3 local governments appeal climate losses to Maryland Supreme Court
The Maryland cities of Baltimore and Annapolis, along with Anne Arundel County, are appealing a trio of losses in their lawsuits seeking to hold the oil and gas industry financially liable for climate change.
The parties filed a consolidated brief with the Maryland Supreme Court on Tuesday, arguing that the circuit courts that dismissed the lawsuits misunderstood the claims in the cases and that the verdicts should be reversed.
They wrote that the two courts that rejected the lawsuits adopted the industry's 'mischaracterization' of the cases as efforts to limit greenhouse gases nationally and globally. Rather, the governments argued, the lawsuits argue that the companies violated state consumer protection laws by knowingly misleading purchasers about the dangers of burning fossil fuels.
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'Remedying deceptive and misleading commercial conduct as alleged here is within the core of state police powers,' the appeal says, quoting a 2018 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that found it 'is well settled that the states have a legitimate interest in combating the adverse effects of climate change on their residents.'
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Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Drought, rising prices and dwindling herds undercut this year's Eid al-Adha in North Africa
CASABLANCA, Morocco (AP) — Flocks of sheep once quilted Morocco's mountain pastures, stretched across Algeria's vast plateaus and grazed along Tunisia's green coastline. But the cascading effects of climate change have sparked a region-wide shortage that is being felt acutely as Muslims throughout North Africa celebrate Eid al-Adha. Each year, Muslims slaughter sheep to honor a passage of the Quran in which the prophet Ibrahim prepared to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to God, who intervened and replaced the child with a sheep. But this year, rising prices and falling supply are creating new challenges, breeders and potential buyers throughout the region say. At a market in suburban Algiers last week, breeders explained to angry patrons that their prices had increased because the cost of everything needed to raise sheep, including animal feed, transport and veterinary care, had grown. Slimane Aouadi stood watching livestock pens, discussing with his wife whether to buy a sheep to celebrate this year's Eid. 'It's the same sheep as the one I bought last year, the same look and the same weight, but it costs $75 more," Aouadi, a doctor, told The Associated Press. Amid soaring inflation, sheep can sell for more than $1,200, an exorbitant amount in a country where average monthly incomes hover below $270. Tradition meets reality Any disruption to the ritual sacrifice can be sensitive, a blow to religious tradition and source of anger toward rising prices and the hardship they bring. So Morocco and Algeria have resorted to unprecedented measures. Algerian officials earlier this year announced plans to import a staggering 1 million sheep to make up for domestic shortages. Morocco's King Mohammed VI broke with tradition and urged Muslims to abstain from the Eid sacrifice. Local officials across the kingdom have closed livestock markets, preventing customers from buying sheep for this year's celebrations. 'Our country is facing climatic and economic challenges that have resulted in a substantial decline in livestock numbers. Performing the sacrifice in these difficult circumstances will cause real harm to large segments of our people, especially those with limited incomes,' the king, who is also Morocco's highest religious authority, wrote in a February letter read on national television. Trucks have unloaded thousands of sheep in new markets in Algiers and the surrounding suburbs. University of Toulouse agro-economist Lotfi Gharnaout told the state-run newspaper El Moudjahid that Algeria's import strategy could cost between $230 and $260 million and still not even meet nationwide demand. Thinning pastures Overgrazing has long strained parts of North Africa where the population is growing and job opportunities beyond herding and farming are scarce. But after seven years of drought, it's the lack of rainfall and skyrocketing feed prices that are now shrinking herds. Drought conditions, experts say, have degraded forage lands where shepherds graze their flocks and farmers grow cereals to be sold as animal feed. With less supply, prices have spiked beyond the reach of middle class families who have historically purchased sheep for slaughter. Moroccan economist Najib Akesbi said shrinking herds stemmed directly from vegetation loss in grazing areas. The prolonged drought has compounded inflation already fueled by the war in Ukraine. 'Most livestock farming in North Africa is pastoral, which means it's farming that relies purely on nature, like wild plants and forests, and vegetation that grows off rainwater,' Akesbi, a former professor at Hassan II Institute of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine, said. For breeders, he added, livestock serve as a kind of bank, assets they sell to cover expenses and repay debts. With consecutive years of drought and rising feed costs, breeders are seeing their reserves drained. Pressed herders With less natural vegetation, breeders have to spend more on supplemental feed, Acharf Majdoubi, president of Morocco's Association of Sheep and Goat Breeders said. In good years, pastures can nourish nearly all of what sheep flocks require, but in dry years, it can be as low as half or a third of the feed required. 'We have to make up the rest by buying feed like straw and barley,' he said. Not only do they need more feed. The price of barley, straw and alfalfa -- much of which has to be imported -- has also spiked. In Morocco, the price of barley and straw are three times what they were before the drought, while the price of alfalfa has more than doubled. 'The future of this profession is very difficult. Breeders leave the countryside to immigrate to the city, and some will never come back,' Achraf Majdoubi said. __ Associated Press writers in Algeria contributed reporting.
