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Page Updated:
Sept. 22, 2023

• • Exxon and Oil Sands Go on Trial in New York

  A Climate Fraud Case
  
  

  Sep. 19, 2023 -In late 2013, ExxonMobil faced increasing pressure from investors to disclose more about the risks the company faced as governments began limiting greenhouse gas emissions. Of the many costs climate change will impose, oil companies face a particularly acute one: the demand for their product will have to shrink.

  Click now for the full story.

• • California Enters Climate Litigation Fray

  It's a 'Watershed Moment'
  
  

  Sep. 19, 2023 -California, a top oil-producing state, is suing the oil majors and an influential ally — making it the latest and largest player among a growing number of local governments looking to hold fossil fuel companies financially accountable for the effects of climate change.

  The lawsuit, filed Friday in the Superior Court of California in San Francisco, accuses five of the world’s largest oil companies and their subsidiaries, along with the industry trade association the American Petroleum Institute, of waging a campaign to mislead the public about the dangers of burning fossil fuels.

• • Grave Risks for Environmental Activists

  Every Other Day, an Environmental Defender Is Killed
  
  

  Sep. 15, 2023 -At least 177 land and environmental defenders (or one person every other day) were killed last year for safeguarding the environment. The new figures come from a new report by the NGO Global Witness. The figures bring the total number of defender killings up to 1,910 between 2012 and 2022, a disturbing trend that's particularly prevalent in Latin America.

  Click now for the whole story.

• • Wild Crocodile Eggs Feed
  the Designer Handbag Braze

  And the Hunt is On!
  
  

  Sep. 15, 2023 -Australian crocodile leather is among the most prized on the planet. Fashion giants Hermès and Louis Vuitton use it in some of their designer handbags, which are flashed on the runways of New York, Paris and Milan, and can sell for as much as $50,000.

  But the expensive skins have a humble — and hazardous — origin.

• • Identifying the Top Emitters

  Industrial Plants in Gary Are Sited
  
  

  Sep. 14, 2023 -A new report on toxic pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, health metrics and environmental justice indicators could guide investments to clean up heavy industry.

  Click now for the full story.

• • Biden Is Bringing More Environmental
  & Climate Justice to The US

  Billions in Federal Funds to CBOs in Marginalized Communities
  
  

  Sep. 10, 2023 - This past year, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) invested $3 billion in funding from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in the newly-created Environmental and Climate Justice Grant Program (ECJ).

  It Will accelerate environmental justice efforts, address dangerous pollution, and support a more equitable future for US communities. Frequently noted as restrictive and rife with barriers, federal funding has been largely inaccessible to the communities who need it the most, but this program represents a historic opportunity for agencies to administer federal funding directly to marginalized environmental justice, climate justice, and frontline communities.

• • Private Equity Giant KKR
  Is Funding Environmental Racism

  Creatung Significant Harm to BIPOC Communities in Texas, Louisiana and British Columbia, and Canada
  
  

  Sep. 8, 2023 -From the Gulf South to Canada, frontline communities are getting hit hard by fossil fuel projects supported by a powerful firm in a notoriously opaque sector of the financial industry.

  One of the largest private equity firms in the world, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) publicly said in a 2022 sustainability report that it is committed to environmentally responsible investing and supporting decarbonization.

• • Clean Energy Projects Are Booming Everywhere

  Except in Poor Nations
  
  

  Sep. 4, 2023 -The world is racing ahead with enormous investments in renewable energy, for the first time this year plowing more money into solar power than oil.

  But the world’s poorest countries, mostly in Africa, are effectively priced out of the action by a global lending system that considers them too risky for investment. Only 2 percent of global investment in renewable energy has been in Africa, where nearly a billion people have little or no access to electricity.

• • Indigenous Group Fights New
  Oil Industry Expansions In Ecuador

  This Comes After
  Decades of Oil Drilling
  
  

  Aug. 30, 2023 -After 50 years of expanding oil operations in its Amazonian region, Ecuador will close the door on crude extraction in three oil fields that are home to Indigenous communities, including one of the country’s uncontacted groups.

