{"id":168050,"date":"2025-04-02T10:35:12","date_gmt":"2025-04-02T10:35:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/activist\/fossil-fuel-companies-are-silencing-us-all\/"},"modified":"2025-04-02T10:35:12","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T10:35:12","slug":"fossil-fuel-companies-are-silencing-us-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=168050","title":{"rendered":"Fossil Fuel Companies Are Silencing Us All"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<div id=\"article-title-block_82993f3911f5d600a5561e9f0c269ebb\" class=\"article-title \">\n<div class=\"article-title__container\">\n<div class=\"article-title__eyebrow\">\n                            <span class=\"article-title__labels\"><br \/>\n                                        <span class=\"article-title__label\"><br \/>\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/subject\/activism\/\">Activism<\/a><br \/>\n                    <\/span><br \/>\n                                                                            <\/span><br \/>\n                                    <span class=\"article-title__label-divider\"> \/ <\/span><br \/>\n                                                                            <span class=\"article-title__date\">March 31, 2025<\/span>\n                                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"acf-innerblocks-container\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-the-nation-dek article-title__dek\">\n<p>The verdict of Energy <em>Transfer v. Greenpeace<\/em> has disturbing implications for freedom of speech.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<aside aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"ad-block ad siderail-ad float-r-w-3 break-r-4\">\n<p>                                    <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thenation.com\/advertising-policy\" class=\"ad-policy\" target=\"_blank\">Ad Policy<\/a><br \/>\n                                    <\/aside>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1440\" height=\"907\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/greenpeace-getty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-548811\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/greenpeace-getty.jpg 1440w, https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/greenpeace-getty-275x173.jpg 275w, https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/greenpeace-getty-768x484.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/greenpeace-getty-810x510.jpg 810w, https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/greenpeace-getty-340x215.jpg 340w, https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/greenpeace-getty-168x106.jpg 168w, https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/greenpeace-getty-382x240.jpg 382w, https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/greenpeace-getty-793x500.jpg 793w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1440px) 100vw, 1440px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">&#13;<\/p>\n<p>But activists aren\u2019t letting corporates shut them up.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"credits\">(Thibaud Moritz \/ Getty)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">If you didn\u2019t follow the proceedings of <em>Energy Transfer v. Greenpeace<\/em> in Mandan, North Dakota last week, you don\u2019t realize how much your free speech has just been compromised.<\/p>\n<p>On March 19, three entities from the global environmental nonprofit Greenpeace were found liable for $667 million in damages in a lawsuit filed by Energy Transfer, a Dallas-based oil and gas company worth nearly $70 billion. The suit originated from Greenpeace\u2019s limited role in supporting indigenous-led protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline.<\/p>\n<p>Energy Transfer insists that their claims were about the illegal conduct of protestors and their supporters, but the truth is more disturbing.<\/p>\n<p>Free speech and civil liberty organizations have been sounding the alarm for months about how this decision could chill speech in the United States <em>for everyone<\/em>. The jury\u2019s verdict, which awarded damages far beyond what Energy Transfer sought, sends an unequivocal message: Public protest can result in crushing financial consequences.<\/p>\n<p>The implications for peaceful civil disobedience are profound.<\/p>\n<p>The decision also prompts the question: Who can a corporation silence? Virtually everyone, apparently. In the 21st century, censorship is not just a governmental threat\u2014it\u2019s a corporate threat. And it\u2019s not a left-wing or right-wing crisis\u2014it\u2019s a planetary crisis.<\/p>\n<div id=\"current-issue-block_bc43c006f780ee3d2b33cba0b5a22425\" class=\"current-issue  float-l-w-2\">\n<h4 class=\"current-issue__title\">\n                    Current Issue<br \/>\n            <\/h4>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/issue\/april-2025-issue\/\" class=\"current-issue__cover\"><br \/>\n        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/cover2504.jpg\" alt=\"Cover of April 2025 Issue\"\/><br \/>\n    <\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>So how did we get here?