Texas Sen. Ted Cruz claims China is funding U.S. local weather lawsuits : NPR

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Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP/AP States and localities have filed waves of lawsuits in opposition to the fossil gas trade to make power firms pay for damages that communities face from local weather change. Threatened with probably enormous monetary penalties, trade and its supporters lately turned to the Supreme Court docket for assist — with out success. Now, Sen. Ted Cruz, the Texas Republican, has launched a brand new line of assault that might assist trade by specializing in the cash that is allegedly behind the local weather instances.

At a June listening to on Capitol Hill, Cruz accused China of funding the lawsuits as a way to cripple U.S. oil and fuel producers and to strengthen Beijing's place in world power markets. If the group courtroom instances succeed, Cruz mentioned U.S. power manufacturing would fall and costs would rise. "And the largest winner in all of this: China, who's paying the payments," he mentioned.

Nonetheless, Cruz's workplace has not provided proof that China or a China-linked nonprofit that Cruz recognized by title has funded local weather lawsuits in america. A spokesperson for Cruz, Macarena Martinez, supplied NPR with a response from ChatGPT that reads, partially: "What's not publicly demonstrated (up to now) is a direct, documented grant-to-lawsuit pipeline."

Cruz's unsubstantiated declare is a part of a yearslong effort by the fossil-fuel trade and its allies to struggle lawsuits that state and native governments have filed in opposition to oil and fuel firms, in keeping with environmental advocates and Democratic lawmakers. The litigation alleges that companies misled the general public for many years in regards to the risks of burning fossil fuels, the first reason for local weather change. The lawsuits search cash to assist communities address the dangers and harms from world warming, together with extra excessive storms, floods and warmth waves.

For years, Republican lawmakers have probed the funding sources for America's environmental motion. That scrutiny has targeted extra lately on local weather litigation as instances proliferated across the nation. This summer time, a bunch of Republican state attorneys common referred to as for a federal regulation to guard power firms from "activist-funded local weather lawsuits."

Ryan Meyers, common counsel for the American Petroleum Institute, a commerce group for the oil and fuel trade, mentioned in a press release to NPR that the local weather lawsuits are "baseless" and a "coordinated marketing campaign" in opposition to power firms. "Local weather coverage belongs in Congress," Meyers mentioned, "not a patchwork of courtrooms."

The American Petroleum Institute wouldn't touch upon the report about Cruz's allegation that China is funding the lawsuits.

John Chung-En Liu, an affiliate professor of sociology at Nationwide Taiwan College who has studied Chinese language local weather propaganda on social media, says framing U.S. local weather litigation as a China-funded marketing campaign is "a simple tactic" to whip up opposition.

"China does not have an excellent title in Washington, D.C.," Liu says, and Beijing does attempt to affect politics and public opinion globally on a spread of points.

China's embassy in Washington didn't reply to messages searching for remark for this story.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4954x3303+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F0f%2F7b%2F1848701a4cdfaecc97add921ee34%2Fgettyimages-2221846966.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4954x3303+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F0f%2F7b%2F1848701a4cdfaecc97add921ee34%2Fgettyimages-2221846966.jpg" class="img" alt="Sen. Ted Cruz departs a meeting with Senate Republicans in the U.S. Capitol in June. Cruz has claimed that China is funding climate lawsuits in the United States. His office has not offered evidence to support that allegation." loading="lazy"/> Sen. Ted Cruz departs a gathering with Senate Republicans within the U.S. Capitol in June. Cruz has claimed that China is funding local weather lawsuits in america. His workplace has not provided proof to help that allegation. Al Drago/Getty Pictures/Getty Pictures North America conceal caption

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Al Drago/Getty Pictures/Getty Pictures North America 'We must be very cautious to truly know what's actual and what's not' The alleged funding scheme that Cruz described in June revolves round a nonprofit referred to as Vitality Basis China. Headquartered in San Francisco with an workplace in Beijing, the group is led by a former official at China's Nationwide Heart for Local weather Change Technique and Worldwide Cooperation. Final 12 months, GOP lawmakers requested Vitality Basis China for paperwork associated to its funding of U.S. organizations.

On the Senate listening to this summer time, Cruz mentioned Vitality Basis China is "one of many major autos" for a global alliance between "leftist billionaires, radical environmental organizations and the Chinese language Communist Social gathering."

