Damages
Episodes
SLAPP'd Ep 1: How did we get here?
03 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Greenpeace, which was only tangentially involved in the Standing Rock protests, has been slapped with a $666 million bill for damages...despite the fa...
New Drilled Season: SLAPP'd
22 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This season on Drilled, an Indigenous nation fighting for its water, an international environmental movement finding its voice, and an industry attemp...
New Evidence and an Update on U.S. Climate Cases
16 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A new report from the Union of Concerned Scientists compiles in one place all the documentary evidence on the role of fossil fuel companies in obstruc...
The Massive Climate Case that Shell Both Won and Lost, and What It Means for the Future of Global Climate Litigation
02 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In November, a Dutch court ruled in Shell's favor on an appeal in a big international climate case. It got loads of headlines around the world, but it...
New Research Shows the Clean Air Act Always Intended to Regulate Greenhouse Gas Emissions
15 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In 2007, the Supreme Court ruled in Massachusetts vs. EPA that when the U.S. Congress passed the Clean Air Act in 1970, climate science was “in its ...
The Real Free Speech Threat: In El Salvador a Cold Case Murder Has Become a Weapon for Silencing Environmental Activists
18 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In 2017, El Salvador became the first country in the world to pass an outright ban on mining. It was an effort to protect the country's water, and its...
Could You Really Charge Oil Companies with Murder? Plus: Supreme Court Climate Update
09 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Public Citizen has been working with various prosecutors to explore the idea of using criminal law to hold oil companies accountable for climate chang...
The Coordinated Attack on Shareholder Activism
25 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The backlash against ESG is continuing, with a string of lawsuits aimed at shutting down shareholder activism. We don't often talk about shareholder a...
The New Carbon Majors Report + Swiss Elders Win Landmark Climate Case
13 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Lots of news lately on stories we've been following, so in today's episode: an update! The landmark Carbon Majors report has been updated with some su...
The Real Free Speech Threat: In Nigeria's Ogoniland, Protestors Still Fighting to Hold Oil Accompanies Accountable
22 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Shell announced in late 2023 that it would be shutting down all of its onshore activities in Nigeria and concentrating its efforts offshore. It leaves...
The Real Free Speech Threat: Department of Homeland Security, the Manufactured "EcoTerrorist" Panic, and Cop City
31 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The U.S. government's definition of what constitutes an "ecoterrorist" has long driven backlash against environmental activists and in recent years th...
The Real Free Speech Threat: Meet the UN's First Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders
31 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In June 2022, Michel Forst became the first UN Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders. In that role he has spent the past year visiting various...
The Real Free Speech Threat: How UK Courts Became the New Climate Protest Battleground
28 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
About a decade after UK courts made history with the first "climate necessity" ruling in history, the UK government has passed new laws that not only ...
The Real Free Speech Threat: What Happened At Bayou Bridge? The Other End of the Dakota Access Pipeline
27 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
While protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline at the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation garnered international news coverage, at the southern ...
The Real Free Speech Threat: Seven Years Later, an Environmental Impact Statement for the Dakota Access Pipeline
27 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In December 2023, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers closed the comment period on its draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Dakota Access Pipelin...
The Real Free Speech Threat: The Fossil Fuel Industry Meets Indigenous Protest with "Redwashing" and Repression in Canada
27 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As we resume our season focused on the global criminalization of climate protest, reporter Martha Troian brings us to Canada, where the Wet'suwet'en p...
The Real Free Speech Threat: On the Tomato Soup "Controversy"
27 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Globally, climate activism has shifted over the past few years. It’s more constant now and includes more direct action than ever before. Some of tha...
The Real Free Speech Threat: In Brazil, A Tale as Old as Colonization—Why Indigenous Land Defenders Are Particularly Targeted by Extractive Industries
27 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
From Ecuador to North Dakota, British Columbia to New Zealand, the backlash against Indigenous-led environmental protest is always particularly harsh,...
The Real Free Speech Threat: Joanna Smith on "Conspiring Against the United States" with...Fingerpaint
27 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In April 2023, Joanna Oltman Smith walked into the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. with fellow activist Tim Martin, and smeared water-soluble kid...
Damages Recommends: Outrage and Optimism—How to Talk About Climate So That People Will Listen
24 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to Outrage + Optimism, where they examine issues at the forefront of the climate crisis, interview change-makers, and transform anger into pro...
Guyana Update: Gas to Energy for Guyana, or Problem to Profit for Exxon?
14 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A new report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) looks at the details of Guyana's planned "Gas to Energy" project a...
The Real Free Speech Threat: Loss Is On the Calendar in Nigeria
01 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We're bringing you this crossover episode from our sister podcast, Inherited, because there's a way in which the constant vilification of protestors a...
