Union of Concerned Scientists

APRIL 4, 2024

As I show below, their cumulative emissions have continued to rise over the decades even as international efforts to confront climate change have been enacted through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement. I’ve marked these important years with dotted lines in Figure 2.

Fossil Fuels 246

Fossil Fuels Climate Change Paris Agreement Carbon Dioxide 246

Law Columbia

OCTOBER 7, 2019

CLF’s allegations included that the landfill’s coastal location “makes it extremely vulnerable to climate change impacts, including sea level rise and damaging storm surge, creating a significant risk of erosion and of pollution from the Landfill washing into the surrounding rivers and coastal wetlands.” California v. Bernhardt , No.

2019 40

2019 Endangered Species Act Climate Change Greenhouse 40

Law Columbia

MARCH 6, 2018

The court stated that the issue arose “because a necessary and critical element of the hydrological damage caused by defendants’ alleged conduct is the rising sea level along the Pacific coast and in the San Francisco Bay, both of which are navigable waters of the United States.” Foster , 34-2016-CR-00187 (N.D. BP p.l.c. ,

2018 40

2018 Clean Air Act Climate Change Endangered Species Act 40

Law Columbia

MAY 7, 2021

Circuit in 2016 signaled that the legal framework for the Clean Power Plan “hinges on important issues of federal that EPA then—and the court below now—got so wrong this Court was likely to grant review.” Circuit majority opinion’s interpretation was foreclosed by the statute and violated separation of powers.

2021 40

2021 Fossil Fuels Climate Change Endangered Species Act 40

Law Columbia

AUGUST 4, 2021

The Washington Supreme Court ruled that a climate activist should be permitted to present a necessity defense to charges of criminal trespass and unlawful obstruction of a train in connection with a 2016 protest on railroad tracks used by trains carrying coal and oil products. The cases were filed in 2016 , 2020 , and 2021.

2021 40

2021 Climate Change Paris Agreement 2019 40

Law Columbia

NOVEMBER 7, 2017

The plaintiffs alleged that Peabody (and a number of other fossil fuel companies) caused greenhouse gas emissions that resulted in sea level rise and damage to their property. Peabody, a coal company, filed for bankruptcy in April 2016 and emerged from bankruptcy under a plan that became effective on April 3, 2017. Foster , No.

2017 40

2017 Clean Air Act Climate Change Clean Water Act 40