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The Fossil Fuel Industry Continues Producing Heat-Trapping Emissions that Drive Climate Change

Union of Concerned Scientists

A new dataset released by InfluenceMap provides information on heat-trapping emissions traced to the 122 largest investor and state-owned fossil fuel companies in the world. Fossil fuels are the main driver of climate change and the terrifying effects of it that we see happening across the world.

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These Attorneys General Are Defending the Fossil Fuel Industry, Not Their States

Union of Concerned Scientists

Attorneys general (AGs) in the five states most vulnerable to climate change, however, are doing the exact opposite: Instead of defending their constituents, they are defending the fossil fuel industry. Here’s a roundup of what these AGs have been doing to make a bad situation worse.

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US States and Communities are Suing the Fossil Fuel Industry: Six Things You Need to Know 

Union of Concerned Scientists

In an important win for climate accountability in the United States, the US Supreme Court decided that lawsuits filed in Colorado, Maryland, California, Hawai’i, and Rhode Island against fossil fuel companies including ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, Suncor, and others will remain in state courts.

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Dr. Shaina Sadai Talks About COP27, Climate Justice, Sea Level Rise, and Corporate Accountability

Union of Concerned Scientists

While there is enormous potential for UN climate negotiations to transform climate action, meaningful progress has been delayed in part by the fossil fuel industry’s deceptive tactics. Last year’s COP was notable as the first to explicitly mention “fossil fuels” in the final decision document.

Sea Level 209
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New, Updated Carbon Majors Dataset Holds Promise for Researchers, Litigators

Union of Concerned Scientists

That 2013 headline resulted from the first effort to quantify emissions from the ‘carbon majors’ —fossil fuel companies and cement manufacturers whose businesses have contributed an outsized amount of heat-trapping gases to the atmosphere. Nearly two-thirds of industrial heat-trapping emissions can be traced to just 90 entities.

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From Research to Action: The Growing Impact of Attribution Science

Union of Concerned Scientists

By comparing these two data sets, scientists can determine the probability that human activities are responsible for observed changes in temperature, precipitation patterns, sea level rise, and other climate change indicators.

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Ask a Scientist: Calling Out the Companies Responsible for Western Wildfires

Union of Concerned Scientists

Titled The Fossil Fuels Behind Forest Fires , it provides a concise overview of the peer-reviewed study and makes policy recommendations for the Biden administration and Congress. CP: Major fossil fuel companies and their trade groups knew that burning fossil fuels would dramatically reshape our climate since at least the 1960s.