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Show notes: https://www.johnfiege.earth/26-christi-cooper-the-biggest-crime-against-humanity-ever
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The oil industry is scared. The impacts of climate change are upon us, and oil companies knew decades ago that burning fossil fuels would warm the planet.
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A paper published in the journal Nature in March of 2026 by several Stanford University researchers quantifies the economic impacts of fossil fuel emissions, concluding, for example, that emissions in the U.S. since 1990 have caused over $10 trillion in economic damages worldwide—what they call a conservative estimate. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Even if emissions were to go to zero today, the future economic damages from past emissions would be, as the researchers write, “at least an order of magnitude larger than historical damages from the same emissions.”
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What this all means for oil companies is massive liability. Their actions caused measurable economic harm to people, they knew that their activities would cause climate change, and they’ve spent decades dumping money into efforts to prevent emissions reductions.
They’re scared, and they should be.
On April 23, 2026, Emily Atkin, writing in the Heated newsletter, and Dharna Noor, writing in the Guardian, both reported on a bill introduced by Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Republican Representative Harriet Hageman of Wyoming, dubbed the Stop Climate Shakedowns Act of 2026.
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Its purpose, it states, is “To prohibit liability against those engaged in the mining, extraction, production, refinement, transportation, distribution, marketing, manufacture, or sale of energy for damages or injunctive or other relief from the use of their products, and for other purposes.”
In other words, if this bill passes, it would strip Americans of their right to sue oil companies for many of the damages they’ve caused. A similar piece of legislation passed in 2005, called the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which largely shields gun manufacturers and dealers from legal liability.
Currently, there are lawsuits in courts all over the country attempting to hold oil companies and governments accountable for climate impacts. If the Stop Climate Shakedowns Act of 2026 passes, then those pending lawsuits will be dismissed, as well.
One of the first significant lawsuits of this kind is Juliana v. United States. My guest, Christi Cooper, made a documentary called Youth v. Gov, about this historic case, filmed as it was moving through the courts.
Christi has an interesting story. She studied science and earned a PhD in neuroscience, going as far as to become a professor in Sweden before leaving everything behind to go study environmental filmmaking. She became an award-winning documentary filmmaker, including an Emmy award for cinematography. Youth v. Gov was released worldwide in 2022, when it premiered on Netflix.
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In this conversation, we dive into the Juliana case and the legal arguments against governments that fail to protect their citizens from the harms of climate change. Lawsuits against governments differ from those against oil companies, but they make similar legal arguments. In both cases, the defendants knew about the harms of climate change but failed to take meaningful action to prevent those harms.
The lead attorney in the Juliana case, Julia Olson, calls the climate crisis, “the biggest crime against humanity ever.” Julia responded to this crime by helping these young people sue the government. Christi responded by making a film about what happened.
I’m John Fiege, and this is Chrysalis. You can subscribe at johnfiege.earth, where you will also find show notes and all episodes of the podcast, plus my writing, photographs, and films.
I met Christi at an environmental filmmaking retreat at Sundance in 2018, when she was still in production on Youth v. Gov. We recorded this conversation on July 15, 2021.
Here is Christi Cooper.
Quotation Read by Christi Cooper
“The rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened” ―John F. Kennedy
Update on Juliana v. United States
This conversation was recorded in the summer of 2021, and the plaintiffs in Juliana v. United States had to wait years for a decision. On Dec. 29, 2023, Judge Aiken of the federal district court for the District of Oregon allowed the case to proceed to trial; but just a few months later, on May 1, 2024, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals directed Judge Aiken’s lower court to dismiss Juliana v. United States for lack of standing, with no option to amend. The plaintiffs filed a petition for a rehearing from the Ninth Circuit Court, which they denied on July 12, 2024. The plaintiffs then filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court to revive the case, which they denied on March 24, 2025. Many of the same plaintiffs then filed a petition against the U.S. government with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
Notes and Media Recommendations
Credits
This episode was researched and edited by Gabriela Cordoba Vivas, with additional editing by Isabella Fleming, Amy Cavanaugh, and Marta Kondratiuk. Music is by Daniel Rodriguez Vivas. Mixing is by Morgan Honaker.
