If our political leaders are serious about both national security and the integrity of our courts, they must treat this as a counterintelligence problem, not just another Washington “review.”
Posted by Leslie Eastman
Back in the autumn of 2025, I reported that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cut ties with the Environmental Law Institute (ELI).
Official statements from the agency indicate that the decision was taken because of concerns about ELI’s alleged attempts to “inappropriately influence the judiciary,” particularly in the context of climate litigation and judicial education programs.
“It is no longer in the Agency’s interest for employees to participate in their official capacity in any conference, program or other event organized by the Environmental Law Institute, including but not limited to ELI’s Climate Judiciary Project,” Fotouhi said in the memo, which was obtained by POLITICO’s E&E News.
The deputy administrator added, “Thus, EPA employees should not accept invitations to or participate in such events, including ELI’s Annual Award Dinner in Washington, D.C., scheduled for October 7, 2025, in their official capacity.”
Now, a national security watchdog has asked Congress to investigate ELI over historical partnerships and program activities involving Chinese government–connected entities.
The Environmental Law Institute, or ELI, has trained more than 2,000 American judges on environmental law through its Climate Judiciary Project since 2018, according to its website. During its decades of China-related work, the organization cultivated relationships with entities the report described as Chinese government-affiliated, CCP-linked or tied to China’s military research ecosystem, according to State Armor.
“Across three decades of engagement, ELI’s work has uniformly advanced Chinese strategic and national security interests while undermining American national security by constraining domestic energy producers and industrial expansion and simultaneously pushing America toward dependence upon energy sources dominated by the PRC,” a letter addressed to congressional leadership attached to the report reads.
State Armor, a national security organization focused on state-level policy responses to foreign threats, is raising concerns that the ties could have domestic implications.
The organization, Environmental Law Institute, is selling out America to the CCP in China. ELI takes Chinese money, advises Chinese regulators tied directly to the CCP intelligence. They then turn to weaponize the American court system against our own energy companies.
Congress… https://t.co/Z3t2ngHzw1
— Buzz Patterson (@BuzzPatterson) July 2, 2026
And while ELI denies work “in China,” it certainly seems to work “with China“.
Though ELI says it has ceased its work in China, ELI has continued to advance China-related scholarship and partner with individuals linked to Chinese government ventures. Fox News Digital is not aware of any ELI programming that has taken place in China since 2024.
As recently as May, the nonprofit, through its journal, published an English-language paper written by two Chinese academics hailing from state-run universities detailing how China had made progress on environmental protection.
Then, in June, ELI hosted a Chinese legal scholar for a panel discussion with speakers from multiple other countries on global career pathways in environmental law. The scholar, who received training through an ELI fellowship in 2021, “participated in ministry-level projects on environmental legislation and policy of China,” according to her biography on ELI’s website.
The State Armor report asserts that ELI’s three-decade China Program has embedded the organization within CCP-controlled institutions, including the Policy Research Center for Environment and Economy, and partnered with Chinese universities flagged by U.S. authorities for military and intelligence ties (e.g., Tianjin, Wuhan, and Shanghai Jiao Tong universities), all while explicitly refusing to fund climate litigation within China. This tactic effectively shields Chinese state-owned emitters from the same legal pressures it helps build against U.S. producers.
From training thousands of U.S. judges on climate issues to providing information directly to Chinese universities and organizations, the Environmental Law Institute has built a network of influence that threatens American energy and national security.
https://t.co/O1eAJh1VWI pic.twitter.com/gntI3ejHxi
— State Armor (@StateArmor) July 2, 2026
The report concludes that this dual-track approach has produced no measurable reduction in Chinese emissions (which now exceed 12 billion tonnes of CO₂ annually, quadrupling since ELI’s engagement began), while providing Beijing with strategic intelligence on U.S. regulatory frameworks and advancing China’s geopolitical agenda at the expense of American energy independence.
Based on State Armor’s findings related to China’s deep involvement with our country’s climate cultists, Congress should not stop at fact-finding hearings and sternly worded letters; it must move swiftly to bar federal agencies and judges from partnering with any organization entangled with CCP-linked entities, no matter how “nonprofit” or “green” the branding.
Lawmakers should require full transparency on foreign-tied funding streams, impose strict conflict-of-interest and recusal rules for judicial education programs, and cut off taxpayer support to groups that advance Beijing’s strategic objective of undercutting American energy independence.
If our political leaders are serious about both national security and the integrity of our courts, they must treat this as a counterintelligence problem, not just another Washington “review.”
