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BP could face a $13.7 billion fine for the Gulf oil spill. -

A federal judge has ruled that BP spewed 3.2 million barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico, one million barrels fewer than the U.S. government's estimate. The decision was a big win for BP, which was found grossly negligent for the 2010 disaster in September, but it still leaves the oil giant facing the highest pollution penalty everBloomberg

Congress is set to vote on whether climate change exists. -

An amendment to the bill authorizing the Keystone XL pipeline could force Republicans to tell the world if they believe that climate change is real and caused by human activity, says Senator Bernie Sanders, the independent from Vermont who proposed it. For the record, scientists say there’s no debate. The Guardian

The ocean currently appears to be rising at the rate of about a foot per century. -

That's the conclusion of statistical research that seems to have solved a discrepancy in worldwide sea-level measurements. The worse news: As melting ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland break up, that rate could greatly accelerate, threatening coastal cities around the globe. New York Times

It is man who has slapped nature in the face.

—Pope Francis, on the need to take action on climate change. He said he plans to release an encyclical on the environment by July, so it can be read and absorbed before November's climate change negotiations in Paris.

SORRY, NO CARNITAS.

—A sign posted at a New York Chipotle, one of hundreds that stopped serving pork this week after a supplier violated the chain's standards, which prohibit close confinement and antibiotic use on livestock

EPA proposes stricter standards for oil spill dispersants. -

In the aftermath of the disastrous Deepwater Horizon oil spill, pretty much everyone agreed that Corexit, the chemical dumped into the Gulf of Mexico to break down the black stuff, was harmful to people and wildlife. Oops. To prevent repeating that mistake, the EPA is calling for stiffer restrictions on the chemicals used in future spills. Now that’s a slick move. Times-Picayune