Tag Archives: Climate

‘Illegitimate’ Request Denied: GOP Gets Middle Finger for #ExxonKnew Ploy

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Refusing to submit to House inquiry, environmental groups question whether committee is “operating properly” or just acting out a “partisan effort to protect fossil fuel companies.”

By Lauren McCauley, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 6-1-2016

"If companies publicly denied climate change while knowing all along how dangerous it was, they should be held accountable," said Greenpeace executive director Annie Leonard. (Image: Exxonknew.org)

“If companies publicly denied climate change while knowing all along how dangerous it was, they should be held accountable,” said Greenpeace executive director Annie Leonard. (Image: Exxonknew.org)

Environmental groups that have become targets of a Republican-led effort to insulate ExxonMobil against accusations of fraud and climate science suppression dug in a bit deeper on Wednesday by refusing to submit to a Congressional inquiry on the matter.

As Common Dreams previously reported, House Republicans with the Committee on Space, Science and Technology sent a letter (pdf) on May 18th to 17 attorneys general and eight environmental organizations—including 350.org, Greenpeace, and the Union of Concerned Scientists—claiming their #ExxonKnew effort amounted to a violation of climate deniers’ First Amendment rights and demanding that they submit communications related to state investigations into Exxon Mobil. Continue reading →

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After ‘Robbing Humanity’ of Better Future, Shareholders Targeted for Big Oil’s Charade

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Both Exxon and Chevron hold their annual shareholder meetings on Wednesday. Activists plan to protest both events.

By Deirdre Fulton, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 5-20-2016

Chevron and Exxon have opposed environmental resolutions in the past. (Photo: Roo Reynolds/flickr/cc + Mike Mozart/flickr/cc)

Chevron and Exxon have opposed environmental resolutions in the past. (Photo: Roo Reynolds/flickr/cc + Mike Mozart/flickr/cc)

When they gather in Texas and California, respectively, for their annual shareholder meetings next week, ExxonMobil and Chevron will face increasing pressure from shareholders, environmentalists, and impacted communities to act on climate change.

The meetings, both taking place next Wednesday, come amid a concerted effort to hold Exxon and other fossil fuel corporations accountable for deceiving the general public and their shareholders about climate science. Continue reading →

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Exxon Gets Sued by Conservationists and Legal Help from Conservatives

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As attorneys general of Texas and Alabama pledge to assist oil giant with fraud probe, conservation group files first lawsuit since cover-up revealed

By Nadia Prupis, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 5-17-2016

The lawsuit "aims to hold ExxonMobil accountable for decades of dishonesty." (Photo: Johnny Silvercloud/flickr/cc)

The lawsuit “aims to hold ExxonMobil accountable for decades of dishonesty.” (Photo: Johnny Silvercloud/flickr/cc)

An environmental group has filed the first non-governmental lawsuit against ExxonMobil since the fossil fuel giant’s campaign of misinformation was exposed last year.

The Boston-based Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) announced Tuesday that it served a formal notice against Exxon for its decades-long effort to suppress information about climate change and spread public doubt about the impacts of greenhouse gases. CLF launched an investigation against the corporation after InsideClimate News exposed its cover-up in 2015, and found Exxon to be endangering New England communities by misleading regulators over the climate-readiness of its facilities. Continue reading →

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‘Today Marks the End of TTIP’: Greenpeace Leak Exposes Corporate Takeover

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The secret documents represent roughly two-thirds of the latest negotiating text, and in several cases expose for the first time the position of the U.S.

By Deirdre Fulton, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 5-2-2016

WikiLeaks had previously announced a €100,000 "bounty" for the full TTIP text. (Image: Greenpeace)

WikiLeaks had previously announced a €100,000 “bounty” for the full TTIP text. (Image: Greenpeace)

Confirming that the TransAtlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) amounts to “a huge transfer of power from people to big business,” Greenpeace Netherlands on Monday leaked 248 secret pages of the controversial trade deal between the U.S. and EU, exposing how environmental regulations, climate protections, and consumer rights are being “bartered away behind closed doors.”

