9 in 10 Americans Polled Say Extreme Heat Is Affecting Their Lives
New polling demonstrates that 9 in 10 Americans say extreme heat has impacted some aspect of their lives over the past year. The AP/NORC poll, conducted from July 23-27, surveyed Americans on how extreme heat has affected them personally. Respondents were asked to disclose whether heat has impacted various aspects of their lives — including whether it has changed their plans or affected…
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Federal Court Dismisses Youth Climate Lawsuit Challenging Trump Executive Orders
The federal court system will not give a youth-led constitutional climate lawsuit additional consideration after a panel of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied a petition to rehear the case before the full circuit. Lighthiser v. Trump is one of a series of youth-led climate change lawsuits brought by Our Children’s Trust, an Oregon-based advocacy law firm…
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Ocean Temperatures in July Broke Record Due to Fossil Fuel-Driven Super El Niño
Last month’s average global ocean surface temperature was the hottest ever recorded in the month of July, fueled in part by uniquely intense, fossil fuel-driven El Niño conditions that have wreaked deadly havoc around the world this summer. The European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said Monday that last month — which ranked as the second warmest July on record — “saw…
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Juliana Leon died in a climate-linked heat wave. Her daughter is suing Big Oil.
This article was originally published by Truthout on Aug. 06, 2026. It is shared here under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license.
Can a lawsuit hold fossil fuel companies responsible for climate-change and its impact? That’s the question a Washington State-based woman is hoping to answer. Misti Leon is suing several big oil companies — including ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, and others — over the 2021 heat-related death of her mother Juliana, who died during a record-breaking heat dome over the Pacific Northwest.
For years, individuals and institutions have attempted to protect human lives from climate change using litigation. In 2015, a public interest law firm called Our Children’s Trust, representing nearly two dozen young people sued the federal government for failing to protect them against the impending impacts of fossil fuel emissions. Courts dragged their feet for more than a decade only for the case to reach a dead end at the United States Supreme Court in 2025.
Leon’s civil suit is significant, not just because a Washington judge unexpectedly cleared the case for discovery and trial, but because Leon can directly link her mother’s death to climate change. Scientists concluded that the 2021 heat dome was, in the words of one research paper, “virtually impossible without human-caused climate change.” It’s about a crime that already occurred instead of hypothetical harm.
“Ms. Leon’s case is unique in that it is the first of its kind to seek to hold big oil companies accountable for their role in an individual’s death in a climate-related disaster,” Mike Meno, communications director at the Center for Climate Integrity, a nonprofit advocacy group that supports community efforts to hold Big Oil accountable for climate change, explained in an interview.
Juliana Leon was one
Juliana Leon Died in a Climate-Linked Heat Wave. Her Daughter Is Suing Big Oil.
Can a lawsuit hold fossil fuel companies responsible for climate-change and its impact? That’s the question a Washington State-based woman is hoping to answer. Misti Leon is suing several big oil companies — including ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, and others — over the 2021 heat-related death of her mother Juliana, who died during a record-breaking heat dome over the Pacific Northwest. For years…
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