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USA and other nations have failed in their legal duty of due diligence to regulate private firms that emit greenhouse gas: ICJ
Continue reading USA and other nations have failed in their legal duty of due diligence to regulate private firms that emit greenhouse gas: ICJ
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While likely to be appealed, Monday’s ruling for Held v. the State of Montana offers hope for similar youth-led climate cases.
An unusual legal victory for Planet Earth. And it happened in red Montana – of all places.
In a historic decision on Monday, a Montana state court ruled in favor of 16 young climate activists who claimed the state’s provisions to an environmental act violated their constitutional right to a clean and healthy environment. “Today, for the first time in U.S. history, a court ruled on the merits of a case that the government violated the constitutional rights of children through laws and actions that promote fossil fuels, ignore climate change and disproportionately imperil young people,” said Julia Olson, chief legal counsel and executive director of Our Children’s Trust, in a statement. Along with Our Children’s Trust, the young plaintiffs — now ages 5 to 22— are represented by attorneys with the Western Environmental Law Center and McGarvey Law. Together, they helped the plaintiffs sue Montana, its Governor Greg Gianforte and several state agencies in a lawsuit representing the first constitutional climate case in the United States.
It's a first, so that does set a bit of a precedent – even if the fossil fuel pushers get the ruling thrown out on appeal.
Lewis and Clark County Court Judge Kathy Seeley found Montana's energy laws allowed the state to permit projects without considering the impact of increasing greenhouse gas emissions. [ ... ] “By prohibiting consideration of climate change,” Seeley later wrote, “GHG emissions and how additional GHG emissions will contribute to climate change or be consistent with the Montana Constitution, the MEPA limitation violates plaintiffs’ right to a clean and healthful environment as is facially unconstitutional.”
Of course Republicans are hopping mad that the well-being of the planet was placed ahead of fossil fuel producer profits.
“This ruling is absurd, but not surprising from a judge who let the plaintiffs’ attorneys put on a weeklong taxpayer-funded publicity stunt that was supposed to be a trial,” said Emily Flower, spokesperson for Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, in a statement. Flower added that “Montanans can’t be blamed for changing the climate” and that the “same legal theory has been thrown out of federal court and courts in more than a dozen states.” In a previous statement, Flower called the entire lawsuit a “meritless publicity stunt” to increase fundraising for Our Children’s Trust “at the expense of Montana taxpayers.
Republicans care less about Montana taxpayers than they do about campaign contributions from the carbon lobby.
This was a local case decided under Montana law and provides another example of why we must get more involved in state politics and government.
High Seas Treaty secured after marathon UN talks
More than 100 countries reached agreement on a United Nations treaty to protect the high seas, following marathon talks at U.N. headquarters in New York that ended late Saturday. The High Seas Treaty will put 30 percent of the planet’s seas into protected areas by 2030, aiming to safeguard marine life. “This is a massive success for multilateralism. An example of the transformation our world…
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Clean energy incentives in the new spending package signed this week by President Joe Biden will trim America’s emissions of heat-trapping gases by about 1.1 billion tons (1 billion metric tons) by 2030, a new Department of Energy analysis shows.
Fossil-Fuel Industry Workers Say Green Economy Could Leave Them in Dust
Maldonado, S. (2022, May 5). Fossil-fuel industry workers say green economy could leave them in dust. The City. https://www.thecity.nyc/2022/5/5/23059331/fossil-fuel-industry-workers-green-economy-jobs
Samantha Maldonado writes: “As New York looks to build a green economy and meet its climate mandates, excitement is building over promised new jobs, countered by real concerns over careers being cut short. ... The transition to ‘decarbonize’ New York’s economy to implement its climate law is expected to result in hundreds of thousands of new clean energy jobs, outpacing those that will be lost by a margin of 10 to 1, according to estimates by a state climate panel last year. New York policymakers face the overlapping questions raised by those who see the clean energy transition as a way to bring younger and historically marginalized people into the green economy, as well as those who want more support for workers in industries with jobs at risk. ‘The question here is, how do we ensure that those same workers who will be transitioning off those sites and those jobs will have benefits and protections for themselves and their families?’ said Maritza Silva-Farrell, executive director of the organization ALIGN, a union-funded group promoting green jobs.”
“The state’s climate law mandates a carbon-neutral economy by 2050, a goal to be achieved largely by moving away from burning fossil fuels and towards increased electrification powered by renewable and clean energy sources. ... One possible pathway for the state to achieve its mandates includes using those fuels, and another does not — it instead includes quicker electrification and wider use of renewable resources.”
“No matter which pathway state policymakers decide to adopt, more than 211,000 green jobs could be created by 2030, with solar, offshore wind, building electrification and manufacturing expected to be the top-growing sectors as a result of the energy transition, according to a 2021 Jobs Study by the state’s Just Transition Working Group. ... The Just Transition study has floated recommendations put forth by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network’s 2020 Zero Carbon Action Plan, which mapped out ways displaced workers in fossil fuel-based industries could be helped. That plan included pension guarantees, re-employment and three years of compensation equal to their pay in previous jobs, as well as two years of retraining and up to $75,000 for possible relocation. ... For its part, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority has committed $120 million for workforce development and training programs that will reach 40,000 New Yorkers. The authority also applied for a $25 million federal grant to support training both new and displaced workers for clean energy jobs. It also supports job programs for new workers and those transitioning into clean energy work.”
Additional Information
Just Transition Working Group: 2021 Jobs Study. New York State of Opportunity. (2021). https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21830507-jtwg-jobs-report
The Zero Carbon Consortium. (2020). America’s Zero Carbon Action Plan. Sustainable Development Solutions Network. https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/6f2c9f57/files/uploaded/zero-carbon-action-plan%20%281%29.pdf
Skinner, L., et. al. (2022). Climate for Change: A Climate Jobs Roadmap for New York City. Labor Leading on Climate, Worker Institute at Cornell University, ILR School. https://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/handle/1813/111277/Climate_for_Change_NYC_Full_Report_VD.pdf
Maldonado, S. (2022, March 9). NYC looks to environmentally friendly jobs in a cloudy economic climate. The City. https://www.thecity.nyc/2022/3/9/22969901/nyc-looks-to-environmentally-friendly-jobs-in-a-cloudy-economic-climate
Photo source: Fractenberg, B. (2022). [Photograph]. The City. https://www.thecity.nyc/2022/5/5/23059331/fossil-fuel-industry-workers-green-economy-jobs
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Check out ‘Identifying Gaps in Climate-Litigation-Relevant Research: An Assessment from Interviews with Legal Scholars and Practitioners’
https://t.co/4aVTYsqRs1
(Source)
French grassroots Amazon resistance targets Macron – POLITICO
French grassroots Amazon resistance targets Macron – POLITICO
Press play to listen to this article PARIS — The activists gathered on a Parisian bridge on a sunny March morning have two enemies: U.S. tech giant Amazon and French President Emmanuel Macron. “We are here to denounce Amazon’s ultra-rapid expansion in France and Emmanuel Macron’s responsibility,” Etienne Coubard, in charge of campaigning at environmental NGO Friends of the Earth, shouts into a…
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