Message From the Editor

This week, we continued our coverage of the upcoming youth climate trial in Montana with Dana Drugmand’s piece on the climate denier set to give expert testimony for the defense.

In March 2020, sixteen Montana children and teens sued the state, saying Montana’s promotion of oil, coal, and gas despite the climate emergency violates their state constitutional rights. Montana has now hired climate scientist turned climate contrarian Judith Curry, who has already billed the state around $30,000. Despite having never conducted research on or reviewed studies of Montana’s climate, Curry claims her credibility comes from her skills as a fast reader and a “great Googler and finder of information.” 

Montana may end up leaning heavily on Curry’s anticipated testimony, as she will be one of just a few expert witnesses defending the state at the trial set to begin on June 12.

Across the pond, journalist Phoebe Cooke recently spoke to a Kenyan campaigner who was “locked out” of an African oil and gas event in London. Sponsored by fossil fuel companies such as Royal Dutch Shell, TotalEnergies, Chevron, ExxonMobil and Eni, the event organizers told Salome Nduta, who had purchased a £4,074 ticket, that the summit was “sold out” – even as organizers continued to advertise tickets.

Nduta, Africa coordinator for campaign group OilWatch Africa, said she believed she had been deliberately excluded from this week’s Africa Energies Summit.

“I feel so angry,” Nduta told DeSmog. “They didn’t want me to be there.”

This week, DeSmog investigations were featured in the New York Times climate newsletter, focused on “The ‘Skeletons’ in Big Oil’s Closet.” The newsletter dives into the growing legal risks for major oil companies, highlighting our recent investigation into what Eni, the Italian fossil fuel company, knew about climate change and the new lawsuit seeking to hold it accountable. There’s also a shout-out to our reporting on what Shell knew about climate change in the 1980s. For those with a subscription, you can read more here.

Have a story tip or feedback? Get in touch: [email protected]. Want to know what our UK team is up to? Sign up for our UK newsletter.

Thanks,
Brendan DeMelle
Executive Director

P.S. Investigative journalism like this is made possible by readers like you. Can you donate $10 or $20 right now to support more of this essential work?

Image credit: National Park Service, public domain

Climate Crisis: Voices of Protection Event

— May 23, 2023 2pm EST —

With your support, DeSmog has reported for years on the harm caused by fossil fuel and petrochemical projects on the U.S. Gulf Coast. Now, we’d like to invite you to a special free online event we’re co-hosting with the Pocket Project on May 22 exploring the struggle to prevent new fossil gas projects in Louisiana and Texas.

We’ll be practicing a unique way of attending to the news in community called Global Social Witnessing (to learn more, click here). With Louisiana Bucket Brigade Director Anne Rolfes and our global investigations editor Matthew Green.

Hope to see you there!

Montana Is Paying a Climate Denier to Give Expert Testimony in Upcoming Trial

— By Dana Drugmand (6 min. read) —

Montana has hired a climate scientist turned climate contrarian to be an expert witness in an upcoming trial challenging the state’s promotion of fossil fuels.

Climatologist Judith Curry has already billed the state around $30,000 for a report filed in the case Held v. State of Montana, according to the deposition she made in December to an attorney for the 16 young Montanans suing the state. Curry also claimed that she charged $400 an hour for her consulting work, although she did not disclose the full amount Montana will pay her for appearing in court.

Kenyan Campaigner 'Locked Out' Of Arican Oil And Gas Event In London

— By Phoebe Cooke (3 min. read) —

A Kenyan human rights campaigner has voiced her anger at being removed from the list of delegates to an African oil and gas conference in London on the grounds that the event was “sold out” – even as organizers continued to advertise tickets. 

Salome Nduta, Africa coordinator for campaign group OilWatch Africa, said she believed she had been deliberately excluded from this week’s Africa Energies Summit, whose sponsors include Royal Dutch Shell, TotalEnergies, Chevron, ExxonMobil and Eni.

Scientists Have Now Linked Worsening Western Wildfires to Top Polluters

— By Dana Drugmand (6 min. read) —

New research for the first time links wildfire risks and impacts in western North America to carbon emissions traceable to the world’s largest fossil fuel and cement companies. The analysis has important implications for corporate climate accountability and may help bolster litigation aimed at holding fossil fuel producers liable for climate-related damages, the researchers say.

According to the study led by researchers at the Union of Concerned Scientists, more than a third of the total area burned by forest fires in the western United States and southwestern Canada since 1986 is attributable to the “Carbon Majors” — a term representing the 88 largest fossil fuel and cement companies that collectively have contributed a majority of the carbon emissions warming the planet.

Cabinet Ministers Join Outspoken Climate Science Deniers at National Conservatism Conference

— By Joey Grostern and Adam Barnett (8 min. read) —

The National Conservatism (NatCon) conference kicks off today in Westminster, London, featuring a roster of high-profile speakers drawn from the upper reaches of the government and the conservative right. 

A DeSmog analysis has found climate denial and a hostility to net zero to be a common feature among many of the individuals speaking at the three-day summit.

From the Climate Disinformation Database: Judith Curry

Judith Curry is an American climatologist and professor emerita of the Georgia Institute of Technology, where she chaired the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences from 2002–2014. Climate scientists have criticized Curry for her climate outreach in the blogosphere based on assertions not necessarily supported by the evidence. She resigned from her position at Georgia Tech in 2017, citing the “craziness” of climate science. She is currently the president of Climate Forecast Applications Network, a consulting company. As reported by DeSmog, in a 2022 deposition Curry said that her company’s clients included petroleum companies, electric utilities, and natural gas energy traders, and that she charged $400 an hour for her consulting services.

Read the full profile and browse other individuals and organizations in our Climate Disinformation Database and Koch Network Database.