{"id":1367,"date":"2023-04-12T09:29:52","date_gmt":"2023-04-12T13:29:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/environmental-justice\/?p=1367"},"modified":"2023-04-12T09:30:29","modified_gmt":"2023-04-12T13:30:29","slug":"harvard-environmental-lawyer-under-fire-for-oil-industry-ties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/environmental-justice\/education\/harvard-environmental-lawyer-under-fire-for-oil-industry-ties\/","title":{"rendered":"Harvard lawyer under fire for oil industry ties"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Jody Freeman, a renowned environmental lawyer at Harvard, is under fire for her ties to the fossil fuel industry.<\/span><\/p>\n

Freeman, a White House adviser under Barack Obama, is founding director of Harvard University\u2019s environmental and energy law program. As co-chair of Harvard\u2019s presidential committee on sustainability, she helps shape the institution\u2019s response to climate change.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

She also sits on the board of directors for ConocoPhillips<\/a>, a leading fossil fuel company whose massive Willow oil drilling project in Alaska<\/a> was recently approved by the Biden administration. Her annual compensation for the position in cash fees and stock awards totals over $350,000, SEC<\/a> filings<\/a> say.<\/span><\/p>\n

Freeman was awarded a research grant<\/a> last month by Harvard\u2019s new Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability to lead an investigation into corporations\u2019 net-zero emissions targets. But some at the university say the role is inappropriate for someone on an oil company\u2019s board.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Harvard Faculty Divest steering committee<\/a>, a climate-focused group of professors, sent a letter last month to Harvard\u2019s president-elect<\/a> and vice-provost for climate and sustainability, questioning the decision to put Freeman in charge of the project. The group said <\/b>her position on the ConocoPhillips board could create a conflict of interest or the appearance of one, which could damage Harvard\u2019s reputation.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Salata Institute has pledged to eschew funding from, <\/b>and deny partnerships with, companies that don\u2019t aim to move the economy away from fossil fuels, and boasts a mission to \u201cdevelop and promote durable, effective, and equitable solutions to the climate change challenges confronting humanity.\u201d Harvard has pledged to go carbon neutral by 2028 and fossil fuel-free by 2050.<\/span><\/p>\n

The university pledged to divest<\/a> from fossil fuels in 2021 after years of pressure and is now facing demands<\/a> to cut other ties with oil and gas companies.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a board member, Freeman has a fiduciary responsibility<\/a> to serve ConocoPhillips\u2019 interests, the faculty letter says.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the concern: Whose interests are being represented?\u201d said Dr. Regina LaRocque, a professor at Harvard Medical School, who signed the letter.<\/span><\/p>\n

Freeman, who has served on ConocoPhillips\u2019 board since 2012<\/a>, <\/b>said her <\/b>role at the oil company <\/b>does not represent a conflict with her climate responsibilities.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere are many ways to make a difference, and activism is very important,\u201d she said. \u201cI have chosen to engage in several ways, including by being an independent director on the board of ConocoPhillips to help advance the transition to a low-carbon economy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ryan Lance, ConocoPhillips chairman and CEO, said Freeman has \u201caggressively advocated for ConocoPhillips to take tangible steps to address climate change,\u201d and that during her tenure, the company has worked to manage climate-related risks, cut its greenhouse gas intensity, and set climate targets.<\/span><\/p>\n

A 2021 analysis<\/a> by independent climate analysis group Carbon Tracker ranked ConocoPhillips\u2019 climate plan toward the bottom<\/a> of major fossil fuel companies.<\/span><\/p>\n

Phoebe Barr, a Harvard undergraduate and organizer of Fossil Fuel Divest Harvard, a student-led activist group, said there\u2019s no sign ConocoPhillips is moving in the right direction on climate.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cConocoPhillips is still doing things like the Willow Project,\u201d said Barr.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fossil Fuel Divest Harvard recently sent a separate open letter calling on<\/a> Freeman to resign from ConocoPhillips.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Read more from Dharna Noor<\/span><\/a><\/span> of The Boston Globe<\/em>:\u00a0 https:\/\/www.bostonglobe.com\/2023\/04\/12\/science\/harvard-environmental-lawyer-under-fire-oil-industry-ties\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jody Freeman, a renowned environmental lawyer at Harvard, is under fire for her ties to the fossil fuel industry. Freeman, a White House adviser under Barack Obama, is founding director of Harvard University\u2019s environmental and energy law program. As co-chair of Harvard\u2019s presidential committee on sustainability, she helps shape the institution\u2019s response to climate change.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1865,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/environmental-justice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1367","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/environmental-justice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/environmental-justice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/environmental-justice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1865"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/environmental-justice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1367"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/environmental-justice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1367\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1369,"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/environmental-justice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1367\/revisions\/1369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/environmental-justice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/environmental-justice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/environmental-justice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}