Top energy group calls for probe into secretive 'national lawfare campaign' to influence judges on climate
FIRST ON FOX: A prominent pro-energy group is calling on the Trump administration to investigate what it suspects is a coordinated "national lawfare campaign" by left-wing climate activists aimed at influencing thousands of judges on how to approach climate litigation.
In a letter sent this week to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Power the Future founder and Executive Director Dan Turner warned that the Federal Judicial Center, in partnership with the Environmental Law Institute's Climate Judiciary Project, is engaged in "behind-closed-doors advocacy" for climate lawfare.
"Specifically, Power The Future is concerned that the FJC is actively assisting in a campaign which boasts of having ‘educated’ approximately two thousand judges, including federal judges, on how to approach climate" litigation," the letter explains. "'Climate’ litigation actually seeks in part to impose federal energy (rationing) policy through the courts, even though policy ‘must be addressed by the two other branches of government.’ The FJC enlisted in this campaign by hosting seminars for judges with speakers drawn exclusively from the world of plaintiffs’ witnesses or historic amicus brief filers in support of the plaintiffs."
The Washington, D.C.-based Environmental Law Institute created the Climate Judiciary Project (CJP) in 2018, establishing a first-of-its-kind resource to provide "reliable, up-to-date information" about climate change litigation, according to the group. The project's reach has extended to various state and federal courts, including powerful appellate courts, and comes as multiple cities and states pursue high-profile litigation against the oil industry.
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A Fox News Digital review in December shows that several CJP expert lawyers and judges have close ties to the curriculum and are deeply involved in climate litigation, while the group attempted to distance itself at the time, saying, "CJP doesn’t participate in litigation, support or coordinate with any parties in litigation, or advise judges on how they should rule in any case."
Power the Future included FOIA requests in the letter, which the group says shows coordination between judges and ELI's network.
"For example, several records obtained under FOIA, enclosed herein, reference the involvement of Judge David Tatel, who served for nearly 30 years on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit until 2022," the letter says. "One February 2021 email from a plaintiff’s witness who ELI arranged to serially brief judges on ‘climate’ litigation, Dr. Don Wuebbles, references 'the kind of issues that Judge Tatel raised towards counteracting arguments from nonbelievers' in catastrophic man-made global warming."
Wuebbles hit back against claims there were "cozy ties" between judges and climate activists in comments to Fox News Digital, calling the Power the Future letter a "highly distorted look at what we do as scientists," while defending that he is a "PhD atmospheric scientist and professor…," not an "activist."
Wuebbles did explain that he has helped "educate judges on the science of climate change" when asked by the courts across his career.
"Those meetings were very professional and just about the state of the science," he told Fox News Digital. "If a senator, other politicians, or anyone with biases about the state of the climate cannot handle the truth, that is their problem. But the truth should still come out for all Americans to be aware of, including judges and the courts. As part of this, the misinformation of contrarians needs to be responded to by responses demonstrating the real state of the science and what the actual measurements and scientific analyses really show us — that is what we do as scientists. As someone with high moral standards, I could add much more, but I will leave it there."
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The letter to the DOJ included other FOIA'd emails, including one dated March 23, 2021, that was sent by CJP founder Paul Hanle to "a serial presenter, plaintiff’s expert witness Dr. Ben Santer" regarding presenting a climate science lecture to more than 100 judges.
"In another email, dated March 23, 2021, from ELI’s Paul Hanle to a serial presenter, plaintiff’s expert witness Dr. Ben Santer — also a member of the board of the activist Union of Concerned Scientists, which was an original organizer of the climate litigation campaign — Hanle describes ELI as working ‘through the auspices of the National Judicial College, with which our project is partnering,'" the letter to the DOJ reads. "Hanle later thanked Santer for Santer’s presentation ‘to a large group of judges — perhaps one to two hundred,’ stating, in relevant part, ‘I would venture you convinced many who did not know before that the science has moved far and fast and the scientific case is underpinned by very strong evidence.’ Hanle added, ‘Your approach is very effective with judges.’"
While another email, sent by an ELI official to both Hanle and Santer, the official says, "that [the judge] connected this material to her own docket …[is] [j]ust what we want to see!"
"You certainly had an impact on her," Hanle said.
Santer told Fox News Digital in an emailed comment Monday when asked about the correspondence that his job is to "improve scientific and public understanding of the nature, causes, and impacts of climate change."
"I've done this job for over 35 years, through my research in ‘climate fingerprinting’ and through public lecturing to a variety of different audiences. Judges are one of those audiences, along with professional societies, Rotary Clubs, universities, schools, and conservative organizations like the Pacific Club, Jonathan Club, and Bohemian Grove," he wrote.
