By Scott Walter
Left-leaning nonprofits worry the Trump administration is going to commit “lawfare” against them. Whatever one thinks of the administration’s tactics, the concern is ironic because Team Trump didn’t invent lawfare, and the Left has long practiced it, most famously against Trump himself. Amazingly, the federal government even subsidizes an environmental group whose contribution to climate lawfare is to secretly lobby judges destined to rule on that lawfare.
The Environmental Law Institute’s Climate Judiciary Project has worked surreptitiously to shape the opinions of judges themselves, in hopes that those judges will hand down more favorable opinions. The Institute has quietly been leaving its mark on thousands of judges across America, raising eyebrows but little more.
Federal support for the Project’s parent organization is even stranger when one recalls the lavish funding of left-wing “dark money” groups to push their climate agenda. Prime donor examples include the New Venture Fund run by Arabella Advisors and the more innocent-sounding Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, which contributed $7 million between 2018 and 2020 to this “green” crusade.
The Project brags that thousands of American jurists have participated in its training, which reportedly tries to “manipulate judges.” The group, for example, has hosted judicial retreats and facilitated training “modules,” allegedly to merely “help” educate judges on issues that arise in climate cases.
The actual goal of the Climate Judiciary Project becomes clear when you discover the instructors for the curriculum are drawn largely from witnesses and amicus brief filers who support the environmental extremist side of climate lawfare. The Climate Judiciary Project is trying to influence both litigators and the judges before whom they appear to soften the ground for future climate litigation. No wonder the House Judiciary Committee recently launched an investigation into this meddling with judges.
The project’s parent group has received nearly $15 million in federal grants and contracts since 2008, mostly from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). For these federal awards, the group issues technical support materials, assembles working groups, and provides “specialized policy expertise” for government officials. For the Trump administration, these grants amount to funding its own domestic political opposition. This federal funding also amounts to a meaningful share of the Environmental Law Institute’s bottom line, effectively subsidizing more overt activism like its Climate Judiciary Project.
The Project is a player in a broader influence operation. Groups like the Center for Climate Integrity and allied law firms are urging city councils and state attorneys general across the country to file climate lawsuits against oil and gas companies. These cases are designed to gum up operations and cost millions of dollars, potentially harming everyone who buys energy because those expenses roll downhill.
Beyond distorting our law and politics, this climate lawfare inflicts another harm on America: it suppresses production of reliable energy sources like natural gas in favor of weather-dependent windmills and solar panels.
Should taxpayer dollars underwrite a campaign designed to undercut energy independence fueled by reliable sources like natural gas, even though most Americans want natural gas production expanded? Around two dozen state attorneys general, outraged that the EPA is funding this special interest and its agenda, have written to demand that its tax dollars be cut off.
Beyond spiking energy prices for American families, climate lawfare also threatens to undermine U.S. energy dominance, ceding ground to Russia and Iran. The U.S. has already seen how an energy landscape beholden to hostile countries throws a wrench in the geopolitical balance.
For example, even as Western governments try to force Vladimir Putin out of Ukraine, the European Union continues to purchase natural gas from Russia because its own domestic production has been gutted by bad environmental policies. In fact, in 2024, the EU bloc spent more money on Russian energy than the value of financial aid given to Ukraine the same year. Translation: the West is shooting itself in the foot.
The Trump administration is working to put America First when it comes to energy, an agenda that will benefit working families and the broader free world. But the effort is falling prey to climate activism burrowing itself deep into the court system. Congress should, at the very least, shine a spotlight on this scheme and ensure taxpayer dollars are not supporting national self-sabotage.
Scott Walter is the president of Capital Research Center.
This article was originally published by RealClearEnergy and made available via RealClearWire.
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Have they only just realised that the same techniques are being used as were implemented to force compliance with the Scamdemic..? The same dark forces power both tyrannies…
The free world being the US, but possibly including Switzerland, New Zealand, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Canada, Ireland, Luxembourg, Iceland, and Australia.
But only if they do what the US tells them to do. At least New Zealand refuses to allow US nuclear powered or potentially nuclear arms carrying ships to dock. Of course the US didn’t like New Zealand’s democratic laws, leading the US to suspend its ANZUS treaty obligations. Took its bat and ball and walked off in a huff.
One has to laugh at the benefits from a country that seizes ships and their cargoes on the high seas, murders it’s citizens without benefit of trial, slaughters survivors of ships it attacks without good reason outside US waters, tortures and kills people who hold opposing views, and generally acts like it’s in charge of the Earth.
Maybe it’s better to be part of the “unfree world”. At least you might know where you stand day-by-day.
“One has to laugh at the benefits from a country that seizes ships and their cargoes on the high seas, murders it’s citizens without benefit of trial, slaughters survivors of ships it attacks without good reason outside US waters, tortures and kills people who hold opposing views, and generally acts like it’s in charge of the Earth.”
I see you get most of your news from leftwing propagandists. How gullible of you.
Well, you don’t need to watch any kind of propaganda to understand that he is pointing out some facts.
The ship seizure = fact.It has happened right now.
Killing of citizens of foreign countries = fact(a few million since end of WW2)
Acts like In charge of the earth – absolutely.
Dozens of regime changes,dozens of wars(it is hard to find one conflict your country isn’t involved in).
