Rep Hageman & Sen Cruz introduced legislation to grant legal immunity to the fossil fuel industry. @kathymulvey.bsky.social says this championing "of the world’s largest polluters shows how far certain elected officials will go to undermine democratic policymaking."

Today Rep. Hageman introduced a bill seeking to grant sweeping immunity to the fossil fuel industry against legal and financial accountability for climate change damages. This disastrous bill "would twist the knife of the climate crisis that is already directly harming people across the country."

Big Oil companies are going all-out to avoid taking responsibility for the harm caused to communities and for driving the climate crisis. They are using an age-old strategy: delay, distort, and deny. But we won’t let them off the hook.

The Endangerment Finding has been in place for over 15 years, in that time prompting significant reductions in heat-trapping emissions and saving countless lives by cutting the fossil fuel pollution that triggers asthma attacks and heart disease.

Consensus about the causes & threats of climate change is nearly universal in the scientific community after decades of research. Judges should have access to this information. We can't keep letting the deep-pocketed, destructive, deceptive fossil fuel industry override the public interest.

More disturbing news today about the removal of scientific evidence from decision-making processes in our federal government. Censoring educational materials about the climate crisis will not make it go away - it will just make our public institutions less equipped to deal with it.

A big win today: a federal court found that the Trump administration’s sham report attacking climate science was created in secret by a hand-picked set of climate policy opponents, violating the Federal Advisory Committee Act. Read our statement here:

Today Michigan became the 11th state to sue the fossil fuel industry for climate deception, filing an antitrust suit in federal court against #BigOil companies ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, and Shell, and trade association American Petroleum Institute #BigOilLies #ClimateAccountability

Join UCS & allies for next week's National #MakePollutersPay Week of Action! We'll rally to support measures like climate superfunds and climate liability laws that hold big polluters accountable for damages to our climate and our communities. Learn more in this video from @polluterspay.bsky.social

Attribution science studies use the Carbon Majors data to link corporate emissions to real-world climate impacts that are harming ppl around the globe. One recent study found that emissions from the 178 Carbon Majors entities made 213 heatwaves reported between 2000-2023 more likely & more intense.

This year’s update of the Carbon Majors database, which tracks historical production data for 178 of the world's largest oil, gas, coal, and cement producers, is now available via @influencemap.bsky.social!

Check out my latest blog, coauthored with my @ucs.org colleague Laura Peterson, on US imperialism and #BigOil in Venezuela. The Trump administration’s all-in position on oil is a losing bet, and this illegal imperial oil grab is yet another reason we must all rise up. blog.ucs.org/kathy-mulvey...

“President Trump’s withdrawal of the United States from the bedrock global treaty to tackle climate change is a new low and yet another a sign that this authoritarian, anti-science administration is determined to sacrifice people’s well-being and destabilize global cooperation." Read UCS Statement:

Today at #COP30: advocates from the US Gulf South, Latin America & Africa protested the unchecked expansion of massive new gas projects, which harm communities & undermine climate goals. This is part of a global call for a fossil fuel phaseout, which has set the tone for COP30: dont-gas-africa.org

For years, fossil fuel lobbyists have swarmed international climate summits with a mission to derail progress, spread disinformation & dodge accountability. An international commitment to information integrity at #COP30 can help remove barriers to strong national climate solutions.

New analysis from #KickBigPollutersOut shows that 1600+ fossil fuel lobbyists have been granted access to #COP30 climate talks, proportionally a 12% increase from last year😖Fossil fuel lobbyists outnumber almost every country delegation, with 1/25 registrants repping the fossil fuel industry 😦

Organized climate obstruction activities are actively delaying the human response to the #climatecrisis, directly sabotaging international cooperation, making the Paris Agreement goals unattainable, and putting the lives of millions at risk. We must ban it from #COP30

ExxonMobil's new lawsuit against California’s agenda-setting climate disclosure laws underscores what decades of investigation and litigation have shown: they will go to nearly any length to avoid accountability for their role in the climate crisis. blog.ucs.org/laura-peters...

