Overview

• Sen. Ted Cruz told a Senate subcommittee that Energy Foundation China has funneled over $12 million since 2020 into U.S. climate advocacy groups to bankroll litigation targeting American oil, gas and coal producers.
• Cruz outlined a three-pronged strategy of foreign funding, mass litigation—with more than 30 lawsuits filed in at least 15 Democratic jurisdictions—and judicial training of over 2,000 judges through the Environmental Law Institute’s Climate Judiciary Project.
• Democrats on the panel, led by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, dismissed the CCP allegations as a conspiracy theory designed to distract from dark-money spending by the fossil fuel industry.
• Witnesses clashed over the national security implications: Scott Walter highlighted China’s dominance of solar cell and battery supply chains, while Public Citizen’s David Arkush defended pursuing criminal charges against oil executives for climate-related harms.
• Cruz has initiated oversight letters with federal agencies and signaled potential legislative or regulatory action to increase transparency of foreign funding in climate litigation.