Revealed: rightwing US lobbyists help craft slew of anti-protest fossil fuel bills

Legislation drafted by Alec part of backlash against Indigenous communities and environmentalists opposing oil and gas projects

Republican-led legislatures have passed anti-protest laws drafted by an extreme-right corporate lobbying group in a third of all American states since 2018, as part of a backlash against Indigenous communities and environmentalists opposing fossil fuel projects, new research has found.

The American Legislative Exchange Council (Alec) helped draft legislation criminalizing grassroots protests against pipelines, gas terminals and other oil and gas expansion projects in 24 states, under the guise of protecting critical infrastructure.