Union of Concerned Scientists

DECEMBER 10, 2023

Last week, I joined my colleagues at COP28 in Dubai , as negotiators and civil society push for a fossil fuel phaseout to meet climate goals. This year there has been a lot of attention on the more than 2,400 oil and gas lobbyists at the climate meetings. Source: IPCC Sixth Assessment Report. billion on advertising.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

JULY 1, 2024

To adjust the focus of this picture a little closer, just our passenger cars and light trucks contribute to a whopping 58 percent of total transportation emissions, placing our car-centric society in the fossil fuel spotlight. Petroleum has accounted for more than 90 percent of transportation energy in the last 50 years.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

DECEMBER 8, 2023

While there are thousands of people here in Dubai at COP28 fighting for genuine change, the climate summit is facing a barrage of disinformation. Combatting climate change has never been more urgent, and COP28 is poised to advance critical global action. According to The Global Carbon Project , approximately 36.6

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Union of Concerned Scientists

JUNE 20, 2024

Last week, I participated in the Scientists Speakout Day during the Summer of Heat on Wall Street , to protest and disrupt the financial institutions that are enabling the fossil fuel industry (and, as a result, our current climate crisis).

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Union of Concerned Scientists

NOVEMBER 14, 2022

The destruction caused by climate change is directly linked to human activity, primarily burning fossil fuels. There are multiple realistic, tangible solutions that would rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, yet policy addressing anthropogenic climate change remains slow and insufficient.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

APRIL 24, 2023

In an important win for climate accountability in the United States, the US Supreme Court decided that lawsuits filed in Colorado, Maryland, California, Hawai’i, and Rhode Island against fossil fuel companies including ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, Suncor, and others will remain in state courts.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

OCTOBER 12, 2022

Earlier this year, The Guardian ran a powerful article exposing the ties of Elsevier, one of the world’s largest academic publishing companies, to the fossil fuel industry. The article caught my attention because I’d never considered the ways in which an academic publisher might be perpetuating and enabling a fossil fuel economy.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

DECEMBER 4, 2023

It’s not just the poor air quality, long lines, and excessive fossil fuel company representation ; nations are still too far apart in their positions on a fossil fuel phaseout, the top priority for this COP. Yet global fossil fuel production and use continue to expand. Particulate matter (PM2.5)

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Union of Concerned Scientists

FEBRUARY 21, 2023

The world’s biggest fossil fuel companies recently released their 2022 earnings reports, revealing record-breaking profits last year; just five companies–ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, Chevron, and TotalEnergies–reported a total of nearly $200 billion in profits. billion and $35.5 billion, respectively, during 2022.

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Environment + Energy Leader

JUNE 26, 2023

A report by global safety charity Lloyd's Register Foundation shows individuals in countries heavily reliant on fossil fuel production are less likely to perceive climate change as a significant threat.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

JUNE 24, 2024

This month, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for a ban on advertising by fossil fuel companies, invoking the ban on tobacco ads as a relevant precedent. So what can we learn from the ban on tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship that may be relevant to tackling the fossil fuel industry-driven climate crisis?

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Union of Concerned Scientists

OCTOBER 27, 2021

Director of Strategic Climate Analytics Erika Spanger-Siegfried pulls no punches as she imagines what she'd ask the fossil fuel executives who will be questioned about their role in climate change at a House Oversight and Reform Committee meeting.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

MAY 16, 2023

But this new study from my colleagues working on climate change and fossil fuel accountability couldn’t be ignored. In short, the study concludes that fossil fuel companies are in part to blame for the extraordinary damages resulting from western wildfires (including those sparked by utilities).

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Union of Concerned Scientists

APRIL 27, 2023

Fossil fuel power plant owners are facing increased accountability for their air and water pollution, including from a new round of environmental and public health protections that are being rolled out by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). We’ve heard these lazily disingenuous narratives before.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

SEPTEMBER 12, 2024

He recently published a children’s book titled Goodnight Fossil Fuels! that’s specifically about climate change and fossil fuel accountability. I checked out the science books, and there were some interesting titles but literally nothing about climate change. is disastrous.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

JULY 29, 2024

My colleague Dr. Kristy Dahl and I arrived in Sofia, Bulgaria, last week for the 61st session of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). These documents offer an internationally accepted summary of the state of climate science, and form the backbone of many legal briefs I prepare.

