(Keith Weller photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

U.S. Supreme Court upholds California’s pig confinement law

Dissent suggests 'substantial burden against interstate commerce'

Reuters — The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday preserved a California law banning the sale of pork in America’s most-populous state from pigs kept in tightly confined spaces, rejecting an industry challenge claiming that the voter-backed animal welfare measure impermissibly regulates out-of-state farmers. The justices voted 5-4 to uphold a lower court’s dismissal of a



Canadian maple syrup for sale at Montreal’s Marche Atwater in 2016. (Lorraine Boogich/iStock/Getty Images)

Top court affirms hefty fine for man behind Quebec maple syrup heist

Back to prison if fine not paid in 10 years

Reuters — The man behind a decade-old maple syrup heist in Quebec will have to pay a $9 million fine, Canada’s top court said on Thursday, upholding an earlier ruling by a lower court. A group of people in Quebec siphoned off maple syrup worth over $18 million from a reservoir and replaced it with




(ThamKC/iStock/Getty Images)

U.S. Supreme Court backs refineries in biofuel waiver dispute

Top court overturns ruling against EPA granting waivers

Reuters — The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday made it easier for small oil refineries to win exemptions from a federal law requiring increasing levels of ethanol and other renewable fuels to be blended into their products, a major setback for biofuel producers. The justices overturned a lower court decision that had faulted the U.S.


(ThamKC/iStock/Getty Images)

U.S. Supreme Court agrees to hear biofuel waiver case

Reuters — The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to review a lower court ruling that severely limited the government’s powers to exempt small refineries from the nation’s biofuels law, rekindling a long-running dispute between the oil and corn industries. The decision came after appeals by refining companies that argued the 10th Circuit Court’s decision



File photo of an oil pumpjack near Drumheller, Alta. (LaughingMango/E+/Getty Images)

Bankrupt oil firms must clean up inactive wells, Supreme Court rules

Ottawa/Winnipeg | Reuters — Canada’s Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that bankrupt oil companies must clean up inactive wells, overturning lower court decisions that prioritized paying creditors and potentially raising the risks of investment in the industry. The 5-2 ruling means that the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER), which had appealed the earlier court decisions, can