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<font size="+2"><font face="Calibri"><i><b>October 4</b></i></font></font><font
size="+2" face="Calibri"><i><b>, 2023</b></i></font><font
face="Calibri"><br>
</font><br>
<i>[ be not crippled by examining emotions ]</i><br>
<b>Many scientists don’t want to tell the truth about climate
change. Here’s why</b><br>
October 03, 2023<br>
Barbara Moran<br>
- -<br>
The real question, he said, is whether we overshoot 1.5 C by a
little bit and come back down, “Or whether we go blasting through
one and a half degrees, go through even two degrees and keep on
going.”<br>
<br>
Why is overshooting 1.5 C inevitable? Physics. There’s a nearly
linear relationship between the amount of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere and the average global temperature. More CO2 in the sky
means a warmer world. It’s like pouring water into a bucket — keep
pouring it in, eventually the bucket overflows.<br>
<br>
Our carbon bucket will overflow in about nine years; by the
early-to-mid-2030s, we’ll be living in a post-1.5 C world. Unless we
quickly cut carbon emissions to zero. Last I checked, that’s not
happening...<br>
- -<br>
I think that 1.5 C has moved from “ambitious goal” to “magical
thinking.” And the scientists are telling themselves a story to
stave off despair.<br>
- -<br>
After this report came out, something weird happened. Unlike the
blunt Dr. Thorne, most climate scientists (and journalists) didn’t
change how they publicly spoke about 1.5 C. Admitting defeat could
risk “demotivation” said Pascal Lamy, the commissioner of the
Climate Overshoot Commission. Scientists kept saying things like:
“We need to act now to stay below 1.5” or “it’s getting harder, but
still technically possible.”<br>
<br>
Technically possible? Like, if aliens appear with magic tools that
fix climate change?...<br>
- -<br>
I do it, too. The other day I was telling my 13-year-old son about
the near-certain death of most of the world's coral reefs when his
eyes welled with tears. So, I stopped. I told him that the coral
reefs will be OK — even though I know that’s not true. And I know
lying is the wrong thing to do.<br>
<br>
The facts of the climate crisis are truly terrifying. The reality of
what we’re facing keeps me up at night. But I don’t think staving
off the very warranted despair is helping anybody. So, I’m here to
tell climate scientists — and my fellow climate journalists — to
knock it off.<br>
<br>
I think climate scientists (and journalists) are underestimating
people. If you treat people like children who can’t handle the
truth, they will behave like children. Like teenagers, actually,
wasting time like it’s in endless supply. Yes, there are plenty of
people who prefer denial. But I bet just as many want the truth,
painful as it is. We deserve a shot at rising to the occasion.<br>
<br>
Climate experts talk a lot about “cathedral thinking.” It’s the
idea of working towards long term goals — like a medieval cathedral.
These goals require vision, shared commitment, and decades, even
centuries, of planning. The planners and builders don’t live to see
the end product, but future generations reap the rewards.<br>
<br>
It’s an inspiring idea. Something maybe only humans could divine.
But here’s the thing: cathedral thinking also requires a firm grasp
of facts. A cathedral built on fantasy won’t stand for long.<br>
<br>
If my son and his friends think the coral reefs will be OK, the
reefs are doomed. If he knows the truth, maybe he’ll become a
biologist who tries to save them. When people know what they’re up
against, many will be sad — I’m sad! — but then they can prepare.<br>
<br>
That’s the only way we’ll make it.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2023/10/03/1-5-degrees-celcius-un-climate-change-report-barbara-moran">https://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2023/10/03/1-5-degrees-celcius-un-climate-change-report-barbara-moran</a><br>
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<font face="Calibri"><i>[ targeting obstreperous youth ]</i><br>
</font><b>Montana is appealing a major climate change ruling that
favored youth activists</b><br>
Politics Oct 2, 2023 <br>
<font face="Calibri">HELENA, Mont. (AP) — The office of Montana’s
Republican attorney general is appealing a landmark climate change
ruling that said state agencies aren’t doing enough to protect 16
young plaintiffs from harm caused by global warming.<br>
<br>
The state filed notice on Friday that it is going to appeal the
August ruling by District Court Judge Kathy Seeley, who found the
Montana Environmental Policy Act violates the plaintiffs’ state
constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment. The
1971 law requires state agencies to consider the potential
environmental impacts of proposed projects and take public input
before issuing permits.<br>
<br>
Under a change to MEPA passed by the 2023 Legislature, the state
Department of Environmental Quality does not have to consider the
effect of greenhouses gases when issuing permits for fossil fuel
