Matthew Brown

Associated Press
Latest in Supply Chain
Flat screen TVs displayed at a retail store in Vernon Hills, Ill., Aug. 7, 2025.
Retail Sales Rise as Shoppers Shrug Off Tariff Pressures
August 15, 2025
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference following the Federal Open Market Committee meeting, Washington, July 30, 2025.
Inflation or Jobs? Fed Officials Divided Over Competing Concerns
August 15, 2025
A Ford vehicle is shown on the assembly line at the Ford Louisville Assembly Plant, Monday, Aug. 11, 2025, in Louisville, Ky.
U.S. Producer Prices Surge in July as Tariffs Push Costs Higher
August 14, 2025
Ransomware
Chip Makers See A 6X Surge in Cyberattacks and $1B in Ransomware Losses
August 14, 2025
Related Stories
This Dec. 10, 2016 photo provided by the North Dakota Department of Health shows an oil spill from the Belle Fourche Pipeline that was discovered Dec. 5 in Ash Coulee Creek, a tributary of the Little Missouri River, near Belfield, N.D. The discovery of the pipeline spill in western North Dakota has drawn heightened attention because of the battle over the Dakota Access oil pipeline being built across the state.
Supply Chain
Obama Pipeline Rules Face Uncertain Future
In this undated file photo, the USNS Bowditch, a T-AGS 60 Class Oceanographic Survey Ship, sails in open water. China has returned to the U.S. an unmanned underwater drone the Chinese Navy seized unlawfully last week in international waters, the Pentagon said in a statement. China's defense ministry said it handed the drone back after 'friendly consultations.'
Product Development
China Returns Underwater Drone
This Oct. 11, 2013 file photo shows cleanup at the site of a Tesoro Corp. pipeline break that spilled more than 20,000 barrels of oil into a Tioga, N.D., wheat field. The massive oil spill still isn't fully cleaned up three years and three months after it happened. The company responsible hasn't even set a date for completion. Some say that one of the largest onshore oil spills recorded in the U.S. serves as a cautionary example, especially given a recent pipeline break about 150 miles south and ongoing debates over the four-state Dakota Access pipeline.
Supply Chain
2013 Oil Spill in ND Never Cleaned Up
Alcohol 5 Asahi Beer 58501e522d99b
Supply Chain
Japanese Brewer Makes $8B Acquisition
More from Matthew Brown
Environmental cleanup specialists work at one of the last remaining residential asbestos cleanup sites in Libby, Montana, in mid-September.
Safety
BNSF Railway Says It Didn't Know About Asbestos in Montana Town
Attorneys say the corporate predecessors of the railroad didn't know the vermiculite they hauled was filled with asbestos.
April 19, 2024
The Centenario deep-water drilling platform off the coast of Veracruz, Mexico, in the Gulf of Mexico, is pictured on Nov. 22, 2013.
Regulation
Companies Bid $264M in Gulf Oil Sale Mandated by Climate Law
The auction was the first in the Gulf in more than a year and drew strong interest from industry giants including Chevron, BP and ExxonMobil.
March 30, 2023
Workers stand near train tracks, Sept. 27, 2021, next to overturned cars from an Amtrak train that derailed a few days prior near Joplin, Mont., killing three people and injuring others.
Supply Chain
Bent Track a Factor in Montana Amtrak Crash
The problem got worse as freight trains traveled over the area before the crash.
February 23, 2023
A slag pile of mining waste is seen in Anaconda, Mont., on Dec. 15, 2016.
Safety
Montana Site Fouled by Copper Smelter to Get Final Cleanup
The 300-square mile site in Montana is contaminated with arsenic and other pollutants.
October 3, 2022
Eagle researcher Charles 'Chuck' Preston carries a young golden eagle that was temporarily removed from its nest as part of research related to long-term population studies of the birds, on June 15, 2022 near Cody, Wyo.
Regulation
U.S. Proposal Would Permit Eagle Deaths as Renewables Expand
The announcement comes after several major utilities have been federally prosecuted for killing large numbers of eagles without permits.
September 30, 2022
The sun sets at Chalmette refinery in Chalmette, La., located just over the Mississippi River levee May 3, 2020. While the Inflation Reduction Act concentrates on clean energy incentives that could drastically reduce overall U.S. emissions, it also buoys oil and gas interests by mandating leasing of vast areas of public lands and off the nation’s coasts.
Regulation
U.S. Oil & Gas Unlikely Beneficiary in Climate Bill
The bill bypasses concerns about emissions and guarantees new drilling opportunities in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska.
August 19, 2022
A corroded pipeline that ruptured and spilled 350,000 gallons of diesel fuel into a New Orleans area wetland did not have a fully functioning leak detection system at the time, according to federal records that also show the spill was larger than previously reported.
Safety
Pipeline's Safeguards Not Working in Louisiana Diesel Spill
The spill sent 350,000 gallons of diesel fuel into a wetland.
February 8, 2022
The Biden administration on Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2021, issued a solicitation for interest in developing solar power on public lands in Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado.
Product Development
Biden Administration Moves to Expand Solar Power on U.S. Land
The projects would generate up to 465 megawatts of electricity.
December 22, 2021
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
President Joe Biden suspended oil and gas lease sales in his first days in office — a move later blocked by a federal judge — and faced pressure from environmental groups to take similar actions on coal.
Regulation
Climate Impact of Coal Sales from U.S. Lands Scrutinized
Almost half the nation's annual coal production is mined by private companies from leases on federal land.
August 19, 2021
This Feb. 21, 2012, file photo, shows equipment in the oil fields of the Uintah Basin, southeast of Vernal, Utah.
Regulation
Trump Administration Cuts Oil, Gas Fees
The temporary breaks are intended to help companies with workforce problems or other issues due to the pandemic.
June 11, 2020
In this Nov. 7, 2019, file photo, the first panels of levee border wall are seen at a construction site along the U.S.-Mexico border, in Donna, Texas.
Operations
Border Work on Track; Rural Towns Fear Virus Spread
Major construction projects are moving forward along the U.S. borders with Canada and Mexico.
April 3, 2020