John,
Big Oil’s war on free speech is an attack on democracy.
Big Oil isn’t just polluting our planet -- it’s polluting our democracy. In a blatant assault on free speech, fossil fuel giants are using their political muscle to prevent banks from divesting.
With the backing of the influential state law copy-and-paste group, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), Big Oil is pushing state laws that punish financial institutions for making climate-conscious investment decisions.
These laws -- in each state, called the “Energy Discrimination Elimination Act” (EDEA) -- essentially force banks and investment firms to either prop up the fossil fuel industry or face economic retaliation. This is corporate coercion plain and simple, designed to suppress financial institutions' right to make independent, ethical choices.
This is an attack on the environment, and on the First Amendment itself. By hijacking state governments, Big Oil and ALEC are working to block financial institutions from divesting in industries that accelerate climate catastrophe. These laws don’t just protect fossil fuel profits -- they punish those who exercise their right to stand against them.
ALEC, the shadowy ghost writer of this campaign, pushes their copy-pasted legislation from state to state, to spread this anti-democratic assault like wildfire. The EDEA has already passed in Texas and Oklahoma, with similar bills emerging in Indiana, Louisiana, and West Virginia.
We must not let corporate interests dictate what we can say, do, or invest in. Tell your governor to veto the Energy Discrimination Elimination Act before it erodes our freedoms even further!
Oklahoma’s version of the EDEA was blocked by a federal judge in 2024, but Big Oil allies like the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) continue to celebrate these unconstitutional laws as winning the fight against so-called “woke capitalism.” Texas officials have already drawn up blacklists of financial firms that refuse to invest in fossil fuels -- the government retaliating against businesses exercising their right to make climate-conscious choices.
Make no mistake: this is corporate tyranny disguised as law. These bills use government power to protect fossil fuel profits at the direct expense of free speech, climate action, and economic freedom. They aim to crush the right to protest, boycott, and hold accountable the industries driving climate disaster.
If these laws continue to spread, the consequences will be dire:
Climate action will be stifled.
Ethical investment choices will be suppressed.
Our Constitutional rights will be undermined -- all in service of Big Oil’s bottom line.
We cannot allow the fossil fuel industry to dictate what we can say, what businesses can do, or how we fight for a livable future.
Tell your governor: Veto the Energy Discrimination Elimination Act if it comes to your desk. Protect our right to free speech, and to challenge corporate polluters!
Thank you for standing up against Big Oil’s war on free speech about climate action. We can’t let them silence dissent!
- DFA AF Team
