Posted on 25 November 2017 by John Hartz

Editor's Pick

Should a healthy environment be a human right? These Norwegians think so 

Greenpeace and the environmental group Youth and Nature are suing the Norwegian Government for granting Arctic oil drilling licenses.

Their argument is based on an article in the Norwegian constitution protecting the right to an environment that’s healthy and that long-term consideration be given to digging up natural resources.

Greenpeace Norway head Truls Gulowsen told Hack it all comes down to climate change and oil licenses.

"We had challenged the Norwegian state for handing out new licenses for drilling in the arctic in spite of the fact that they have signed the Paris Agreement," he said on his way to court.

"They acknowledge climate change is a problem, and they know that the world has already found more carbon, fossil carbon, than we can ever afford to burn."

He said Norway's constitution gives future generations the right to a healthy environment.

"[That] puts duties on the state to guarantee and safeguard those rights."

Brendan Sydes, lawyer and CEO of Environmental Justice Australia, says the strategy used by Greenpeace goes to a country’s legal foundation, instead of working with a country's environmental regulations.

Should a healthy environment be a human right? These Norwegians think so by Courtney Carthy, ABC News (Australia), Nov 23, 2017

Links posted on Facebook

Sun Nov 19, 2017

• New research, Nov 6-12, 2017 by Ari Jokimäki, Skeptical Science, Nov 17, 2017
• World’s biggest sovereign wealth fund proposes ditching oil and gas holdings by Adam Vaughn, Guardian, Nov 16, 2017
• The McKibben effect: a case study in how radical environmentalism can work by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Nov 17, 2017
• U.S. Is Acting ‘Like a 5-Year-Old’ Over Global Warming, EU Official Says by Jess Shankleman, Bloomberg News, Nov 17, 2017
• Conflict and climate push 224 million Africans into hunger - U.N. by Thin Lei Win, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Nov 16, 2017
• The once and future Democratic consensus on climate change by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Nov 18, 2017
• COP23: Key outcomes agreed at the UN climate talks in Bonn by Jocelyn Timperley, Carbon Brief, Nov 19, 2017
• After Bonn: where next for the global climate caravan?, AP/Washington Post, Nov 17, 2017

Mon Nov 20, 2017

• Climate Change: The World’s Poorest Will Judge us by Action by Fekitamoeloa Katoa ‘Utoikamanu, Inter Press Service (IPS), Nov 16, 2017
• At Climate Summit, Two Global Energy Alliances Emerge by Stella Paul, Inter Press Serice (IPS), Nov 19, 2017
• These things are costing us:' Arctic climate change affecting the south by Bob Weber, National Observer, Nov 19, 2017
• We Were Warned, Opinion by Anthony Doerr, Sunday Review, New York Times, Nov 19, 2017
• Battered by extreme weather, Americans are more worried about climate change by Dana Nuccitelli, Climate Consensus - the 97%, Guardian, Nov 20, 2017
• As Oceans Warm, the World’s Kelp Forests Begin to Disappear by Alastair Brand, Yale Environment 360, Nov 20, 2017
• Added Arctic data shows global warming didn't pause, Phys.org, Nov 20, 2017

• Is Trump's Nasa Nominee Ready to Tackle Climate Change by Eric Niler, Wired, Nov 20, 2017

Tue Nov 21, 2017

• Why China Wants to Lead on Climate, but Clings to Coal (for Now) by Somini Sengupta, Climate, New York Times, Nov 14, 2017
• Desperate Need to Halt ‘World’s Largest Killer’ — Pollution by Baher Kamal, Inter Press Service (IPS), Nov 20, 207
• EPA Revises the Social Cost of a Potent Greenhouse Gas by Niina Heikkinen, ClimateWire/Scientific American, Nov 20, 2017
• Why It's Vital for the U.N. To Agree on a Plan for Loss and Damage by Eric J Lyman, Pacific Standard, Nov 17, 2017
• Solar 'revolution' as residents sharing energy create virtual power plants by Matt Peacock, ABC News (Australia), Nov 20, 2017
• An American at the Bonn Climate Change Negotiations. by Donald Brown, Ethics and Climate, Nov 20, 2017
• As climate talks end, it is time for action, Editorial, Nature, Nov 20, 2017
• To combat climate change, increase women's participation by Katharina Wecker & Irene Banos Ruiz, Deutsche Welle (DW), Nov 20, 2017

