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Californians pay more at the pump than residents of any other state — an average of $5.34 a gallon for regular unleaded, compared to the natio…

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On April 20, 1999, the Columbine High School massacre took place in Colorado as two students shot and killed 12 classmates and one teacher before taking their own lives.

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On April 20, 1999, the Columbine High School massacre took place in Colorado as two students shot and killed 12 classmates and one teacher before taking their own lives.

Thousands of ordinary people who helped clean up after the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico say they got sick. A court settlement was supposed to help compensate them, but it hasn't turned out as expected. A large majority got only the minimum award and had to file individual lawsuits to recover more. However, attorneys familiar with the issue say only one person has received a settlement after suing — and that took extraordinary luck and effort. Judges have dumped plaintiff experts. BP has fought every case. And lawyers sometimes have done a poor job representing clients. The entire sprawling process has left those who jumped into action after the biggest offshore oil spill in U.S. history stranded.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jane Fonda are calling on voters to keep a law banning new oil and gas wells near homes, schools and hospitals as the oil industry fights to overturn it. The governor, celebrities and activists met in Los Angeles on Friday to launch a campaign to keep the 2022 law. Californians will vote on a referendum in November to decide whether to keep the law. Proponents say it will protect the public from the health impacts of oil and gas pollution. Oil companies say it will hurt an industry that brings in large state and local tax revenues.

Iran's navy has seized an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman that once was at the center of a major crisis between Tehran and Washington, a seizure that further escalates tensions in the Mideast waterways. The vessel was once known as the Suez Rajan and was involved in a yearlong dispute that ultimately saw the U.S. Justice Department seize 1 million barrels of Iranian crude oil on it. Iran's state-run television acknowledged the seizure late Thursday afternoon, hours after armed men boarded it. The seizure also comes after weeks of attacks by Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels on shipping in the Red Sea.

Former Vice President Al Gore says don't trust the oil and gas industry to report their actual carbon pollution and he adds that the man running United Nations climate talks runs one of the dirtiest oil companies out there. In an interview with The Associated Press, the Nobel Prize winning climate activist, author and filmmaker blasts Sultan al-Jaber, the president of the United Nations climate talks, who is also president of the national oil company of the host nation, United Arab Emirates. Gore says al-Jaber's ADNOC is one of the largest and one of the dirtiest oil companies in the world.

The OPEC oil cartel and allied producers have made another big swipe at propping up lagging crude prices. The OPEC+ oil ministers came out of an online meeting Thursday with more than 2 million barrels per day in voluntary cuts through the first three months of next year. They also declared that Brazil will join the bloc in January, bringing one of the world's fastest-growing oil producers into an alliance that is trying to rein in global supply. Sweeping cutbacks from OPEC+ and individual member countries since October 2022 haven't made lasting changes to oil prices because of concerns about oversupply in a weakening global economy. That's a good thing for U.S. drivers who have been getting cheaper gas.