A consent decree (the settlement document) signed by Greenpeace in a Texas case agreeing to a 7 year ban on a variety of direct actions against ExxonMobil. The Financial Times (subscriber only link) described the story on October 25. A cached Greenpeace page critical of the law suit, no longer available on Greenpeace's site, is here.

I couldn't find anything on Greenpeace's site mentioning the consent decree, although I did find things added yesterday on other topics. For some reason, they don't seem to be promoting the settlement.

The Financial Times' subhead is telling: "In a post-September 11 world, Greenpeace has agreed to a lengthy ban on 'direct action' against ExxonMobil.

Some highlights:
* the scope of the injunction is "fiarly drastic" according to Robert O'Neil of teh Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression.
* Greenpeace agreed because it was worried about a longer injunction being issued by the judge: "We've been around for 30 years and we can handle a seven-year ban, but we couldn't handle a lifetime ban against one of the largest companies in the world." according to Lisa Finaldi, campaigns director for Greenpeace USA.
* Greenpeace was also worried about felony charges related to a hand injury to a 67 year old security guard. ExxonMobil says it won't press charges. No mention is made of whether the guard would like to press charges. Using corporate criminal liability against Greenpeace would certainly prompt some rethinking of the desirability of such sentences!
* Greenpeace will continue its campaign with in the limits set by the injunction. As an example, earlier this year it projected images of the effects of global warming on the side of the building in Dallas where the annual meeting was held. Note: subjecting unsuspecting passersby to The Day After Tomorrow surely violates some law!