projects unless the federal government declares carbon dioxide a
regulated pollutant.<br>
<br>
The plaintiffs argued they were already feeling the consequences
of climate change, with smoke from worsening wildfires choking the
air they breathe and drought drying rivers that sustain
agriculture, fish, wildlife and recreation. The state argued that
the volume of greenhouse gasses released from Montana fossil fuel
projects was insignificant compared to the world’s emissions.<br>
</font><br>
<font face="Calibri"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/montana-is-appealing-a-major-climate-change-ruling-that-favored-youth-activists">https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/montana-is-appealing-a-major-climate-change-ruling-that-favored-youth-activists</a><br>
</font>
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<font face="Calibri"><i>[From the Moscow Times ]</i></font><br>
<font face="Calibri"><b>In Historic First, Russian Activists Appeal
to European Rights Court for Climate Justice<br>
</b></font><font face="Calibri">Russia’s first-ever climate
litigation case is currently moving through the European Court of
Human Rights as activists make a last-ditch attempt to challenge
the president and the government for failing to meet global
climate goals.<br>
<br>
The case, brought by Russia’s oldest independent human rights
organization the Moscow Helsinki Group, along with the
environmental group Ecodefense and 18 individuals, signals how
wide-reaching the trend of climate litigation has become, even in
countries with dysfunctional judicial systems.<br>
<br>
On Sept. 16, 2022, Russia's Supreme Court received an unexpected
appeal: 20 plaintiffs turned to the highest judicial institution
in the country to challenge the actions of President Vladimir
Putin and the government concerning climate policy.<br>
<br>
In a groundbreaking move in a country where climate change sits at
the margins of public discourse, the Moscow Helsinki Group,
Ecodefense and 18 individuals initiated the first-ever climate
litigation case in Russian history. <br>
<br>
Contesting Putin’s decree on greenhouse gas emissions reductions
by 2030 and the government's low-carbon strategy by 2050, the
plaintiffs argue that Russia, the world’s fourth-largest
greenhouse gas emitter, was aware of the risks posed by climate
change for decades — yet failed to adequately respond. <br>
<br>
Meanwhile, the planet’s heating is already acutely affecting
Russia, bringing more intense heat waves and wildfires, extreme
weather, the spread of infectious diseases and the thawing of
permafrost, among other consequences. <br>
<br>
The plaintiffs said Russia’s government was violating citizens’
constitutional rights and putting an “indeterminate number” of
lives at risk, and called for stronger emissions-reduction
measures in line with the 2015 Paris Agreement, which aims to keep
warming within 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.<br>
<br>
When the Supreme Court rejected the lawsuit in a matter of days,
refusing even to consider its merits, the plaintiffs were not
surprised, having had little hope in the Russian justice system
from the very beginning.<br>
<br>
"Russian courts do not have the independence needed … to take on
such cases,” Russian human rights lawyer Grigory Vaypan told The
Moscow Times. “It's a politically sensitive case for the court
because it entertains the possibility of making a decision against
the president and the government.”<br>
<br>
“Considering that the foundation of the Russian economy is fossil
fuels, it takes a lot of courage if you are a Russian judge to
tackle such a case,” he said. “We did not see such courage.”<br>
</font><br>
<font face="Calibri">In response to the Russian court's dismissive
handling of the climate case, the group went to its Plan B:
lodging the same lawsuit with the European Court of Human Rights
(ECHR) in September 2023. <br>
<br>
Although Russia terminated its involvement with the European
Convention on Human Rights in September 2022, the case remains
admissible to the Strasbourg-based court as it was filed
domestically before the termination date. Additionally, it
pertains to potential violations with negative effects that
continue to the present.<br>
<br>
"We see a very straightforward approach embedded in any strategy
adopted by the Russian government. It aims at maintaining business
as usual, which means increasing the extraction and burning of
fossil fuels, no matter what,” Ecodefense co-chairman Vladimir
Slivyak told The Moscow Times. “This directly contradicts the very
essence of combating climate change and preventing its
catastrophic consequences."...</font><br>
<font face="Calibri">- -<br>
</font><font face="Calibri">The lawsuit also stands out because
several plaintiffs faced repressions from the Russian government
after taking legal action domestically. Climate and political
activist Arshak Makichyan was stripped of his Russian citizenship
last year, while the Moscow Helsinki Group was dissolved in
January — complicating its efforts to be an applicant to the ECHR.
