** A federal judge says the Bureau of Land Management did not violate federal environmental law in approving oil and gas drilling permits near Navajo communities in New Mexico’s San Juan Basin.
** Colorado-based Jonah Energy, the first U.S. oil and gas company to join the United Nations Oil and Gas Methane Partnership, says it will begin measuring methane emissions from its facilities.
** Opponents of Enbridge Energy’s Line 3 oil pipeline replacement across northern Minnesota are taking a novel legal approach to try to halt construction — they are suing on behalf of wild rice.
** An oil company that waited more than five months to investigate and report a 2014 pipeline spill in North Dakota that discharged more than 29 million gallons of drilling wastewater has agreed to pay more than $35 million in civil and criminal fines. the U.S. Department of Justice said Thursday.
** Canada on Friday formally blocked a proposal to build a steelmaking coal mine in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta, citing what it said would be the significant environmental damage.
** More oil is being shipped through the Dakota Access Pipeline to the dismay of opponents who say the line expansion should not have gone into service before an environmental study has been completed. Energy Transfer executives said during a quarterly earnings call this week that the line can now transport 750,000 barrels of oil daily, which is 180,000 more than before.
** The Biden administration announced on Aug. 5 that it will re-instate fuel efficiency standards for cars that were first rolled out by Barack Obama and then rolled back by Donald Trump. Biden also said he will sign an executive order mandating that half of all vehicles sold in the US be electric by 2030, up from just 2% today.