China is slowly steering the U.S. toward energy slavery.
A Senate subcommittee led by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, probed China’s methodical efforts to steer America toward total energy subservience to Beijing during a Wednesday afternoon hearing. The hearing revealed that Chinese-aligned entities have coopted climate lobbying and research in the U.S. Worse yet, this campaign of sabotage is abetted by a low profile effort to influence American judges, greasing the way for junk climate change lawsuits that will bankrupt American energy providers.
If the U.S. surrenders its own energy resources in favor of alternatives, America will functionally become a Chinese vassal. China dominates the production of energy alternatives. Supply chains for technology like solar are largely based in China and controlled by state entities. Thus the enthusiasm of Chinese entities who are promoting climate alarmism and energy alternatives in the U.S.
A recent, alarming report from State Armor highlights the activities of Energy Foundation China (EFC), which received extensive attention from lawmakers. Though EFC poses as a U.S. nonprofit operating in China, in point of fact, it is essentially a CCP-controlled entity bent on disrupting the U.S. economy. EFC CEO Ji Zou is himself a CCP member who served in senior environmental and diplomatic roles for the Chinese government. And EFC’s work is supervised by the CCP security services.
Energy Foundation China has penetrated flagship American universities, paying millions for research meant to create a predicate for dramatic changes to U.S. energy policy. As Cruz noted in his remarks, EFC has funded research at Harvard, University of California Berkeley, and University of California Los Angeles, among many others. And EFC is not just paying for papers. The research is action oriented. For example, EFC funding support Harvard’s research on creating a “hydrogen hub” in Texas meant to “decarbonize the U.S. and beyond.”
Apart from higher education, Cruz noted that Energy Foundation China has funneled more than $12 million to leftwing climate groups since 2020. Recipients include prominent environmental groups like the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the World Resources Institute (WRI), and the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), reflecting a Chinese takeover of the climate lobby.
Some leftwing groups are acting as useful idiots in the CCP’s campaign to destroy our energy sovereignty. My organization, the American Energy Institute (AEI), has extensively documented the activities of the Environmental Law Institute’s (ELI) Climate Judiciary Project (CJP). Posing as a neutral judicial education group, CJP exists to propagandize judges in favor of climate lawfare.
Dozens of cities and states have filed lawsuits against American energy providers, demanding billions of dollars to mitigate the alleged effects of climate change. This is a carefully controlled, highly coordinated lawfare campaign. A single law firm is representing most of the plaintiff cities and states. And a handful of leftwing foundations are paying the legal bills associated with these claims.
Consistent with this command-control approach, the climate lawfare plaintiffs are quietly working over judges via the CJP. In fact, CJP is funded by the same leftwing foundations, such as the Freedom Together Foundation and the Hewlett Foundation. And activist academic who advise the plaintiffs or support them through legal filings shape CJP programming.
The Climate Judiciary Project’s programs are a perfect complement to Energy Foundation China’s campaign of economic sabotage. While CCP-aligned groups like EFC bankroll advocacy groups and astroturf scientific journals with pro-green energy “research,” the CJP is cultivating judges to jumpstart the energy transition from the courtroom. Together, these mutually supportive efforts are destabilizing our energy future and empowering Beijing.
Committee Democrats lamely protested that this is all a rightwing “conspiracy theory.” But what makes a conspiracy? What are we supposed to call a group of powerful entities working toward the same objective?
Ironically, Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., had one of the better lines of the hearing. Indignantly reacting to all of this evidence, Sen. Welch asked the witnesses whether they were really calling leftwing funders like the Hewlett Foundation “dupes” for the CCP.
His word, not mine, though he might have said it better than I could.
Hon. Jason Isaac is the CEO of the American Energy Institute and a former member of the Texas House of Representatives.