Oregon’s congressional delegation called on the Trump administration to rescind an executive order that could halt state climate action laws aimed at reducing carbon emissions.

As floods wash away roads and bridges, high temperatures buckle train rails and wildfires wipe out neighborhoods, the direct costs of climate change are increasingly being borne by local governments and residents.

How many times last summer did you stay home because of the thick haze of wildfire smoke blanketing our county? How many times did you have to keep your children indoors? How many times did your friends and family decline to visit because of the polluted air?

An opposition research group appears to be trying to undermine a lawsuit that accuses oil companies of causing a deadly heat wave in Oregon.

Human-induced climate change is leading to increased extreme weather events, such as the heat dome that occurred in Multnomah County, OR, in June 2021. Certain groups are at increased risk from excessive heat events, such as the very young and very old, persons without stable ho using, and persons with certain health comorbidities.

Multnomah County recorded its highest-ever temperatures during heat dome conditions in 2021 that killed 69 people.

One of the biggest climate suits in history is taking place in the US, where Oregon's Multnomah County is making a $52bn damages claim against a range of oil and gas producers for causing a massive heatwave back in 2021.

If they win this case, it will have huge legal and financial implications, potentially leading to dozens more lawsuits against fossil fuel producers, similar to the court struggles that big tobacco endured in the past.

A state judge ruled Monday that Montana’s oil and gas policies are infringing on young people’s constitutional rights to a safe environment, handing a big win to youth climate plaintiffs that will likely reverberate across the legal landscape.

The court found that young people have a constitutional right to a healthful environment and that regulators must be allowed to consider climate impact.

The rise in ESG-related lawsuits and settlements is driving many companies to adjust how they communicate about environmental, social and governance issues. It’s also driving a growing number to consult lawyers and other subject matter experts for guidance. 

Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Bernie Sanders, Ind-Vt., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., told Attorney General Merrick Garland on July 31 that Big Oil had been warned as far back as 1959 by Edward Teller—the “father of the H-Bomb”—that continued burning of fossil fuels would cause a catastrophic increase in global temperatures, with disastrous results.

“The new trend that we’ve seen explode over the past five years is this idea of holding somebody responsible for climate change itself. So, not the emissions from a particular coal-fired power plant or the emissions related to one specific highway,” Noor said, “but rather this idea that climate change itself has been created by specific actors.”

“There is always some argument about whether or not one can or cannot scientifically mete out ‘What is the role of carbon pollution here?’” Simon said. “The Pacific Northwest heat dome of June 2021 is entirely different because it is irrefutably, scientifically caused by carbon pollution.” 

The lawsuit being filed by Multnomah County against “Big Oil” is well overdue nationwide. So many of us who have been working for years trying to hold fossil fuel companies accountable are buoyed by this action, although it could likely still take a decade for a final resolution.

During the heat dome, climate pollution “caused dramatic rises in global temperature, drought, and the drying of regional soil,” the Multnomah County release states. “When those pollution-caused conditions combined with a dense high-pressure system that hovered over the Pacific Northwest, they converted the region’s typically mild climate into functionally that of a convection oven.”

“This lawsuit is about accountability and fairness, and I believe the people of Multnomah County deserve both. These businesses knew their products were unsafe and harmful, and they lied about it,” said Jessica Vega Pederson, Multnomah County chair, in a statement. “They have profited massively from their lies and left the rest of us to suffer the consequences and pay for the damages. We say enough is enough.”

“The combined historical carbon pollution from the use of Defendants’ fossil fuel products was a substantial factor in causing and exacerbating the heat dome, which smothered the County’s residents for several days,” Multnomah County alleges, according to a written statement released Thursday.

The Oregon county that includes Portland on Thursday filed a lawsuit against several fossil fuel companies and their business partners in an effort to hold them responsible for a deadly heat wave in 2021.