Brian Melley

Latest in Regulation
Industrial Media Unboxing Video
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January 31, 2023
U.S. soldiers attend the activation ceremony for the United States Space Forces Korea in Pyeongtaek, South Korea Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022.
U.S. Military Creates Space Unit in S. Korea to Watch North
December 14, 2022
Dust flies as a farmer plows over a failed cotton field, Oct. 4, 2022, Halfway, Texas.
Rural Voters 'in the Trenches' on Climate
December 12, 2022
It shows that the United States and Russia have enough fossil fuel reserves to exhaust the world’s remaining carbon budget to stay under 1.5 degrees Celsius warming.
First Public Global Database of Fossil Fuels Launches
September 19, 2022
Related Stories
In this photo provided by Chad Fish, the remnants of a large balloon drift above the Atlantic Ocean, just off the coast of South Carolina, with a fighter jet and its contrail seen below it, Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023.
Regulation
China Accuses U.S. of Indiscriminate Use of Force Over Balloon
A high altitude balloon floats over Billings, Mont., on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023.
Regulation
China Says Suspected Spy Balloon Over U.S. Skies is for Research
Dredge Jadwin, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dredging vessel, powers south down the Mississippi River Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2022, past Commerce, Mo. Amid a major drought in the Western U.S., a proposed solution comes up repeatedly: large-scale river diversions, including pumping Mississippi River water to parched states.
Regulation
Pumping Mississippi River Water West a Potential Drought Solution
Today in Manufacturing Podcast
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More from Brian Melley
Security Breach Podcast
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Security Breach Podcast
A new video series from Manufacturing.net - Security Breach, looks to offer the insight and tools needed to ready your company's defenses. Stay up-to-date on today's vital cybersecurity topics by subscribing here.
January 10, 2023
A Los Angeles federal grand jury on Wednesday, Dec. 15 charged a Houston-based oil company and two subsidiaries for the oil spill off the California coast in October.
Safety
Texas Pipeline Company Charged in California Oil Spill
Prosecutors said companies failed to respond to eight leak detection alarms over a 13-hour period.
December 16, 2021
In this Oct. 22, 2012, file photo provided by the federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, the platforms Ellen and Elly stand offshore near Long Beach, Calif., in the BSEE's Pacific Region. Oil production in federal waters in the Pacific is down 90% over the past several decades and no new drilling leases have been sold in the region since the early 1980s.
Operations
Aging Equipment, Spills Test Ties Between Oil, California
A recent incident has renewed calls to end drilling in coastal waters.
October 15, 2021
Workers in protective suits walk by as dead marine life washed off on a beach after an oil spill in Newport Beach, Calif., on Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2021.
Safety
California Pipeline Likely Damaged Up to a Year Before Spill
Investigators will pore over a year of data on ship movements near the area of the break.
October 11, 2021
Workers clean oil from the sand south of the pier in Newport Beach, Calif., Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021. A leak in an oil pipeline caused a spill off the coast of Southern California, sending about 126,000 gallons of oil into the ocean, some ending up on beaches in Orange County.
Safety
Ship's Anchor May Have Caused Massive California Oil Spill
Federal transportation investigators said the pipe was split open at a depth of about 98 feet.
October 6, 2021
This Jan. 12, 2017, file photo shows gas gathering plant on a hilltop at the Southern California Gas Company's Aliso Canyon storage facility near the Porter Ranch neighborhood of Los Angeles. Attorneys for families sickened and forced from their Los Angeles homes after the nation's largest-known natural gas leak have reached a $1.8 billion settlement with the utility.
Regulation
Gas Blowout Near Los Angeles Leads to Up to $1.8B Settlement
The blowout led to the largest-known release of methane in U.S. history.
September 28, 2021
In this Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020 file image made from video from the Office of the Governor, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs into law a bill that establishes a task force to come up with recommendations on how to give reparations to Black Americans in Sacramento, Calif. A conservative legal group announced Monday, Oct. 5 that it sued to block California's first-in-the-nation law that requires hundreds of corporations based in the state to have directors from racial or sexual minorities on their boards.
