2018 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #13

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A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook page during the past week.&

Editor's Pick

Stanford law and science experts discuss court case that could set precedent for climate change litigation

A closely watched federal trial pitting two cities against major oil companies has taken surprising and unorthodox turns. Stanford researchers examine the case, which could reshape the landscape of legal claims for climate change-related damages.

Oil Refinery

A federal trial pitting two cities against major oil companies could reshape the landscape of legal claims for climate change-related damages. (Image credit: Walter Siegmund/Wikimedia Commons)

A judge in California took an unusual step in trying to untangle who is to blame for increasingly frequent droughts, floods and other climate change-related extreme weather. The case in San Francisco is weighing the question of whether climate change damages connected to the burning of oil are specifically the fault of the companies that extract and sell it.

The judge in& People of the State of California v. BP P.L.C. et al.& had both the plaintiffs &- the cities of Oakland and San Francisco &- and the defendants &- several major oil companies &- answer basic questions about climate change in a tutorial format. Counter to what some might have expected, an oil company lawyer largely confirmed the consensus science on the issue, but challenged the idea that oil companies should be held accountable.

Stanford Report& spoke with& Katharine Mach, a senior research scientist at the& School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Science, and& Deborah Sivas, the Luke W. Cole Professor of Environmental Law, to get their perspectives on the climate tutorial, the science in question and the role of the judiciary in confronting climate change challenges.&

Stanford law and science experts discuss court case that could set precedent for climate change litigation& by Rob Jordon, Stanford News, Mar 30, 2018&


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