Three weeks after an activist group “dedicated to using disruptive, direct action to resist fossil fuels” shut down a Harvard climate event demanding the firing of a tenured Harvard Law Professor for serving on the CononcoPhillips board, Jody Freeman resigned from the board. Harvard Crimson, Harvard Law Professor Jody Freeman Resigns from ConocoPhillips Board:
Freeman, who founded the Law School’s Environmental and Energy Law Program and co-chairs Harvard’s Presidential Committee on Sustainability, was a member of ConocoPhillips’ board for 11 years. She received more than $350,000 in total compensation annually from the company.
In an announcement posted to her personal website Thursday, Freeman wrote that she left ConocoPhillips to prioritize research and “make space for some new opportunities.” She said she hopes to focus more on her work at the Environmental and Energy Law Program and write a book about “our environmental challenges and how we can make faster progress.”
“I learned a lot from my decade-long board service, think I made a positive difference, and am glad I did it,” Freeman wrote in the statement. “I will continue to engage in work beyond the university to address climate change and promote clean energy.” …
Corinne Shanahan, one of Freeman’s former students, … wrote in an emailed statement that Freeman’s decision to step down was “a good first step, and a reminder of the power of collective action” and that she urges Freeman to “donate the $3,000,000 she pocketed during her time at ConocoPhillips to organizations fighting for environmental justice.”
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