried out according to federal laws and regulations, should be heard in federal court,” the company said. “We believe the allegations set forth in this petition involve important issues of national concern that should be heard and decided uniformly in federal court.” The filing was not unexpected. A motion to vacate a proceeding to federal court is often an early request in lawsuits filed in state district court, as each side has its own sense of where it stands a better chance of winning.

Plaintiff's attorney Gladstone Jones, who is representing New Orleans in the suit, could not be reached for comment. The suit filed by New Orleans last week is similar to those filed by Jefferson, Plaquemines and St. John the Baptist parishes over the past several years arguing that actions by oil and gas companies contributed to the state's loss of coastal land to the Gulf of Mexico. New Orleans had stayed its hand under Mitch Landrieu’s administration, but Mayor Latoya Cantrell moved forward with a lawsuit last week. She argued that the suit was a matter of holding the appropriate parties accountable.

https://www.theadvocate.com/new_orleans/news/article_e972648a-571d-11e9-b794-1ff903edb08a.amp.html

Jury Orders Chevron To Pay $21 Million For Cancer Claims

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A jury ordered Chevron Corp. to pay the families of two brothers a combined $21.4 million after they claimed the men’s exposure to a toxic chemical while working at a company plant caused the cancer that killed them. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that The Contra Costa County jury’s verdict Friday.

Brothers Gary Eaves and Randy Eaves worked at a Chevron-owned tire manufacturer in Arkansas. Both worked with the solvent benzene, a known carcinogen. Gary died of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2015 at age 61. Randy died of leukemia in 2018, also at age 61.

The families’ wrongful death lawsuit was filed in California because Chevron is based in the state. Chevron says it disputes that benzene caused the brothers’ cancer and is mulling its next legal step.

https://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2019/04/01/chevron-cancer-claims-california-lawsuit/

Trump adds pressure on Venezuela by blocking oil shipments to Cuba

The Trump administration on Friday increased economic pressure on Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro by sanctioning 34 vessels used by the country's oil company PDVSA to transport fuel to Cuba. A senior administration official told reporters that the action could be followed by additional economic measures against Venezuela, in a protracted effort to force Maduro to step down and allow the country's elected leader under the constitution, Juan Guaido, to take complete control.

The official also said that the option of using military force to oust Maduro is still an option. “It remains on the table” and is “seriously being considered," the administration official said. But for the time being, the administration will continue to use economic pressure to sway Maduro to step down, with a number tools left in its "toolbox," the official noted. The sanctions imposed Friday by the Treasury Department on the 34 vessels will "tighten the noose" around Maduro, the official added.

The Trump administration had already placed sanctions on the oil company PDVSA, restricting the sale of oil to U.S. refineries on the Gulf Coast, representing one of its largest customers. The restrictions placed on the 34 vessels are meant to make it more difficult for Maduro to ship oil to other regional customers in order to generate revenue, and diminish his influence in the region. "The story here is there is no future for PDVSA as long as Maduro” remains in power, the administration official said. He noted that Venezuela's U.S.-based refinery company, Citgo, has been able to transition to alternate supplies of oil, and is doing better financially than when under Maduro's control. Citgo is now under the control of the president-elect Guaido.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy/trump-adds-pressure-on-venezuela-by-blocking-oil-shipments-to-cuba

California sues Trump for withholding data on vehicle emission rollback

California sued the Trump administration Friday to force it to provide data supporting its rollback of Obama-era vehicle emissions standards, which California called "radical." California’s Democratic Attorney General Xavier Becerra, suing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, is seeking the release of documents from the Environmental Protection Agency and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that justify its plan to weaken the fuel efficiency rules.

Becerra claims the Trump administration agencies failed to comply with the state’s Freedom of Information Act request filed in early September 2018 seeking the documents. “We must demand clean air for our kids, and our country must take immediate action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” said California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat. “Yet, the Trump administration is willfully withholding information on their ill-advised rollback of federal vehicle emission standards because there is simply no science or logic to back up their actions.” California and 17 other states have already sued the Trump administration for rejecting the Obama administration’s fuel-efficiency rules and beginning the process of weakening them. Attorneys general of those states accuse the Trump administration of flouting the Administrative Procedures Act by not backing up their policy proposal with proper rationale.

The EPA, along with the NHTSA, last August proposed freezing Obama-era fuel efficiency rules for cars and light trucks, instead of raising them each model year from 2020-2026. The agencies also proposed revoking a Clean Air Act waiver that California has, and more than a dozen other states follow, allowing it to set vehicle emission standards tougher than federal rules. California and other states are expected to sue the administration again in the coming months, when the Trump administration finalizes its plan to relax the fuel rules and revoke the waiver.

EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said Thursday he hoped California would not sue the agency once it finalizes the rollback of the car rules, but predicted “we will go to court.” “I believe we are on firm legal footing and our standards will be upheld by the courts,” Wheeler said at the Washington Auto Show. The Trump administration argues the tougher Obama rules, meant to combat carbon emissions from transportation, would make newer cars unaffordable, forcing drivers to use older, less safe, and environmentally unfriendly vehicles. A freeze in the fuel standards could prevent 1,000 fatalities from crashes annually and save Americans an average of roughly $2,340 for every new vehicle purchased, the Trump administration claims.

But career experts at the EPA disagreed with the NHTSA on the number of deaths that would be avoided by rolling back the fuel efficiency rules, according to internal documents released in August. Scientists from EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality privately warned that computer modeling used by the NHTSA was flawed and argued that the rollback would actually increase annual traffic fatalities, by an average of about 17 deaths per year. EPA’s internal analysis found that freezing the Obama rules would cost thousands of jobs, and reduce social benefits by $83 billion from forgone reductions in pollution and carbon emissions. Legal experts say EPA’s questioning of NHTSA’s methodology will bolster the argument of opponents who say the Trump administration has failed to justify its plan to weaken fuel standards with science-based facts.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy/california-sues-trump-for-withholding-data-on-vehicle-emission-rollback

Democratic lawmaker demanding Trump's tax returns won’t immediately release his own

The Democratic chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee is demanding President Trump release his tax returns but has demurred on releasing his own. “Oh, sure — down the road, sure, that’s nothing,” Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., said Thursday when asked if he would release his own returns, according to the Washington Times. “I’ve done that in the past, by the way.” It’s unclear when Neal has disclosed his finances. In 2017, Roll Call asked every member of Congress to release their own returns, and the request went unanswered by Neal. At the time, his returns were also unavailable elsewhere.

Neal requested six years of Trump’s tax returns Wednesday in a letter to the Internal Revenue Service. Tax laws empower him to obtain individuals' tax returns. In justifying not releasing his tax returns, Trump has repeatedly claimed he is under audit by the IRS. Neal said that’s an insufficient excuse. “The argument we have here is that the professional staff and the attorneys say that you could still submit your tax forms even if you’re under audit,” he said.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/democratic-lawmaker-demanding-trumps-tax-returns-wont-immediately-release-his-own