News Bites: Dispute over tuna spotlights oil spill’s effects, drilling court case moves ahead, Arctic drilling faces new hurdles, and more

“But scientists disagree about what portion of last spring’s crop of young tuna, or larvae, were hit by oil. They disagree about whether the Gulf is the only place where the western-Atlantic bluefin spawns. In short, they disagree about virtually every aspect of the spill’s effect on the fish,” the Journal reports.

The oil industry is pushing for a resumption of deepwater drilling in the Gulf, a topic that’s the subject of ongoing litigation (not to mention lots of lobbying and PR).

“An offshore drilling services company asked a federal judge Wednesday to rule that government regulators have unreasonably delayed action on deepwater drilling permit applications even after lifting a drilling moratorium imposed in the wake of the massive Gulf oil spill,” The Associated Press reports from New Orleans.

The Financial Times (subscription required) scored an interview with the head of Royal Dutch Shell’s U.S. branch, who fears further delays in the company’s push to drill off Alaska’s northern coast.

“Royal Dutch Shell fears difficulties in gaining an air quality permit from US federal authorities will push back its long-delayed Alaska drilling programme by another year,” the paper reports.

“’It’s a significant challenge to drilling in 2011,’ Marvin Odum, president of Shell’s US operations, told the Financial Times.”

The Houston Chronicle, meanwhile, looks in-depth at the dispute over Arctic drilling, which was in the spotlight this week when the presidential panel that probed the BP spill weighed in on the matter.

The paper notes that the commission called for more scientific studies and better spill response capacity.

“The panel stopped short of ordering a moratorium on Arctic drilling and insisted that new research shouldn’t be used to interminably delay exploration in the region,” the paper reports, adding:

“But if followed, the suggestion for more studies still could force Shell to shelve its plans to drill an exploratory well in the Beaufort Sea after ice clears this summer.”

Onto climate change . . . Bloomberg reports that industry groups in Japan and South Korea are fighting carbon trading plans.

“Japanese and South Korean companies, adopting arguments that helped block carbon trading in the U.S., are opposing government plans to set up emission markets worth a potential $212 billion by 2020,” the news service reports.

“The Federation of Korean Industries said Jan. 11 that starting emissions trading in 2013 would add to the cost of doing business and put the country at a disadvantage unless Japan and China do the same. Keidanren, Japan’s largest business lobby, said 61 of 64 companies that responded to a survey in September opposed introducing carbon trading,” Bloomberg adds.

Reuters reports that the financial industry wants more climate data.

“Major financial firms feel they lack information about climate change to help clients manage increasing risks ranging from heatwaves to rising sea levels, a U.N.-backed study showed on Wednesday,” their piece states.