“Climate change is not a tragedy, it’s a crime.” Could this increasingly common refrain among climate activists be more than just a slogan? Recent reporting has shown that major fossil fuel companies like ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, and BP knew that their products would produce, in their own words, “catastrophic” climate change. Instead of changing their business model or alerting the public about this existential threat, the companies funded a multi-million dollar disinformation campaign to block responses that would curb their dangerous but highly profitable conduct. They made trillions of dollars from their deception, while regular people around the world pay an increasingly devastating price – including, in countless cases, death. Could these acts constitute criminal homicide? Should Big Oil be prosecuted? Join legal experts, practitioners, and activists for a panel discussion of these timely questions of climate accountability.
Speakers:
Rebecca Ramirez, Co-Director, Yale Environmental Protection Clinic (Moderator)
Cindy Cho, Senior Lecturer in Law, Indiana University Maurer School of Law
Donald Braman '00, Associate Professor of Law, George Washington University Law School
David Arkush, Climate Program Director, Public Citizen
Aaron Regunberg, Climate Program Senior Policy Counsel, Public Citizen
Sponsoring Organization(s)
Yale Environmental Law Association and Public Citizen