Republican attorneys general escalated their efforts to thwart an array of climate lawsuits against the oil and gas industry by asking the Department of Justice to investigate whether a group involved in the litigation is aiding China.
In a letter Tuesday to Attorney General Pam Bondi, 26 attorneys general asked the department to investigate the Center for Climate Integrity and another group for “potential violations” of the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The 1938 law requires lobbyists and other advocates to notify the Justice Department if they’re working on behalf of foreign entities or governments to influence policy.
The attorneys general asserted that both groups are registered as U.S.-based charitable organizations focused on climate activism, and argued that there is “substantial evidence that both have acted within the United States as unregistered agents of foreign principals.”
The Center for Climate Integrity, which supports lawsuits against the industry, called the complaint a “false and baseless smear.” Its president, Richard Wiles, said the group “has never received a single cent of foreign funding.”
