Beyond Fossil Law: Climate, Courts, and the Fight for the Future answers a pressing question for the future of the planet: why is it legal for companies to pump dangerous gases into the atmosphere but illegal for regular people to stop them? Reviewing the current state of “fossil law”—the rules and regulations that allow the disruption of the global climate system—the book explains how financial interest, colonial power, and outmoded legal ideas block efforts to prevent global warming. Moving from a historical account of the origins of fossil law to ongoing battles to criminalize climate activism, the book reveals how courts, prosecutors, and police enforce the dominance of the fossil fuel industry. More