Environmental Law Institute accused of influencing climate litigation training for judges

A new research paper outlines a coordinated, multi-year campaign intended to influence how the American judiciary approaches climate litigation. The report focuses on the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) and its Climate Judiciary Project (CJP), which was launched in 2018 to provide judges with education on climate science.

The research alleges that while ELI presents itself as a neutral arbiter, the CJP shares donors and advisors with Sher Edling LLP, a law firm involved in numerous climate lawsuits against energy companies. The report claims the training methodology encouraged judges to develop climate ‘action plans’ and coached them on how to influence their colleagues on the bench.

Attendance records indicate that judges from various jurisdictions, including California, Delaware, Illinois, Hawaii, Maryland, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Puerto Rico, participated in these trainings. The curriculum also utilized resources from the Federal Judicial Center and the National Academy of Sciences.