Minnesota Court Says Activists can Use Climate Change as a Defense in Trial
By Natasha Geiling, Think Progress
Does climate change pose such an imminent threat to the planet that it’s okay to break the law in order to stop it? Four climate activists currently awaiting trial in Minnesota for shutting off a tar sands pipeline think so — and on Monday, the Minnesota Court of Appeals agreed that they should be allowed to make that argument before a jury when their case goes to trial.
These States want to Make Planning a Pipeline Protest a Crime
By Natasha Geiling, ThinkProgress
As pipeline protests continue to delay and, sometimes, stop energy projects in their tracks, the fossil fuel industry and Republican lawmakers are looking for new ways to clamp down on environmental protest.
You Can’t Talk about Teacher Strikes without Talking about the Fossil Fuel Industry
By Natasha Geiling, Think Progress
But beyond illuminating the often dismal conditions under which teachers in this country are often forced to work, the walkouts in Oklahoma and West Virginia illuminate something else — what happens when states prioritize tax breaks for fossil fuel companies over education.
New Study Gives 150 Million Reasons to Reduce Carbon Emissions
By Natasha Geiling, Climate Progress
Taking serious action on climate change now could mean saving hundreds of millions of lives across the globe, according to a new study published in Nature Climate Change on Monday by researchers at Duke University.
Federal Court Temporarily Pauses Construction of Controversial Louisiana Pipeline
By Natasha Geiling, Climate Progress
The preliminary injunction against construction of the Bayou Bridge pipeline — which would stretch 162 miles across Louisiana — was cheered as a major victory by environmental groups, who challenged the Army Corps of Engineers’ initial approval of the project.
Fracking Companies won’t Have to Disclose Chemicals Thanks to Trump Administration Rollback
By Natasha Geiling, Climate Progress
Both environmental groups and California hope that a judge will ultimately invalidate the administration’s repeal, finally allowing federal regulations on fracking on federal and tribal lands to go into place (the original rules finalized by the Obama administration were put on hold by litigation).
2017 Was a Record-Breaking Year: Climate-Related Disasters Cost the U.S. $300 billion
By Natasha Geiling, Climate Progress
According to new analysis released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2017 was the third warmest year on record in the United States — and the most costly year ever for weather and climate-related natural disasters.
Western States Lived with a Constant Reminder of Climate Change in 2017
By Natasha Geiling, Climate Progress
The Eagle Creek Fire was one point in a fire season defined by disastrous, fast-moving fires, from the deadly fires that tore through Northern California in October to the fire that decimated thousands of acres of Glacier National Park in Montana this fall. Taken together, however, these fires seemed to prove what scientists have been warning for years — that climate change will tilt the scales of probability in favor of bigger, more destructive wildfires, and that everyone, not just the most isolated rural communities, will start to pay the price.