Amid growing scrutiny over the use of taxpayer funds, 23 Republican state attorneys general have called on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to stop federal grants to the Environmental Law Institute (ELI). The group runs the Climate Judiciary Project (CJP), which is under fire for its role in climate lawfare. In a letter addressed to EPA Chief Administrator Lee Zeldin, they urge the Trump Administration to cease funding ELI due to concerns about CJP’s influence on climate policy through judicial means.
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, who led this initiative, told Fox News: “The Environmental Law Institute’s Climate Judiciary Project is using woke climate propaganda, under the guise of what they call ‘neutral’ education, to persuade judges and push their wildly unpopular agenda through the court system.”
This move follows increased criticism from policymakers and industry leaders regarding CJP’s training of federal judges. A House Oversight subcommittee recently examined NGO abuses, with CJP highlighted as a prime example of a taxpayer-funded entity promoting a radical climate agenda. Scott Walker, president of the Capital Research Center, expressed concern over CJP’s efforts: “…the controversial Climate Judiciary Project, which seeks to ‘educate’—from a left-wing perspective—federal and state judges about climate change and related litigation designed to extract billions of dollars from oil and gas companies for alleged climate harms.”
The project has briefed over 2,000 judges nationwide on courtroom applications of climate science favorable to plaintiffs. Senator Ted Cruz has been vocal against CJP’s activities; he sent a letter demanding information on its ties with academics supporting plaintiffs in climate cases. He further criticized these programs during a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing.
Energy industry groups have also voiced opposition. Dan Turner, Executive Director of Power the Future, raised concerns in a letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi about CJP’s collaboration with the Federal Judicial Center. According to Fox News: “Power The Future is concerned that the [Federal Judicial Center] is actively assisting in a campaign which boasts of having ‘educated’ approximately two thousand judges…on how to approach climate ‘litigation.’”
Representatives from ELI deny any bias in their trainings. However, investigations into ELI have revealed overlaps in funding and personnel with lawyers and academics involved in climate lawfare. The project receives support from several nonprofits linked to Sher Edling LLP, which represents many plaintiffs in such lawsuits.
In 2024 alone, ELI received over $937,000 from various government agencies including the EPA and National Science Foundation for its programs.
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