Last week, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action, and Federal Rights, chaired by Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), held a high-profile hearing titled “Enter the Dragon—China and the Left’s Lawfare Against American Energy Dominance” to examine allegations that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), foreign donors, and leftist legal activism are engaged in a coordinated effort to undermine U.S. energy independence.
State Armor, a group that opposes the CCP, recently released a disturbing report on Energy Foundation China (EFC) activities. EFC is based in San Francisco and appears to be run by CCP members who use the organization to fund climate-cult research and activist groups.
The “science” and these “experts,” in turn, promote policy and legislation detrimental to the American energy industry. The report also argues that the CCP uses organizations like EFC to make the U.S. more dependent on Chinese-made “green” technologies (i.e., solar panels, batteries, and electric vehicle infrastructure).
EFC is led by individuals with strong ties to Chinese government agencies. Its members include CEO Ji Zou, a former official in China’s National Development and Reform Commission. The foundation’s operations in China are supervised by this same government body, and it has formal partnerships with Chinese state agencies and universities to promote green development projects that align with China’s strategic interests.
In the U.S., EFC has funneled millions of dollars to major climate advocacy groups (like the Rocky Mountain Institute and Natural Resources Defense Council), funded research at top universities (such as Harvard, UC Berkeley, and UCLA), and supported policy initiatives at multiple levels of government. These efforts have promoted policies (e.g., green-energy-powered homes, Net Zero, phasing out fossil fuels) that would require infrastructure and components largely sourced from China, thereby increasing U.S. reliance on Chinese supply chains.
We all observed how well relying on China’s supply chains worked out for us during the early days of the COVID pandemic.
The Federalist’s Abigail Nichols noted that during the hearing, Chairman Ted Cruz explained how ECP activities are a clear national security threat.
In describing the first prong, Cruz highlighted a “strategic alliance … between leftist billionaires, radical environmental organizations, and the Chinese Communist Party.” He said, “One of the primary vehicles for this alliance is Energy Foundation China, which has funneled upwards of $12 million to U.S.-based climate advocacy groups since 2020.”This money flows “directly to aggressive litigation outfits” that file lawsuits against American gas and oil companies, Cruz said. He later said the “second prong” of the assault is a “legal barrage” aimed at bankrupting such companies. Cruz said more than 30 lawsuits have been filed in “at least 15 Democratic-run jurisdictions, including by 12 states” against U.S. oil, gas, and coal producers.
Cruz also discussed “judicial capture,” whereby U.S. courts have been drawn into the CCP’s strategies to weaken American energy production capabilities.
“Courts are not supposed to be laboratories for political activism, and judges are not supposed to be trained by the plaintiffs’ bar that is receiving their funding from the Chinese Communist Party. What we are witnessing is judicial capture, driven by ideology, powered by money, and tolerated by far too many,” Cruz said.
Laughably, the Democratic senators on the panel blatantly ignored all the evidence and labeled the analysis a “conspiracy theory.” They argued that the real threat to the U.S. is climate change itself, not foreign influence via environmental lawfare.
Democrats were quick to push back on his claims, with Rhode Island’s Sheldon Whitehouse, ranking member of the subcommittee on federal courts and oversight, lodging his own accusations.“This hearing is a perfect display of projection: blaming your adversary for what you are doing. Dark money? Judicial capture? Propaganda? Oh my! The fossil fuel industry would have nothing to do with those things,” he said pointedly.
Finally, I would like to conclude with a reminder that China has a clear “China First” policy.
Therefore, our policy makers should take a good hard look where all the funding and activism is sourced. After all, local sourcing is promoted by Democrats! Our energy policy should be 100% American made.
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