Science Lesson Today as Oil Companies on Trial for Causing Climate Change

"A federal judge in San Francisco Wednesday will preside over the nation’s first-ever court hearing on the science of climate change, but don’t expect it to be a “Scopes Trial” for global warming research.

The hearing stems from a state lawsuit that San Francisco and Oakland filed against the world’s biggest oil companies for their greenhouse gas emissions. U.S. District Judge William Alsup agreed to move the case to his court, and in so doing, he ordered both sides to present him with a five-hour “tutorial” Wednesday on climate change science.

The hearing, first reported by McClatchy, is unusual and sure to be closely watched. But it promises to be far from a full-throated public debate on atmospheric science that some partisans have sought. Lawyers for Chevron, one of the defendants in the case, say the company accepts the international consensus that human activities are a main driver of the build-up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and the resulting warming."

Stuart Leavenworth reports for McClatchy March 20, 2018.

SEE ALSO:

"Climate Contrarians Try to Slip Their Views into U.S. Court’s Science Tutorial" (InsideClimate News)

"8 Answers to the Judge’s Climate Change Questions in Cities vs. Fossil Fuels Case" (InsideClimate News)