<\/p>\n<p>At the turn of the 20th century, fossil fuel companies ignored how their industry damaged the environment, behaving as though our rivers could be bought and the land was theirs to pollute. In the 1960s, people finally woke up: Activists, lawyers, union members, grandparents, and young people protested, organized, and sued to stop these harmful activities and pass laws so nature could speak just a little more. They worked to give nature a voice, only to have it silenced time and again.<\/p>\n<p>Since the 1990s, many of those same fossil fuel companies\u2014now even more powerful\u2014began to silence citizens too. Every year, land and environmental defenders around the world are murdered for daring to resist environmental exploitation. Since Global Witness started collecting records in 2012, <a href=\"https:\/\/globalwitness.org\/en\/topics\/land-and-environmental-defenders-report-archive\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">over 2,000 people<\/a>, many from Indigenous communities, have been killed after exercising their right to protect their lands and the environment from harm. These lethal attacks\u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/globalwitness.org\/en\/campaigns\/land-and-environmental-defenders\/missing-voices\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">perpetrated<\/a> by organized crime, governments, or other unknown actors\u2014are the most dramatic, but by no means the only, form of threat that defenders face.<\/p>\n<p>The corporations building and operating the pipelines, terminals, and plants started to realize the most efficient way to shut these climate defenders up: They would just sue them into oblivion.<\/p>\n<div id=\"cta-block_4f13c50a8e49cd236db46372f1fa4176\" class=\"cta float-l-w-3\">\n<p>Last year, for example, a fisherwoman in the Philippines posted on Facebook about the liquid natural gas terminals being built near her home that threatened her fishing livelihood. The company in charge of the terminals sued her. Thankfully, those charges were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.climatelegaldefense.org\/news\/charges-dropped-against-environmental-human-rights-leaders-from-fishing-community-in-philippines\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">recently dropped<\/a>, but these kinds of tactics are gaining steam. A human rights lawyer in Brazil worked with her community t<a href=\"https:\/\/arayara.org\/instituto-arayara-ingressa-com-nova-acao-para-barrar-termeletricas-da-karpowership\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">o stop offshore gas-fired power plants that harmed endangered sea life<\/a>, and she posted about those dangers on social media. The company operating the plants sued her.<\/p>\n<p>The subjects of these lawsuits\u2014the climate defenders\u2014all faced harsh penalties and outlandish legal costs that threatened their freedom, their livelihoods, and their sanity. The goal was simple: to make them disappear by suing them into silence.<\/p>\n<p>Now, companies have realized that they have to think bigger. It wasn\u2019t enough to extinguish individual critics; they had to shut up entire organizations, even movements. Nonprofit organizations like Greenpeace and the Environmental Defense Office (EDO) in Australia, which had seemed safe from these kinds of reprisals, became legal targets. In a decision that sent shockwaves through climate movements last November, a court ordered EDO to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2024\/nov\/28\/santos-barossa-gas-project-edo-costs-payment-ntwnfb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pay $9 million AUD<\/a> in legal fees to a company after its legal challenge to an offshore gas project failed. Silence can be obtained in different ways, and one of those is through financial death.<\/p>\n<p>With these victories, corporations saw the possibilities in targeting new actors who impeded their goals and moved on to suing public officials. In California, where large swaths of Los Angeles burned to the ground from the effects of climate change earlier this year, <a href=\"https:\/\/californiaglobe.com\/fl\/exxonmobil-sues-ag-rob-bonta-environmental-groups-over-defamation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a company sued the state\u2019s attorney general<\/a> for monetary damages and retractions. The attorney general\u2019s offense? Accusing the fossil fuel industry of misleading the public about the virtues of plastic recycling. And just to cover all bases, the company is also <a href=\"https:\/\/californiaglobe.com\/fl\/exxonmobil-sues-ag-rob-bonta-environmental-groups-over-defamation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">suing several nonprofit organizations<\/a> that brought their own complimentary suit on the heels of the California AG\u2019s complaint.<\/p>\n<section aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"ad fullwidth-ad contained row position-relative ad-block alignfull \">\n            <!--Ad policy starts here--><br \/>\n                    <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thenation.com\/advertising-policy\" class=\"mid-ad-policy\">Ad Policy<\/a><br \/>\n                <!--Ad policy ends here--><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<p>It is neither surprising nor new for corporations to use the law to fulfill their own mandates\u2014to generate maximum profits for their shareholders. What seems to be different, now, are the targets of their lawfare. It\u2019s one thing to try to silence an indigenous activist, who, one imagines, may have limited access to lawyers and funds to pay them. It\u2019s quite another to tell a <em>state attorney general <\/em>(of a really big state) to shut up.