The Real Free Speech Threat: Meet the Shadowy Global Network Vilifying Climate Protestors
01 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It’s no coincidence that the backlash against climate protest looks the same from country to country. Not only is industry sharing tactics across bo...
The Real Free Speech Threat: In Vietnam, Tax-Evasion Charges Help Lock Up Climate Activists
01 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
President Biden made his first trip to Vietnam as President this week, with the intention of "upgrading" diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Vie...
The Real Free Speech Threat: In Australia, a State-by-State Approach to Criminalizing Protest
01 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Since the 2019 passage of the "Dangerous Attachment Devices" bill in response to anti-coal protests in Queensland, Australia's states have moved quick...
The Real Free Speech Threat: Disha Ravi on Becoming the Face of "Radical" Protest in India
01 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When she was just 22, Disha Ravi, co-founder of Fridays for Future in India, had police show up at her home, borrow a pen and paper to write an arrest...
The Real Free Speech Threat: The Corporate Push to Criminalize Speech
01 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
There's a lot of discourse happening about free speech in the context of "cancel culture" these days, but precious little coverage of the push all ove...
Herb, Ep 3: The Next Citizens United Will Be a Climate Case
01 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In more than 30 climate cases making their way through U.S. courts today, oil companies are using an argument they've been laying the legal groundwork...
Herb, Ep 2: A Legal Strategy
01 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Worried that all their work creating Mobil's personality and a multi-pronged issue advertising campaign to go with it would go to waste if the TV netw...
Herb, Ep 1: The Panic
01 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the 1970s, Mobil Oil had invented the advertorial and was aggressively pursuing an entirely new type of marketing, branding the company as a person...
Introducing: Inherited — Climate Youth Stories From Around the World
20 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the Season 3 premiere of Inherited, host Shaylyn Martos introduces us to storyteller Camara Aaron, who shares a personal story of family loss, stru...
The Birth of the Corporate Free Speech Movement
19 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the 1970s, Mobil Oil had invented the advertorial and was aggressively pursuing an entirely new type of marketing, branding the company as a person...
Industry Backlash to Grassroots Organizing in Louisiana's "Cancer Alley"
20 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On the heels of several legal wins for grassroots organizers in Louisiana's "Cancer Alley," ExxonMobil, Chevron and other petrochemical giants are inc...
Damages Presents Future Hindsight: Daniel Squadron on Winning Legislative Majorities
02 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
”Governing power is the goal and the point.” Daniel Squadron is the co-founder and Executive Director of The States Project and also a former New ...
S3 Bonus: A Verdict
09 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The day after our season finale last week, we got some incredible news from Guyana: the High Court ruled against the oil company and the government in...
S3 Ep8 | The Turning Point
02 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the last episode of our "Light, Sweet Crude" season we look at what's next for Guyana, and for other Global South countries grappling with poverty ...
S3 Ep7 | The Global Oil Rush
25 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What's happening in Guyana isn't just happening there. All over the globe, oil companies are racing to tap as many of the remaining fossil fuel reserv...
S3 Ep6 | Old-School Greenwashing
18 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When we first started reporting this story, people unfamiliar with it would suggest talking to local environmental groups. Surely they would have some...
S3 Ep5 | On Global Poverty and Global Warming
11 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The tension between addressing global poverty and acting on the climate crisis is one the fossil fuel industry, and those who carry water for it, have...
S3 Ep4 | Constiutional Violation
04 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Melinda Janki has filed seven separate cases aimed at blocking oil drilling in Guyana, but only one of them explicitly names climate change as a probl...
S3 Ep3 | Unlimited Liability
28 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
One person in Guyana knows both the inner workings of oil companies and the intricacies of Guyanese environmental law better than most. Melinda Janki ...
S3 Ep2 | The Contract
21 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
After a year’s worth of pressure from local press and civil society groups, the Guyanese government released its contract with ExxonMobil to the pub...
S3 Ep1 | The Boom
14 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Five years ago, Kiana Wilburg was a new reporter when ExxonMobil executives and Guyanese government officials announced they had found oil 40 miles of...
Origins of Climate Denial: The New World War
09 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A new peer-reviewed study in the journal Science shows exactly how accurate oil company scientists' climate models were back in the 1970s and 80s. Alo...
Origins of Climate Denial: Campaigns So Successful They've Landed in Court
06 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A new peer-reviewed study in the journal Science shows exactly how accurate oil company scientists' climate models were back in the 1970s and 80s. Alo...
New Season Coming Soon: Light, Sweet Crude
28 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On paper, the small South American country of Guyana is the fastest-growing economy in the world, thanks to its oil boom. The country started shipping...
