Climate Law & Liability - Inside Climate News

Tribal Members Journey to Washington Push for Reauthorization of Radiation Exposure Compensation Act

By Noel Lyn Smith — Fri, 27 Sep 2024 09:05:00 +0000

Diseases connected to uranium mining and nuclear testing continue to plague the Navajo and other tribes. The bill continuing the help they get dealing with the illnesses is stalled in the U.S. House.

By Noel Lyn Smith

Members of tribal nations from Arizona and New Mexico have been in Washington, D.C. this week advocating for the House of Representatives to vote on a bill to reauthorize and expand the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, a federal program that compensates individuals who become ill due to exposure to radioactive materials related to the United States’ nuclear weapons program.

California Governor Signs Bills to Tighten Restrictions on Oil and Gas Drillers

By Liza Gross — Fri, 27 Sep 2024 08:55:00 +0000

“We will hold the oil industry accountable for their pollution and public health impacts,” said Assemblymember Gregg Hart, author of one of the bills.

By Liza Gross

With pumpjacks nodding in the background, California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday signed new laws to hold oil companies accountable and protect neighborhoods from oil development, protections community groups have fought more than a decade to win.

Focus on the ‘Forgotten Greenhouse Gas’ Intensifies as All Eyes Are on the U.S. and China to Curb Pollution

By Phil McKenna — Thu, 26 Sep 2024 22:26:24 +0000

Emissions of the long-overlooked nitrous oxide gas are rising quickly. But proven, low-cost efforts to reduce emissions offer hope.

By Phil McKenna

NEW YORK—As scientists, policymakers and environmental advocates seek to accelerate efforts to address climate change, they’re zeroing in on a pollutant long considered the “forgotten greenhouse gas.”

Activists Disrupt Occidental Petroleum CEO’s Interview at New York Times Climate Event

By Keerti Gopal, Jake Bolster — Thu, 26 Sep 2024 09:05:00 +0000

The move is part of a string of similar disruptions targeting appearances by oil company representatives and government leaders at Climate Week NYC.

By Keerti Gopal, Jake Bolster

NEW YORK—Vicki Hollub, the CEO of Occidental Petroleum, had barely stepped on stage for her interview at the New York Times’ Climate Forward event when an audience member leapt up into her path.

How New York City Has Lost Out on $4.2 Billion in State Green Bonds

By Samantha Maldonado, THE CITY — Thu, 26 Sep 2024 08:55:00 +0000

Voters in New York City were the biggest backers of the Environmental Bond Act, but funding formulas have steered nearly every dollar upstate, with the city getting just 2 percent so far.

By Samantha Maldonado, THE CITY

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Will Young Voters’ Initial Excitement for Harris Build Enough Momentum to Get Them to the Polls?

By Keerti Gopal — Wed, 25 Sep 2024 09:00:00 +0000

While many young climate voters are rallying around Harris, her backpedaling on a fracking ban and support of President Biden’s oil and gas policies leave some disenchanted.

By Keerti Gopal

Last night, the youth-led activist group Climate Defiance—which had loudly called for Joe Biden to withdraw his bid for reelection earlier this year—endorsed Kamala Harris for president. But, despite that support and soaring enthusiasm from young people after Harris replaced Biden on the Democratic ticket, with 40 days left until the election, excitement has cooled off among many young voters who are prioritizing climate and calling for stronger commitments from the candidate.

Alleging Decades of Lies, California Sues ExxonMobil Over Plastic Pollution Crisis

By James Bruggers — Mon, 23 Sep 2024 23:09:35 +0000

The Texas-based oil and gas giant says California is to blame for plastic recycling failures. Four environmental groups filed their own lawsuit against Exxon on the same day as the state’s action.

By James Bruggers

California Attorney General Rob Bonta sued ExxonMobil on Monday, accusing the oil and gas giant of knowingly contributing to “one of the most devastating global environmental crises of our time” while misleading the public about recycling as a solution.

RFK Jr.’s ‘Sad’ Slide From Environmental Hero to Outcast

By Phil McKenna — Sun, 22 Sep 2024 09:05:00 +0000

Opposition to offshore wind by the third-party presidential candidate turned Trump supporter began decades ago in the waters off Cape Cod.

By Phil McKenna

In the early 2000s, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., then a prominent environmental attorney who had recently been named one of Time magazine’s “Heroes for the Planet,” played a leading role in killing an offshore wind farm in Nantucket Sound not far from his family’s Cape Cod estate.

Can Mississippi Advocates Use a Turtle To Fight a Huge Pearl River Engineering Project?

By Illan Ireland, Mississippi Free Press and Elise Plunk, Louisiana Illuminator — Sun, 22 Sep 2024 09:00:00 +0000

Armed with new protections, the Pearl River map turtle could be the catalyst for halting a controversial U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project in Jackson, Mississippi.

By Illan Ireland, Mississippi Free Press and Elise Plunk, Louisiana Illuminator

TYLERTOWN, Miss.—On a clear, hot summer afternoon along the Bogue Chitto creek at Walker’s Bridge Water Park in southern Mississippi, Noah Devros dives into the murky water with a flashlight and cheap plastic dive mask. He emerges holding a small turtle.

New York City Youth Strike Against Fossil Fuels and Greenwashing in Advance of NYC Climate Week

By Keerti Gopal — Sat, 21 Sep 2024 09:05:00 +0000

The Fridays for Future protest called for a focus on ending production of oil, gas and coal at the annual gathering that coincides with the U.N. General Assembly session.

By Keerti Gopal

NEW YORK—Hundreds of young people and their allies walked out of school and work on Friday afternoon to call for government and industry leaders to end the production of fossil fuels to combat the climate crisis.