<\/p>\n<section id=\"popular-block_2b8a37dd7720bd80fd81a874e14f90d5\" class=\"popular-articles\">\n<div class=\"swiper\">\n<p><h2>Popular<\/h2>\n<p>            <span class=\"swipe-msg\"><span class=\"sr-only\">\u201cswipe left below to view more authors\u201d<\/span>Swipe \u2192<\/span>\n        <\/p>\n<ol class=\"popular-articles__list\">\n<li class=\"popular-articles__list-item swiper-slide\">\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"popular-articles__list-item swiper-slide\">\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"popular-articles__list-item swiper-slide\">\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"popular-articles__list-item swiper-slide\">\n<\/li>\n<\/ol><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>As California is burning and small island states like the Maldives are sinking, lawsuits against climate defenders are proliferating across the globe. So many cases are being filed to shut them up and shut them down that we don\u2019t know the accurate number. Corporations are piling on, and they are doing so for a reason: The more climate defenders are sued, the scarier it becomes to be a climate defender. No matter how sound the science, how true the facts, or how strong the community support, being the subject of a defamation lawsuit is intimidating and expensive.<\/p>\n<p>The suits are calculated not only to stop the speech that the company is complaining about, but also <em>to prevent more of this kind of speech.<\/em> This creates a chilling effect, causing people to self-censor for fear of what backlash their legitimate, legally protected speech might incur.<\/p>\n<p>As the world is heating up, the environment for free speech is chilling. This is the terrible dichotomy that climate defenders are battling. It is exhausting, frightening, and inspiring work. Without it, the corporations seeking to convince us that their projects are really good, or really not that bad, for the climate, will meet absolutely no resistance.<\/p>\n<p>As a climate and human rights lawyer who works with climate defenders worldwide, I\u2019m often asked, \u201cWhat can I personally do to stop climate change?\u201d I tell them: Protect climate defenders. They are everywhere\u2014ranchers in Nebraska, scientists at NASA, the attorney general of California, maybe your neighbor, maybe yourself\u2014and they are in the legal crosshairs. They, and we, need to be able to speak up and speak out.<\/p>\n<p>If our ability to do this is imperiled by companies using the law to silence us, we\u2019d better get our own lawyers to fight to protect our own rights.<\/p>\n<div id=\"article-end-\" class=\"article-end \">\n<div class=\"article-end__authors\">\n<div class=\"article-end__author\">\n<h5 class=\"article-end__author-name\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/authors\/betsy-apple\/\">Betsy Apple<\/a><br \/>\n                    <\/h5>\n<div class=\"article-end__author-bio\">\n<p>Betsy Apple is the executive director (and a lawyer) at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.climatelegaldefense.org\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Global Climate Legal Defense<\/a>, which is the first organization solely dedicated to legally defending climate advocates worldwide.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>        <!-- Tag ID: thenation_incontent_2 --><\/p>\n<section class=\"collections 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https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/gulf-of-america-trump-getty-340x215.jpg 340w, https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/gulf-of-america-trump-getty-168x106.jpg 168w, https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/gulf-of-america-trump-getty-382x240.jpg 382w, https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/gulf-of-america-trump-getty-793x500.jpg 793w\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/gulf-of-america-trump-getty.jpg\" alt=\"The White House Press Briefing Room on February 24, 2025, in Washington, DC.\"\/><br \/>\n        <\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"collections__card-content\">\n<p class=\"dek\">\nUS broadcasters\u2019 cowardice around the \u201cGulf of America\u201d throws into question their future coverage of climate change.\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"knockout \">\n<p>                                                                <a class=\"collections__author\" 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https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/private-jet-flying-getty-340x215.jpg 340w, https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/private-jet-flying-getty-168x106.jpg 168w, https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/private-jet-flying-getty-382x240.jpg 382w, https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/private-jet-flying-getty-793x500.jpg 793w\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/private-jet-flying-getty.jpg\" alt=\"A Gulfstream G650ER jet prepares to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on November 7, 2023.\"\/><br \/>\n        <\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"collections__card-content\">\n<p class=\"dek\">\nLocal activists in Massachusetts have taken on the private jet lobby\u2014and they might just win.