<br>
<br>
"We are filing a complaint with the ECHR not only regarding the
main [climate] issue but also regarding the state's violation of
our plaintiffs' right to file a complaint with the ECHR [by
shutting them down],” Vaypan said. “Russia differs from other
countries where climate litigation is underway in that instead of
addressing climate change, it persecutes those attempting to draw
attention to this problem."<br>
<br>
Pavel Sulyandziga, a representative of the indigenous Udege nation
and president of the Batani International Indigenous Fund for
Development and Solidarity, left Russia seven years ago due to
criminal cases related to his human rights activism. He felt
compelled to join the lawsuit nonetheless, recognizing that
climate change disproportionately impacts indigenous communities.
<br>
<br>
On the frontlines of global warming in the Russian Arctic,
indigenous peoples are already witnessing changes in their
surrounding environment. These include sharp temperature
fluctuations affecting their ability to safely travel across
frozen waterways, or winter rains which cover snow with ice and
make it impossible for reindeer to graze.<br>
<br>
“In Yakutia and on the Taimyr Peninsula, representatives of the
indigenous community have faced the disappearance of lakes where
they used to fish," Sulyandziga told The Moscow Times. “Hunters
and reindeer herders suspect that the glaciers at the bottom of
the lakes have melted, causing the water to simply vanish."<br>
<br>
He also noted the emergence of previously unseen small trees in
the Russian tundra, which is altering the migration patterns and
traditional orientation of indigenous peoples. <br>
<br>
All these changes have profound impacts on the traditional way of
life for these communities, but the Russian government “hardly
thinks about this issue,” Sulyandziga concluded.<br>
<br>
However, Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov said in
September that the country plans to update its 2030 greenhouse
emissions reduction goal next year. He added that climate change
is “one of the long-term global challenges” on which the Russian
president, government and relevant agencies are focusing. <br>
<br>
"Despite the sanctions, we maintain the pace of work on this
[climate] track. It's a cross-cutting priority that affects
investment growth, enhances corporate cooperation and drives
innovation," Reshetnikov said.<br>
<br>
With actual progress on Russia’s climate targets yet to be seen,
the plaintiffs are not content with officials’ promises. And amid
escalating pressure on environmental activism in recent years, the
ECHR could be the activists’ last resort to make Russia’s
leadership take the climate crisis seriously — lest they are
forced to wait for a future government.<br>
<br>
"We don't expect the current Russian authorities to comply with
the ECHR's decisions. But in our view, it's essential not to
conflate the current Russian government with Russia as a state,
which is a party to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
and the Paris Agreement,” Vaypan said. <br>
<br>
“If the European court instructs Russia as a state to ensure a
reduction in emissions, that obligation will persist regardless of
the current Russian authorities' stance."<br>
<br>
An expert in the field, who requested anonymity for security
reasons and who was not involved in the lawsuit, noted that
assessing the legal consequences of the lawsuit remains
challenging given the present circumstances. <br>
<br>
However, the expert underscored the case's significance in shaping
societal attitudes and values regarding climate change.<br>
<br>
“[These values] should become dominant in society,” they said.
“Without them, any legal decisions or business practices in the
field lose their effectiveness.”<br>
<br>
The first climate rulings from the ECHR, which is currently
considering several climate cases, could significantly impact
global climate debate and policies. Likewise, the potential ECHR
ruling stands to impact Russia, even though the country is
formally removed from the court. <br>
<br>
"The point [of the case] is that the future will come,” Slivyak
said.<br>
<br>
“And I believe that it is the not-so-distant future when Russia
will have to shape a sound climate policy. If there is an ECHR
decision at that time, it could prove very useful.”<br>
</font><font face="Calibri"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/10/02/in-historic-first-russian-activists-appeal-to-european-rights-court-for-climate-justice-a82623">https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/10/02/in-historic-first-russian-activists-appeal-to-european-rights-court-for-climate-justice-a82623</a><br>
</font>
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<font face="Calibri"><i>[ Ooops, forgot to flush ]<br>
</i></font><font face="Calibri"><b>A hidden climate danger
threatens coastal communities<br>
</b></font><font face="Calibri">BY TODD WOODY<br>
BLOOMBERG</font><br>
<font face="Calibri">A little-known climate threat lurks under our
feet: rising groundwater that could release toxic chemicals from
more than 132,000 contaminated sites in coastal areas of the U.S.
