Message From the Editor
This week, climate activists had a historic win in the Montana youth climate trial.
In an order issued Monday, Judge Kathy Seeley in the First Judicial District Court of Montana found that the state had violated youth plaintiffs’ constitutional rights, including the right to a clean and healthful environment. Held v. State of Montana is the first constitutional climate trial in U.S. history.
“As fires rage in the West, fueled by fossil fuel pollution, today’s ruling in Montana is a game-changer that marks a turning point in this generation’s efforts to save the planet from the devastating effects of human-caused climate chaos,” says Julia Olson, chief legal counsel and executive director of Our Children’s Trust, a nonprofit law firm that represented the youth plaintiffs.
But farther west, as Hawaii still recovers from the devastating Maui fires, fossil fuel companies have asked Hawaii’s supreme court to dismiss Honolulu’s climate case.
Honolulu’s lawsuit is similar to litigation against tobacco and opioid manufacturers, because it seeks to impose liability on fossil fuel companies for knowingly promoting and selling a harmful product, and lying about the harms to the public. The Thursday hearing centered on the fossil fuel defendants’ contention that federal law, not state, applies to the case.
But because the oil and gas companies do business in Hawaii they can be held accountable in Hawaii, says Vic Sher of the law firm Sher Edling, which represents Honolulu.
“If they don’t want to be hauled into court in Hawaii, they could choose not to do business here,” he argued.
This case brought by the city and county of Honolulu could become the first to put Big Oil, including companies such as Exxon, Chevron, Shell, BP, Marathon Petroleum, ConocoPhillips, and more, on trial.
Also this week, the Washington Post featured DeSmog’s research on influencer promotion of fossil fuel companies. Read the full article here.
“They are trying to win the trust of a younger generation,” our U.K. Deputy Editor Sam Bright was quoted.
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Thanks,
Brendan DeMelle
Executive Director
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Image credit: Dana Drugmand
Montana Youth Activists Win Historic Climate Change Lawsuit
— By Dana Drugmand (4 min. read) —
A Montana court ruled in favor of 16 young people who put their state government on trial in June in the first constitutional climate trial in U.S. history.
In an order issued Monday, Judge Kathy Seeley in the First Judicial District Court of Montana found that the state had violated youth plaintiffs’ constitutional rights, including the right to a clean and healthful environment, because of Montana’s pro-fossil fuel policies, which require the state to disregard climate change and greenhouse gas emissions in environmental reviews.
Fossil Fuel Companies Ask Hawaii Supreme Court to Dismiss Honolulu’s Climate Case
— By Dana Drugmand (4 min. read) —
As more than two dozen climate liability lawsuits by state and local governments against fossil fuel companies continue to progress, a case brought by the city and county of Honolulu could become the first to put Big Oil on trial.
On Thursday, the Hawaii Supreme Court heard arguments on an appeal by the defendants, which include oil majors such as ExxonMobil and Chevron, to dismiss the suit – a move that a trial court rejected in March 2022.
How Shell Used a ‘Granfluencer’ to Promote its Brand
— By Dimitris Dimitriadis, Joey Grostern and Sam Bright (4 min. read) —
A “granfluencer” known as “our Filipino grandma” is among an army of US-based influencers being used by fossil fuel giants to promote major polluters to younger audiences, DeSmog can reveal.
TikTok star Nora Capistrano Sangalang – known as “Mama Nora” or “Lola” – is best known for posting videos of her family and her insistence that her young fans are well fed.
As EU Weans Itself From Russian Energy, U.S. Shale Gas Industry Pushes New LNG Export Plant in Pennsylvania
— By Edward Donnelly (9 min. read) —
CHESTER, PA — When Zulene Mayfield testifies next week against plans to build a $6.8 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in her Pennsylvania hometown, she will be facing off against some of the most powerful fossil fuel interests in the United States.
As co-founder of the community group Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living, Mayfield has spent years fighting to protect her majority Black and low-income city from the pollution spewed by the nearby Covanta waste-to-energy facility — the country’s largest waste incinerator.
Industry Plans Thousands of Miles of New Gas Pipelines to Boost LNG Exports
— By Sara Sneath (6 min. read) —
U.S. fossil fuel firms are pushing to build more than 2,900 miles of natural gas pipelines to feed liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities in Louisiana, Texas, and Alaska, in a bid to send more of the fuel to Asia and Europe, a new analysis by Global Energy Monitor shows.
The pipeline projects would transport fracked natural gas from drilling sites to compressor stations and onto LNG export terminals where the fuel would be supercooled and loaded into tankers. The proposed build-out also includes 20 new LNG export terminals.
From the Climate Disinformation Database: American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers
The American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers is a national trade association representing 98 percent of oil refining capacity in the United States. The AFPM hasn’t hidden its position promoting oil interests, and they oppose any legislation that could reduce profits for their sector. For example, they oppose renewable fuel standards, support increasing domestic oil and gas production on public and private lands, and argue that the EPA has no authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.
Read the full profile and browse other individuals and organizations in our Climate Disinformation Database and Koch Network Database.
