Greenmail

Greenmail, also known as environmental permit extortion, is abuse of environmental protection laws (such as the California Environmental Quality Act) to coerce private developers and local governments to sign Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) with unions. While union officials ask the project owners to sign a Project Labor Agreement, their lawyers are submitting massive objections to the environmental review of the project. When the project owner surrenders and agrees to a Project Labor Agreement, the environmental concerns are resolved with some minor mitigation and the project moves forward without further interference.

It may sound like something out of the Sopranos but it is an all too common tactic used to blackmail developers and politicians.

REAL reform of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) means challenging the standing of labor unions that object on environmental grounds to a proposed project or activity with the ulterior motive of extracting something of economic value from the public or a private owner.

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