In the third installment of In Your Backyard, Luke Radel talks to two people hurt by the Trump administration’s rollback of pollution protections, and a member of Congress shaping the fight ahead.
Thousands will die because of the restrictions being removed. The families should sue the EPA as well as the coal and oil companies and possibly the utility companies whose reductions in the use of coal fired plants will be postponed.
Nearly 60 U.S. states and municipalities have filed lawsuits against major oil and gas companies seeking billions of dollars to cover climate change adaptation costs.
Overview of Lawsuits
• Plaintiffs: Dozens of local and state governments (including places like Baltimore, Honolulu, and Boulder) are prosecuting companies like ExxonMobil, BP, Shell, and Chevron.
• Legal Claims: Cases are primarily brought under state laws—such as public nuisance, failure to warn, consumer protection, fraud, and deceptive trade practices—arguing that the industry misled the public about climate risks while driving up emissions.
• Requested Relief: Governments are targeting costs for local adaptation and mitigation, such as repairing infrastructure, building seawalls, and managing extreme weather disasters.
Current Legal Battles
• State vs. Federal Court: Oil companies have repeatedly tried to move these lawsuits from state courts to federal venues, arguing that federal clean air laws preempt state-level claims. Most federal appeals courts have routinely sent the cases back to state jurisdictions.
• Supreme Court Involvement: The U.S. Supreme Court is reviewing a landmark case, Suncor Energy v. Boulder County, which tests whether federal environmental regulations block local and state climate accountability lawsuits. Last Monday, Alito had to recuse due to bias.
28 U.S. Code § 455 (a)
Any justice, judge, or magistrate judge of the United States shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.
I have met The Samii; they understand balance. In Canada this is the time of Truth before reconciliation. Mark Carney grew up in the land of the Midnight Sun.
My father worked in the coal mines in Eastern Kentucky when the coal companies had no safety measures in place. He died from Black Lung when I was five years old. I remember seeing the nurses carrying little white paper cups of his blood from his bedroom. He hemorrhaged to death on his own blood. Coal mining is a horribly unsafe way to make a living. It left a lot of young widows with small children to raise on their own - my mother included. We are going backwards in this country when the Environmental Protection Agency is reduced to shreds.
I have multiple autoimmune diseases. How, born and raised in near the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, worst nuclear emissions in the Western Hemisphere (made materials for bomb dropped on Nagasaki. Mt. St. Helen blew up. Then, I went to Iowa, where I was exposed to farm chemicals. Next to Fayetteville NC, The Cape Fear Valley Riverv region, Dupont Chemours, dumped chemicals into the river. A legacy, passed on to my children, grand children, etc Not my idea of a legacy.
as someone living generally downwind of where Micron is building the potentially largest semiconductor plant in the country, and whose lawsuit against the company, the state, and our county's planning board ended up tagged with a "Declaration of Interest" from Todd Blanche's DOJ, in which they argued that national interests were far more important than any piddling pollution concerns we might have... I feel this.
I don't know why the Free Press wants me to resubscribe. I gave them and Chris Hedges the finger. There are more than enough hatemongers like the Musks in this small biosphere.
This is a very important issue, clearly. I wanted to add that as a resident of northern CA, I have experienced terrible air quality from forest fires and rice crop stubble burning (now thankfully phased out) and have experienced many days inside with 3 air purifiers running on high. I have some issue with vital capacity due to my disability, but it fortunately no asthma. Still those days are still so vivid in their kind of horror to me. I used to enjoy a camp fire, but no more. I find fires, bbqs, all smoke producing activities reason to immediately take action to close all my windows and doors. Air quality and all the natural things that sustain us are front and center to my attention and my vote. I find it tragic that coal-burning plants still exist and that green energy projects have been delayed.
he started up a coal fired powered plant and if the wind blows to the North it fills the entire Puget sound Olympia Tacoma Seattle Bremerton Everett with the micro pollution and it just hovers like LA had years ago, thanks for trying to kill this blue state.
I live in the Coachella Valley, where the prevailing winds blow from the Northwest. At the western edge of the valley they have built "peaker plants". Peaker plants are natural gas fired turbine generators designed to augment the grid at times when the energy demand exceeds normal capacity. The problem with these plants is that if you live downwind from them you are exposed to large amounts of fine particulates. These tiny particles easily pass through filtration and when you are exposed, they lodge deep within your lungs. Every day i have to wipe down the surfaces in my house covered in this very fine dust. I am terrified to think about what they are doing to my lungs.
Thousands will die because of the restrictions being removed. The families should sue the EPA as well as the coal and oil companies and possibly the utility companies whose reductions in the use of coal fired plants will be postponed.
AI Overview
Nearly 60 U.S. states and municipalities have filed lawsuits against major oil and gas companies seeking billions of dollars to cover climate change adaptation costs.
