Background Briefing: June 30, 2022

On By gram

 

Thanks to the Supreme Court, Will There Be a Liveable Planet in Our Children and Grandchildren’s Future?

We begin with the latest blow from the Supreme Court, this time on whether we have a liveable planet in the future and what kind of life awaits our children and grandchildren as global warming and climate change already is ravaging our planet and threatening worse to come. Joining us is Michael Mann, Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Science at Penn State, with joint appointments in the Department of Geosciences and the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute. He contributed, with other IPCC authors, to the award of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize and in 2020 was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and his latest book is The New Climate War: The Fight to Take Back Our Planet.

 

As Electrical Generators Move Away From Coal, SCOTUS Turns Back the Clock

Then, with Joe Manchin, Charles Koch and the remaining coal barons celebrating the Supreme Court’s ruling in West Virginia versus the EPA, we will go to West Virginia and speak with James Van Nostrand, Director of the Center for Energy and Sustainable Development and a Professor of Law at West Virginia University College of Law. We discuss how the electrical generating companies in the country are already moving away from coal and how this reactionary ruling against the EPA will not stop that trend but will hamstring the government’s ability to address the larger issue of climate change and global warming.

 

Will This Unpopular Ruling Motivate the Young to Vote For a Liveable Future?

Then finally we look into the political impact of this latest unpopular ruling and whether young people whose future is being threatened by this decision will show up to vote in November and speak with Michael Gerrard, a Professor of Professional Practice at Columbia Law School where he teaches courses on environmental law, climate change law, and energy regulation. The director of the Center for Climate Change Law, he also chairs the faculty of Columbia University’s Earth Institute and has written or edited thirteen books, including Global Climate Change and U.S. Law, the leading work in its field, and the 12-volume Environmental Law Practice Guide. His latest book is Mastering Legal Matters: Navigating Climate Change – Its Impacts and Effects on Green Buildings and Trading Programs.