Fossil Fuel Giants Have Targeted 150+ Activists With ‘Judicial Harassment’: Report
In a first-of-its-kind analysis, the nonprofit legal organization EarthRights International on Monday published research showing how the fossil fuel industry has targeted more than 150 climate campaigners and community leaders in recent years with lawsuits aimed at silencing protests, as well as other forms of “judicial harassment.”
The group identified 152 cases in which fossil fuel companies used judicial intimidation tactics to stop critics from organizing against oil, gas, and coal extraction, including 93 strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPP) and 49 “abusive subpoenas” directed at individuals and groups.
“The fossil fuel industry has responded to growing public concern about climate change by retaliating against those who challenge its practices,” said Kirk Herbertson, senior policy adviser for EarthRights and the author of the report. “We cannot let the oil, gas, and mining industries weaponize the legal system to silence their critics.”
According to EarthRights, the report—titled The Fossil Fuel Industry’s Use of SLAPPs and Judicial Harassment in the United States—is the first to quantify the lengths fossil fuel companies go to within the judicial system to silence their critics, such as four anti-fracking activists in Colorado and a reporter who filmed their protests in 2018, numerous groups and people who demonstrated against the Dakota Access Pipeline, and a grassroots group that spoke out about public health concerns regarding a coal ash landfill in Alabama.
Oil company Energy Transfer Partners filed the lawsuits against Greenpeace, Earth First Movement, and several individuals who supported the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in its campaign to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline, and openly admitted the cases were meant to intimidate the protesters and others who would speak out against fossil fuel projects. The company sought $900 million in damages and invoked the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.
In addition to dozens of SLAPP cases, the report details “abusive subpoenas,” a legal tactic used frequently by oil companies ExxonMobil and Chevron, among others. Although the courts dismissed many of the subpoenas sought by fossil fuel giants, they can still have “a chilling effect” and discourage campaigners from communicating about their work.
“In 2012, Chevron tried to obtain the private communications of dozens of activists, lawyers, and scientists in retaliation for criticism of its environmental pollution in the Amazon region,” the EarthRights International reports says.
“In the coming decades, debates over the future of energy will continue as climate change affects more communities across the United States,” said EarthRights. “People must be able to add their voice, without fear of retaliation, to the public debates that will determine the future direction of our country and our planet.”
Originally published at Commondreams.org.
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