‘Historic’ Advisory Opinion on Climate Change Says Countries Must Prevent Greenhouse Gasses From Harming Oceans
The International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea’s opinion said that greenhouse gasses are a form of marine pollution and laid out governments’ legal obligations to reduce that contamination and limit global warming.
Vermont is on the cusp of making Big Oil pay for climate disasters
Vermont might soon make polluters pay. After floods slammed part of the Green Mountain State last summer, the Vermont legislature passed a bill called the Climate Superfund Act that would force Big Oil companies to pay for the effects of global warming, given their role in the crisis. Sachi Kitajima Mulkey and Syris Valentine, of Grist, report that the bill is now waiting for the signature of Republican Governor Phil Scott, but he has said he would not support the bill. Enough state lawmakers, however, support the legislation to override Scott’s veto. If it survives the expected legal challenges, the bill will be the first of its kind in the country.
Roofs were ripped off , nearly 1 million residents lost power, and at least seven people were killed by a unique type of windstorm known as derecho that ravaged the Houston region late last week. Consisting of continuous, tornado-force winds that consistently surpass 100 mph, derechos are relatively rare in the United States, with the last derecho on record occurring in 2020. However, research by NOAA shows that climate change is likely to increase the frequency of these devastating weather events. While warming temperatures are the key factor contributing to the increase in derechos, climate change across the temperature spectrum is likely to bring about weather events of greater danger and frequency.
This week, an international court delivered a strong ruling for island nations seeking to hold large states accountable for the climate impacts they’ve caused. The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea ruled unanimously that the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea obligates the 169 signatory countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. This includes big polluters like China, India, the European Union, and Russia. (The United States never signed onto the convention.) The court recognized greenhouse gases as a form of marine pollution, which the convention requires signatories to “prevent, reduce, and control,” Anita Hofschneider reports.
A Trump Presidency Would Risk $1 Trillion in Clean Energy Investment, WoodMac Says: A victory by Donald Trump in the Nov. 5 presidential election would jeopardize an estimated $1 trillion in low-carbon energy investments and lead to carbon emissions that would be 1 billion tons greater than under current policies, according to an analysis by the research firm Wood Mackenzie. Trump has said he would repeal tax credits for EV purchases, limit development of offshore wind and undo federal rules that require a decrease in emissions for cars and power plants. Valerie Volcovici reports for Reuters about the analysis and some of the context surrounding it, underscoring the high stakes of the upcoming election.
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U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland was in L.A. last week, announcing $35 million to plug abandoned oil and gas wells, which can spew noxious fumes and heat-trapping gases, The NYTimes’ Hayley Smith reports. [A pittance. The Sierra Club says: Applying these regional per-well costs to an updated inventory of California’s wells reveals that it will cost an estimated $10 billion to plug and remediate the current inventory of 41,568 orphan and idle wells in the state.
Oakland Unified is now the nation’s first school district with a fully electric bus fleet. The 74 buses won’t burn heat-trapping gasoline or spew noxious fumes that damage the developing lungs of kids riding them to school, as The Times’ Andrew J. Campa reports. Also great: The buses will send electricity back into the power grid at key times, saving money for the school district and helping PG&E keep the lights on.
Few companies are more invested in maintaining the fossil-fueled status quo than ExxonMobil. So perhaps it’s no surprise that the oil and gas giant has become “the world’s biggest corporate bully,” in the view of L.A. Times columnist Michael Hiltzik. Hiltzik reports that Exxon is suing some of its shareholders to silence them about global warming, lest anyone follow their lead and dare encourage the company to cut down on fossil fuel extraction. The lawsuit prompted CalPERS, the nation’s largest public pension fund, to announce Monday it will vote against all 12 Exxon board members this month, Hiltzik writes.
Governments and companies need to spend an extra $34 trillion on the clean energy transition between now and 2050 to reach net-zero emissions, according to BloombergNEF. The research group’s 250-page New Energy Outlook report, which crunches 18 million datapoints, says that amount is 19% more than what’s expected in its base case scenario. The finding indicates that sectors from electric vehicles and renewable energy to power grids and carbon capture need extra support.
- Its base case sees governments relying solely on economically competitive technologies, putting the world on course to warm 2.6C from pre-industrial times. This pathway, dubbed the economic transition scenario (ETS), is still slightly better than what governments are currently committed to doing, but it would lead to catastrophic climate impacts as the world breaches the 2C goal set under the Paris Agreement.
- Its net-zero scenario (NZS) assumes governments double down on emissions-reducing technologies with an aim to reach net zero by 2050. If the world follows this path, it still might miss the more ambitious Paris goal of keeping warming below 1.5C — edging closer to 1.75C instead. That could still avoid some irreversible climate damages.
In other news, a recent study found microplastics in human testicles of 23 tested individuals, and more than 40 pet dogs, which could pose potential risks to sperm counts, the researchers say, though more testing is needed. The findings aren’t necessarily surprising given that people are known to consume and breathe in microplastics on a daily basis, but scientists are still uncovering the long-term health impacts of these ubiquitous particles. [Plastics overwhelmingly come from fossil gas and oil.]