San Francisco sues Big Oil: The Climate Minute Podcast

This was a big week for climate news! Cities are leading the way to curb dangerous fossil fuel emissions. Two cities in California, San Francisco and Oakland, are suing five major oil companies to recoup the damage inflicted on their cities by carbon pollution. After the devastation following climate assisted hurricanes Irma and Harvey, we can’t help but wonder - will the cities of Houston and Florida decide to jump on this bandwagon? Boston’s Mayor Marty Walsh announced that the international climate change conference will be held in Beantown sometime in 2018, likely close to the US Conference of Mayors in June.

An article in Commonwealth Magazine discussed the importance of framing, specifically as it relates to carbon pricing. Thoughtful framing has a dramatic effect on how people will perceive carbon pricing and whether they will support it. The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) reaped many benefits from their carbon pricing approach, and are ratcheting up their efforts to reduce 132 million tons of carbon by 2030; RGGI has already reduced their emissions by 40 percent over the last nine years. There is bi-partisan support for carbon pricing at the federal level, but history has shown that this support can be wishy-washy, so we are not holding our breath.

The lobbying day on September 19, 2017 was a great success. Thank you to all of those that supported the event!