Progressive Persecution

Oil companies and their chums are squealing with moral indignation after a Dutch court ordered Shell to stop doing less than nothing to mitigate the climate crisis and start doing too little too late. At the same time, an activist group gained two places on the board of Exxon Valdez Mobil; and investors at Chevron, the second dirtiest fossil fuel company, voted to force a cut in emissions. An outraged editorial in the Wall Street Murdoch proclaimed the whole ghastly day a "progressive political coup" and thus self-evidently a Bad Thing, while enjoining Exxon to continue its enterprises on behalf of the light and crude. Shell has announced its intention to appeal the court decision, but it remains as yet unclear which country's taxpayers will have the honour of footing the bill.