"And this cash is not going to tree-planting campaigns or to science festivals," Cruz mentioned. "It is flowing on to aggressive litigation outfits, just like the Pure Assets Protection Council, the Rocky Mountain Institute and the World Assets Institute."

Vitality Basis China has given cash to all three of these teams, in keeping with tax filings. However Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island, mentioned on the June listening to that Cruz hadn't supplied proof that the cash was used to pay for U.S. lawsuits — versus attempting to chop local weather air pollution in China.

"If it seems that China is supporting lawsuits in america, that may be extraordinarily troubling. And so I believe we must be very cautious to truly know what's actual and what's not," says Ilaria Mazzocco, a senior fellow who focuses on Chinese language enterprise and economics on the Heart for Strategic and Worldwide Research.

A spokesperson for the Rocky Mountain Institute, Adam Beitman, mentioned in a press release to NPR that the nonprofit doesn't take part in litigation, and that all the funding it has acquired from Vitality Basis China "is concentrated squarely on the power transition within China."

A spokesperson for the World Assets Institute, Alison Cinnamond, mentioned her group doesn't take part in litigation, nor does it direct authorized motion by different teams. "WRI's work in China focuses on points like air high quality, sustainable cities, power effectivity, and resilience — areas which might be important for world well-being," Cinnamond mentioned in a press release.

Michael Wall, the chief litigation officer for the Pure Assets Protection Council, says the nonprofit has used funding from Vitality Basis China completely for applications to chop local weather air pollution in China. Within the U.S., NRDC has sued authorities businesses and companies which have violated environmental legal guidelines, Wall says, and the nonprofit is defending state legal guidelines in New York and Vermont to drive fossil gas firms to assist cowl the prices of local weather change.

An government at Vitality Basis China, Vance Wagner, mentioned in a press release that the nonprofit is an unbiased group that funds analysis and different initiatives to handle local weather change in China, which is the largest supply of heat-trapping air pollution globally. Wagner mentioned the group does not fund or have interaction in activism, litigation or lobbying in any nation.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/8660x5773+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe1%2F9d%2F1ccd018746a5be4091e8b8819585%2Fgettyimages-1717857012.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/8660x5773+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe1%2F9d%2F1ccd018746a5be4091e8b8819585%2Fgettyimages-1717857012.jpg" class="img" alt="An oil pumpjack is seen near a field of wind turbines in Nolan, Texas." loading="lazy"/> An oil pumpjack is seen close to a subject of wind generators in Nolan, Texas. Brandon Bell/Getty Pictures/Getty Pictures North America conceal caption

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Brandon Bell/Getty Pictures/Getty Pictures North America Republican attorneys common need to defend power firms from lawsuits Days earlier than Cruz accused China of bankrolling the local weather instances, greater than a dozen Republican state attorneys common despatched a letter to U.S. Lawyer Basic Pam Bondi asking the Justice Division to suggest federal laws to provide power firms a "legal responsibility defend" to guard them from local weather litigation. The Justice Division's Workplace of Coverage and Laws is charged with growing legislative proposals, amongst different duties. Earlier this month, for instance, the division despatched Congress proposed laws that may prohibit medical doctors from offering gender-affirming care to youngsters.

Within the letter to Bondi, the Republican attorneys common wrote that the authorized safety they need to create for power firms is just like a 2005 regulation referred to as the Safety of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which usually shields gun producers and sellers from civil lawsuits when firearms are utilized in prison exercise.

Kansas Lawyer Basic Kris Kobach, a Republican who signed the letter to Bondi, then served as an knowledgeable witness at Cruz's listening to about China. "I believe that the place Congress may be useful in these [climate] instances is in attending to the underside of the place the cash is coming from," Kobach mentioned on the listening to.

Cruz's allegation of Chinese language funding was designed "to create political cowl" for Congress to provide fossil gas firms authorized immunity from local weather litigation, says Richard Wiles, president of the Heart for Local weather Integrity, which helps local weather lawsuits in opposition to the fossil gas trade by submitting authorized briefs and offering plaintiffs with paperwork.

The Justice Division didn't reply to messages searching for remark.

Thus far, the local weather lawsuits filed by states and localities have had blended outcomes. Some instances have been dismissed by judges who dominated that local weather air pollution is a matter for the federal authorities to take care of. However different lawsuits are transferring towards trial. In January, the Supreme Court docket rejected an effort by oil and fuel firms to dam a local weather lawsuit filed by Honolulu. And in March the justices turned down a request by Republican attorneys common to cease local weather lawsuits filed by states together with California, Connecticut, Minnesota and Rhode Island.

