Big Oil Loses in Supreme Court! U.S. Dems Want Easier Renewable Energy Permitting, The Climate Daily Reforestation Campaign!

BIG OIL LOSES IN BID TO HAVE U.S. SUPREME COURT DISMISS LAWSUITS AGAINST IT!

Following a series of unanimous lower court rulings against Big Oil, Fossil fuel companies and industry allies had petitioned the United States Supreme Court to review rulings against the industry in lawsuits brought by communities in Colorado, Rhode Island, Maryland, Hawaii, and California. Well, that petition just failed. According to a press release from the Center for Climate Integrity, the U.S. Supreme Court denied fossil fuel industry requests to review lower court rulings that allow climate accountability lawsuits against ExxonMobil and other companies to proceed toward trial in state courts across the country. 

It’s a major victory for communities fighting to put Big Oil companies on trial for their climate lies. Today the Supreme Court denied all those petitions. Richard Wiles, president of the Center for Climate Integrity, released the following statement: “Big Oil companies have been desperate to avoid trials in state courts, where they will be forced to defend their climate lies in front of juries. The high court’s decision is a major victory for communities across the country that are fighting to hold Big Oil accountable and make them pay for the climate damages they knowingly caused.”

Why does this ruling matter to us? Since 2017, the attorneys general of 15 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, have filed lawsuits in state court to hold major oil and gas companies accountable for deceiving the public about their products’ role in climate change. Two cases — from Honolulu and Massachusetts — are already in pretrial discovery, with others close behind.  

the high court’s action clears the way for dozens of lawsuits that state and local governments have brought against fossil fuel companies in state courts to continue advancing toward trial.

DEEPER DIVE: Center for Climate Integrity, ExxonKnews

U.S. HOUSE DEMOCRATS PROPOSE EASIER ROAD TO RENEWABLE ENERGY PERMITTING

According to a report in The Hill, House Democrats last week released their permitting reform proposal after House Republicans advanced an energy bill that included measures aimed at streamlining the approval process for projects. Their preliminary draft focuses primarily on electricity infrastructure, renewable energy and including local communities in the process. 

Why does this draft proposal matter to us? Building up electricity transmission is particularly important for getting carbon-free energy onto the grid. As the  proposal’s co-sponsor Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL), said in a statement, “There are nearly 2000 gigawatts of clean cheap energy stuck in the queue that we can’t currently connect to consumers. That’s almost twice the total US electric generating capacity that could cut our bills and clean up our air.”  

The draft also incorporates efforts to take steps to reach out to local communities and consider the combined impacts that multiple infrastructure projects may have on one area. It also seeks to bolster renewable energy by creating community solar programs, requiring the designation of “priority” areas for solar, wind and geothermal energy on public lands and saying that greenhouse gas emissions should factor into the wholesale costs of fossil-powered electricity. 

DEEPER DIVE: The Hill, Roll Call

THE CLIMATE DAILY 50/100 REFORESTATION CAMPAIGN CONTINUES!

We’re making progress with our Climate Champions 50/100 reforestation campaign, so we’re keeping it going!

(Yeessss…)

Thank you to the listeners of The Climate Daily who donated to The Climate Champions 50/100 campaign! There’s still work to do to get us to 10,000 trees. That’s why we’re extending the campaign through May to give more of you the chance to become climate champions. What’s a climate champion, you ask? A climate champion proves that a small group of people can make a massive impact on the planet in a short amount of time.  

How? Our company, The Climate, is partnering with over 30 international tree-planting organizations–ALONG WITH our climate champions– to re-plant, and regrow forests all over the world, by planting ten thousand trees at a time. Why? Because science says the best way to combat climate change is to restore nature. And the fastest way to restore nature is to plant and grow a trillion trees by 2030, and the fastest way to plant and grow a trillion trees is to replant and regrow forests. The fastest way to do that is to plant ten thousand trees at a time. So, we’re looking for folks to donate $50 or $100 one time, to help us plant 10,000 trees at a time, in one of seven regions around the planet.

(Which our tree planting partners will do. They’re the tree-planting professionals.) 

Please visit https://bit.ly/50-100Campaign. Click on the donate button and join our team of climate champions today. Again, visit https://bit.ly/50-100Campaign. Click on the donate button and join our team of climate champions today. And if you want to start your own team of climate champions, reach out to us at info@34.203.12.8. We’ll help you put together your own small group of climate champions to make a massive impact on the planet in a short amount of time. 

(Planting 10 thousand trees–a 20-acre forest!) 

Wouldn’t it be great to be the change you want to see in the world? Go to https://bit.ly/50-100Campaign and become part of something special. Become a climate champion.  Thank you!!

DEEPER DIVE: 50/100 Campaign, Trillion Tree Project