Petrochemical

Protesters demonstrate against rising costs of living they blame on high taxes near the Arc de Triomphe on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris on Dec. 8, 2018.  Sameer Al-Doumy/ AFP/Getty Images

chicagotribune.com - apnews.com - by ELAINE GANLEY and JOHN LEICESTER - December 8, 2018

The rumble of armored police trucks and the hiss of tear gas filled central Paris on Saturday, as French riot police fought to contain thousands of yellow-vested protesters venting their anger against the government in a movement that has grown more violent by the week . . . 

. . . Amid the melee, President Emmanuel Macron remained invisible and silent, as he has for the four weeks of a movement that started as a protest against a gas tax hike and metamorphosed into a rebellion against high taxes and eroding living standards . . .

. . . Macron on Wednesday agreed to abandon the fuel tax hike, which aimed to wean France off fossil fuels and uphold the Paris climate agreement. Many economists and scientists say higher fuel taxes are essential to save the planet from worsening climate change, but that stance hasn't defused the anger among France's working class.

FILE PHOTO: An aerial view of the Shell Deer Park Manufacturing Complex is seen in Deer Park, Texas, U.S. August 31, 2017. REUTERS/Adrees Latif/File Photo

CLICK HERE - REPORT - Preparing for the Next Storm (33 page .PDF report)

reuters.com - by Timothy Gardner - August 16, 2018

Texas environment regulators should coordinate shutdowns of oil refineries and other petrochemical plants during major storms to avoid big releases of air pollution like during last year’s Hurricane Harvey, a report said on Thursday.

A year ago Harvey dumped more than 60 inches (1.5 meters) of rain on southeastern Texas, halting refineries that produce a quarter of U.S. fuel and damaging infrastructure.

Texas industry, including refineries and petrochemical plants, released an extra 8.3 million pounds (3.8 million kg) of air pollutants including cancer-causing benzene, during Harvey, said the report . . . 

CLICK HERE - Swiss Re - News Release - Swiss Re establishes thermal coal policy to support transition to a low-carbon economy (4 page .PDF file)

insurancejournal.com - July 3, 2018

Swiss Re announced it no longer is providing re/insurance to businesses with more than 30 percent exposure to thermal coal across all lines of business.

The thermal coal policy applies to both existing and new thermal coal mines and power plants, and is implemented across all lines of business and Swiss Re’s global scope of operations.

This move marks the implementation of Swiss Re’s thermal coal policy announced in June 2017, which aims to manage carbon-related sustainability risks and support the transition to a low-carbon economy, the company said in a statement.

(CLICK HERE - READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

ALSO SEE RELATED ARTICLE HERE - Swiss Re limits thermal coal coverage

This valve assembly is the aboveground portion of an injection well, which can be used to dispose of fluid deep in the subsurface. Recent studies show that the cumulative effects from injection in numerous disposal wells can contribute to seismic activity far from the injection sites. Credit: Leonid Eremeychuk/iStock/Getty Images Plus/Getty Images

High-volume fluid injection can cumulatively increase underground pore pressure and induce earthquakes in regions unexpectedly far from injection wells, recent Kansas studies show.

eos.org - by Shelby L. Peterie, Richard D. Miller, Rex Buchanan, and Brandy DeArmond - April 17, 2018

Seismologists largely attribute widespread earthquakes in southern Kansas and northern Oklahoma over the past several years to injection of extracted oil field brine deep into Earth’s crust. Recently, however, the frequency of earthquakes has increased significantly in areas of Kansas well beyond the initial high-seismicity zones near injection wells.