  The reversal in policy for the oil-exporting nation was sealed when 59 percent of voters chose in an Aug. 20 nationwide referendum to shut down operations inside the Ishpingo, Tambococha and Tiputini oil fields located inside Yasuní National Park. The government will have 365 working days to comply with the referendum, which includes a requirement for environmental remediation.

• • Children Have a Right to Sue Nations Over Climate

  Based On One of the Most
  Widely Accepted International Treaties
  
  

  Aug. 28, 2023 -Young people around the world are increasingly taking their governments to court for failing to reduce climate pollution, and on rare occasions, they are winning.

  This week, their efforts received an endorsement from an independent panel of experts that interprets United Nations human rights law, the Committee on the Rights of the Child. In an expansive 20-page document released Monday, the committee said all countries have a legal obligation to protect children from environmental degradation — including by “regulating business enterprises” — and to allow their underage citizens to seek legal recourse.

• • A Carbon Tax On Investment
  Income Could Be More Fair

  And Make it Less
  Profitable to Pollute
  
  

  Aug. 27, 2023 -About 10 years ago, a very thick book written by a French economist became a surprising bestseller. It was called “Capital in the 21st Century.” In it, Thomas Piketty traces the history of income and wealth inequality over the past couple of hundred years.

  The book’s insights struck a chord with people who felt a growing sense of economic inequality but didn’t have the data to back it up

• • G20 Poured More Than
  $1tn into Fossil Fuel Subsidies

  The is Despite Cop26 Pledges
  
  

  Aug. 23, 2023 - The G20 poured record levels of public money into fossil fuels last year despite having promised to reduce some of it, a report has found.

  The amount of public money flowing into coal, oil and gas in 20 of the world’s biggest economies reached a record $1.4tn(£1.1tn) in 2022, according to the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) thinktank, even though world leaders agreed to phase out “inefficient” fossil fuel subsidies at the Cop26 Climate Summit in Glasgow two years ago.

• • Ecuadorians Reject Amazon Oil
  Drilling In Historic Referendum

  Around 60% of Voters Said Oil Reserves In the Yasuní National Park Should Be Left in the Ground
  
  

  Aug. 21, 2023 -Citizens of Ecuador voted against extracting oil from large reserves found within a national park in the Amazon rainforest in a historic referendum.

  In a first-of-its-kind poll, 59% of voters decided to keep oil in the ground in the Yasuní National Park, one of the largest biodiversity hotspots on the planet and home to indigenous people in voluntary isolation.

• • What’s the Fairest Climate Policy of All?

  Huge Disparities in Wealth and Carbon Emissions are Obvious. How Best to Manage Carbon Inequality Isn’t
  
  

  Aug. 21, 2023 -Money and carbon are intimately connected. Billionaires are responsible for a million times the emissions of the average person, according to Oxfam. And the average North American emits over 10 times the carbon that the average African does. But that’s only part of the problem. Dig a little deeper and you’ll find that almost all of the growth of fossil energy consumption over the past generation has come from low- and middle-income countries. And despite this, most of the spending on energy transformation is happening in the developed economies.

• • Making Eco-Violators Pay

  America’s Wealthiest 10% is Responsible For 40% of US Polluting Emissions
  
  

  Aug. 17, 2023 -Not everyone is responsible for the same level of greenhouse gas emissions. A new study found that the wealthiest Americans, those that are in the top 10% of earners, are responsible for 40% of the US total greenhouse gas emissions. It’s the first study to link income, especially income derived from financial investments, to emissions.

• • Ecuador's Indigenous Decision

  Drill or Don't Drill for Oil
  
  

  Aug. 17, 2023 - Should Ecuador continue drilling in one of the most biodiverse corners of the Amazon or should it keep the oil underground? On Sunday, its people will decide in a binding referendum that landed on the ballot after a decade-long fight by young activists.

  As the world faces twin ecological crises of climate change and ecosystem collapse, the vote will determine what one country’s citizens are willing to give up to protect the planet.

• • Launch of New Tribal Electrification Program

  Biden’s Investing in
  America Agenda Funds
  
  

  Aug. 17, 2023 - The Department of the Interior today announced the launch of a new program and availability of $72.5 million in initial funding through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to help Tribal communities electrify homes.

