Washington, D.C., Attorney General Karl A. Racine sued four of the world’s largest oil and gas companies on Thursday for misleading consumers about the impact their products have on the climate. Read more >
Elliott's Latest Posts
UCS
District of Columbia Sues BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil and Shell for Misleading Public on Climate Change
June 26, 2020 2:12 PM EDT
Koch Industries’ Pine Bend refinery in Rosemount, Minnesota, supplies half of the state’s motor fuel. Tony Webster/Flickr CC by 2.0
Minnesota Sues ExxonMobil, Koch Industries, and Top Oil and Gas Trade Association for Climate-Related Consumer Fraud
June 24, 2020 3:12 PM EDT
On Wednesday, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed a consumer fraud lawsuit against ExxonMobil, Koch Industries and the American Petroleum Institute (API), the leading US oil and gas industry trade association.
The suit alleges that the two companies and the trade association violated state consumer protection laws by misleading Minnesotans about the role fossil fuels play in causing the climate crisis. Read more >
Photo by Nathan Waters
Ask a Scientist: What Should a Post-Pandemic Economy Look Like?
May 5, 2020 9:40 AM EDT
Predictions about when the economy will rebound, however, miss a bigger point. Without a doubt, the coronavirus pandemic—like all pandemics—will eventually come to an end, but what kind of an economy coming out of it would be best for the country? What lessons will we learn from the pandemic, if any? I spoke to one of UCS’ economists, Climate and Energy Program Policy Director Rachel Cleetus, who has been thinking about the kind of economy the United States should build going forward. Read more >
In January 2017, then-API President and CEO Jack Gerard was euphoric about the oil industry's prospects. C-SPAN
Oil Industry Ghostwrites Trump’s Deadly Anti-Environmental Policies
April 27, 2020 11:01 AM EDT
In the midst of a pandemic that has brought the world to its knees, the Trump administration’s latest spate of anti-environmental actions is maddening—and seemingly inexplicable. Read more >
Ask a Scientist: 2030 or Bust? What is the Importance of the Year 2030 Climatewise?
April 9, 2020 12:40 PM EDT
The immediate threat of the coronavirus pandemic has galvanized international attention, but the long-term threat posed by the climate crisis remains on many people’s minds. We all realize that after the world recovers from this novel virus, we will still have to address the enormous threat posed by climate change. UCS recently received a question from one of our members who, like many, is thinking ahead. “2030 is often cited as the year when climate changes become irreversible,” Raymond K. from North Attleboro, Massachusetts, asks. “What is the real significance of 2030?” To set the record straight about what scientists are telling us and what the world has to do in the next decade to avoid the worst possible consequences of a warming world, I turned to Dr. Brenda Ekwurzel, director of climate science for our Climate and Energy Program. Read more >