In Court

US Steel sues EC
Slovakia's steel major US Steel Kosice, filed a complaint against the European Commission in the second week of February complaining
about the reduced limits of carbon dioxide emissions for Slovakia. The company considers that the reduction of the emissions limit
unjust, as does the Slovakian government.

In November 2006, the European Commission reduced the Slovak quota of carbon dioxide emissions for five years starting 2008, from
the 41.2 million tonnes a year, proposed by the Slovakian government, to 30.9 million tonnes. "As the investments and strategic
decisions in this industry are planned for 20 years in advance, the decision of the commission raises insecurity in industrial circles," the
president of US Steel Kosice, David H Lohr, said during a meeting with Slovak's environmental minister Jaroslav Izak.

Threats of oil exploration
Polar bears and walruses are facing a serious threat in the Arctic from the expansion of oil and gas explorations, notes a recent suit filed
in the US District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco, USA. The suit filed by the Center for Biological Diversity
and Pacific Environment, challenges the US Fish and Wildlife Service regulations and argues that the federal regulations don't assess the
combined risks posed by oil and gas exploration activities and global warming.

Such activities harm animals in the Beaufort Sea and adjacent coastal plains, where global warming is shrinking ice sheets which are
critical to the survival of these species, says the group. The suit asks the court to declare the regulations unlawful and require the
agency to do a thorough analysis of how global warming and oil exploration and development is affecting polar bears, walruses and other
species in the Arctic. The suit also seeks a new regulation based on such analysis.