Ahead of the #COP30 international climate negotiations in Brazil, I decided to imagine what a COP free from #fossilfuel industry influence would look like. #ClimateAccountability blog.ucs.org/kathy-mulvey...

"ExxonMobil will go to nearly any length to avoid accountability for its role in the climate crisis." @ucs.org @ucsclimate.bsky.social

Advocates in New Zealand secured a public apology from Z Energy after legal action. The petroleum retailer took out full-page ads in newspapers apologizing for "any confusion" caused by a greenwashing 2022 PR campaign that misrepresented its focus on alternative fuels & emissions reductions.

Fossil fuel industry attacks on climate accountability litigation and campaigning make this "a perilous moment for democratic norms and institutions,” as I told @danad1012.bsky.social.

Disasters like Odette are becoming more frequent & intense due to the fossil fuel-driven climate crisis. Shell has known for decades that fossil fuels stood to cause dangerous climate change, but chose to deceive the public, spread disinformation, and delay climate action to protect its profits.

67 people from the Philippines have announced legal action against fossil fuel giant #Shell. The claimants suffered harm from Typhoon Odette in 2021, including serious injuries, deaths of loved ones, or losing their homes. UCS stands w/ the claimants as they demand compensation. #MakePollutersPay

🎉Historic Court win🎉 The greenwashing adverts of fossil fuel giant TotalEnergies have been ruled illegal, in a case taken by @amisdelaterre.org, @greenpeace.fr & @notreaffaireatous.bsky.social with our support. 1/4

Today's rally @ the MA State House in support of the climate superfund bill (H.1014/S.588) featured powerful art showing what's at stake in the movement for #ClimateJustice. We called on our legislators to #MakePollutersPay for their share of adaptation costs in the climate crisis they helped cause.

US banking regulators just withdrew guidance from 2 years ago on how big banks should manage climate risks. The science hasn’t changed & the risks have only grown. The only difference is who’s in the White House. So much for the Fed’s vaunted “independence” from politics.

New study shows fossil fuel industry only contributes to 1.42% of global renewable energy. The largest 250 oil & gas companies may only produce 0.1% of their primary energy from renewable sources. Their actual investment in clean energy is negligible compared to their massive fossil fuel extraction.

🚨 ExxonMobil has been lobbying relentlessly to take down the EU’s CSDDD. Its playbook? - Lobbying - Funding think tanks - Media sponsorships ⚠️The EU cannot let those causing the climate crisis write the rules to get out of it. www.somo.nl/how-big-oil-kills-sustainability-and-climate-legislation/

Who wrote the Trump administration's sham climate report? Learn more in my latest blog about the record of #climatedisinformation, scientific contrarianism and ties to the #fossilfuel industry of the so-called “Climate Working Group” report authors. #climatedeception blog.ucs.org/kathy-mulvey...

TOMORROW: Last chance to sign up for our #ClimateWeekNYC webinar on holding the fossil fuel industry accountable. Featuring scientists, community leaders & legal experts from @ucs.org, @climateintegrity.org, Gulf South Fossil Finance Hub & Lekeh Development Foundation. #MakePollutersPay

Ironically, litigation intended to intimidate the finance sector out of climate-conscious investing may end up "outlining the coal companies’ decades-long efforts to obstruct the energy transition," writes UCS's Pallavi Phartiyal. Read the blog, originally published in @thehill.com.

My @ucs.org colleague @carlonimbus.bsky.social unpacks the #fossilfuel industry disinformation tactics underpinning the Trump administration's destructive proposal to rescind a cornerstone of US #climate policy blog.ucs.org/carlos-marti...

SLAPPs are how those in power try to shut down protest + dissent: through lawsuits meant to drain resources + scare communities into silence. This is an especially dangerous tactic at times like these when resistance is crucial. Watch + share 👇 from #ProtectTheProtest coalition member EarthRights.