Associated Press
2 hours ago
- Associated Press
Drought, rising prices and dwindling herds undercut this year's Eid al-Adha in North Africa
CASABLANCA, Morocco (AP) — Flocks of sheep once quilted Morocco's mountain pastures, stretched across Algeria's vast plateaus and grazed along Tunisia's green coastline. But the cascading effects of climate change have sparked a region-wide shortage that is being felt acutely as Muslims throughout North Africa celebrate Eid al-Adha. Each year, Muslims slaughter sheep to honor a passage of the Quran in which the prophet Ibrahim prepared to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to God, who intervened and replaced the child with a sheep. But this year, rising prices and falling supply are creating new challenges, breeders and potential buyers throughout the region say. At a market in suburban Algiers last week, breeders explained to angry patrons that their prices had increased because the cost of everything needed to raise sheep, including animal feed, transport and veterinary care, had grown. Slimane Aouadi stood watching livestock pens, discussing with his wife whether to buy a sheep to celebrate this year's Eid. 'It's the same sheep as the one I bought last year, the same look and the same weight, but it costs $75 more,' Aouadi, a doctor, told The Associated Press. Amid soaring inflation, sheep can sell for more than $1,200, an exorbitant amount in a country where average monthly incomes hover below $270. Tradition meets reality Any disruption to the ritual sacrifice can be sensitive, a blow to religious tradition and source of anger toward rising prices and the hardship they bring. So Morocco and Algeria have resorted to unprecedented measures. Algerian officials earlier this year announced plans to import a staggering 1 million sheep to make up for domestic shortages. Morocco's King Mohammed VI broke with tradition and urged Muslims to abstain from the Eid sacrifice. Local officials across the kingdom have closed livestock markets, preventing customers from buying sheep for this year's celebrations. 'Our country is facing climatic and economic challenges that have resulted in a substantial decline in livestock numbers. Performing the sacrifice in these difficult circumstances will cause real harm to large segments of our people, especially those with limited incomes,' the king, who is also Morocco's highest religious authority, wrote in a February letter read on national television. Trucks have unloaded thousands of sheep in new markets in Algiers and the surrounding suburbs. University of Toulouse agro-economist Lotfi Gharnaout told the state-run newspaper El Moudjahid that Algeria's import strategy could cost between $230 and $260 million and still not even meet nationwide demand. Thinning pastures Overgrazing has long strained parts of North Africa where the population is growing and job opportunities beyond herding and farming are scarce. But after seven years of drought, it's the lack of rainfall and skyrocketing feed prices that are now shrinking herds. Drought conditions, experts say, have degraded forage lands where shepherds graze their flocks and farmers grow cereals to be sold as animal feed. With less supply, prices have spiked beyond the reach of middle class families who have historically purchased sheep for slaughter. Moroccan economist Najib Akesbi said shrinking herds stemmed directly from vegetation loss in grazing areas. The prolonged drought has compounded inflation already fueled by the war in Ukraine. 'Most livestock farming in North Africa is pastoral, which means it's farming that relies purely on nature, like wild plants and forests, and vegetation that grows off rainwater,' Akesbi, a former professor at Hassan II Institute of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine, said. For breeders, he added, livestock serve as a kind of bank, assets they sell to cover expenses and repay debts. With consecutive years of drought and rising feed costs, breeders are seeing their reserves drained. Pressed herders With less natural vegetation, breeders have to spend more on supplemental feed, Acharf Majdoubi, president of Morocco's Association of Sheep and Goat Breeders said. In good years, pastures can nourish nearly all of what sheep flocks require, but in dry years, it can be as low as half or a third of the feed required. 'We have to make up the rest by buying feed like straw and barley,' he said. Not only do they need more feed. The price of barley, straw and alfalfa -- much of which has to be imported -- has also spiked. In Morocco, the price of barley and straw are three times what they were before the drought, while the price of alfalfa has more than doubled. 'The future of this profession is very difficult. Breeders leave the countryside to immigrate to the city, and some will never come back,' Achraf Majdoubi said. __ Associated Press writers in Algeria contributed reporting.