\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"knockout \">\n<p>                                                                <a class=\"collections__author\" 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Behind him, there are three Canadian flags and a background that reads \" liberal.=\"\"\/><br \/>\n        <\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"collections__card-content\">\n<p class=\"dek\">\nCanada\u2019s prime minister\u2013designate backs the science that says most fossil fuel can\u2019t be burned.\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"knockout \">\n<p>                                                                <a class=\"collections__author\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/authors\/mark-hertsgaard\/\">Mark Hertsgaard<\/a>                                    <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"collections__card   \">\n            <a class=\"collections__card-image-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/article\/environment\/noaa-weather-service-budget-cuts-trump\/\" aria-label=\"Trump\u2019s Deadly Assault on Weather Reporting\"><br \/>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"collections__card-image\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/noaa-protest-getty.jpg 1440w, https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/noaa-protest-getty-275x173.jpg 275w, https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/noaa-protest-getty-768x484.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/noaa-protest-getty-810x510.jpg 810w, https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/noaa-protest-getty-340x215.jpg 340w, https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/noaa-protest-getty-168x106.jpg 168w, https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/noaa-protest-getty-382x240.jpg 382w, https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/noaa-protest-getty-793x500.jpg 793w\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/noaa-protest-getty.jpg\" alt=\"Protesters rally outside the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, on Monday, March 3, 2025.\"\/><br \/>\n        <\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"collections__card-content\">\n<p class=\"dek\">\nI\u2019m a meteorologist, and breaking NOAA would undermine journalists\u2019 ability to cover the story our audiences care about most.\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"knockout \">\n<p>                                                                <a class=\"collections__author\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/authors\/david-dickson\/\">David Dickson<\/a>                                    <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"collections__card   \">\n            <a class=\"collections__card-image-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/article\/environment\/climate-environment-germany-elections\/\" aria-label=\"Climate Retreat in Germany?\"><br \/>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"collections__card-image\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/climate-protest-germany-getty.jpg 1440w, https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/climate-protest-germany-getty-275x173.jpg 275w, https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/climate-protest-germany-getty-768x484.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/climate-protest-germany-getty-810x510.jpg 810w, https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/climate-protest-germany-getty-340x215.jpg 340w, https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/climate-protest-germany-getty-168x106.jpg 168w, https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/climate-protest-germany-getty-382x240.jpg 382w, https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/climate-protest-germany-getty-793x500.jpg 793w\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/climate-protest-germany-getty.jpg\" alt=\"Hundreds of climate activists take part in a protest in the run up to the German elections in Bonn, Germany, on February 14, 2025.\"\/><br \/>\n        <\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"collections__card-content\">\n<p class=\"dek\">\nThe public still wants action, but elections in the world\u2019s third-biggest economy may stall progress.\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"knockout \">\n<p>                                                                <a class=\"collections__author\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/authors\/mark-hertsgaard\/\">Mark Hertsgaard<\/a>                                    <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>        <!-- Tag ID: thenation_btf_medrec --><\/p>\n<p>\t\t        <input type=\"hidden\" name=\"tpContentAuthor\" value=\"Betsy Apple\"\/><br \/>\n        <input type=\"hidden\" name=\"tpTags\" value=\"activism,climate-change,corporations,environment,environmental-activism,environmental-issues,sustainability,free-speech\"\/><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script 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Greenpeace has disturbing implications for freedom of speech. Ad Policy &#13; But activists aren\u2019t letting corporates shut them up. (Thibaud Moritz \/ Getty) If you didn\u2019t follow the proceedings of Energy Transfer v. 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