Union of Concerned Scientists

APRIL 17, 2024

Last year, I wrote that fossil fuel companies made billions of dollars in profit during 2022 as people around the world suffered billions of dollars in damage from climate and weather related disasters. Above: Lahaina, Hawai’i after the devastating August 2023 wildfire that killed more than 100 people and destroyed 2,700 homes.

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Fossil Fuels 2024 Climate Change 2023 320

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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Yale E360

NOVEMBER 14, 2023

This allows wealthy nations to report progress on emissions reduction goals, while shipping their fossil fuels — and the pollution they produce — overseas. Oil, gas, and coal exports are not counted when countries tally their greenhouse gas emissions under the Paris Agreement. Read more on E360 →

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Fossil Fuels Paris Agreement Greenhouse 363

Yale E360

NOVEMBER 2, 2023

With UN climate negotiations set for next month, a growing number of nations and business leaders are calling for a phaseout of fossil fuels. But with major fossil fuel expansion projects moving ahead around the globe, advocates of strong action face a daunting challenge. Read more on E360 →

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Union of Concerned Scientists

DECEMBER 8, 2023

Yet, driven by vested interests in the fossil fuel industry , misleading narratives aim to distort and hinder meaningful climate commitments. Fossil fuels are the problem It’s pretty simple: the burning of fossil fuels is the main driver of climate change. billion tons of the 40.5

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Fossil Fuels Climate Change Renewable Energy Carbon Dioxide 290

Union of Concerned Scientists

APRIL 4, 2024

A new dataset released by InfluenceMap provides information on heat-trapping emissions traced to the 122 largest investor and state-owned fossil fuel companies in the world. Fossil fuels are the main driver of climate change and the terrifying effects of it that we see happening across the world.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

MAY 10, 2023

This year has brought new evidence of what major fossil fuel companies knew and when about the role their products play in climate change, as well as what they did in spite of what they knew. But these technologies are no substitute for sharp cuts in fossil fuels if we keep the goals of the Paris climate agreement within reach.

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Fossil Fuels Climate Change Carbon Dioxide Renewable Energy 342

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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Law and Environment

AUGUST 3, 2023

On July 31, 2023, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu signed an executive order ending the use of fossil fuels in new construction and major renovations of city-owned buildings. Covered buildings and projects will require heating, ventilation, air conditioning, hot water, and cooking systems that do not use fossil fuels.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

OCTOBER 16, 2024

Fossil fuel-caused climate change was a driving force in these storms, and despite the nearly perfect forecasts, we are still not ready for the effects of climate change. Why are the oceans so warm and fueling this rapid intensification? million people throughout the central part of the state.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

MAY 8, 2024

Some years ago, I began to feel the most important thing I could do was learn how to replace fossil fuel with renewable energy. For 30 years I have been an advocate for offshore wind development off New England’s coast and for the creation of institutions to support a transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

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Fossil Fuels Wind Power Ocean Renewable Energy 290

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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Yale E360

OCTOBER 18, 2023

Multiple recent analyses find that global fossil fuel demand is nearing its peak, with energy emissions at last headed for decline. Read more on E360 →

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Yale E360

AUGUST 31, 2023

Global subsidies for fossil fuels reached $7 trillion in 2022, an all-time high, according to the International Monetary Fund. Read more on E360 →

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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.

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Legal Planet

NOVEMBER 15, 2021

The decision at the Glasgow climate conference to phase down fossil fuels is an important step forward — and not just because of climate change. We think of fossil fuels as a source of climate change, but that’s only a one part of the problem. Fossil fuels are a case in point. Consider coal.

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Environment + Energy Leader

NOVEMBER 9, 2022

The post UN Net-Zero Guidance Calls for End of Fossil Fuels Financial Support appeared first on Environment + Energy Leader. Other topics include fighting greenwashing and supporting climate regulations.

