Harvard professor lobbied SEC on behalf of oil firm that pays her lavishly, emails show

(The Guardian, 6 Apr 2023) Environmental law professor Jody Freeman urged to cut ties with ConocoPhillips, which pays her more than $350,000 a year.

The Harvard environmental law professor at the centre of a conflict-of-interest row lobbied the regulator on behalf of the oil and gas company that pays her more than $350,000 a year, a new investigation can reveal.

Emails seen by the Guardian and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) show that Jody Freeman facilitated a meeting between a director at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and ConocoPhillips, one of the world’s worst polluters that is pushing to weaken forthcoming climate regulations. The company’s Willow drilling project in Alaska was recently approved by the Biden administration, despite scientists warning it will be catastrophic for global heating.

Freeman, who has served on the ConocoPhillips board since 2012, vouched for two of the fossil-fuel company’s executives in emails in 2021, which she signed off as a Harvard law professor. Failing to disclose her position at the company appears to breach university policy.

Freeman told the Guardian that she requested the meeting on behalf of a Harvard colleague, another law professor who was also an SEC director at the time, and that her intervention did not violate conflict-of-interest rules. She insisted her role as director of the oil and gas company was “common knowledge”.

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The Guardian, 6 Apr 2023: Harvard professor lobbied SEC on behalf of oil firm that pays her lavishly, emails show