"All these communities are asking is that the oil trade pay their justifiable share of the damages that they knowingly trigger," Wiles says. "It is utterly affordable."

In a authorized transient difficult a lawsuit that Boulder, Colorado filed in opposition to oil and fuel firms, the Justice Division lately instructed the Supreme Court docket that permitting local weather litigation to maneuver ahead in state courts exposes power firms to billions of {dollars} in damages, in addition to a complicated assortment of native rules.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/7910x5273+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F3e%2F04%2Fec6463384c03b126bc765cbd2f08%2Fgettyimages-2209790446.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/7910x5273+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F3e%2F04%2Fec6463384c03b126bc765cbd2f08%2Fgettyimages-2209790446.jpg" class="img" alt="Workers carry solar panels this spring to be installed in the desert in China's northern Ningxia region. China is the world’s biggest producer of green technology, like solar panels and electric vehicles." loading="lazy"/> Employees carry photo voltaic panels this spring to be put in within the desert in China's northern Ningxia area. China is the world's largest producer of inexperienced know-how, like photo voltaic panels and electrical autos. STR/AFP through Getty Pictures/AFP conceal caption

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STR/AFP through Getty Pictures/AFP Lawsuit critics say oil and fuel firms are victims of Massive Philanthropy Opponents of the local weather lawsuits have lengthy claimed that activists and deep-pocketed philanthropies have been colluding with Democratic politicians to harm U.S. oil and fuel firms. In 2023, Cruz and Rep. James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, requested for monetary info from Sher Edling, a regulation agency that is filed lots of the local weather lawsuits introduced by states and localities.

Final 12 months, The Free Beacon, a conservative information website, revealed a Congressional memo that detailed funding that a number of nonprofits have given to Sher Edling. Since that cash got here from tax-exempt organizations, taxpayers successfully have been "bearing the price" of Sher Edling's authorized work, in keeping with the memo, which was written by Republican staffers on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee and the Home Committee on Oversight and Accountability.

The memo added: "Though not unlawful, this construction permits the inexperienced mafia to realize its political objectives whereas reducing its tax invoice."

The Congressional memo names three nonprofits that gave cash to Sher Edling: New Enterprise Fund, the Tides Basis and Assets Legacy Fund. Tax filings present that each one three acquired funding from Vitality Basis China, however two of them acquired these grants earlier than they began funding Sher Edling.

Of the three, Assets Legacy Fund in 2017 acquired $185,00 from Vitality Basis China, in keeping with an Vitality Basis China tax submitting. The cash was meant "to advertise training and evaluation to construct markets for clear, inexpensive power that protects public well being." That very same 12 months, Assets Legacy Fund gave Sher Edling about $432,000 for "land or marine conservation," in keeping with a Assets Legacy Fund tax submitting.

Assets Legacy Fund didn't reply to messages searching for remark. Neither did the Tides Basis. New Enterprise Fund declined to remark.

Sher Edling declined to remark for this story.

Wall of the Pure Assets Protection Council rejected the concept philanthropic funding has unfairly deprived oil and fuel firms in courtroom. "There's merely no comparability between the assets the oil trade has and the assets that nonprofits have," he says. "Litigation is a manner for individuals to take part within the governmental course of by working to make sure that the legal guidelines that shield them are enforced and carried out."

In a letter to Cruz and Comer final 12 months that was obtained by NPR, a lawyer for Sher Edling wrote that fossil gas firms which might be defendants within the local weather instances "worry that the communities will prevail in these lawsuits — and they also now hope that you'll run interference for them. Respectfully, you shouldn't."

When Cruz accused China of funding U.S. local weather lawsuits this summer time, he mentioned Beijing's objective is to determine "world power dominance and management." China is the world's largest producer of inexperienced know-how, like photo voltaic panels and electrical autos. And Republican lawmakers and conservative activists for years have argued that local weather insurance policies that shift the U.S. away from fossil fuels would make America depending on Chinese language provide chains.

However Liu of Nationwide Taiwan College says Beijing might be content material to have the U.S. give attention to oil and fuel, reasonably than to problem China in different elements of the power market.

"China desires to be the chief in the important thing know-how sooner or later, in order that they do not must be managed by the West," Liu says, including: "If we're following this practice of thought, then they may favor [the] U.S. not taking local weather very significantly, and let China take over all of the EVs, take over photo voltaic and wind."