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The Environmental Law Institute, or ELI, has trained more than 2,000 American judges on environmental law through its Climate Judiciary Project.

ELI takes Chinese money, advises Chinese regulators tied directly to the CCP intelligence. They then turn to weaponise the American court system against the USA’s own energy companies, Leslie Eastman writes.

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Green Robes, Red Strings: National Security Watchdog Flags ELI’s CCP Ties to Judicial Training

Introduction

By Anthony Watts, as published by Climate Realism on 10 July 2026

The Heartland Institute has long been fighting climate lawfare on multiple fronts. Just in the past few months, Climate Change Weekly published articles debunking the legal and scientific justifications for lawsuits cities have filed against the fossil fuel industry for supposed climate damages, as well as articles describing attempts by private parties and contributors to handbooks used by the courts as reference manuals on science matters to undermine the judiciary’s independence on climate matters.

Multiple news outlets, HERE and HERE, for instance, have also discussed attempts by climate change lobbyists to bias the judiciary in favour of holding the fossil fuel industry financially responsible for weather events that can’t be fairly attributed to human fossil fuel use.

Now comes evidence that the Chinese Communist Party (“CCP”) is supporting the Environmental Law Institute, one of the groups leading the climate lawfare charge, via its Climate Judiciary Project seminars and training sessions.

Legal Insurrection discusses the discovery of the CCP’s connections to prominent climate lawfare pushers and the meaning of it to the US court system in the post below.

Green Robes, Red Strings: National Security Watchdog Flags ELI’s CCP Ties to Judicial Training

By Leslie Eastman, as published by Legal Insurrection on 4 July 2026

If our political leaders are serious about both national security and the integrity of our courts, they must treat this as a counterintelligence problem, not just another Washington “review.”

Back in the autumn of 2025, I reported that the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) cut ties with the Environmental Law Institute (“ELI”).

Official statements from the agency indicate that the decision was taken because of concerns about ELI’s alleged attempts to “inappropriately influence the judiciary,” particularly in the context of climate litigation and judicial education programmes:

“It is no longer in the Agency’s interest for employees to participate in their official capacity in any conference, programme or other event organised by the Environmental Law Institute, including but not limited to ELI’s Climate Judiciary Project,” Fotouhi said in the memo, which was obtained by Politico’s E&E News.

The deputy administrator added, “Thus, EPA employees should not accept invitations to or participate in such events, including ELI’s Annual Award Dinner in Washington, D.C., scheduled for October 7, 2025, in their official capacity.”

EPA Orders Employees to “No Longer Engage with the Environmental Law Institute,” Legal Insurrection, 27 September 2025

Now, a national security watchdog has asked Congress to investigate ELI over historical partnerships and programme activities involving Chinese government–connected entities:

The Environmental Law Institute, or ELI, has trained more than 2,000 American judges on environmental law through its Climate Judiciary Project since 2018, according to its website. During its decades of China-related work, the organisation cultivated relationships with entities the report described as Chinese government-affiliated, CCP-linked or tied to China’s military research ecosystem, according to State Armor.

“Across three decades of engagement, ELI’s work has uniformly advanced Chinese strategic and national security interests while undermining American national security by constraining domestic energy producers and industrial expansion and simultaneously pushing America toward dependence upon energy sources dominated by the PRC,” a letter addressed to congressional leadership attached to the report reads.

State Armor, a national security organisation focused on state-level policy responses to foreign threats, is raising concerns that the ties could have domestic implications.

China-linked green group training US judges draws fresh heat as foreign ties fuel pressure at home, Fox News, 2 July 2026

The organisation, Environmental Law Institute, is selling out America to the CCP in China. ELI takes Chinese money, advises Chinese regulators tied directly to the CCP intelligence. They then turn to weaponise the American court system against our own energy companies.

American orgs deserve close scrutiny when their CCP-tied work benefits China's geopolitical strategy. That goes double for groups with a huge impact on the American judiciary.

That is why we are calling on Congress to investigate the Environmental Law Institute. pic.twitter.com/R5inoZJKV3

— Michael Lucci (@Michael7ucci) July 2, 2026

The organization, Environmental Law Institute, is selling out America to the CCP in China. ELI takes Chinese money, advises Chinese regulators tied directly to the CCP intelligence. They then turn to weaponize the American court system against our own energy companies.

Congress… https://t.co/Z3t2ngHzw1

— Buzz Patterson (@BuzzPatterson) July 2, 2026

And while ELI denies work “in China,” it certainly seems to work “with China“:

Though ELI says it has ceased its work in China, ELI has continued to advance China-related scholarship and partner with people linked to Chinese government ventures. Fox News Digital is not aware of any ELI programming that has taken place in China since 2024.

As recently as May, the non-profit, through its journal, published an English-language paper written by two Chinese academics hailing from state-run universities detailing how China had made progress on environmental protection.

Then, in June, ELI hosted a Chinese legal scholar for a panel discussion with speakers from multiple other countries on global career pathways in environmental law. The scholar, who received training through an ELI fellowship in 2021, “participated in ministry-level projects on environmental legislation and policy of China,” according to her biography on ELI’s website.

China-linked green group training US judges draws fresh heat as foreign ties fuel pressure at home, Fox News, 2 July 2026

The State Armor report asserts that ELI’s three-decade China Programme has embedded the organisation within CCP-controlled institutions, including the Policy Research Centre for Environment and Economy, and partnered with Chinese universities flagged by US authorities for military and intelligence ties (e.g., Tianjin, Wuhan, and Shanghai Jiao Tong universities), all while explicitly refusing to fund climate litigation within China. This tactic effectively shields Chinese state-owned emitters from the same legal pressures it helps build against US producers.

“From training thousands of US judges on climate issues to providing information directly to Chinese universities and organisations, the Environmental Law Institute has built a network of influence that threatens American energy and national security,” State Armour tweeted.

From training thousands of U.S. judges on climate issues to providing information directly to Chinese universities and organizations, the Environmental Law Institute has built a network of influence that threatens American energy and national security.

➡️ https://t.co/O1eAJh1VWI pic.twitter.com/gntI3ejHxi

— State Armor (@StateArmor) July 2, 2026

The report concludes that this dual-track approach has produced no measurable reduction in Chinese emissions (which now exceed 12 billion tonnes of CO₂ annually, quadrupling since ELI’s engagement began), while providing Beijing with strategic intelligence on US regulatory frameworks and advancing China’s geopolitical agenda at the expense of American energy independence.

Based on State Armor’s findings related to China’s deep involvement with our country’s climate cultists, Congress should not stop at fact-finding hearings and sternly worded letters; it must move swiftly to bar federal agencies and judges from partnering with any organisation entangled with CCP-linked entities, no matter how “non-profit” or “green” the branding.

Lawmakers should require full transparency on foreign-tied funding streams, impose strict conflict-of-interest and recusal rules for judicial education programmes and cut off taxpayer support to groups that advance Beijing’s strategic objective of undercutting American energy independence.

If our political leaders are serious about both national security and the integrity of our courts, they must treat this as a counterintelligence problem, not just another Washington “review.”

About Climate Realism

Climate Realism is a website run by The Heartland Institute, one of the world’s leading free-market think tanks based in the USA, which was founded in 1984.  In 2024, The Heartland Institute launched Heartland UK & Europe “to fight for free markets and against socialist plans like ‘Net Zero’ energy policies across the Atlantic.”  Climate Change Weekly is a newsletter published by Climate Realism. Anthony Watts, founder of the website ‘Watts Up With That’, is a Senior Fellow at The Heartland Institute and an author for Climate Realism.