The United Nations should consider a right to a healthy environment, the special rapporteur on human rights argues. Photo credit: John Moore/Getty Images By Ucilia Wang David Boyd stood in front of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on Thursday as the new special rapporteur…
Valve turners Annette Klapstein, left, and Emily Johnston won the right to use the necessity defense in their trial for threatening an Enbridge oil pipeline. Photo credit: shutitdown.today By Seamus McGraw No one—least of all the defendants—disputes the facts of the case against four people known as valve-turners: activists who trespassed on private…
The people of Isle de Jean Charles, La., are among the first in the U.S. displaced by climate change. Photo credit: Karen Savage By Karen Savage Once a sprawling island, Isle de Jean Charles today is a mere sliver of what it used to be, more than 98…
Places like the Rockaways and Coney Island were devastated by Superstorm Sandy in 2012 and worry adaptation plans will not happen in time to protect against the next major storm. Photo credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images By Karen Savage When New York City announced its lawsuit against five major oil companies to hold them accountable for the impacts of climate change,…
Hawaii passed a state law in 2015 committing to using all renewable energy by 2045. Photo credit: Keppet via Flicker By Dana Drugmand Hawaii’s highest court took an important step in December to hold the state’s agencies accountable for transitioning away from fossil fuels as…
Houston's oil industry facilities would be inundated by a major hurricane storm surge, but the project designed to protect them has not gotten off the ground. Photo credit: Win McNamee By Seamus McGraw Environmentalists and activists who fretted that the devastation of Hurricane Harvey would spur powerful political interests in Texas to fast-track plans for…
Exxon claims gas sales in Massachusetts are through independent franchises, so state does not have jurisdiction for climate investigation. Photo credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images By Karen Savage When Massachusetts residents need to refuel, a quick visit to Exxon’s website directs them to the nearest filling station emblazoned with the…
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has been noncommittal about whether his state is conducting or plans a climate fraud investigation against Exxon. Photo credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images By Seamus McGraw It has been more than 18 months since Kamala Harris, then California’s attorney general, privately assured supporters that her office would join…
After the rescues are over, the long-term costs of Hurricane Harvey's recovery will bring the larger issue of disaster relief into the spotlight. Photo credit: Erich Schlegel/Getty Images By Karen Savage When Hurricane Harvey finally pulled away from the Texas and Louisiana coast, clearing skies revealed a vast swath of communities inundated with…
Children suffer most acutely from the impacts of climate change, doctors say. Photo credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images For years, politically and financially motivated campaigns have wrapped climate science in a cloak of doubt. Scientists, initially caught off guard, eventually responded with a…