The Massive Climate Case that Shell Both Won and Lost, and What It Means for the Future of Global Climate Litigation
In November, a Dutch court ruled in Shell's favor on an appeal in a big international climate case. It got loads of headlines around the world, but it wasn't quite the win for Shell that a lot of media coverage has made it out to be. Although it walked back some things, the court reaffirmed a key component of the original ruling: that Shell is legally required to reduce its global emissions.
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20:43
New Research Shows the Clean Air Act Always Intended to Regulate Greenhouse Gas Emissions
In 2007, the Supreme Court ruled in Massachusetts vs. EPA that when the U.S. Congress passed the Clean Air Act in 1970, climate science was “in its infancy,” implying that government officials could never have intended for the legislation to cover the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions. In 2022, SCOTUS doubled down on that idea, ruling in West Virginia v EPA that since the Clean Air Act didn't explicitly talk about climate change, the EPA cannot regulate greenhouse gas emissions. Now, new historical evidence unearthed by a team of Harvard University researchers led by Naomi Oreskes calls the court's understanding of the history of climate science into question, which could have major implications for the government's ability to regulate climate-changing emissions.
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31:52
The Real Free Speech Threat: In El Salvador a Cold Case Murder Has Become a Weapon for Silencing Environmental Activists
In 2017, El Salvador became the first country in the world to pass an outright ban on mining. It was an effort to protect the country's water, and its people. Now, self-proclaimed "coolest dictator in the world" Nayib Bukele wants to bring mining back to boost the economy, which took a major hit thanks to his embrace of Bitcoin as the national currency in 2021. The activists who helped pass the ban are standing in his way. The solution? Accuse them of a decades-old unsolved murder. The activists go on trial this week. Reporter Sebastian Escalon brings us this story, narrated by Yessenia Funes.
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41:41
Could You Really Charge Oil Companies with Murder? Plus: Supreme Court Climate Update
Public Citizen has been working with various prosecutors to explore the idea of using criminal law to hold oil companies accountable for climate change. In the wake of recent Supreme Court rulings, it seems smarter than ever to explore the remedies offered by criminal law, but is it really viable? The group's senior climate policy counsel, Aaron Regunburg, joins us to discuss.
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36:06
The Coordinated Attack on Shareholder Activism
The backlash against ESG is continuing, with a string of lawsuits aimed at shutting down shareholder activism. We don't often talk about shareholder activism in the vein of protecting protest, but it's absolutely part of the story. Andrew Behar, CEO of shareholder advocacy group As You Sow, joins us to explain what's going on, and why anyone who cares about basic rights needs to be tuning into the ESG fight.
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