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. One option, a tax on carbon dioxide emissions, gets the most attention but seems politically impossible. Download as PDF.

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Fossil Fuels Carbon Dioxide Politics Carbon Emissions 278

Union of Concerned Scientists

JULY 19, 2023

And those on the frontlines of these disasters need emergency help immediately, as well as climate resilience investments to protect them from future impacts we’ve already locked in. There isn’t a place on the planet that is immune to the climate-caused extremes we are witnessing today. That can and must change NOW.

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Fossil Fuels Climate Change Clean Energy Carbon Emissions 246

Union of Concerned Scientists

JANUARY 14, 2025

As the climate crisis deepens, so does the urgency to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for decades of deception. As the fossil fuel industry spares no expense to obscure these truths, the work of scientists who engage with climate litigation is increasingly vital.

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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

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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Legal Planet

DECEMBER 3, 2021

I feel like climate change is going to have to get worse before it gets better. Climate change has been a big, scary, looming problem for basically the entirety of my life; I cannot remember a time when it was not at least a background concern. This holiday season, I’m especially grateful for their tone of determination.

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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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Inside Climate News

DECEMBER 30, 2024

By Dan Gearino, ICN Staff In a year of record-setting heat, intensifying extreme weather and a bitterly partisan presidential election in which climate change was almost never mentioned, the transition away from fossil fuels made significant progress that was still not nearly enough.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

OCTOBER 20, 2021

A new UCS report found that the oil and gas industry has spent massive amounts of money in Colorado to buy political influence and block public health and environmental safeguards.

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Fossil Fuels Politics Climate Change 289

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

MARCH 17, 2025

The IPCC compiles scientific insights on climate change, informing policymakers and the public about risks and possible actions. In essence, combined with climate models, they provide a way to envision the consequences of different actions or inactions. What Are Future Climate Scenarios?

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Radiation Sea Level Climate Change Fossil Fuels 186

Union of Concerned Scientists

NOVEMBER 21, 2024

Also like a sine graph, Union of Concerned Scientists will keep moving forward no matter what (and backward technically, but I am political science major and way out of my depth here, so let’s pretend they only move forward, give me kudos for an awesome simile, and get to the recap!). Much like a sine graph , this year had highs and lows.

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Fossil Fuels Recycling Clean Energy 2004 226

Union of Concerned Scientists

OCTOBER 12, 2022

Since the summer of 2021, five Republican-controlled state legislatures have passed bills banning their state governments from doing business with financial institutions that they allege have divested from fossil fuel companies as a result of ESG investment policies. Another six statehouses are considering similar bills.

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Fossil Fuels Climate Change Carbon Emissions Politics 362

Ocean Conservancy

NOVEMBER 11, 2024

Through political shifts and economic tides, the organization has stayed the course. Protecting our blue planet isn’t just a matter of politics; it is our duty—to ourselves, to future generations and to the planet we call home. You can join us in continuing the fight against climate change.

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Ocean Fossil Fuels Paris Agreement Politics 132

Union of Concerned Scientists

JANUARY 26, 2023

The image that comes to mind when I think of fossil fuel villains is Batman’s adversary Two-Face. To be two-faced is to be deceitful, and deception is what the fossil fuel industry executives excel in. What is ESG? ” Kentucky officials are not doing this alone, it is part of a coordinated effort.

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Fossil Fuels Climate Change Clean Energy Politics 328

Union of Concerned Scientists

NOVEMBER 16, 2022

(For a deeper dive on what’s really going on here in Egypt, check out the Climate Action Against Disinformation’s website.). A small number of big corporations are responsible for the climate crisis. The best solution: Replace fossil fuels with renewable energy. This is not news, but it’s worth repeating.

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Enviromental Defense

AUGUST 23, 2024

Have you ever wondered why progress on climate change is so slow despite widespread public support for climate action? How often does the fossil fuel industry try to influence the government’s climate policy decisions? If any of these questions have ever crossed your mind, then I have great news for you!

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Legal Planet

JULY 21, 2023

As Gernot Wagner puts it in ‘ Geoengineering: the Gamble ’: “The decision is all about risk-risk tradeoffs” He urges us to put the risks of potentially pursuing solar geoengineering against “the risks of unmitigated climate change.” The National Academy of Sciences adopted a ’risk-risk’ framing in its 2021 report.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

DECEMBER 4, 2023

In an unforeseen turn of events, a pivotal climate litigation case unfolded in Montana , where 16 young environmental advocates challenged the state’s fossil fuel policies. Climate litigation emphasized addressing current and past harms, with a spotlight on Loss and Damage. A new focus: Fossil fuel phaseout cases.

