Calgary Herald by Steve Ewart.  David Collyer, president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, met the Herald’s editorial board Monday and was called upon to defend "the industry" after three oil leaks in a month in Alberta raised public concern over the safety of aging pipeline infrastructure.

ADN by Lisa Demer.  With little drama, the Kulluk — a 29-year-oldCurtis Smith, Shell Oil, Alaska, Chukchi, Beaufort, Sea, Exploration, OCS, Photo by Dave Harbour conical Arctic drilling rig that spent a dozen years mothballed in Canada — launched for Dutch Harbor, a supply stop on the way to the far north, just before 8 a.m. Seattle time. The Noble Discoverer — a 1960s-era vessel used as a log carrier before being converted for drilling — was right behind, said Curtis Smith (NGP Photo), an Anchorage-based Shell spokesman in Seattle for the sendoff.  Dozens of workers stood on the dock watching the ships they had rigged for Arctic work pull away. Seattle office workers had a view.  "It’s quite the on-water concert," Smith said. "There are lots of vessels maneuvering in well-planned and well-timed maneuvers." Four Shell vessels are part of Wednesday’s flotilla. The U.S. Coast Guard is escorting the Shell ships as far as Port Angeles, Smith said.

CNN by Steve Hargreaves.  The Obama administration will go ahead with more drilling in Arctic waters, though at a pace that allows for more research before additional permits are granted.  The administration will hold new lease sales for oil companies to drill in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas just north of Alaska, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Tuesday in a conference call with reporters.

Peninsula Clarion by Brian Smith.  Two weeks ago, officials agreed to terms on the Tesoro refinery after a dispute about its value landed both sides in Board of Equalization hearings, Borough Assessor Tom Anderson said. The borough and Tesoro previously had a five-year agreement that went through 2010. During that period the highest value the refinery received was $182 million and the lowest was $126 million in 2010.  In 2011, the borough hired an appraiser who valued the refinery at $303 million, which Tesoro disagreed with, Anderson said. Tesoro appeal the assessment and through its own appraisal determined the value at $128 million. The board of equalization decided to set the value at $143 million.

Energy Biz by Ken Silverstein.  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia issued an 82-page unanimous finding yesterday calling EPA’s judgment “unambiguously correct.” The three judges — two Democrats and one Republican — also said that they do not have authority to rollback the rules as it pertains to power plants and their carbon emissions. 

But that’s not the end of the issue. The plaintiffs in the case, which are heavy industries that include coal-burning utilities, will probably ratchet up the stakes by taking the case to the High Court — a high risk gamble that would threaten to undermine their cause even more. That’s because the U.S. Supreme Court has already come down on the side of EPA here and it would likley uphold a key part of that undertaking, allowing the greenhouse gas rules to start up. 

“The ruling will surely be appealed to the Supreme Court but it is not likely to rule prior to the election,” says Kenneth Reich, an environmental lawyer in Boston who  was chief of environmental enforcement for U.S. Department of Justice. “Therefore, the political attacks on this administration’s approach to greenhouse gas regulation, using EPA rather than Congress to set the rules, will continue.”