On January 4, we filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the Washington Supreme Court on behalf of 79 law professors. The brief supports the rights of climate activists to present evidence to a jury — under the rubric of the climate necessity defense — about global warming and the political failure to address harms from fossil...
Today we helped to file an official complaint with the Massachusetts Attorney General regarding Boston College’s investments in fossil fuels. The complaint argues that the university’s investment practices — like those of other colleges and non-profit institutions — violate laws regarding the management of charitable funds. Since 2014, when we filed the first-ever fossil fuel...
We are excited to announce that CDP’s Kelsey Skaggs has been named to the Civil Society Fellowship’s Class of 2021! This Fellowship, part of the Aspen Global Leadership Network, aims to engage and prepare emerging leaders across a variety of fields. Read the press release and learn more about the Fellows.
CDP partnered with filmmaker Jan Haaken in September to offer a virtual screening of her film Necessity: Oil, Water, and Climate Resistance, which features interviews with CDP attorneys. The film was available for on-demand viewing and was followed by a panel discussion with members of the film crew, CDP client and valve-turner Michele Naar-Obed, and...
A Minnesota prosecutor voluntarily dismissed felony charges against the Four Necessity Valve Turners today. The four climate activists shut down an oil pipeline in Northern Minnesota in February 2019. The prosecutor wrote that there was “insufficient evidence” to prove that the defendants intended to damage the pipeline. The activists still face trial on misdemeanor charges;...
CDP has joined over 50 civil society organizations in signing a statement that condemns the use of unlawful tactics and excessive force by unidentified federal officers in Portland, Oregon, who were deployed to quell ongoing protests for racial justice. The statement was authored by Defending Rights and Dissent and the National Coalition Against Censorship. Read...
CDP staff attorney Ted Hamilton delivered a talk to the Columbia University Center for Climate Change Law as part of its Summer Speaker Series. His remarks focused on CDP’s work to promote the climate necessity defense and on recent advances in climate activist legal defense across the country.
CDP Executive Director Kelsey Skaggs gave the opening keynote at the 122nd Annual Meeting of the Arkansas Bar Association, which was held online. The theme of the conference was Making A Difference: Lawyers in Service to Clients, Communities, and the Profession.
Alice Cherry, CDP Co-Founder and Staff Attorney, was interviewed on Portland-based radio station KBOO last week, as part of a segment called Left and the Law. Alice discussed the climate necessity defense, upcoming cases, and the recent Ninth Circuit opinion in the youth lawsuit against the federal government, Juliana v. United States. You can listen to...
Climate Defense Project co-founder and staff attorney Ted Hamilton gave a talk on the climate necessity defense on January 21 at Yale Law School. The lecture was part of the Law, Ethics, and Animals Program; you can view a video here.