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2024 Fossil Fuels Climate Change Government 286

Union of Concerned Scientists

MARCH 6, 2025

This past week, I attended the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) meeting in Hangzhou, China. In previous posts, Ive explained what the IPCC is, why this assessment cycle is crucial , and highlighted its role in climate action. Whats Next for the IPCC? With AR7 now in motion, the real work begins.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

SEPTEMBER 27, 2023

The climate crisis is one of humanity’s most complex conflicts yet. The dangerous impacts of a warming, fossil-fuel dependent world span from wildfires capable of destroying entire towns to cancer-causing air pollution that afflicts the next generation. Unfortunately, when it comes to climate change, the truth is often obscured.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

NOVEMBER 15, 2022

Of course, we also will have to make sharp cuts in CO2 emissions, the main driver of climate change. Methane emissions come from two main sources : fossil fuels and agriculture—primarily animal-based agriculture. At COP27, 636 registered attendees are lobbyists for the fossil fuel industry.

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Fossil Fuels Paris Agreement 2030 Climate Change 292

Enviromental Defense

SEPTEMBER 27, 2023

This wasn’t the first of these summits – but it was the first one that focused on the concrete actions governments are taking to phase out fossil fuels. We heard world leader after world leader say what has been only an elephant in the room until now – that we must phase out fossil fuels. It’s not complicated.

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Legal Planet

JULY 13, 2023

To begin with, there are the health benefits of the energy transition away from fossil fuels. Limiting climate change will itself protect ecosystems and biodiversity around the world. It will limit the environmental harms caused by producing and transporting millions of tons of fossil fuels.

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Legal Planet

AUGUST 15, 2023

A Montana state district court has issued its long-awaited decision in a major climate change case brought by Montana children against state officials. Judge Seeley did so after presiding over a two-week, non-jury trial in June 2023–the first such climate change trial in U.S. In Held v. legal history.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

APRIL 18, 2022

The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently released its sixth assessment of climate change, comprised of three separate reports presenting the latest science on climate change, related impacts, adaptation, vulnerability , and mitigation at a time when more and more people are pressing for climate action.

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Circle of Blue

OCTOBER 4, 2022

Climate change could hike the cost of maintaining Ontario ’s transportation infrastructure by over $1.5 We work together to produce news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water. Laura Gersony, Fresh Editor. This Week’s Watersheds.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

MARCH 6, 2025

This past week, I attended the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) meeting in Hangzhou, China. In previous posts, Ive explained what the IPCC is, why this assessment cycle is crucial , and highlighted its role in climate action. Whats Next for the IPCC? With AR7 now in motion, the real work begins.

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Climate Change Carbon Dioxide Technology Technology 147

Enviromental Defense

DECEMBER 29, 2023

Earlier this month at COP28 countries committed to transitioning off of fossil fuels and massively scaling up renewable energy instead. So you’re excused if, like me, you’re baffled by Minister Freeland’s first move in the wake of COP28: a giant new fossil fuel subsidy, via the new Canada Growth Fund.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

OCTOBER 26, 2022

While there is enormous potential for UN climate negotiations to transform climate action, meaningful progress has been delayed in part by the fossil fuel industry’s deceptive tactics. Last year’s COP was notable as the first to explicitly mention “fossil fuels” in the final decision document.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

JULY 22, 2022

Minnesotans are facing concurrent crises of climate change, high energy prices and inflation, and the inequitable public health impacts of fossil fuel air pollution. Getting energy from where it’s produced to where it’s needed. Unlocking the gridlock for Minnesota’s renewable energy future.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

DECEMBER 20, 2022

Sea level rise presents numerous climate justice issues. Some of the venues where people are addressing the injustices of climate change are UN climate negotiations, the courts, and community organizing efforts around the world. Climate justice research can help inform these conversations.

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Enviromental Defense

MAY 15, 2024

Since starting with Environmental Defence in January, I’ve been grappling with an updated version of those song lyrics: “Why we must talk about climate change when everything is burning?” Given the human cost of climate change, you might think that talking about it while it is ravishing our nation would be easy.

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Legal Planet

OCTOBER 13, 2022

The article surveys a range of criticisms of the use of carbon taxes as a tool to address greenhouse gas emissions, and criticisms of the focus of many economists on carbon taxes as the primary tool to address climate change. I think these political constraints are a key reason economists focused so long – too long – on carbon pricing.

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Legal Planet

MAY 23, 2022

The Liberals had done as little as possible to address climate change. So the change in government is more than welcome. The outgoing Liberals weren’t helped electorally by their foot-dragging about climate change. Polling showed broad public support for more aggressive cuts in carbon emissions.

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Carbon Emissions Climate Change Fossil Fuels Politics 246

Union of Concerned Scientists

JANUARY 20, 2023

They combined their expertise in climate science, science history, and document analysis to create a perfect blend of scientific analysis and socially relevant research. Their internal research estimated that scientists would be able to link rising temperatures to the burning of fossil fuels sometime between 1995 and 2005.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

APRIL 4, 2022

Now the reports driven by these resolutions are beginning to roll in, and while they certainly provide some insight into the fossil fuel industry’s investment in political influence, a sleight of hand is preventing investors from seeing the companies’ full strategy. ExxonMobil Names Names.

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