Free Republic

The city of Chicago on Tuesday sued six major oil companies and the primary fossil fuel lobbying group, alleging they funded and planned a campaign of climate change denial that directly affects the city’s residents. In the lawsuit, the city accused BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil, Phillips 66, Shell, and the American Petroleum Institute (API) of misleading the public about the impact of their products and of contributing to the effects of climate change on Chicago. These impacts include unsafe summer temperatures, an increase in extreme weather, shoreline erosion and susceptibility to disasters such as flash flooding in basements on...

Atlantic hurricanes are over twice as likely to quickly intensify into major storms in the past two decades compared to a comparable period in the late 20th century, according to research published Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports. Author Andra Garner of New Jersey’s Rowan University analyzed more than 800 tropical cyclones originating in the Atlantic since 1971. She found that this century, storms grew from Category 1 minor storms to major hurricanes—those with winds of at least 111 miles per hour — within 24 hours 8.1 percent of the tine. Comparatively, storms only intensified that quickly 3.2 percent of...

Climate change more than doubled the odds of so-called fire weather, the meteorological conditions that fuel the spread of wildfires, in eastern Canada, according to research published by World Weather Attribution Tuesday. Researchers analyzed the conditions specifically in parts of Quebec that saw some of the worst fires this year, using the Fire Weather Index, a metric that combines factors including humidity, precipitation, temperatures and wind speed. They determined that climate change made the peak fire weather the region experienced in 2023 at least doubly likely. Researchers further determined that climate change made fire season in Quebec from May through...

Trauma from environmental and climate disasters can cause long-term changes in cognitive functioning, according to research published Wednesday in the journal PLOS Climate. Researchers from the University of California San Diego and California State University used existing data from survivors of the 2018 Camp Fire, the deadliest wildfire in California history. In the 2023 study, researchers found that among a subset of people directly exposed to the fire, electroencephalography (EEG) scans showed noticeable differences in brain activity and cognitive function. ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT Study: Trauma from climate disaster can change brain function BY ZACK BUDRYK - 01/20/23 1:53 PM ET...

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its oil-exporting allies announced a 2 million barrel per day cut in oil production Wednesday, bucking months of pressure from Washington to increase production and potentially spiking gas prices again. The coalition, which includes the 13 OPEC nations and 11 non-members including Russia, made the announcement at its Vienna meeting, the first in-person summit since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The announced cut is roughly equivalent to 2 percent of global supplies. In July, President Biden visited Saudi Arabia to directly appeal to its leaders to increase oil production, despite...

California’s newly-announced rule barring the sale of new gas-powered cars in 2035 will apply to Virginia as well under the terms of a 2021 state law, Attorney General Jason Miyares’s (R) office confirmed to The Hill on Monday. In 2021, the state General Assembly, where Democrats then held majorities in both chambers, passed a law requiring the state to adopt the same automobile standards as those adopted by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). Although Democrats lost their majority in the state House of Delegates in 2021, efforts to repeal the legislation in this year’s legislative session were unsuccessful. California’s...

A militia group planned to violently depose Michigan’s government and abduct Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D), the FBI said in a federal affidavit filed Thursday. "Several members talked about murdering 'tyrants' or 'taking' a sitting governor," an FBI agent wrote in the affidavit, obtained by the Detroit News. "The group decided they needed to increase their numbers and encouraged each other to talk to their neighbors and spread their message." Federal prosecutors plan to make a fuller statement on the alleged plot later Thursday, according to the newspaper. At least five men have been charged in connection with the alleged plot,...

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) accused President Trump of attempting to “further inflame racial tensions” with his response to unrest in American cities.

The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) issued a statement in support of the Black Lives Matter movement on Monday, calling it a "human rights issue" and saying a "diversity and inclusion" merit badge will be a requirement for Eagle Scouts going forward. The BSA executive committee in its statement expressed regret for "not [being] as brave as we should have been" on using the group's platform to address racism.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, on Wednesday asked acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell for the underlying intelligence reports in which former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn’s name was “unmasked.” In a letter obtained by The Hill, Warner asked Grenell for any underlying intelligence reports concerning conversations between Flynn and then-Russian Ambassador Sergei Kisltak, as well as the reasoning behind declassifying the unmasking requests, “given the potential compromise to sources and methods.” “As you are well aware, there are substantial protections built into the process for requesting that identities of U.S. persons...

