Met Police wants 1,130 climate protesters charged

Oxford Circus climate demo [image credit: London Evening Standard]

People shouldn’t be allowed to ignore the law in pursuit of their beliefs. Protest is permitted up to a point, but go too far and the police have to act to try and restore order.

The Met [Metropolitan Police] will push for the prosecution of more than 1,100 people arrested over last month’s Extinction Rebellion protests, a senior officer has said.

So far more than 70 activists have been charged in connection with the demonstrations that brought parts of central London to a standstill, reports BBC News.

Ten days of protests in April saw 1,130 people arrested for various offences.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor said the Met wanted to deter other groups employing similar tactics.

Permian Pipeline Protesters May Face Decade Behind Bars

Image credit: americaherald.com

Flimsy excuses about ‘saving the climate’ or similar by obstructing lawful work activities won’t pass muster in future, at least in Texas and several other US States. Jail time and financial penalties beckon. Over 40,000 miles of new pipelines are planned in the years ahead. In any case, while the demand for oil and gas is there the supply will go on, one way or another.

If you protest an oil or gas pipeline in Texas, you could face up to 10 years in prison, reports OilPrice.com.

The bill on the verge of becoming law in Texas would classify civil disobedience against the construction of a pipeline in Texas a third-degree felony, putting it on “the same level of felony as attempted murderers,” according to the Texas Observer, or equivalent to sentences handed down to “drive-by shooters who fail to hit their mark,” as Bloomberg put it.

The legislation would elevate pipelines as “critical infrastructure,” classifying them in the same category as power plants and water treatment facilities.

But it would also include projects under construction, going beyond current law, according to the Observer.

EU court rejects historic citizen’s climate case

Global warming – more tortoise than hare? [image credit: hevria.com]

So ‘historic’ that few have heard of it? ‘There are currently around 1,000 cases brought against governments across the world related to climate change and habitat loss’, reports Phys.org. Good news for lawyers.

The European Court of Justice threw out a landmark case brought by 10 families who sued the European Union over the threats climate change poses to their homes and livelihoods, lawyers said Wednesday.

Lawyers said the ECJ earlier this month dismissed the case on procedural grounds, arguing that individuals do not have the right to challenge the bloc’s environmental plans.

The ruling could have a major impact on future climate litigation, experts said.

Lawyers for the “People’s Climate Case” said they would appeal.

Met chief: ‘Climate protesters caught us out’

The police chief also said that officers seen skateboarding and dancing with activists were “not professional”. And they were getting paid for it. British understatement at its best.

Police must be more assertive in dealing with any future climate change protests in London, Scotland Yard chief Cressida Dick accepted today.

The Met Commissioner said Extinction Rebellion, which organised the demonstrations last month, came in “larger numbers than we expected” and used new tactics “well beyond anything we had seen before”, reports the Evening Standard.

Indigenous Australians take government to UN over climate change

Credit: britannica.com

Straining sanity to the limit, they want to use the Earth’s climate as some kind of legal excuse to try and extort money from Australians. All based on carbon dioxide mythology of course.

Indigenous residents of low-lying islands off northern Australia will submit a landmark complaint with the United Nations on Monday accusing the government of violating their human rights by failing to tackle climate change, reports Phys.org.

The Torres Strait Islanders will tell the UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva that rising seas caused by global warming are threatening their homelands and culture, lawyers representing the group said.

The lawyers, from the non-profit ClientEarth, said the case was the first of its kind to be lodged with the UN equating government inaction on climate change to a human rights violation.

Peter Ridd Wins Court Case

.
.
As the judge rightly said: “The university has ‘played the man and not the ball’”. One report says ‘the University is considering its legal options’.

NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT

By Paul Homewood

Dear All,
Excellent news.
My lawyers have told me that the judge handed down his decision and we seem to have won on all counts.
It all happened very quickly and we had no warning , and because I live almost a thousand miles from the court, I was not able to be there. I have still not seen the written judgement and will update you all when I have that information.
Needless to say, I have to thank all 2500 of you, and all the bloggers, and the IPA and my legal team who donated much of their time free for this success. But mostly I want to thank my dearest Cheryl, who quite by chance has been my bestest friend for exactly 40 years today. It just shows what a team effort can achieve.
The next chapter of this saga must now be written by…

View original post 604 more words

Top German carmakers charged with blocking clean emissions technology

Image credit: autocarbrands.com

More damage on the way for the reputations and finances of underhand German car makers, it seems. It’s reportedly not related to previous charges over ‘cheat devices’, although the intentions look much the same.

BMW, and Volkswagen face possible hefty fines after EU antitrust regulators on Friday charged them and whistleblower Daimler with colluding to block the rollout of clean emissions technology, reports Yahoo! News.

In the latest pollution scandal to hit the auto industry, the European Commission said it had sent statements of objections to the German carmakers setting out the charges, nearly two years after carrying out dawn raids at their premises.

It said the collusion occurred between 2006 to 2014 and took place during technical meetings held by the “circle of five”, namely BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen Group’s VW, Audi and Porsche.

Australian court rejects coal mine on climate grounds

Lots of coal in Australia

Are some judges being tempted into overstepping their roles in cases like this? If they are ‘calling climate scientists to testify’ as the report says, which climate scientists get invited? The ruling could yet be appealed.

An Australian court on Friday delivered a landmark ruling by rejecting plans to build a coal mine on the grounds it would worsen climate change, reports Phys.org.

Chief Justice Brian Preston said a planned open cut coal mine in a scenic part of New South Wales state would be in “the wrong place at the wrong time”.

‘End of the road’ for UK citizens’ climate case rejected by appeal court

Case dismissed

Another attempt to get judges to override Government policy in the name of disputed climate theories falls by the wayside.

The case, brought by 11 members of the public and the NGO Plan B argued the UK’s 2050 climate target was not in line with the Paris Agreement, reports Climate Home News.
– – –
A UK citizens’ lawsuit over the government’s 2050 climate target hit “the end of the road” this week after an appeals court refused to hear the case, the climate legal group Plan B announced.

German farmers sue government over missed climate targets

German coal: back to the future
[image credit: BBC]

This is what can happen when climate models that don’t even reflect reality are used as an excuse to push the myth of ‘climate protection’, meaning humans should somehow manage the Earth’s climate – or prepare to face nightmarish problems if they don’t. Yet another attempt to get the courts to dictate national energy policy.

Dismayed by the German government’s failure to meet climate protection targets, dairy farmer Heiner Luetke Schwienhorst has filed a lawsuit against Berlin to force it into action, reports Phys.org.

“Some describe this as a fight between David and Goliath. To me, that’s besides the point,” said Schwienhorst, who suffered his poorest harvest in three decades after a record drought.

UK electricity prices could double due to EU court ruling

Carrington Power Station near Manchester

H/T The GWPF

The sooner Britain gets the interfering EU off its regulatory back the better. With already questionable policies on power generation due to climate obsessions, this aggravation is the last thing needed.

Electricity prices could double after the government suspended the UK’s system for ensuring there is a back-up power supply, experts have warned.

The wholesale power price could hit £121 per megawatt hour (MWh) by next winter unless the so-called capacity market is reinstated, according to a report — risking higher energy bills for millions, reports The Sunday Times.

Objection to Drax gas plant on climate grounds

Drax power station [credit: drax.com]

It looks increasingly like the ‘new normal’ to try and get the courts to decide what national electricity generation policy should – or should not – be, by promoting ill-founded paranoia that blames humans for climate variability. Security of supply versus shaky ideology.

ClientEarth objects to Drax Power’s new gas power project, on the grounds that it breaches the government’s planning and climate change recommendations.

US court halts construction of Keystone XL oil pipeline

Decision time again [image credit: AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez]

It’s a temporary ban that can be appealed. The circus continues.