In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers estimated the number of
polluted industrial sites and mapped them to areas likely to
experience groundwater inundation due to rising seas.<br>
"A lot of people don't realize that the ocean actually extends
under the land in coastal areas, so as the ocean rises, it pushes
up the groundwater toward the surface,” said Kristina Hill, an
associate professor at the University of California at Berkeley
and the lead author of the paper, which was published in the
journal Earth’s Future.<br>
<br>
Factories, fuel stations, military bases and other industrial
facilities have left surrounding soil contaminated with
carcinogenic chemicals and heavy metals. Some became Superfund
sites — areas whose cleanup is overseen by the federal government.
Far more are managed by individual states.<br>
<br>
When groundwater rises toward the surface, whether from sea level
rise or increasingly intense climate-driven storms, those
contaminants can leach into it and spread to other waterways,
potentially poisoning people and wildlife. Benzene,
trichloroethylene (TCE) and other cancer-causing chemicals known
as volatile organic compounds can vaporize and enter homes,
schools and businesses through sewer pipes or cracks in building
foundations.<br>
<br>
In 2020, administrators temporarily shuttered a high school in
Oakland, California, after TCE was discovered in groundwater
beneath the building. They feared it would vaporize and
contaminate the air inside.<br>
<br>
Hill and her colleagues identified 326 Superfund sites vulnerable
to groundwater rise in coastal areas. In the San Francisco Bay
Area, they found more than 5,000 state-managed toxic sites near
the coast and extrapolated that there may be more than 132,000
such sites nationwide. They used elevation as a proxy for
groundwater, determining that contaminated sites located below 10
meters are at risk from flooding. California, New York and New
Hampshire are most vulnerable due to the size of Superfund sites
and coastal areas in those states, according to the researchers.<br>
<br>
Analyzing demographic data, the researchers found that
contaminated areas subject to groundwater rise are
disproportionately located near communities of low-income
residents and people of color.<br>
<br>
"I think these communities deserve to be at the front of the line
to have those soils fully remediated,” said Hill, who studies sea
level rise and other climate impacts on urban hydrology.<br>
<br>
Jacob Carter is a research director at the Union of Concerned
Scientists who has analyzed potential impacts of sea level rise on
toxic sites and formerly worked on climate-related Superfund
issues at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.<br>
<br>
"I think this is a very significant study,” said Carter, who was
not involved in the research. "If you look at toxic remediation
plans, they generally don't mention sea level rise and other
climate change issues and they’re typically not planning for these
things.”<br>
<br>
Climate-related groundwater rise can scramble the calculus on
cleaning up toxic sites. Rehabilitating these locations can drag
on for years, if not decades, and the high cost of removing soil
has resulted in it being left in place at many sites, covered by
an impermeable clay or concrete cap meant to contain the
contamination.<br>
<br>
Now, though, the threat is from below. "Capping seemed like a
great strategy back in the '80s as it was like putting an umbrella
over the chemicals, protecting them from water and from movement,”
said Hill. "But now the water is coming up from below so the
umbrella doesn't work.”<br>
<br>
One challenge, according to Hill, is that most states have not
mapped coastal groundwater. One state that has is California. In
2022, for instance, regulators ordered the owner of a Bay Area
Superfund site slated to be redeveloped as a housing project to
assess whether it should change its toxic cleanup plan, given the
potential for sea level-related groundwater rise.<br>
<br>
"I don't think too many policymakers are likely aware of the
impact of rising groundwater or other climate change impacts on
toxic sites or maybe even if these sites exist in their area,”
said Carter. "These are some of the most dangerous chemicals known
to mankind and we should be doing everything we can in our power
to prevent their release.”<br>
</font><font face="Calibri"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/environment/2023/10/02/oceans/rising-groundwater-toxic-chemical-release/">https://www.japantimes.co.jp/environment/2023/10/02/oceans/rising-groundwater-toxic-chemical-release/</a><br>
</font>
<p><font face="Calibri">- -<br>
</font></p>
<font face="Calibri"><i>[ Ooops, time to plan ahead ]</i></font><br>
<font face="Calibri"><b>Rising Coastal Groundwater as a Result of
Sea-Level Rise Will Influence Contaminated Coastal Sites and
Underground Infrastructure</b><br>
K. Hill, D. Hirschfeld, C. Lindquist, F. Cook, S. Warner<br>
21 September 2023</font><br>
<blockquote>Abstract<br>
