Under review: The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday said it would review the nation’s first-ever standards requiring power plants to reduce mercury emissions and other toxic air pollutants, taking up a case with implications for President Barack Obama ’s broader environmental agenda. The Wall Street Journal reports the high court accepted several challenges to the rules brought by the utility industry and a coalition of nearly two dozen states, including those where utilities rely on coal for most power generation. The court will hear arguments in the case in the spring and is likely to rule in June 2015. Read the full story (subscription may be required).
Not talking turkey: In one of its most critical sessions in years, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries meets on Thanksgiving Day to seek a compromise on cutting production to stem falling oil prices. Energy ministers from the 12 nations that account for 40% of global oil supplies have seen prices drop to their their lowest levels in four years, as output runs ahead of demand. Prices have fallen 30% since they last met in June. USA Today reports that finding a consensus among the members—Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela—won’t be easy because of broad disagreements on what production levels will be. Read the full story.
Every day a holiday: Thanksgiving weekend has traditionally been the busiest time of the year for air travel, but The New York Times reports that distinction is quickly becoming a thing of the past. With airlines merging and consolidating operations in fewer hubs, congestion that was once characteristic of the holiday is becoming more common at major airports all year round. The change follows a string of megamergers that left four big carriers controlling about 80% of airlines’ seat capacity, down from 11 in 2005. A study by the United States Travel Association found that 13 of the nation’s top 30 airports already experience Thanksgiving-like congestion and traffic at least one day a week. Read the full story.
Editor’s note: In observance of the Thanksgiving holiday, Daily Report will not be published on Thursday or Friday. It will return on Monday morning, Dec. 1. Have a safe and happy holiday weekend.