  This investment is a critical step toward the goal of electrifying all homes in Indian Country with renewable energy sources and advances the Biden-Harris administration’s work to reach a carbon-free electricity sector by 2035. The announcement comes as the Biden-Harris administration celebrates the one-year anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act, the largest climate investment in U.S. history.

• • A Lifeline for Winter-Run Chinook

  With Salmon Migration Blocked by Shasta Dam, a Tribe and Agency Scientists Collaborate to Bring Them Home
  
  

  Aug. 16, 2023 - Near McCloud Bridge, about 15 miles east of Interstate 5 in Northern California, lies one of the former village sites of the Winnemem Wintu. The Tribe still holds coming-of-age ceremonies on the river, which they also call Winnemem.

  Backed up by Shasta Dam and reservoir, the river is wide and sluggish, flowing under McCloud Bridge and past the Forest Service campground, which is popular with anglers casting after the river’s famed trout. In late June temperatures rise by mid-morning and warblers sing from the generous canopies of the oaks shading the campsites.

• • A Just Clean Energy Transition:

  Ensuring Equitable Benefits for All
  
  

  Aug. 9, 2023 -The clean energy transition is underway, and we must ensure everyone benefits from it. This means creating a just, clean energy transition that is fair and equitable for everyone regardless of race, income, or zip code. It should also be a transition that uplifts all members of society, irrespective of their socioeconomic background.

  This article delves into the concept of a just, clean energy transition and explores how we can ensure that the benefits of this transition are accessible and equitable for everyone.

• • Indigenous Lands Are Choked By Encroaching Industry

  Renewables Aren't Helping
  
  

  Aug. 9, 2023 -Indigenous Peoples, who govern at least a quarter of the Earth's surface, are playing a vital role in preserving the environment and promoting biodiversity. Yet, the lands they steward are facing unprecedented pressures from industrial development, including the paradoxical challenge from renewable energy sources.

  Almost 60% of Indigenous Peoples’ lands, equivalent to over 22 million square kilometers, across 64 countries and all continents, are threatened by industrial development, according to a new study. his article unveils the intricate findings of the study.

• • National Monument: Stopping Uranium
  Exploration Around the Grand Canyon

  The Million-Acre National Monument Will Stop Uranium Exploration

  Aug. 8, 2023, (NC NEWSLINE) - After months of advocating from several tribal nations, Arizona is home to a new national monument, as President Joe Biden officially designated Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni on Tuesday, effectively barring mining on roughly a million acres of land near Grand Canyon National Park.

  “The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to honoring and respecting Tribal sovereignty, protecting Tribal homelands, and incorporating Indigenous Knowledge and robust Tribal consultation into planning and decision-making,” White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory said.

• • Racism at Heart of US
  Failure to Tackle Deadly Heatwaves

  Is This a Surprise?
  
  

  Aug. 6, 2023 -Racism is at the heart of the American government’s failure to tackle the growing threat of deadly heatwaves, according to the author of an authoritative new book on the heating planet.

  Jeff Goodell, an award winning climate journalist, told the Guardian that people of color - including millions of migrant workers who are bearing the brunt of record-breaking temperatures as farmhands, builders and delivery workers - are not guaranteed lifesaving measures like water and shade breaks because they are considered expendable.

• • Climate Change: the Civil Rights Issue of Our Time

  Climate Change Is Not Just an Environmental Issue. It's Also a Social Justice Issue
  
  

  July 24, 2023 -This is because these communities are often located in areas more vulnerable to climate change, such as coastal and low-lying areas. They also have less access to resources, such as clean water and healthcare, which makes them more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

  Climate justice is the fair distribution of the benefits and burdens of climate change.

  It is a concept that recognizes that the effects of climate change are not felt equally by everyone and that those who have contributed the least to climate change are often the ones most affected by it.

• • Catastrophic Flood on California’s Central Coast

  Already Marginalized Indigenous Farmworkers Plunged Into Crisis
  
  

  July 23, 2023 -It was half past midnight on March 11 when a cacophony of sirens and shouting jolted Emilio Vasquez and his family from a sound sleep. “Get out of your houses immediately!” a voice barked in Spanish through a bullhorn. “The water is coming!”

