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- A group of Colorado ranchers who are struggling with severe drought and heat have filed a friend-of-the-court brief in a climate case that soon will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.
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that → click → Court
- The ranchers say that big oil companies should be held accountable for their role in causing climate change.
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companies → say → change
In the Rocky Mountains, years of extreme heat and drought have baked the landscape, drying up streams that feed the Colorado River and desiccating pastures where cattle graze.
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cattle → bake → pastures
The unrelenting dryness has brought hardship upon cattle ranchers, who say their livelihoods increasingly are under threat.
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livelihoods → bring → threat
As the U.S. Supreme Court considers a case in which major oil companies are being sued for the effects of global warming, a group of Colorado ranchers is voicing support for the idea that the fossil fuel industry should be held to account.
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industry → consider → account
“It’s affecting us directly,” rancher Caleb Valdez said.
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Valdez → affect → us
“I hope the lawsuit holds the largest contributors accountable for the consequences.”
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contributors → hope → consequences
The Supreme Court case stems from a lawsuit the city and county of Boulder, Colo., filed against Suncor Energy and Exxon Mobil in 2018.
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city → stem → 2018
It argues that the oil companies have for decades concealed and misrepresented the dangers of fossil fuels and that they should help pay the rising costs of more intense wildfires, drought and heat waves, among other problems linked to climate change.
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they → argue → change
The defendants have appealed to the Supreme Court in hopes of blocking the lawsuit, which they say threatens to create financial chaos for their industry, among other issues.
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they → appeal → issues
The group of seven ranchers filed a friend-of-the-court brief supporting the city and county, saying they are “living through the impacts of anthropogenic climate change that scientists have warned about for years,” and that rising temperatures driven by the use of fossil fuels threaten “the economic viability of a way of life that has been central to communities for generations.”
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that → file → generations
Many western ranchers are skeptical about climate science and remain unconvinced that global warming is a major driver of drought and shifting weather patterns.
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warming → remain → drought
But for Valdez, who owns about 200 cattle in southwestern Colorado, the connection is clear.
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connection → own → Colorado
The ranchers depend on snowmelt that feeds the Colorado River and its tributaries to nourish grasses and hay pastures for their herds.
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that → depend → herds
But this year the Rockies had the least snow on record, and they’ve watched springs dry up and creeks dwindle.
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creeks → have → record
The lack of water has ravaged grasslands and left ranchers unable to grow enough hay, forcing them to buy feed for their cows at high prices.
It’s been so dry that Valdez no longer can get water in his irrigation system for his animals to drink.
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animals → ravage → system
He has turned to buying water and hauling it with a tanker truck to fill troughs for the cows.
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He → turn → cows
“My livelihood is directly dependent on the environment,” he said.
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he → say → environment
“Increasingly inconsistent weather patterns — including hotter summers, mild winters and a lack of summer moisture — make an already dynamic and complex job more unpredictable and difficult to navigate.”
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job → include → moisture
The stakes are high not only for small ranchers like him but also for the nation, he said.
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he → say → nation
“If we end up going out of business,” he said, “that’s not good for the country. …
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that → end → country
It’s not good for food security.
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It → ’ → security
In their lawsuit, the city and county say the financial damage caused by climate change is immense.
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damage → say → change
“Colorado’s economy depends on snow, water and cool weather,” the plaintiffs said in their complaint.
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plaintiffs → depend → complaint
“For example, the state’s $41-billion agriculture industry is imperiled by rising temperatures and drought, while the $5-billion ski industry is in jeopardy as a result of ‘low-snow’ winters and shorter seasons.”
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industry → imperil → winters
They said local taxpayers should not have to “pay the full costs of all that is needed to attempt to mitigate the harm.”
Last year, Colorado’s Supreme Court ruled in Boulder’s favor, finding the case can proceed under state law.
Then Suncor and Exxon Mobil appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that federal law precludes such claims in state courts “for injuries allegedly caused by the effects of interstate greenhouse-gas emissions on the global climate.”
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law → say → climate
The companies said in a recent brief that nearly 60 other local governments and states have brought similar suits, and that damages in any single case “could reach into the billions.”
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damages → say → billions
The source of the Colorado River in the Rocky Mountains is drying up, threatening a critical water lifeline for about 35 million people and 5 million acres of farmland across the Southwest.
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source → dry → Southwest
“Giving even a single jury the power to impose ruinous liability on selected members of the energy industry is a recipe for chaos,” the companies said in the document.
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companies → give → document
“Unleashing juries nationwide is a recipe for disaster.”
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Unleashing → unleash → disaster
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments in Suncor Energy vs. County Commissioners of Boulder County on Oct. 5.
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Court → schedule → Oct.
Its ruling could affect dozens of other pending lawsuits by cities and states against oil and gas companies.
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ruling → affect → companies
The ranchers decided to write an amicus brief after seeing that eight counties were setting aside money to write a brief in support of the oil companies.
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counties → decide → companies
Deirdre Macnab, a rancher in northwestern Colorado, was outraged when she read in her local newspaper that leaders of Rio Blanco County would back the oil companies.
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leaders → read → companies
She enlisted six other ranchers to join the legal brief and tell the court how climate change is affecting them.
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change → enlist → them
“It’s really important for the Supreme Court, and the public, to know that ranchers are extremely concerned and under tremendous pressure,” she said.
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she → ’ → pressure
“It’s pushing many people completely out of ranching, and many people have had to significantly reduce their herd sizes.”
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people → push → sizes
Rancher Jay Fetcher said that with climate change, the snow is melting much earlier in the spring on his high-elevation pastures.
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snow → say → pastures
He worries about what will happen as global temperatures continue to rise.
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temperatures → worry → ?
“Are those little streams that we’ve relied on all these years going to change so that there’s no water for the cows?” he said.
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he → rely → cows
…and 23 more, not listed.
The Aporia