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Legal Planet

AUGUST 18, 2022

Production and combustion of fossil fuels imposes enormous costs on society, which the industry doesn’t pay for. I want to talk about some options for using the tax system to change that. A more promising alternative might be a clean-up tax on the fossil fuel industry. Download as PDF.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

JANUARY 24, 2023

Utilities and grid operators prepared for the storm as it was coming down the pike, but they still underestimated the energy demand it would trigger, as well as the number of outages at fossil fuel power plants—mainly natural gas-fired, plus some coal-fired plants.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

JUNE 19, 2024

Accelerating risks from climate change are colliding with shortcomings in insurance markets—such as a lack of transparent information and affordability provisions—to create a perfect storm for people and communities on the front lines of floods, droughts, and wildfires. Many of these disasters bear the fingerprints of climate change.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

FEBRUARY 23, 2023

And just like summertime in the US, this period (December, January, and February) has transformed into a “ danger season ” as a result of climate change, replete with deadly heatwaves, drought, and wildfires. Sixty times more likely is a remarkable figure to me. And there would be some justice.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

JULY 3, 2022

is a serious blow to the EPA’s ability to fight climate change—and could have dangerous repercussions beyond this case. The timing of the decision feels especially harsh, as the nation is in the throes of the “ Danger Season ” for hazards such as heat waves, drought, wildfires and hurricanes, all worsened by climate change.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

OCTOBER 3, 2024

The grief of yet another climate-changed event is overwhelming. Photo provided by the author The aftermath of Helene is proving the worst of what we imagine in the face of climate change. That means that, because of climate change, we need to be prepared for more destructive storms like Helene.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

AUGUST 26, 2024

And we know that as our climate warms further—driven by burning fossil fuels—the risk of large wildfires will only grow. This alarming finding clarifies the significant role and responsibility of fossil fuel companies to not only stop their harm moving forward, but also to address damage they have already done.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

MARCH 24, 2023

For the first time, the International Court of Justice (ICJ)—the world’s highest court—may be ruling on climate change. On March 29, the UN General Assembly will vote on a resolution to bring climate change before the ICJ.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

FEBRUARY 29, 2024

Fossil fuel companies are well established as founts of disinformation , agents of obstruction, and drivers of climate change. We draw attention to the outsized role that a small number of business enterprises have had in driving climate change and obstructing action.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

MARCH 23, 2023

And fossil fuel power plants may not stick to their retirement schedules for a variety of reasons. And CO 2 emissions are a primary driver of global climate change, which is exacerbating the type of extreme weather that killed 474 people and caused $165 billion in damages in the United States last year alone.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

JUNE 26, 2024

This June, I had the opportunity to testify at the Pennsylvania House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee’s hearing on “Hydrogen Hubs and Climate Change.” My name is Julie McNamara, and I am a senior analyst and deputy policy director for climate and energy at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

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Circle of Blue

AUGUST 11, 2021

According to the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report published Monday, Southeast Asia coastal zones are among the world’s most climate vulnerable regions. Graphic courtesy of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Carl Ganter / Circle of Blue.

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Legal Planet

JUNE 16, 2022

According to the Energy Information Agency , South Korea’s power sector is heavily reliant on fossil fuels. Two thirds of generation capacity is based on fossil fuels, split evenly between coal and natural gas, with 17% nuclear, and 14% hydro and other renewables. 50% coal, 26% gas, and 25% nuclear. Download as PDF.

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Real Climate

APRIL 6, 2023

The summary for policymakers of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) sixth synthesis report was released on March 20th (available online as a PDF ). There is a recording of the IPCC Press Conference – Climate Change 2023: Synthesis Report for those who are interested in watching an awkward release of the report.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

MARCH 16, 2023

In a few days, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will release its latest synthesis report that provides a comprehensive assessment of the current state of scientific knowledge on climate change, including its causes, impacts, and potential solutions.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

JANUARY 10, 2023

Many of these disasters—including floods, storms, wildfires and droughts—were worsened by climate change. . Climate change is not the sole causative factor, of course. That’s why the long-waited climate bill that the U.S. Source: NOAA [link]. You can watch her powerful speech here ). The math of a divided U.S.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

JANUARY 10, 2025

Fact: Wildfires are wors ening due to climate change At a basic level, the connection between wildfires and water is intuitive: fires start more easily, burn more intensely, and spread faster when its dry and hot. Thats bad news, because climate change is increasing temperatures and the risk of drought in many regions.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

JANUARY 3, 2024

The outcomes of the latest international climate negotiations at COP28 in Dubai in December, while taking some important steps forward, fell far short of what is needed to avert climate catastrophe. One big positive from COP28 was the creation of a Loss and Damage fund to address climate impacts in the Global South.

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Legal Planet

OCTOBER 24, 2023

Though they probably meant well, it’s offensive—misogynist even— to suggest that Taylor Swift has nothing more to contribute to the climate movement than a date. You could argue that writing about climate change would be a departure from Swift’s usual topics of relationships and romance, which frankly is a sexist and untrue take.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

JUNE 13, 2022

It means committing to incentives and standards that clearly align with the trajectory we need to be on across all sectors of the economy—both valuing the beneficial aspects of clean energy resources, and accounting for the negative effects of polluting fossil fuels. People can no longer deny climate change must be addressed.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

MAY 25, 2021

Treasurers are seeing that demands for climate action can’t wait, and they're in a position to pressure fossil fuel company investors to finally vote for serious climate leaders and all-important climate risk disclosure.

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