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said Monday that early responses to the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine “anecdotally” suggest its use in the coronavirus fight has been “effective,” but that official data was still forthcoming. Asked about the progress of the trials at his daily press briefing, Cuomo noted that state officials have allowed use of the drug in combination with the antibiotic Zithromax in hospitals “at their discretion.” He said the federal government would increase supplies to New York pharmacies, but that New York has imposed a 14-day limit to protect the supplies for people who rely on it to...

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) on Thursday said the $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package passed by the Senate late Wednesday did not meet the needs of the Empire State, calling the bill "irresponsible" and "reckless." The $5 billion included in the bill for the state hardest hit by coronavirus is “earmarked only for COVID virus expenses, which means it does absolutely nothing for us in terms of lost revenue for this state,” Cuomo said during his daily coronavirus press briefing. He said he lost revenues are “the bigger problem.” “The congressional action in my opinion simply failed to address...

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) responded Sunday to remarks by Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon, who went after Sanders for calling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “reactionary racist.” Asked by CBS’ Margaret Brennan whether he believed there was a political cost for his criticism of the Israeli government and his refusal to attend the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference, Sanders responded “Yeah, I do,” and that the Israel lobby has “a lot of money, a lot of power.” “I’m Jewish, I’m very proud of my Jewish heritage,” Sanders added, noting his own experience living on a...

eorge Nader, a Lebanese American businessman who served as a witness in former special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, pleaded guilty to two charges relating to sexual exploitation of children on Monday, according to The Washington Post. Nader admitted in the Eastern District of Virginia to bringing a 14-year-old to the U.S. for sexual purposes and possession of child pornography, charges that collectively carry a maximum penalty of 30 years, according to the Post. Eastern District of Virginia prosecutors agreed to recommend 10 years, the mandatory minimum, in the case, and agreed to recommend Nader, who is a dual citizen, be...

Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly suggested during a meeting with Bashar al-Assad last week that the Syrian president invite President Trump to Damascus. In a video of the conversation between Assad and Putin at the Orthodox Church of the Virgin Mary in Damascus, Assad mentions the Apostle Paul’s conversion to Christianity after a vision at the gate of Damascus, Axios reported. “If Trump arrives along this road, everything will become normal with him too," the Syrian leader said, according to the news outlet.

Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro on Tuesday tweeted a meme invoking a character from the popular streaming series “The Mandalorian” to show his support for moving early primaries to states with more diverse populations that better reflect the Democratic base. The presidential candidate was responding to a tweet by Nate Silver of the polling website FiveThirtyEight, who tweeted, “If the Democratic Party wants a field that's representative of its members and its voters, it probably shouldn't have two states as white as Iowa and New Hampshire vote first every year.” In response, Castro tweeted an image of...

ISIS on Thursday confirmed the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and named Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Qurayshi as its new leader, according to the BBC. The terror group also confirmed spokesman Abu al-Hasan al-Muhajir, who had been considered a potential heir to al-Baghdadi, had been killed in a separate joint operation between U.S. and Kurdish forces on Oct. 27. President Trump announced al-Baghdadi’s death Sunday morning, saying the ISIS leader was killed in a raid on his compound in Idlib province in northern Syria after fleeing into a tunnel and detonating a suicide vest. U.S. forces have said al-Baghdadi killed two...

<p>Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday trolled President Trump over his recent letter to Turkish President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan, tweeting a mock archival letter from former President Kennedy to former Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev that originally appeared on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live."</p>

Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said in an interview broadcast Sunday that a combative House hearing illustrated qualities that would make him a good Senate candidate while remaining noncommittal on whether he would mount a bid in New Hampshire. “I’m very, very seriously thinking about running for the United States Senate. After this week… no American citizen should have to go through what I had to go through … should never have to be disparaged or attacked the way that I was by these committee members because they didn’t like my politics,” Lewandowski told radio host John Catsimatidis on...

Former Trump campaign aide Rick Gates testified in federal court Thursday against Obama White House counsel Gregory Craig about the ex-counsel's Ukraine-related work for Paul Manafort, Politico reported. Gates was a top lieutenant to Manafort, a former Trump campaign chairman, for approximately 10 years. During that time, Manafort supervised a 2012 review conducted by Craig of the abuse-of-power trial of ex-Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, according to Politico. While the review was presented as an independent probe of the trial, it was commissioned by Manafort's primary client, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, and bankrolled by Victor Pinchuk, a steel oligarch and...