Sea-level rise (SLR) will cause coastal groundwater to rise in
many coastal urban environments. Inundation of contaminated soils
by groundwater rise (GWR) will alter the physical, biological, and
geochemical conditions that influence the fate and transport of
existing contaminants. These transformed products can be more
toxic and/or more mobile under future conditions driven by SLR and
GWR. We reviewed the vulnerability of contaminated sites to GWR in
a US national database and in a case comparison with the San
Francisco Bay region to estimate the risk of rising groundwater to
human and ecosystem health. The results show that 326 sites in the
US Superfund program may be vulnerable to changes in groundwater
depth or flow direction as a result of SLR, representing 18.1
million hectares of contaminated land. In the San Francisco Bay
Area, we found that GWR is predicted to impact twice as much land
area as inundation from SLR, and 5,282 additional state-managed
sites of contamination may be vulnerable to inundation from GWR in
a 1.0 m SLR scenario. Increases of only a few centimeters of
elevation can mobilize soil contaminants, alter flow directions in
a heterogeneous urban environment with underground pipes and
utility trenches, and result in new exposure pathways. Pumping for
flood protection will elevate the saltwater interface, changing
groundwater salinity and mobilizing metals in soil. Socially
vulnerable communities are disproportionately exposed to this risk
at both the national scale and in a regional comparison with the
San Francisco Bay Area.<br>
</blockquote>
<font face="Calibri"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2023EF003825">https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2023EF003825</a></font><br>
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<font face="Calibri">[ a very adult action ]</font><br>
<font face="Calibri"><b>Money managers are shifting their attitude
to ESG as ‘realism’ sets in, says S&P’s Dan Yergin</b><br>
PUBLISHED MON, OCT 2 2023<br>
</font><br>
<font face="Calibri">Lee Ying Shan<br>
</font><br>
<font face="Calibri">In the second quarter of this year, investors
have pulled $635 million from U.S. sustainable funds, according to
funds research firm Morningstar.</font><br>
<font face="Calibri">That racks up a total outflow of $11.4 billion
from these sustainable funds in the past year.<br>
</font><br>
<font face="Calibri">The planned transition toward renewables is
still in focus for the energy industry, and technology such as
hydropower, solar, biofuels and many others remain key as the
world seeks to move away from a carbon-intensive system.<br>
<br>
But it’s an endeavor that requires not just the right
technological capabilities, but a hefty amount of capital too,
said S&P Global’s Vice Chairman Dan Yergin.<br>
<br>
And that means that some fund managers are beginning to dial back
on their ESG (environmental, social, and corporate governance)
pledges, he told CNBC on the sidelines of the ADIPEC energy
conference Monday, noting that many renewables projects are being
slowed down or paused.<br>
<br>
“If you’re in a money management business, you do need returns,”
said Yergin.<br>
</font><font face="Calibri">- -</font><br>
<font face="Calibri"> Global investments in energy transition
technologies last year reached $1.3 trillion. But the
International Renewable Energy Agency says that yearly investments
must more than quadruple in order to limit global temperature
rises to the key 1.5 degree Celsius level.<br>
<br>
“The IRA [The U.S. Inflation Reduction Act] in terms of scale and
money that is being poured in, there is nothing to compare it to
.. Second thing is, cost of capital goes up — that’s affecting
renewables. And thirdly, if you look at what’s happening in terms
of costs of supply chains ... So there’s technology and there’s a
realism of money,” Yergin added.<br>
</font><br>
<font face="Calibri"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/02/companies-want-esg-but-returns-too-says-sps-dan-yergin.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/02/companies-want-esg-but-returns-too-says-sps-dan-yergin.html</a><br>
</font>
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<font face="Calibri"><i>[ they knew, California will sue -
transcript and video report ]</i><br>
</font><font face="Calibri"><b>California sues oil companies for
exacerbating climate change</b><br>
Sep 20, 2023<br>
</font><br>
<font face="Calibri">California claims the five biggest oil and gas
companies knew that using their products led to climate change,
but then spent decades misleading the public. The lawsuit says
extreme weather fueled by climate change has caused billions of
dollars in damages in the state and these companies should pay for
some of that damage. California Attorney General Rob Bonta joins
William Brangham to discuss.</font><br>
<font face="Calibri"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/california-sues-oil-companies-for-exacerbating-climate-change">https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/california-sues-oil-companies-for-exacerbating-climate-change</a><br>