It is actually no secret that the USA consider themselves world police.
Now the torture and killing of people for opposing views is something that I’m not aware of?
Don’t know when anyone was killed and tortured for opposing views?
Of course anyone of you guys would instantly know how evil and illegal all this is,
if the USA would be at the receiving end of such illegal actions.
International laws and order only mean something if it benefits your countries lords.
And in terms of Venezuela it is absolute nonsense to use drug trade as reason
it is the oil as Trump said during one of his campaign speeches and It’s impossible to prove that Venezuela plays any relevant role in drug trade as Venezuela is the CO2 of drug trade.
The last time Venezuela was a bit relevant was before Chavez when the CiA built up the Cartel of the Sun, using the Venezuelan national guard,
but since the Wall Street got kicked out of Venezuela drug production went massively down, just as it happened after the USA left Afghanistan.
The drug production went up 2000%) after your country illegally occupied Afghanistan and collapsed after you left by 95% according to UN.
.
Yep, Russia and China have done and are doing all those things. Good catch, buddy.
So which bits are not propaganda? I’m always willing to be corrected.
Propaganda works…what’s next? Biden didn’t have dementia while in office?
“One has to laugh at the benefits from a country that seizes ships and their cargoes on the high seas, murders it’s citizens without benefit of trial, slaughters survivors of ships it attacks without good reason outside US waters, tortures and kills people who hold opposing views, and generally acts like it’s in charge of the Earth.”…..Venezuela!
Sorry, not with you. Is that a comment? Did you leave some words out?
Let’s see, according to you, if New Zealand refuses to fulfil it’s ANZUS treaty obligations, then the fact that they US reacts is proof that the US doesn’t respect New Zealand.
As to the rest of your rants, it really does sound like the usual anti-US nonsense the left has been pushing for decades.
Mark, maybe you could quote the words with which you disagree?
Obviously, the US would regard anything not sufficiently sycophantic to be far-left, far-right, Communist, Nazi, anti-Semitic, ant- democratic, or just plain anti-US. And why not? Are you prejudiced against people exercising their right to free speech, or implying that “free speech” is subject to your approval?
“the West is shooting itself in the foot…”
A better analogy would be our tone-deaf politicians are walking us foot first into a wood chipper.
The west is not shooting itself – it is being shot on purpose,
by absolutely irrational behavior(which nowhere existed in the last century) of their politiciansthroughout all domains, countries,political parties(and those few who are against it are being labelled Nazis),
and permanent doubling and trippling down.
May God bestow a wisdom to tell Good from Evil on them.
These people are nothing short of traitors and should be treated as such.
The Leftwing Judiciary is definitely a problem for the United States. All our leftwing judges think they are better at running the Executive Branch than is the president.
The Republican Congress should take a DEEP dive into leftwing politics in the Justice system of the United States. Reducing the numbers of federal judges would be a good start and impeaching some of them would send the right message.
The federal judge who signed off on the spying by the Biden administration on Republican U.S. Senators should be first on that impeachment list. Judge James Boasberg is his name. He is nothing but a leftwing activist dressed up as a judge.
Who are these left people? Why are they trying to bring down the US and oil and gas companies?
Marxists intent on a One World Government led by them.
Who are these Marxists? Do you know any Marxist organizations?
HMMM, the Democrat Socialists of America, a major component of the Democrat Party. How about the Communist Party, USA?
The UN is probably the largest. Have you read Agenda 21? Rhetorical question. In it the UN openly states that their goal is One World Government with the UN at the helm. They have also gone on record to say the OWG would be modeled after the CCP because it is the only government capable of controlling the whole world. Do yourself a favor and read Agenda 21. It’s a slog, filled with a lot of talk about it just being “suggestions” and “nothing mandatory” and then proceeds to give a road map on how to deal with countries that don’t comply. It’s the Communist/Marxist manifesto of the 21st century.
I thank you all for the really scary info about the UN’s plan to take over the world. I think the US should walk away from the UN, declare all the workers in NYC persona non grata, and send them packing back to all the old world countries.
President Trump and his real estate organization could turn the building into a hotel with some apartments and condos for Americans.
The old world societies have never forgiven the Americans for upsetting their social order apple carts with the American revolution with its radical proposal that all men are created equal and with exclusion of religion, the monarchy, and the privileged aristocracy from government.
“I thank you all for the really scary info about the UN’s plan to take over the world.” So you didn’t/haven’t read Agenda 21 and prefer to snarc about it taking over the world instead.
I have not read Agenda 21. I guess I should check it out.
One reason the UN wants to take over the world is so it can confiscate wealth from the rich countries and distribute it to all the poor countries many of which are former colonies of the European empires who conquered and plundered them. For the poor countries it is pay back time.
Again, until we start severely and viciously punishing the morons bringing these frivolous they are not going to stop. Bankrupt them and their families, their employers, everyone connected to them. Only then will this shit stop.
This has to stop. I would rather see all subsidies and grants eliminated rather than give outfits like these a single penny. Any judge or public official who has attended one of these seminars should be prohibited from judging, testifying, or working in any capacity on anything concerning CAGW issues. I don’t see any difference between this and Capone educating a jury or judge if you know what I mean.