This weekly round-up brings you key climate news from the past seven days, including the conclusion of hearings in a climate case against TotalEnergies in Paris and the Trump administration’s new weakened standards for mercury from coal-fired power plants.
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1. ‘Needless Cruelty’: Trump’s EPA Weakens Standards Limiting Mercury, Air Toxins From Coal Plants
Just days after announcing the repeal of the endangerment finding, the Trump administration last week weakened another regulation, this time concerning mercury and other toxic air pollutants from coal-fired power plants.
On Friday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized the repeal of the Biden-era amendments to the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), effectively allowing coal-fired power plants to emit more brain-damaging mercury and other harmful heavy metals such as nickel, arsenic, and lead.
The standards, first issued in 2012 by the Obama administration, were strengthened and updated by the Biden administration in April 2024 to reflect the latest advancements in pollution control technologies. Mercury and the other heavy metals targeted by the regulation are highly toxic and dangerous to human health, capable of causing severe damage to the nervous, digestive, and immune systems, as well as the lungs and kidneys. They are also responsible for extensive environmental damage, poisoning fish and wildlife as they deposit in soil and water.
2. US Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Big Oil’s Bid to Toss Climate Lawsuits
The US Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments in a key climate deception lawsuit against Big Oil, marking the first time the court weighs in on such a case.
The lawsuit was filed in 2018 by the city and county of Boulder, Colorado. They sought damages from two major oil companies – Suncor Energy USA and ExxonMobil Corporation – for the climate change-related damages they sustained, which they argue were exacerbated by the companies.
Last May, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that the case could proceed toward trial, upholding a state court’s previous ruling that concluded federal law did not preempt Boulder’s claims, contrary to what the defendants had argued. In response to that ruling, Suncor Energy and Exxon appealed to the US Supreme Court, urging it to dismiss the case based on that same argument: that climate emissions are a matter of national concern and must therefore be adjudicated in federal court – where similar litigation has historically been dismissed.
On Monday, the justices agreed to review the state’s supreme court ruling. In granting the petition, the justices also asked the parties whether the court has the authority to hear the case.
3. Paris Court Hears Arguments in Climate Case Against TotalEnergies; Ruling Expected in June
A French court is expected to rule in June on the nation’s first climate lawsuit aimed at holding a multinational oil giant accountable for its contribution to global warming, following a two-day hearing last week.
The case was brought in 2020 by a coalition of French local authorities, alongside five local civil society organizations against France-based multinational TotalEnergies, one of the world’s top six “supermajor” oil companies and one of the 20 largest historical emitters of planet-warming greenhouse gases. It challenges the company’s continued expansion of oil and gas production – the primary fossil fuels driving climate change alongside coal – despite extensive and indisputable scientific evidence of their impact on global climate.
Despite positioning itself as a “major player in the energy transition”, TotalEnergies has plans to increase its hydrocarbon production by 3% per year until 2030, with at least two-thirds of its investments in fossil fuels. This directly contradicts the scientific consensus that halting new gas and oil field projects is the only way to keep the 1.5C-compatible net-zero emissions scenario alive.
4. Sports Industry Faces Revenue Decline Due to Climate Impacts, Report Warns
Converging environmental and health challenges are threatening the long-term growth of the $2.3 trillion sports industry, a new report has warned.
The study, published late last month, identified two main risk factors. On the one hand, escalating environmental impacts – from heat stress to extreme weather events and pollution – are “disrupting competitions, diminishing spectator experiences, limiting community well-being and affecting the supply chains and operations that underpin the broader sports economy.” On the other hand, rising physical inactivity levels, particularly among youth, risk translating into less participation and consumers – posing a threat to “revenues across apparel, elite events, tourism and fitness.”
Combined, these threats could result in a 14% loss in annual revenue – some $517 billion – by 2030, and of 18% – or $1.6 trillion – by mid-century.
5. Grasslands Could Shrink by Half As Climate Change Intensifies, Study Warns
By the end of the century, grasslands that currently support 1.5 billion cows, sheep, and goats around the world will contract by anywhere between 36–50% due to the impacts of climate change, a new analysis has found.
The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), which conducted the study, said the impacts of climate change on grasslands in Africa are particularly worrying. Because African climate conditions are already almost at the extremes of what grasslands can bear, if global emissions from fossil fuel combustion and other sources are reduced drastically, African grasslands may contract by only 16%. A “business as usual” scenario, where emissions continue to rise, may lead to losses of up to 65%.