</font><br>
<font face="Calibri">- -</font><br>
<font face="Calibri"><i>[ Read the full transcript ]</i></font><br>
<font face="Calibri"><b>Amna Nawaz:</b></font><br>
<br>
<font face="Calibri">California is suing big oil.</font><br>
<br>
<font face="Calibri">It's the latest lawsuit targeting fossil fuel
companies over their role in climate change. And it comes during
Climate Week, one of the largest annual events designed to focus
on the problem and in tandem with the meeting of the U.N. General
Assembly.</font><br>
<br>
<font face="Calibri">William Brangham has the details on this case.</font><br>
<blockquote><br>
<font face="Calibri"><b>William Brangham:</b></font><br>
<br>
<font face="Calibri">California claims the five biggest oil and
gas companies, ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and
BP, as well as the American Petroleum Institute, knew that using
their products led to climate change, but then spent decades
misleading the public.</font><br>
<br>
<font face="Calibri">The lawsuit says extreme weather fueled by
climate change has caused billions of dollars in damages in the
state, and these companies should pay for some of that damage.</font><br>
<br>
<font face="Calibri">Joining us now is California Attorney General
Rob Bonta.</font><br>
<br>
<font face="Calibri">Attorney General, thank you so much for being
here.</font><br>
<br>
<font face="Calibri">You're arguing that these companies knew all
along that burning coal and oil and gas would exacerbate climate
change, and there's, as you cite in your suit, plenty of
documentary evidence that they knew that. And you're arguing
that they weren't forthcoming about that knowledge.</font><br>
<br>
<font face="Calibri">What are you alleging that their silence
actually meant?</font><br>
<br>
<font face="Calibri"><b>Rob Bonta (D), California Attorney
General: </b>They were actually very active in pushing
forward and advancing the deception.</font><br>
<br>
<font face="Calibri">They knew 50, 60, 70 years ago that their
fossil fuels that they were selling created climate change. They
predicted with terrifying certainty where we would be today,
with extreme weather events, with dries getting drier and hots
getting hotter and wets getting wetter,.</font><br>
<br>
<font face="Calibri">Their internal memos, their
industry-commissioned studies, their speeches internally to one
another all said this. And they were very active in their
deception. What do I mean? They worked with front groups. They
supported and funded front groups with great climate-supportive
names like Global Climate Coalition to undermine the climate
science that they knew was inaccurate, that they knew the actual
truth.</font><br>
<br>
<font face="Calibri">Internally, they acknowledged that they
talked about it, and they pushed out into the public science
that would dilute that truth, that would undermine it, that
would cast doubt, so they could profit to the tune of billions
and billions of dollars over many, many years, just profiting
$200 billion last year.</font><br>
<br>
<font face="Calibri">So they also knew about clean energy pathways
forward. They knew about carbon sequestration. They knew about
things that could have put our planet on a better pathway. But
they chose to ignore those, to push those down and push and lift
up fossil fuels, all for profit. So they lied to the people of
California.</font><br>
<br>
<font face="Calibri">So we're asking them to put billions of
dollars into an abatement fund to mitigate future environmental
damage and to provide for resiliency and adaptation going
forward.</font><br>
<br>
<font face="Calibri"><b>William Brangham:</b></font><br>
<br>
<font face="Calibri">Let's say that they had been more frank about
their understanding of climate change. What would you have
wanted those companies back then to have done differently?</font><br>
<br>
<font face="Calibri"><b>Rob Bonta:</b></font><br>
<br>
<font face="Calibri">Be truthful, very simple. Don't lie, don't
deceive, don't hide from the public clean energy pathways
forward, and don't hide from the public the existential threat
that fossil fuels created in terms of climate change and extreme
weather and damage to the environment.</font><br>
<br>
<font face="Calibri">With full knowledge, the people could make
choices about their future, our planet's future, our children's
and grandchildren's future. Perhaps choices would have been
different, like doubling down and investing on clean energy and
phasing out of fossil fuel. Who knows?</font><br>
<br>
<font face="Calibri">But they should not have lied. They should
have told the truth. They affirmatively lied to the people of
California time and time again with their editorials that they
produced. Their marketing arm, the industry association, the
American Petroleum Institute was very involved with this, with
the faux science that they put out, all meant to make people
believe something different than what the actual truth was, that
