![]() ![]() But the reality is that an individual or organization with fewer resources would not be able to mount the legal fight we have been forced to endure while these cases drag on for years. We have our own lawyers committed to our defense and supporters who understand what's at stake if we lose these cases. Just recently, we were victorious in a seven-year SLAPP suit battle, but the threat of SLAPPs still looms large, as we face another lawsuit from a large corporation seeking to silence our work uplifting the voices of the movement.īig Oil allies outspent clean energy groups by 27 times on ads and lobbying to kill climate policiesīut Greenpeace is lucky. Let this sink in: complaining about a corporation on the internet, for example, could land you in court.Īs the Executive Director of Greenpeace USA, I am all too familiar with this pernicious tactic. Over 50 have been targeted in the last five years alone. According to EarthRights International, the fossil fuel industry has used SLAPPs to target more than 150 people and organizations over the past 10 years. These lawsuits aren't brought in good faith but are explicitly designed to bury their targets in litigation costs, sue them into silence or bankruptcy, and intimidate everyone watching along the way.Ĭorporations are increasingly turning to this type of judicial bullying. They do so via something called Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs). Ironically, the very companies that fought relentlessly in the courts for their First Amendment rights are now using the judicial system to deny those same rights to ordinary people, all to protect their profits. The fossil fuel industry has used SLAPPs to target more than 150 people and organizations over the past 10 years. Yet corporations are using their outsized wealth, resources and armies of lawyers to follow the playbook of authoritarian regimes and silence their critics. Free speech separates us from authoritarian countries where you can't push back on those in power to demand better for your community. Corporations are silencing our fellow Americans for speaking out against pipelines and toxic pollution by abusing our legal system to silence dissent.īeing able to speak out on these issues–on social media, or out loud at a protest–is the quintessential American right. Since the beginning of this year, more than thirty incidents of chemical spills have been recorded by the Coalition to Prevent Chemical Disasters, and it is only May.Īnd while corporate greed threatening the lives of everyday citizens is a story as old as time, the story you may not have heard is how complaining about these threats can now land you in court. No, this isn't the plot of the latest apocalypse flick or Netflix show - it's the reality of life for Americans whose health and safety continue to be threatened by corporate greed. Buildings are burning, rail lines are crashing, and major cities have contaminated water supplies. ![]()
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