known for nearly 50 years that unrestricted production and use of their fossil fuel products create greenhouse gas pollution that warms the planet and changes our climate. Moreover, they have known for decades that those impacts could be catastrophic and that only a narrow window existed to take action before the consequences would become irreversible. They have nevertheless engaged in a coordinated, multi-front effort to conceal and deny their own knowledge of those threats, discredit the growing body of publicly available scientific evidence, and persistently create doubt in the minds of customers, consumers, regulators, the media, journalists, teachers, and the public about the reality and consequences of the impacts of their fossil fuel pollution. At the same time, the fossil fuel industry has promoted and profited from a massive increase in the extraction and consumption of oil, coal, and natural gas, which has in turn caused an enormous, foreseeable, and avoidable increase in global greenhouse gas pollution. The lawsuits assert tort claims, including strict liability failure to warn and public nuisance, as well as violations of state environmental protection statutes. See, e.g., State of Rhode Island v. Chevron Corp., et al. Closing The United Nations has recognized that climate change is one of the major challenges of our time and adds considerable stress to societies and the environment. The impacts of global warming are clearly global in scope and unprecedented in scale. Climate change has an impact on an array of internationally guaranteed human rights. It has long been recognized that a clean, healthy, and functional environment is central to the enjoyment of human right to life, health, food, and an adequate standard of living. Climate change poses a definite threat to the natural environment of human societies’ well-being. Ecosystems, natural resources, and physical infrastructure are all affected, which in turn impacts human lives and safety. Harmful impacts include sudden onset events (storms, fires, arctic temperatures, for example) threatening human lives and safety as well as more gradual forms of environmental degradations that ultimately will undermine access to clean water, food, and other essentials to human life. Put simply, climate change will have a profound effect on the enjoyment of human rights for individuals and communities across the planet and for years to come if we ignore it. The law, whether litigation or legislation, can be a powerful tool to address all of these issues. Signed: Sharon Y. Eubanks September 10, 2018 7