Origins of Climate Denial: Setting the Research Agenda
27 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A new peer-reviewed study in the journal Science shows that not only did Exxon scientists suspect climate change driven by the burning of fossil fuels...
Origins of Climate Denial: Aggressive Think Tanks, Shouty Pundits, and a New Religious Argument
24 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A new peer-reviewed study in the journal Science shows that not only did Exxon scientists suspect climate change driven by the burning of fossil fuels...
Origins of Climate Denial: Exploiting Scientists' Kryptonite—Certainty
14 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A new peer-reviewed study in the journal Science shows that not only did Exxon scientists suspect climate change driven by the burning of fossil fuels...
Origins of Climate Denial: Weaponizing False Equivalence
07 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A new peer-reviewed study in the journal Science shows that not only did Exxon scientists suspect climate change driven by the burning of fossil fuels...
Origins of Climate Denial: The Turn
01 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A new peer-reviewed study in the journal Science shows that not only did Exxon scientists suspect climate change, driven by the burning of fossil fuel...
Evidence Against ExxonMobil Grows with New Study
27 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A new peer-reviewed study in the journal Science shows that not only did Exxon scientists suspect climate change, driven by the burning of fossil fuel...
Life in a Ticking Carbon Bomb
10 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this special sneak preview of our next season, we hear from Melinda Janki, a lawyer who's fighting to keep her home country of Guyana from becoming...
Rep Ro Khanna on the House Oversight Committee's Climate Disinformation Investigation and New Subpoenaed Documents
20 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The House Oversight Committee wrapped up its investigation into climate disinformation earlier this month and published a second tranche of revealing ...
First Climate RICO Filed + James Hansen Sues EPA
06 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
November was a big month for climate litigation! The first-ever climate RICO was filed on behalf of 16 Puerto Rican municipalities, plus a cohort of s...
SCOTUS Is Back in Session: Here Are the Climate Cases to Watch For
12 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
West Virginia v EPA isn't the only big climate case before the Supreme Court this year, from questioning the SEC's disclosure rules to major Clean Wat...
S2, Ep 6 | False Friends of the Court
07 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
I have been wondering for months what possible sense it makes for every right-wing think tank to have an amicus program. I mean...is any judge really ...
S2, Ep5 | On Judges, Juries, and Precedent
19 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In many of the countries where some of the world's largest climate cases are unfolding, the legal system looks very different than it does in the form...
S2 | Ep4: What Can the UN Actually Do About Climate?
12 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Compensation for climate change has been a hot topic at the UN since the early 90s. For countries already experiencing what the UN calls loss and dama...
S2 | Ep 3: An Update on the Big U.S. Youth Climate Case
05 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Juliana v United States was one of the first big youth climate cases, and it has inspired several others. In 2021, it looked like the case was dead in...
S2 | Ep2: Secret Tribunals
29 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A clause in most free trade agreements and investment treaties obligates countries to engage in a process known as international arbitration if there'...
S2 | Ep 1: Ecocide
21 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
With an internationally accepted definition of this crime, advocates are pushing for international courts to recognize it as well, and they're making ...
S1 Ep5 | The Backlash
07 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In 2019, after a decade-long campaign, voters in Toledo Ohio voted to approve the Lake Erie Bill of Rights, effectively giving the lake personhood. It...
Responsibilities Not Rights: A Tūhoe Perspective
31 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
When Tūhoe negotiated legal personhood for their homeland Te Urewera, the global rights of nature community cheered. But in this conversation about h...
S1 | Ep 4: Children of the Mist
24 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In New Zealand, after decades of negotiating, Tuhoe people won personhood for their ancestral homeland Te Urewera. Learn more about your ad choices. V...
Unpacking the Landmark Los Cedros Ruling
17 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Last episode we told the story of Ecuador's rights-of-nature journey, today Melissa Troutman and Joshua Pribanic, directors of Invisible Hand and co-f...
S1 | Ep 3: The Cloud Forest v The Mine
10 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ecuador was the first country to adopt rights of nature into its constitution, but its Constitutional Court (Ecuador’s equivalent to the U.S. Suprem...
Special Bonus: What West Virginia v EPA Means for Acting on Climate Change
03 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A case argued at the Supreme Court this week—West Virginia v EPA—has potentially huge implications for regulating greenhouse gas emissions. NYU la...
S1 | Ep2: Who Speaks for the Trees?
24 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A look at where rights of nature came from and how the concept has played out in the U.S. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoic...
S1 | Ep1: Manoomin v Minnesota
17 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to our first season, The Forest for the Trees, a look at rights of nature cases all over the world. In this episode, we start with a case that...
Welcome to Damages
19 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
People don't bring massive lawsuits against their governments or some of the world's largest companies unless they're out of options and ready to figh...