Days Before Obama Announced CO2 Rule, Exxon Awarded Gulf of Mexico Oil Leases
On Friday May 30, just a few days before the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced details of its carbon rule proposal, the Obama Administration awarded offshore oil leases to ExxonMobil in an area of the Gulf of Mexico potentially containing over 172 million barrels of oil. ExxonMobil originally won the three leases at the Western Planning Area Sale 233, held on March 19. BOEM records show ExxonMobil was the only company to participate in the bid and paid over $21.3 million.
Maharashtra lost over 1,500 sq km forests in 30 years
In the past three decades, the Maharashtra state has lost a whopping 1,610 sq km of forests, says the annual administrative report of the Maharashtra forest department. Most of this loss, says the report, is due to either development projects or encroachment. The forested area in the state now stands at 17 per cent of the total land area of the state, whereas policy says 33 per cent land area should ideally be under forests. According to the report, the forest area in the state totalled 62,971 sq km in 1984-85, which included 42,610 sq km of reserve forests and 15,340 sq km of protected forests, apart from 6,021 sq km of forests in other categories.
Bank of America in $9.3B Settlement for Selling Toxic Bonds; Ex-CEO Faces 3-Year Ban
The financial giant Bank of America has finalized a $9.3 billion settlement for selling toxic mortgage bonds to the government-backed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during the financial crisis. The Justice Department says Bank of America executed a scheme that would blindly hand out mortgages without proper checks and then turn around and sell the toxic loans to Fannie and Freddie. While Bank of America reaped a windfall, Fannie and Freddie were stuck with huge losses and foreclosed properties. Bank of America has also reached a settlement for misleading investors in its takeover of the troubled firm Merrill Lynch. Under the agreement, former Bank of America CEO Kenneth Lewis is banned from serving as an officer or director of a public company for three years.[Steal and then pay part of it to govt and free from charges. what a great system.]