we were on a pathway towards disaster as a state and, frankly,
as a nation and a world.</font><br>
<br>
<font face="Calibri"><b>William Brangham:</b></font><br>
<br>
<font face="Calibri">The American Petroleum Institute put out a
statement about your suit, saying in part — quote — "This
ongoing coordinated campaign to wage meritless politicized
lawsuits against a foundational American industry and its
workers is nothing more than a distraction. Climate policy is
for Congress to debate and decide, not the court system."</font><br>
<br>
<font face="Calibri">What do you make of that argument, that, in
fact, it is incumbent upon senators, governors, presidents to
determine policy, energy policy, and that going after a private
company is inappropriate?</font><br>
<br>
<b><font face="Calibri">Rob Bonta:</font><br>
</b><br>
<font face="Calibri">That entire statement by the American
Petroleum Institute is entirely in character with the statements
that they have made over the last number of decades.</font><br>
<br>
<font face="Calibri">That statement is a distraction. That
statement is not true. That statement wants you to focus on
other things besides the actual truth. There will be and there
is an entirely separate and independent pathway for action in
this space that is pointed out by the American Petroleum
Institute.</font><br>
<br>
<font face="Calibri">That is something different than what we're
doing. It's for Congress and legislative bodies to make policy
about climate change. And they are. The Biden administration has
been a great leader in this space. But our lane, a separate
lane, is the lane of legal accountability in court.</font><br>
<br>
<font face="Calibri">The state of California is suing big oil in
state court for the damage that they have caused. This is not a
policy lawsuit. This is a straight-up legal cause of action that
has remedies in court. Cases like this have been brought before
against the tobacco industry, against the lead paint industry,
against the opioid industry, when entire industries hurt people
time and time again in great numbers and at great scale and lie
about it.</font><br>
<br>
<font face="Calibri">This is not new.</font><br>
<br>
<font face="Calibri"><b>William Brangham:</b></font><br>
<br>
<font face="Calibri">Governor Newsom has said that the damage
caused by this deception, as he puts it, by these oil companies,
is incalculable.</font><br>
<br>
<font face="Calibri">So, how do you calculate the role that a
given oil company might have contributed to a drought, a
wildfire, a storm in California? How do you do that?</font><br>
<br>
<font face="Calibri"><b>Rob Bonta:</b></font><br>
<br>
<font face="Calibri">We think it's in the range of tens of
billions to hundreds of billions of dollars in ongoing damage
going forward. That's the sort of big picture estimate.</font><br>
<br>
<font face="Calibri">We will need experts, scientists to look at
attribution of different damage to the different defendants and
looking at causation to determine the specifics. And so that
will take time. We will get more evidence and information
through the course of the lawsuit and make those determinations
throughout the course of the lawsuit down the road.</font><br>
<br>
<font face="Calibri"><b>William Brangham:</b></font><br>
<br>
<font face="Calibri">All right, Attorney General Rob Bonta of the
state of California, thank you so much for being here.</font><br>
<br>
<font face="Calibri"><b>Rob Bonta:</b></font><br>
<br>
<font face="Calibri">Thanks for having me.</font><br>
</blockquote>
<font face="Calibri"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/california-sues-oil-companies-for-exacerbating-climate-change">https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/california-sues-oil-companies-for-exacerbating-climate-change</a><br>
</font>
<p><font face="Calibri"><br>
</font> </p>
<font face="Calibri"><br>
</font><font face="Calibri"></font><font face="Calibri"><i>[The news
archive - looking back]</i></font><br>
<font face="Calibri"><font size="+2"><i><b>October 4, 2009 <br>
</b></i></font></font><font face="Calibri">October 4, 2009:
The New York Times reports on India's efforts to address climate
change:</font><br>
<blockquote><font face="Calibri">"India’s public stance on climate
change is usually predictable — predictably obstinate and
unwilling to compromise, at least according to many
industrialized nations. But at the United Nations, India’s
delegation toned down its usual criticisms of the industrialized
world, presented new plans to reduce India’s emissions and
sought to reposition the country, in the words of the
environment minister, as a 'deal maker,' not a 'deal breaker.'"</font><br>
</blockquote>
<font face="Calibri"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/world/asia/04climate.html?_r=0">http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/world/asia/04climate.html?_r=0</a>
</font><br>
<font face="Calibri"> </font>
<p><font face="Calibri"> <br>
</font><font face="Calibri"><br>
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