"As of today, U.S. climate scientists still have the freedom to educate U.S. citizens on the reality and seriousness of climate change. I cherish that freedom. While it still exists, I intend to continue serving as a ‘serial presenter’ on climate science," he continued.
When approached for comment on the matter, FJC's Deputy Director Clara Altman said it had not worked with ELI since 2020, after holding a series of seminars in coordination with the group the year prior.
"The Federal Judicial Center conducted a series of small one-day seminars with the Environmental Law Institute for fewer than 100 judges in total in 2019 and early 2020. The Federal Judicial Center has not done any programs with ELI since. In all its programs, the Center strives to present content objectively and from a range of views," Altman said, adding that FJC is not affiliated with NJC.
Fox News Digital reported in July that CJP organized a years-long, nationwide online forum with jurists to promote favorable information and litigation updates regarding climate issues — until the email-styled group chat was abruptly made private last year. The listserv was established after CJP coordinated with the National Judicial College to establish its first cohort of judges who took part in a "Judicial Leaders in Climate Science" program in 2022.
The listserv, which included at least five judges from across the nation and CJP leaders, was active from September 2022 to May 2024, and facilitated correspondence between the group's members as they traded links on climate studies, congratulated one another on hosting recent environmental events, shared updates on recent climate cases that were remanded to state courts and encouraged participation in other CJP meet-ups.
In one message, for example, a Delaware judge shared a YouTube video of a 2022 climate presentation delivered by a Delaware official and a Columbia University professor that focused on the onslaught of climate lawsuits since the mid-2000s. The video included claims that those lawsuits could one day bankrupt the fuel industry.
The judge stipulated in his message to the group when sharing the link: "Because the link is of a judicial event that is otherwise not public, please do not forward or use without checking with me. I suspect that goes without saying, but the powers that be will be happier that I said it."
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A handful of other judges responded to the judge's video and message, praising it as "great work."
CJP, in a comment to Fox Digital at the time, defended the listserv as one to help members of its Judicial Leaders in Climate Science program communicate and network with one another for the duration of the program. The one-year program, established by CJP in coordination with the National Judicial College, "trains state court judges on judicial leadership skills integrated with consensus climate science and how it is arising in the law," the group told Fox News Digital.
Following Fox News Digital's reporting on the listserv, CJP's website received a facelift that included removing one of the judge's names and his favorable testimony of the group's work and anonymized the names of other judges who praised CJP as an "essential" resource for jurists.
"Judges are encouraged, and many required, to participate in continuing education on topics relevant to emerging trends in the law — including those related to science. Recent changes to CJP's website were made to protect privacy and prevent baseless criticism and harassment," the spokesperson told Fox News Digital in August when asked about the website revamp.
When asked about Power the Future's letter, a spokesperson for ELI underscored the group is "a non-partisan organization that has been operating for over 50 years. ELI educates professionals and the public, provides objective data and analysis, and convenes diverse groups of leaders to solve problems."
"The programs in which CJP participates are no different than other judicial education programs, providing evidence-based training on legal and scientific topics that judges voluntarily choose to attend," the spokesperson continued. "CJP does not participate in litigation, provide support for or coordinate with any parties in litigation, or advise judges on how they should rule in any case."
News of CJP’s outreach comes as the U.S. has seen a sharp uptick in climate-related lawsuits in recent years — including cases targeting oil giants Shell, BP and ExxonMobil for allegedly using "deceptive" marketing and downplaying the risks of climate change. Lawsuits have also been brought against state governments and federal agencies, including the Interior Department, for allegedly failing to address pollution risks or protect against the harms of climate change, according to the plaintiffs.
Conservative lawmakers have meanwhile put CJP under the public's microscope for alleged "lawfare," most notably Sen. Ted Cruz, who said during a Senate subcommittee hearing in June that there is a "systematic campaign" launched by the Chinese Communist Party and American left-wing activists to weaponize the court systems to "undermine American energy dominance."
CJP, Cruz said, is a pivotal player in the "lawfare" as it works to secure "judicial capture."
Judicial communications with climate activists over litigation and environmental issues date back years. In 2019, a federal judge hit "reply all" to an email chain with 45 other judges and court staff about an invitation to a climate seminar hosted by the Environmental Law Institute. Colleagues later chastised the judge for sharing "this nonsense" and suggested it was an ethics violation, though others defended the judge’s decision, saying flagging the event was not unethical.
Fox News Digital also reached out to NJC, DOJ and Tatel for comment.
Fox News Digital's Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report.