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Fossil Fuels Regulations 325

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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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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Fossil Fuels Climate Change 246

Legal Planet

AUGUST 18, 2022

Production and combustion of fossil fuels imposes enormous costs on society, which the industry doesn’t pay for. A more promising alternative might be a clean-up tax on the fossil fuel industry. The post Making Fossil Fuels Pay for Their Damage appeared first on Legal Planet. Download as PDF.

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Fossil Fuels Carbon Dioxide Politics Air Pollution 242

Union of Concerned Scientists

MARCH 16, 2022

Deputy Policy Director Julie McNamara urges policymakers to see calls from the fossil fuel industry to invest more in their operations--in response to market instability because of the war in Ukraine--as an opportunistic attempt to lower their costs and increase their profits, at great cost to us.

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Fossil Fuels Clean Energy Renewable Energy 312

Scientific American

NOVEMBER 19, 2024

The fossil-fuel industry argues that we can’t live without its deadly products. It is wrong

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Yale E360

JUNE 12, 2023

Thanks to a growing buildout of renewable power, fossil fuels now account for less than half of China's total installed power capacity, state media said Monday. Read more on E360 →

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Fossil Fuels 266

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

NOVEMBER 14, 2022

The destruction caused by climate change is directly linked to human activity, primarily burning fossil fuels. This dangerous delay in action is largely due to the fossil fuel industry continuing to increase carbon emissions and standing in the way of change. . Tuvalu endorsed the fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty.

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Yale E360

DECEMBER 13, 2023

The 2023 UN climate conference has concluded with an agreement, approved by nearly 200 countries, to shift away from fossil fuels. Read more on E360 →

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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). That equates to 19.8

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Fossil Fuels Climate Change Electricity Regulations 187

Union of Concerned Scientists

JUNE 12, 2023

The same scenario has played out with the power plants that use fossil fuels, predominantly methane (“natural”) gas, delivered by pipelines. At the same time, extreme weather events are becoming more common as more fossil fuel is burned and carbon is released into the air. It’s a vicious feedback loop.

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Fossil Fuels Renewable Energy Electricity Regulations 189

Union of Concerned Scientists

JANUARY 28, 2022

Science Network guest blogger Keeley Bombard lays out the economic and social concerns of those whose livelihoods have depended on a thriving fossil fuel industry, and makes the case for a transition to renewal energy that won't leave these communities behind.

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Yale E360

OCTOBER 18, 2021

A cryptocurrency-mining operation in central New York has reopened a shuttered fossil fuel power plant to power 15,300 computer servers used to unlock bitcoins, raising concerns among environmentalists, the Associated Press reports. Read more on E360 ?.

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Yale E360

FEBRUARY 17, 2023

Seeking to offset rising energy costs, governments spent more than $1 trillion on subsidies for the consumption of fossil fuels last year, an all-time high. Read more on E360 →

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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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Yale E360

JANUARY 27, 2023

trillion in investment globally last year, matching investment in fossil fuels for the first time ever, according to a new report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Solar, wind, electric vehicles, and other clean energy technologies saw a record-high $1.1 Read more on E360 →

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Yale E360

NOVEMBER 14, 2023

This allows wealthy nations to report progress on emissions reduction goals, while shipping their fossil fuels — and the pollution they produce — overseas. Oil, gas, and coal exports are not counted when countries tally their greenhouse gas emissions under the Paris Agreement. Read more on E360 →

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Fossil Fuels Paris Agreement Greenhouse 130

Union of Concerned Scientists

MARCH 30, 2022

Replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy from wind and solar will depend on upgrading the electric power grid, which is currently plagued by planning delays and gridlock. The 2021 law allows, but does not require, PJM to plan ahead because various fossil fuel plants must reduce and then cease emissions by a specific date.

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Fossil Fuels Renewable Energy Electricity Regulations 249

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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Enviromental Defense

MARCH 11, 2024

Will the City of Ottawa ban fossil fuel promotion in City facilities? Fossil fuel advertisements indeed contradict the City’s policies on climate. City Council declared a climate emergency in 2019 and committed to a full phase-out of fossil fuels by 2050. It’s possible. And who knows?

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