The documents represent roughly two-thirds of the latest negotiating text, according to Greenpeace, and on some topics offer for the first time the position of the United States.  Continue reading →

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“These Kids Can’t Wait”: New Win in Youth Climate Lawsuit in Washington

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Judge orders state Department of Ecology to create new rules to cap emissions by end of 2016

By Nadia Prupis, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 8-29-2016

Friday's ruling is "the first time [that] a U.S. court not only recognized the extraordinary harms young people are facing due to climate change, but ordered an agency to do something about it." (Photo: Joe Brusky/flickr/cc)

Friday’s ruling is “the first time [that] a U.S. court not only recognized the extraordinary harms young people are facing due to climate change, but ordered an agency to do something about it.” (Photo: Joe Brusky/flickr/cc)

The young activists suing the U.S. government over its role in climate change scored another victory in court on Friday, as a judge in Seattle ordered the Washington Department of Ecology (DOE) to announce an emissions reduction rule by the end of the year and make recommendations to reach those targets to the state legislature in 2017.

King County Superior Court Judge Hollis Hill also ordered the department to consult with the young plaintiffs on crafting those recommendations.

“This is an urgent situation,” Hill said in issuing the order. “These kids can’t wait.” Continue reading →

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The ‘Absolutely Disturbing’ New Normal: Earth Just Smashed Another Climate Record

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‘Global temperature records are piling up,’ says NOAA

By Andrea Germanos, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 4-20-2016

Map: Land and ocean temperature departure from average for March 2016. (NOAA NCEI)

Map: Land and ocean temperature departure from average for March 2016. (NOAA NCEI)

Our ever-warming planet just passed another climate record.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said Tuesday that March 2016 was the warmest March since records began in 1880.

It also marked an 11-month of streak of record-breaking global temperatures.

And at 1.22°C (2.20°F) above the 20th century average of 12.7°C (54.9°F), March 2016 distinguished itself from all 1,635 months on record by having the highest monthly temperature departure. Meteorologists Jeff Masters and Bob Henson wrote, “This is a huge margin for breaking a monthly global temperature record, as they are typically broken by just a few hundredths of a degree. The margin was just a shade larger than NOAA’s previous record for any month of 1.21°C (2.18°F) above average, set in February 2016.” Continue reading →

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Us and Them: On Understanding Climate Denialism

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Written by Martin Kirk. Published March 19, 2015 on CommonDreams.

Graffiti on a wall by London's Regent's Canal is believed to by an ironic work of art by acclaimed street artist Banksy.

Graffiti on a wall by London’s Regent’s Canal is believed to by an ironic work of art by acclaimed street artist Banksy.

So we’re in the midst of another round of climate-change related mud slinging. The latest issue of National Geographic, “The War on Science”, was seen to sneer at the 130 million American who don’t believe in human induced climate change. The Washington Times‘ Stephen Moore fired back with an emotional op-ed titled “The Myth of Settled Science,” and to go by the pundits and the comment threads, people on both sides are tearing their hair out, utterly sick of what they see as their opponents’ brainwashed, dangerous nonsense.

Continue reading →

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Heating Up Over Climate

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People's Climate March, NYC. Photo via Facebook

People’s Climate March, NYC. Photo via Facebook

On Tuesday, the U.N. Climate Summit begins. 120 world leaders will meet at the United Nations in New York to discuss ways to tackle the growing threat of carbon pollution.

Yesterday, the people decided to provide them with some incentive to do the right thing. Somewhere around 2800 events were planned around the globe as part of the People’s Climate March. In New York City, more than 400,000 people turned out for the march, including U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and former Vice President Al Gore, among others.

Stanley Sturgill, a retired coal miner from Kentucky now suffering from black lung, said at a press conference before the march: “Today I march because I want to behold a brighter future. We have destroyed ourselves. We have destroyed our health and I’m here because our political leaders have failed us. We know together we can build our bright future.”

Bill McKibben of 350.org, who was the originator of the march, said: “The stakes are the future of the planet. And so far, we’ve seen essentially no action from world leaders that matter on this question.”

While the U.S. is claiming that it’s leading the way in climate change, the world spewed more carbon into the atmosphere last year than ever before. Who were the main culprits? China, India and the U.S. And of those three countries, only the U.S. is attending the summit; China and India announced earlier this month that they wouldn’t be attending. Together China and India account for nearly a third of total emissions, and their carbon footprint is growing in contrast to the U.S. and Europe, where it’s basically flat.

We’d like to think that this represents a shift in global awareness in regards to climate change, but we have to temper our optimism. We think Andy Borowitz said it best in his piece about the march: “A climate-change march that organizers claim was the largest on record is nevertheless unlikely to change the minds of idiots, a survey of America’s idiots reveals.” Unfortunately, there still seems to be a lot of idiots out there…

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