Today, the EPA released a proposal that would gut the 2009 Endangerment Finding. “These actions by Lee Zeldin are anti-science and backed by the fossil fuel industry, said Chitra Kumar, Managing Director, UCS Climate & Energy campaign.

Great new blog by my @ucs.org colleague Laura Peterson calculating handouts to the oil and gas industry in the reckless and inhumane federal budget bill - blog.ucs.org/laura-peters...

📢 On July 23, the International Court of Justice will issue its advisory opinion on the responsibilities of states to address climate change and their obligations under international law, including those related to human rights. #ClimateICJAO #ClimateJusticeAtTheICJ

From my op-ed @thehill.com: Big Oil “companies cannot be trusted to do the right thing…Our elected representatives must stand strong against liability waivers and preserve the rights of states and communities to make polluters pay.” #ClimateAccountability #DecadesofDeceit thehill.com/opinion/ener...

Congrats to Lekeh Development Foundation on the third annual Niger Delta Climate Change Conference! UCS was proud to support this important gathering of leaders and community members to address the convergence of climate change, environmental degradation & social justice in the Niger Delta region.

Delta Merner, lead scientist at the Science Hub for Climate Litigation @ucs.org, said, "This opinion should be a clarion call for transnational fossil fuel companies that have deceived the public for decades about the risks of their products. The era of accountability is here." #AOLetsGO

In a democracy, government employees can voice respectful dissent to their leadership. But today, EPA leadership retaliated against its own employees for expressing disagreement w/ the admin’s actions & policy directions. Punishing gov't employees for this expression is an alarming development. 🧵

The Senate Reconciliation Bill text is jaw-droppingly bad. A last-minute excise tax on wind and solar projects would further crush the industry & removing penalties against automakers for violating vehicle efficiency standards is a huge give-away to Big Oil, costing drivers $23B more at the pump!

“The fossil fuel playbook has undermined the protection of all human rights that are negatively impacted by climate change for over six decades” -- report of Elise Morgera, UN special rapporteur on human rights and climate change www.theguardian.com/environment/...

📣👋 New paper from @sierraclub.org out today! It's been a long time in the making. It challenges conventional sustainable investing and urges asset owners to confront climate change as a systemic threat to the global economy and long-term portfolios. 👉 Full paper: www.sierraclub.org/systemic-cli...

Dr. Delta Merner @ucs.org explains how a German court dismissed a lawsuit by Peruvian farmer & mountain guide Saúl Luciano Lliuya, but affirmed that major contributors to global warming can, in principle, face liability under civil law for contributions to climate change blog.ucs.org/delta-merner...

Delta Merner @ucs.org on this critical climate accountability precedent: The court "recognized that companies may be held legally responsible for climate damages tied to their emissions. The ruling confirmed that climate science can provide a basis for legal liability..." www.ucs.org/about/news/r...

As climate damages mount, dozens of cities, counties & states are taking the fossil fuel industry to court in a wave of tobacco-style litigation A new report from @ucs.org examines the evidence behind these lawsuits, as Big Oil fights to evade accountability www.oneearthnow.org/p/big-oil-de...

New blog from my @ucsclimate.bsky.social colleague Kate Cell shows how the fossil fuel industry is using the American Energy Institute as a front in seeking a free pass for climate devastation blog.ucs.org/kate-cell/ho...

🎧 In the latest Damages episode from @drilledmedia.bsky.social, @kathymulvey.bsky.social breaks down the new @ucs.org report, "Decades of Deceit," uncovering how fossil fuel companies spent decades obstructing climate policy through misinformation. Listen here: buff.ly/5lfreSV

“This report puts together, in one place, a powerful body of evidence about what the fossil fuel corporations knew—and when—about the climate impacts of their products, and what they did in spite of what they knew,” said report author @kathymulvey.bsky.social.