A federal judge on Thursday halted construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, arguing that President Donald Trump’s administration had failed to adequately explain why it had lifted a ban on the project, reports Phys.org.

The ruling by Judge Brian Morris of the US District Court for the District of Montana dealt a stinging setback to Trump and the oil industry and served up a big win for conservationists and indigenous groups.

Fracking campaigner FAILS in High Court battle

Another waste of time and money for all concerned. Time for the real work to begin.

An environmental campaigner has failed in his High Court action to temporarily block energy firm Cuadrilla from fracking in Lancashire, reports TLE.

Cuadrilla chief executive Francis Egan had described the challenge as “a last gasp attempt at trying to frustrate the process.”

Three jailed over Cuadrilla fracking protest

A reminder that exceeding the permitted limits of protesting can have negative consequences for the protesters themselves as well.

Three protesters have been jailed for a causing a public nuisance after they climbed on to lorries outside a fracking site, reports Energy Voice.

The disruption at energy firm Cuadrilla’s base in Preston New Road in Little Plumpton, Lancashire, in July 2017 lasted just short of 100 hours as the campaigners refused to come down.

German car giants face EU emissions probe

Note this is not about the original issue of diesel ‘defeat’ devices. Another report at AFP says ‘Daimler and VW are widely reported to be putting themselves forward as whistle-blowers in the case, in order to win leniency with the EU authorities.’ Sounds like a guilty plea.

German carmakers BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen are to face an EU inquiry for allegedly conspiring to restrict diesel emissions treatment systems, BBC News reports.

The European Commission said it was investigating whether they agreed to limit the development of systems to reduce harmful emissions. It said that if proven, this could mean that consumers had been denied the chance to buy less polluting cars.

Frankfurt must ban old diesel cars, court rules

Old town, Frankfurt

Not just older diesels are implicated, but some petrol cars too. The ban would apply to certain areas within the city only, at the initial stage. Tougher rules would come in later.

First Hamburg and Stuttgart, now the diesel ban has come for Germany’s financial capital. A new ban could affect a quarter of vehicles in Frankfurt, as well as countless commuters, says DW.com.

The western German city of Frankfurt must introduce a ban on diesel vehicles, a court ruled on Wednesday.

Environmental activists had sued the state of Hesse for allowing Germany’s financial capital to exceed maximum safe levels of nitrogen oxide.

Smart meters: Data spy or key energy device?

Image credit: takebackyourpower.net

The court ruling described below is only for the state of Illinois so far, but other jurisdictions may follow. The report says US smart meter coverage could reach 80% by 2020.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has handed down a landmark ruling, stating that data collected by smart meters is protected by the Fourth Amendment, reports PEI.

The court pointed out that the smart devices, in fact, collect information for a deeper insight which can be obtained by thermal imaging tech.

Furthermore, the court held that residents have a reasonable expectation of privacy and government access of this data constitutes, in essence, a search.

Frivolous climate change lawsuits could leave cities in ruin

Whether it’s budget cuts or ‘ruin’, the financial consequences of using the courts to promote their so-called climate policies have so far not been as desired by the US city authorities concerned. As the writer points out: ‘The risk that municipal plaintiffs will have to pay defendants’ cost of the trial, plus a penalty, depends on whether courts find the lawsuits to be frivolous.’

As much as we hear nowadays about making America great again, it’s worth asking what made America great in the first place, writes Bob McClure in the Washington Times.

Climate lawfare suffers another defeat

Is it any wonder that US judges are reluctant to put themselves in the position of climate experts, when the evidence for man changing the global climate is so nebulous and strongly disputed?

Today a U.S. District Judge threw out New York City’s lawsuit against five major energy companies alleging damages relating to climate change, reports The GWPF.

Judge John Keenan wrote in his opinion that, “Global warming and solutions thereto must be addressed by the two other branches of government,” not the judiciary, according to Bloomberg.