Operations
Group Sues to Block Boardroom Diversity Law
The new measure cited statistics showing few of the 662 public corporations headquartered in California had Blacks or Latinos on their boards.
October 6, 2020
Light traffic and a mostly empty parking lot is seen along Pacific Coast Highway at the Santa Monica Pier, Monday, March 23, 2020, in Santa Monica, Calif.
Supply Chain
Calif. Scrambles for Protection Gear
The state is trying to acquire about 1 billion sets of gloves and hundreds of millions of gowns, surgical masks and face shields.
March 24, 2020
About 15 people protest Friday, Jan. 24, 2020, in Los Angeles outside the headquarters of the regulatory body for domain names, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. The company that controls the dot-org online universe is putting the registry of domain names up for sale, and the nonprofits that often use the suffix in their websites are raising concerns about the move. ICANN is meeting this weekend and is expected to rule by mid-February on plans by private-equity firm Ethos Capital to buy the Public Interest Registry for $1.1 billion.
Software
Protesters Have Fears Over Dot-Org Sale
Some fear soaring costs if for-profit company is in charge of registering .org websites.
January 27, 2020
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, second from left, arrives at U.S. District Court Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2019, in Los Angeles. Musk is going on trial for his troublesome tweets in a case pitting the billionaire against a British diver he allegedly dubbed a pedophile.
Regulation
Cave Explorer Describes Humiliation Following Musk Tweet
He helped rescue a dozen boys and their soccer coach from a flooded cave last year.
December 6, 2019
In this frame grab from video, Tesla CEO Elon Musk leaves court, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2019, in Los Angeles. Musk denied that he meant to call a British cave diver a pedophile when he dubbed him 'pedo guy' on social media.
Product Development
Musk Says Insult Provoked ‘Pedo Guy’ Tweet
The Tesla CEO was upset the spelunker had belittled his efforts to build a mini-submarine to transport the boys to safety.
December 4, 2019
In this March 14, 2019, file photo, Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks before unveiling the Model Y at Tesla's design studio in Hawthorne, Calif. Musk is going on trial for his troublesome tweets in a case pitting the billionaire against a British diver he allegedly dubbed a pedophile.
Regulation
Musk Faces Defamation Trial Over Tweet
The case pits the billionaire against a British diver he allegedly branded a pedophile.
December 3, 2019
In this Oct. 31, 2019, file photo, smoke from a wildfire known as the Maria Fire billows above Santa Paula, Calif. A new technology being tested by California utilities is aimed at diagnosing problems before they could cause power outages or spark wildfires. The technology invented by Texas A&M University was designed to provide greater reliability for utility customers, but its biggest selling point could be its use in preventing disasters.
Product Development
Technology Could Help Prevent Wildfires
The tool was originally developed to detect power line problems before blackouts and bigger disasters.
December 2, 2019
Carlos Lama of Bayside Cafe, which was among businesses to lose power due to PG&E's public safety power shutoff, uses an LED lamp and light from his phone at the counter of the restaurant in Sausalito, Calif., Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2019. More than a million people in California were without electricity Wednesday as the state's largest utility pulled the plug to prevent a repeat of the past two years when windblown power lines sparked deadly wildfires that destroyed thousands of homes.
Safety
Millions Waiting for Electricity
PG&E has warned that they might have to do without power for days after the winds subside because "every inch" of the power system must be inspected.
October 10, 2019
In this May 8, 2009 file photo, Liu Zhongtian, the Chinese billionaire chairman of the China Zhongwang Holdings Limited, celebrates at the company's listing ceremony in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Liu has been charged in Los Angeles in a complex scheme to avoid $1.8 billion in aluminum tariffs, U.S. prosecutors said, Wednesday, July 31, 2019. Liu and the aluminum company he previously headed, were charged with conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering.
Supply Chain
Billionaire Indicted in Import Scheme
It was a complex scheme to avoid $1.8 billion in tariffs.
August 1, 2019