A group of 23 states attorneys general urged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to stop funding a group funding climate activism nationwide for judges.
The group urged EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin to stop funding the Washington D.C.-based Environmental Law Institute.
One of EPI’s projects is the Climate Judiciary Project, which it says has hosted more than 50 events and trained more than 2,000 judges on their climate science.
The Climate Judiciary Project claims they are providing “objective and trusted” education, but the attorneys general say that the group appears to be lobbying judges in favor of climate change policy.
"The Climate Judiciary Project’s mission is clear: lobby judges in order to make climate change policy through the courts," the letter said. "An alumni magazine profile said the quiet part out loud, writing that the Climate Judiciary Project co-founder was “explaining the science of climate change to a group of people with real power to act on it: judges. The Climate Judiciary Project’s tampering raises serious legal and ethical questions.”
The Climate Judiciary Project describes themselves as “authoritative, objective, and trusted education on climate science." The attorneys general say that this group doesn't provide neutral information. In some cases, the participating judged go on to rule on climate change lawsuits.
For example: Hawaii Supreme Court Justice Mark Reckenwald ruled in favor of law firm Sher Edling in a lawsuit it filed in 2020 on behalf of the city and County of Honolulu.
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In 2019, a member of ELI visited Hawaii to “encourage Hawaii to consider a nuisance lawsuit."
Ag Letter to Epa Re Eli Grants 8.26.25 Final by scott.mcclallen
The letter asked the EPA to cancel any ongoing grants to the group.
"EPA should not be funding these activities or the organization that sponsors them. We respectfully request that EPA cancel an on-going grants to ELI and ensure that ELI does not receive any future grants while it is sponsoring the Climate Judiciary Project."
The Climate Judiciary Project is privately funded and has never received EPA or other U.S. federal government support, Nick Collins, associate vice president of communications at the Environmental Law Institute, told Townhall in a statatement.
"Additionally, ELI's Climate Judiciary Project is privately funded and has never received EPA or other U.S. federal government support. EPA’s grants to ELI are not related to judicial education. Through every administration over the last three decades, EPA has partnered with ELI to support programs that provide Americans clean air and water."
Attorney General Knudsen claimed that the Climate Judiciary Project makes deceptive and misleading statements under the guise of consumer protection laws.
“As attorney general, I refuse to stand by while Americans’ tax dollars fund radical environmental training for judges across the country,” Attorney General Knudsen said in an August 26 letter. “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.“I commend President Trump’s efforts to cut waste and abuse during the first eight months of his presidency, and I am optimistic that his Administration will do the right thing and halt all funding to ELI.”
Attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming joined the letter.
In 2023, the ELI received approximately 13 percent of its revenue from EPA grants with an additional 8.4 percent in 2024.
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