CBS News
2 hours ago
- CBS News
Former Orange County prosecutor awarded $3 million in harassment lawsuit against DA Todd Spitzer
A former Orange County Assistant District Attorney was awarded $3 million by a San Diego jury this week after they found that she was forced to retire as a result of harassment from District Attorney Todd Spitzer and his assistant Shawn Nelson. Tracy Miller said that her time as the top female prosecutor working under the elected DA was tense and toxic. "There were days that I was terrified to go to work, especially after the report came out where I reported that Todd Spitzer was trying to fire a woman for merely reporting sexual harassment," Miller told CBS News Los Angeles. "I was scared to go. I thought I'd be fired any day." During a news conference on Friday, attorney John Barnett said that Miller was punished after she came forward with reports that a lower level DA's claim that a supervisor in the office named Gary LoGalbo was sexually harassing her. In the time since, more than a half dozen other women have filed related lawsuits against Orange County. "The people deserve better than the Orange County Board of Supervisors spending millions and millions and millions of taxpayer dollars defending this corrupt DA," Miller said. In response to the verdict, Spitzer shared a statement saying that he accepts full responsibility. In full, the statement said: "As the elected District Attorney, I accept full responsibility for any and all actions which occur in my administration, including my own actions and the actions of my former Chief Assistant District Attorney Shawn Nelson. When I became District Attorney in 2019, I was intently focused on reversing the "win at all costs" mentality of the prior administration which involved violating the constitutional rights of defendants by cheating and failing to discover evidence to the defense. I kept the prior executive management team, including Tracy Miller, as at-will employees held over from the Rackauckas administration in an effort to maintain stability and unite the office moving forward. I set a very high standard which I expected all my employees to meet, and Ms. Miller was overseeing extremely important assignments, including opioid litigation, the Huntington Beach oil spill, real estate fraud lawsuits, and grappling with a gang reduction program for school children that was facing serious financial issues. It is no secret that there was a lot of frustration on my part with her lack of performance in handling these very serious matters. In hindsight, I realize that I was not as sensitive to the issues Ms. Miller was facing at the time as I should have been, and for that I am truly sorry. I respect the jury's decision, and I am heartbroken over the fact that any of my actions could have been interpreted as anything other than a good faith effort to clean up the public corruption in the Orange County District Attorney's Office and to create a work ethic that adheres to what Orange County residents demand of its District Attorney." Miller said that she thinks the board of supervisors should hold Spitzer accountable. Supervisor Katrina Foley, who worked as an employee rights attorney, shared a quote after the verdict, which read in part, "I strongly support providing a safe, healthy and positive working environment for all of our County employees. … I take very seriously my legal duty as a County Supervisor to ensure our elected department heads comply with our Equal Employment Opportunity Policy." Nelson currently works as a Orange County Superior Judge and LoGalbo retired during the claims. He has since died.