Overview of Lawsuits
• Plaintiffs: Dozens of local and state governments (including places like Baltimore, Honolulu, and Boulder) are prosecuting companies like ExxonMobil, BP, Shell, and Chevron.
• Legal Claims: Cases are primarily brought under state laws—such as public nuisance, failure to warn, consumer protection, fraud, and deceptive trade practices—arguing that the industry misled the public about climate risks while driving up emissions.
• Requested Relief: Governments are targeting costs for local adaptation and mitigation, such as repairing infrastructure, building seawalls, and managing extreme weather disasters.
Current Legal Battles
• State vs. Federal Court: Oil companies have repeatedly tried to move these lawsuits from state courts to federal venues, arguing that federal clean air laws preempt state-level claims. Most federal appeals courts have routinely sent the cases back to state jurisdictions.
• Supreme Court Involvement: The U.S. Supreme Court is reviewing a landmark case, Suncor Energy v. Boulder County, which tests whether federal environmental regulations block local and state climate accountability lawsuits. Last Monday, Alito had to recuse due to bias.
28 U.S. Code § 455 (a)
Any justice, judge, or magistrate judge of the United States shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/28/455
One reason my native country is the Happiest in the world. You notice it immediately when you come out of Helsinki Airport.
People are very environmentally aware, and of course we have our FORESTS and TREES.
( BTW: we don’t take our forests )
Thank you Kaija,
I have met The Samii; they understand balance. In Canada this is the time of Truth before reconciliation. Mark Carney grew up in the land of the Midnight Sun.
https://www.wikiwand.com/en/S%C3%A1mi_people
Trump says that climate change is a "hoax", so until a Democratic government is elected, more damage will be done to the US's climate and ts air.
If only trump was a hoax.
My father worked in the coal mines in Eastern Kentucky when the coal companies had no safety measures in place. He died from Black Lung when I was five years old. I remember seeing the nurses carrying little white paper cups of his blood from his bedroom. He hemorrhaged to death on his own blood. Coal mining is a horribly unsafe way to make a living. It left a lot of young widows with small children to raise on their own - my mother included. We are going backwards in this country when the Environmental Protection Agency is reduced to shreds.
Your father died a tragic death, yet honorable as he worked to provide for his family.
Condolences. Shame on the coal industry.
Thanks! Yes, coal miners provided heat and warmth for many people even when it endangered their lives.
I have multiple autoimmune diseases. How, born and raised in near the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, worst nuclear emissions in the Western Hemisphere (made materials for bomb dropped on Nagasaki. Mt. St. Helen blew up. Then, I went to Iowa, where I was exposed to farm chemicals. Next to Fayetteville NC, The Cape Fear Valley Riverv region, Dupont Chemours, dumped chemicals into the river. A legacy, passed on to my children, grand children, etc Not my idea of a legacy.
as someone living generally downwind of where Micron is building the potentially largest semiconductor plant in the country, and whose lawsuit against the company, the state, and our county's planning board ended up tagged with a "Declaration of Interest" from Todd Blanche's DOJ, in which they argued that national interests were far more important than any piddling pollution concerns we might have... I feel this.
I don't know why the Free Press wants me to resubscribe. I gave them and Chris Hedges the finger. There are more than enough hatemongers like the Musks in this small biosphere.
https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Joshua_N._Haldeman
I hate the timeline that switched in 2015.
Stop the corrupt illegal crazy bullshit!!! Vote 🔵🔵🔵
Everyone should have access to clean air and water. Of course the regime has gutted the EPA. The agency is a joke now - so shameful and depressing.
This is a very important issue, clearly. I wanted to add that as a resident of northern CA, I have experienced terrible air quality from forest fires and rice crop stubble burning (now thankfully phased out) and have experienced many days inside with 3 air purifiers running on high. I have some issue with vital capacity due to my disability, but it fortunately no asthma. Still those days are still so vivid in their kind of horror to me. I used to enjoy a camp fire, but no more. I find fires, bbqs, all smoke producing activities reason to immediately take action to close all my windows and doors. Air quality and all the natural things that sustain us are front and center to my attention and my vote. I find it tragic that coal-burning plants still exist and that green energy projects have been delayed.
he started up a coal fired powered plant and if the wind blows to the North it fills the entire Puget sound Olympia Tacoma Seattle Bremerton Everett with the micro pollution and it just hovers like LA had years ago, thanks for trying to kill this blue state.
I live in the Coachella Valley, where the prevailing winds blow from the Northwest. At the western edge of the valley they have built "peaker plants". Peaker plants are natural gas fired turbine generators designed to augment the grid at times when the energy demand exceeds normal capacity. The problem with these plants is that if you live downwind from them you are exposed to large amounts of fine particulates. These tiny particles easily pass through filtration and when you are exposed, they lodge deep within your lungs. Every day i have to wipe down the surfaces in my house covered in this very fine dust. I am terrified to think about what they are doing to my lungs.