abusesaffiliationarrow-downarrow-leftarrow-rightarrow-upattack-typeburgerchevron-downchevron-leftchevron-rightchevron-upClock iconclosedeletedevelopment-povertydiscriminationdollardownloademailenvironmentexternal-linkfacebookfiltergenderglobegroupshealthC4067174-3DD9-4B9E-AD64-284FDAAE6338@1xinformation-outlineinformationinstagraminvestment-trade-globalisationissueslabourlanguagesShapeCombined Shapeline, chart, up, arrow, graphLinkedInlocationmap-pinminusnewsorganisationotheroverviewpluspreviewArtboard 185profilerefreshIconnewssearchsecurityPathStock downStock steadyStock uptagticktooltiptwitteruniversalityweb
Article

21 Mar 2018

Author:
Kurtis Alexander, San Francisco Chronicle (USA)

People cause climate change, but don’t blame big oil, industry tells judge

In a court hearing... attorneys for petroleum giants told a San Francisco federal judge...that human activities are clearly responsible for global warming, but that the science isn’t sophisticated enough to point fingers at big oil.  Five oil companies...argued that because the heating of the planet is a “collective” problem, legal efforts...are misguided.  U.S. District Judge William Alsup ordered the unusual climate “tutorial” to better understand a pair of lawsuits that the cities have filed against the companies...Chevron atttorney Ted Boutrous didn’t dispute that humans are contributing to climate change.  [H]e said Chevron agreed with assessments by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change...Boutrous pointed to uncertainty on the part of the panel and others about how bad sea level rise will be...[A]ttorneys for San Francisco and Oakland...called on three climate scientists to present the cities’ view.  Their outlook was largely consistent with what the oil companies had to say, except their projections were more certain and their accounting of blame ran deeper...Judge Alsup...asked the two sides to answer eight questions about climate change...Attorneys for the oil companies are hoping that Wednesday’s debate is...irrelevant...[T]he firms filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit on grounds that the case is not an issue for a judge but for regulatory agencies... 

Timeline

Privacy information

This site uses cookies and other web storage technologies. You can set your privacy choices below. Changes will take effect immediately.

For more information on our use of web storage, please refer to our Data Usage and Cookies Policy

Strictly necessary storage

ON
OFF

Necessary storage enables core site functionality. This site cannot function without it, so it can only be disabled by changing settings in your browser.

Analytics cookie

ON
OFF

When you access our website we use Google Analytics to collect information on your visit. Accepting this cookie will allow us to understand more details about your journey, and improve how we surface information. All analytics information is anonymous and we do not use it to identify you. Google provides a Google Analytics opt-out add on for all popular browsers.

Promotional cookies

ON
OFF

We share news and updates on business and human rights through third party platforms, including social media and search engines. These cookies help us to understand the performance of these promotions.

Your privacy choices for this site

This site uses cookies and other web storage technologies to enhance your experience beyond necessary core functionality.