Wed Nov 22, 2017

• Antarctic glacier's rough belly exposed by Jonathan Amos, BBC News, Nov 20, 2017
• Surfing for Science: Ocean Enthusiasts Could Help Gauge Coastal Warming by Andy Extance, Scientific American, Nov 20, 2017
• In his own words: Behind a one-time skeptic's climate 'flip' by Bud Ward, Yale Climate Connections, Nov 20, 2017
• Ocean acidification: climate change's evil twin by Lars Bevanger, Deutsche Welle (DW), Nov 21, 2017
• Global Warming Might Be Especially Dangerous for Pregnant Women by Ellie Kincaid, The Atlantic, Nov 21, 2017
• COP23 video: Three need-to-knows from the UN climate talks in Bonn by Rosamund Pearce & Jocelyn Timperley, Carbon Brief, Nov 21, 2017
• Ice Apocalypse by Eric Holthaus, Grist, Nov 21, 2017

Thu Nov 23, 2017

• One Ocean, Two La Nina Forecasts: A Look Behind the Numbers by Brian K Sullivan, Bloomberg News, Nov 21, 2017
• California nets $860 million from carbon auction by Jonathan J Copper, AP, Nov 21, 2017
• How Greed, Fear and Our Own Biases Blind Us to the Realities of Climate Change by James S Gordon, Alternet, Nov 22, 2017
• Debunking Climate Change Myths: A Thanksgiving Conversation Guide, InsideClimate News, Nov 22, 2017
• A chat leads to a change of view on climate by Karin Kirk, Yale Climate Connections, Nov 21, 2017
• Trump didn't blow up the climate summit. What did happen in Bonn? by Mike De Souza, National Observer, Nov 22, 2017
• Americans get it on climate change, Opinion by Rhea Suh, Lin-Manuel Miranda & Vanessa Nadal, USA Today, Nov 22, 2017
• After ditching Paris, Trump’s team has another big international climate decision to make by Chris Mooney, Energy & Environment, Washington Post, Nov 22, 2017

Fri Nov 24, 2017

• New global survey reveals that everyone loves green energy — especially the Chinese by David Roberts, Energy & Environemnt, Washington Post, Nov 21, 2017
• I Asked a Bunch of Climate Advocates About Life Under Trump. They Were Weirdly Optimistic. by Jermy Deaton, Nexus News, Nov 20, 2017
• Not if the Seas Rise, but When and How High, Book Review by Jennifer Senior, New York Times, Nov 22, 2017
• New Video: Climate, Sea Level, and Superstorms by Peter Sinclair, Climate Denial Crock of the Week, Nov 20, 2017
• The Carbon Brief Interview: Dr Katharine Hayhoe by Robert McSweeney, Carbon Brief, Nov 23, 2017
• A Cop Out at COP23? by Tharanga Yakupitiyage, Inter Press Service (IPS), Nov 23, 2017
• America Gave Up On Climate Change, So These Global Efforts Stepped Up by Alexis Chemblette, Vice Impact, Nov 24, 2017
• Arctic climate change being felt farther south, scientists say, Canadian Press/CBC, Nov 23, 2017

Sat Nov 25, 2017

• Disrupting sensitive soils could make climate change worse, Stanford researchers find by Ker Than, Stanford News, Nov 24, 2017
• Combating Climate Change? Combat Land Degradation, Says UNCCD Chief by Stella Paul, Inter Press Service (IPS), Nov 24, 2017
• A Dispatch from Bonn: How Germany Uses Morality to Teach Climate Change by Katie Worth, Frontline, PBS, Nov 22, 2017
• Should a healthy environment be a human right? These Norwegians think so by Courtney Carthy, ABC News (Australia), Nov 23, 2017
• Climate scientists would make more money in other careers by Dana Nuccitelli, Skeptical Science, Nov 24, 2017
• Renewables will drive 'steep decline' in wholesale electricity price in Australia – report by Katharine Murphy, Guardian, Nov 22, 2017
• Every other summer expected to break heat records by 2030 by Tibi Piuiu, ZME Science, Nov 22, 2017
• Why Lost Ice Means Lost Hope for an Inuit Village by Livia Albeck-Ripka, Climate, New York Times, Nov 25, 2017