  Vasquez and his wife, undocumented Indigenous Mexican immigrants who speak Mixteco, understood just enough Spanish to bolt out of bed, grab their two young children and race to their car.

• • Litigation and Local Outcry Stop an LNG Plant

  Company Will Not Move Forward
  With the Plant in Florida Panhandle
  
  

  July 21, 2023 -A proposed liquified natural gas plant in the Florida Panhandle that had drawn litigation and widespread local opposition will not move forward, the company behind the plan said this week.

  The proposal had triggered a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit over what one consumer advocacy group said was a legal loophole that would limit federal regulatory oversight at the LNG plant and make way for similar plants nationwide.

• • She's Suing Big Oil for Climate Damages

  Follow Her Mission
  
  

  July 19, 2023 -Missy Sims carefully picked her way through a field of ruined tombs in central Puerto Rico, in a cemetery where walls of water from Hurricane Maria had smashed open some coffins and sent others careering into a nearby stream.

  Six years later, the burial place in Lares, where more than 1,700 graves were damaged, is still shattered.

  “This is apocalyptic, end of the world, end of times stuff,” said Ms. Sims, an attorney who is representing 16 Puerto Rican municipalities that are seeking to hold the fossil fuel industry responsible for the damage caused by a series of storms, including Maria.

• • A Plunge in Salmon Numbers
  in the Kuskokwim and Yukon Rivers

  Alaskans Seek a
  Voice in Fishing Policy
  
  

  July 18, 2023 -Beverly Hoffman grew up on the Kuskokwim River, a storied 700-mile waterway that flows from the Alaska Range to the Bering Sea. Now 71 years old, she says its fish have nourished her for most of her life—particularly the salmon, which is woven into family routines and tribal traditions.

  Hoffman lives in Bethel, a small and isolated town in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta region of southwest Alaska. With a population of just over 6,000 and no access by roads, residents rely heavily on the river for food and transport.

• • A Reckoning in North Birmingham Alabama

  EPA Studies the ‘Cumulative Impacts’ of Pollution and Racism
  
  

  July 16, 2023 -The question hangs over three Black neighborhoods in industrial north Birmingham that, together, compose the 35th Avenue Superfund site: What does the future hold—revitalization, or relocation?

  The EPA has all but finished removing toxic soil from the small yards of about 650 homes in Collegeville, Harriman Park and Fairmont. The soil had come decades ago from nearby coke plants as yard fill, but was laced with arsenic, lead and benzo(a)pyrene (BaP), a hydrocarbon, elevating cancer risks. The massive clean-up has now been paused, with just a few difficult-to-access properties remaining.

• • Chicago Mayor Receives Blueprint for ’Green New Deal’

  To Address Environmental Justice
  
  

  July 13, 2023 -Mayor Brandon Johnson received a blueprint last week for tackling some of the most important issues—including environmental justice—facing the city from his transition committee.

  A team of environmental justice leaders outlined what a “Green New Deal” could look like in Chicago with ideas including utility affordability measures, clean energy job opportunities, streamlined stormwater management and environmental justice curricula in schools.

• • The EPA Backs Down on Cancer Alley

  It Was On The Cusp Of
  Cleaning It Up, But...
  
  

  June 28, 2023 -Pastor Philip Schmitter waited more than 20 years for the EPA to do its job. In 1992, he’d filed a civil rights complaint to halt the construction of a power station that would spew toxic lead into the air of his predominantly Black community in Flint, Michigan. Decades passed without a response, so he joined four other groups around the country in a lawsuit to compel the agency to address their concerns.

• • World Bank Offers Developing
  Countries Debt Pauses If Hit By Climate Crisis

  Move at Paris Summit On Global Finance Will Only Apply to Repayments On New Loans
  
  

  June 23, 2023 -Poor countries will be able to pause their debt repayments if hit by climate disaster, under plans announced by the World Bank at the finance summit in Paris.

  The international development organization said it would insert new clauses in any agreements with developing countries, allowing them to suspend debt payments in the case of extreme weather events, starting with some of the poorest and most vulnerable nations.