January 1, State AGs Demand EPA Defund Climate Group

Wyatt’s Take

• State leaders want the EPA to stop giving taxpayer money to the Environmental Law Institute.
• They warn the group uses federal funds to push climate policies through courts.
• The EPA is under pressure to explain why it continues funding these efforts.

Attorneys general from 23 states sent a letter to EPA head Lee Zeldin, demanding the Environmental Law Institute lose its federal funding. Their concern is the group’s Climate Judiciary Project, which they say tries to sway judges to make new climate laws from the bench.

Attorney General Knudsen of Montana called the project “woke climate propaganda” masked as neutral education for judges. He leads the push to cut off EPA money to ELI, pointing to grants that have already been canceled in the past.

The Climate Judiciary Project claims to offer nonpartisan climate science education, and says it has taught over 2,000 judges since 2018. But the letter disputes this, warning that the curriculum is shaped by activists involved in lawsuits tied to climate change.

Scott Walter of the Capital Research Center warned Congress in June that these judge trainings are developed by people involved in climate litigation.

“These trainings attempt to influence the very judges who are hearing these cases, using a curriculum developed in part by individuals assisting with that litigation,”

Walter said.

The letter also raises concerns about false advertising, saying ELI presents its trainings as objective when they are not.

The ELI shot back, denying any federal money backs the judicial project and insisting their past with the EPA has been about helping Americans get clean air and water.

“CJP is not funded by government sources and EPA’s grants to ELI are not related to judicial education,”

the group wrote.

Despite this, the letter highlights that ELI gets a big chunk of its income—over 13 percent one year—from EPA awards, based on their own financial records.

Senator Ted Cruz also criticized the group in a Senate hearing in June, saying it is part of an effort to use the courts to weaken America’s energy independence.

Politicians and taxpayers alike want tough answers and real transparency from groups using government money.

Wyatt Matters

Folks in the heartland expect fair courts, not outside groups trying to change laws through activist judges. Every dollar from taxpayers needs to support honest work, not hidden agendas that put jobs and values at risk.

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