Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz on Wednesday criticized a witness who said oil companies should face prosecution for climate-related deaths.
David Arkush, director of Public Citizen’s climate program and author of the 2023 paper “Climate Homicide: Prosecuting Big Oil For Climate Deaths,” appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee during a hearing titled “China and the Left’s Lawfare Against American Energy Dominance.” Cruz asked Arkush about the paper and whether he believed fossil fuel executives should be prosecuted for homicide. (RELATED: Renewables Could Soon Contribute To Nationwide Energy Scarcity, Regulatory Authority Warns)
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“You argue that oil and gas executives could be prosecuted — not just sued, but criminally prosecuted — for homicide, for murder, based on climate change,” Cruz said. “Is that right?”
Arkush said Cruz’s understanding was accurate, but he provided what he called his own clarification.
“I would be careful with the wording because murder again is a technical term,” the witness said. “And definitely we’re not arguing that they could be prosecuted for first-degree murder. That’s killing with intent.”
“Your position is this is a reasonable and rational thing, that we should put the people leading the energy companies in America, producing 8.5 million jobs, we should arrest them and throw them in jail,” Cruz said. “Is that correct?”
Arkush said it was possible that certain energy executives should face such prosecution.
“I’m going to go on the record as saying [that] that is a moonbeam wacky theory that you want to prosecute people creating jobs and producing energy for murder,” Cruz said.
Cruz also introduced legislation in May to protect liquefied natural gas (LNG) developments against lawsuits that threaten the projects.
The Protect LNG Act of 2025 would prevent federal courts from vacating previously-authorized LNG permits, send lawsuits against LNG facilities to federal courts in the jurisdictions in which the developments are located and impose a 90-day window for legal challenges against permits to be submitted, according to the bill’s text. Environmental activist groups have consistently sued to block LNG facilities in recent years. Former President Joe Biden’s administration unilaterally halted approvals for new LNG export terminals in January 2024.
The U.S. LNG industry has emerged as a titan in the energy sector in recent decades, with the U.S. now leading the globe in LNG exports after being anticipated to be a net importer as late as 2010, according to S&P Global.
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