US Energy Secretary Chris Wright's Role in Judicial Seminars
As numerous cities and states pursue litigation seeking billions in damages from major fossil fuel companies over allegations of concealing the dangers of their products, rightwing organizations are actively attempting to undermine this wave of climate-related lawsuits. They argue that the attorneys involved are collaborating with an environmental legal education non-profit to bias federal judges against oil companies.
However, evidence suggests that it is actually fossil fuel-supported groups that are endeavoring to influence the judiciary in their favor, according to one law firm involved in the litigation. This includes judicial seminars organized by such groups featuring pro-industry speakers like the current US Energy Secretary, Chris Wright, who appeared in his former capacity as a fracking executive.
The implications of this rightwing influence campaign are significant, said Kert Davies, director of special investigations at the Center for Climate Integrity.
“The goal is to create an atmosphere around climate litigation that makes the issue seem politicized, or like something that judges should rule on cautiously,”he explained.
“If judges are led to believe that the cases are somehow too political, or that climate science is sketchy … they’re less likely to rule against defendants in climate lawsuits.”
Republican Scrutiny of Environmental Law Institute and Climate Judiciary Project
For three years, Republican lawmakers have scrutinized the Washington DC-based non-profit Environmental Law Institute (ELI) and its Climate Judiciary Project, which conducts seminars for lawyers and judges on the climate crisis. The project’s stated aim is to provide
“evidence-based judicial education about climate science and how it arises in the law,”according to ELI’s website.
Despite this, the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee has accused ELI of
“improper attempts … to influence federal judges.”In August, House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan of Ohio and House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts Chair Darrell Issa of California sent letters regarding these allegations, and formal inquiries were initiated this year.
Among the entities cited for alleged connections to ELI is Sher Edling, a law firm that has filed over two dozen climate deception lawsuits on behalf of states and municipalities against major fossil fuel companies. In a letter sent late last month and provided to , William Pittard, an attorney representing Sher Edling, stated:
“There is nothing extraordinary, and certainly nothing nefarious, about Sher Edling’s touchpoints with ELI, which are minimal.”
Pittard further noted that Sher Edling’s association with ELI
“pales in relation”to its ties with companies targeted by climate accountability litigation. ELI has received funding from BP, Chevron, and Koch Industries—all defendants in these lawsuits. Its board has included executives from BP and Shell, and currently includes a lawyer representing BP in three climate accountability cases as well as a former employee of Shell affiliates.
Sher Edling is not the only law firm under investigation for links to ELI. Last month, the committee also questioned the attorney representing Multnomah County in its lawsuit against major oil companies.
Fossil Fuel Groups’ Efforts to Influence Judiciary
According to Pittard, fossil fuel-affiliated groups have targeted ELI to divert attention from their own attempts to influence judges who may preside over climate lawsuits. One such effort involves seminars hosted by the Law and Economics Center (LEC)’s Judicial Education Project, which is part of George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia School of Law.
The LEC has long been criticized for its judicial seminars, which are attended by federal judges, and for accepting substantial funding from fossil fuel companies, including those targeted by climate accountability litigation.
Chris Wright’s Appearances at Judicial Seminars
In his previous role as head of a fracking company, Chris Wright spoke three times before private audiences of judges at events hosted by the LEC, Pittard noted in his letter.
The current energy secretary spoke at one of the program’s seminars in June 2024, according to Pittard, who cited a program schedule. Three months prior, Liberty Energy, the onshore oilfield services company Wright founded and led, filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration over a rule requiring companies to report climate-related risks.
Wright also appeared before judges at the program twice in June 2021, as shown in another schedule. In a reflection, David Henderson, a fellow presenter and rightwing economist, commented on Wright’s presentation.
“I learned a lot from his talk: his knowledge of oil and gas, obviously, but also two other things – his basis for skepticism about how bad global warming will be and his willingness to go public when doing so wasn’t obviously popular,”Henderson wrote.
Liberty Energy is a member of the American Energy Institute, a rightwing, pro-fossil fuel think tank that has criticized ELI for
“corruptly influencing the courts and destroying the rule of law to promote questionable climate science.”In 2024, found that the organization has ties to Leonard Leo, a conservative legal operative who helped select Supreme Court nominees for former President Donald Trump.
It remains unclear which judges attended Wright’s presentations. A spokesperson for the LEC told EE News that, although the judicial seminars are closed to the public for
“judicial security reasons,”attendees are listed in the center’s annual report. However, the report appears to list all registrants for LEC programming rather than attendees at specific seminars.
Other individuals with financial interests in the fossil fuel industry have also spoken at recent LEC seminars, Pittard noted. Just weeks ago, the program featured an attorney who serves as special counsel to a trade group opposing climate accountability lawsuits and whose leadership includes top executives from five defendants in such litigation. This attorney is also a managing partner at the law firm Shook, Hardy & Bacon, which represents Murphy Oil in one such lawsuit.
The LEC, Department of Energy, and Chris Wright did not respond to requests for comment.
Fossil Fuel Funding of Judicial Education
In 2016, Leonard Leo facilitated a $20 million anonymous donation to rename the law school housing the LEC after the late conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. The LEC itself receives funding from oil companies, including ExxonMobil—a defendant in several city and state lawsuits against major oil firms—and the Charles Koch Foundation, an organization known for its conservative advocacy. As ProPublica recently reported, the center informed the Charles Koch Foundation that it provides judges with a
“healthy skepticism of the invocations of ‘science’ that lurk in the background of lawsuits they are hearing.”
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, who has raised concerns about the center, stated in a letter to the Judicial Conference late last month:
“No surprise: Fossil fuel prefers that judges rely on industry-funded ‘education’ seminars teaching a false version of climate science.”
Records reviewed by indicate that in 2023, the center sought support from the charitable foundation of hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer, including for its Judicial Education Project. Singer’s hedge fund, Elliott Management, holds a significant stake in Suncor Energy, acquired Citgo in November 2025, and has a partnership with all three companies, which are defendants in climate accountability litigation.
A letter from the center expressed gratitude for the foundation’s support, stating:
“We greatly appreciate your support for our important and timely work.”
In March, Donald Kochan, who leads the LEC’s Judicial Education Project, claimed that ELI is
“secretly training judges on ways to evade the strictures of the law in global-warming cases under the guise of ‘education’.”However, Davies countered that the group’s judicial education programming exists solely to ensure judges have a fundamental understanding of climate issues to adjudicate cases fairly.
“To have a non-scientist fossil fuel boss like Chris Wright coming in and pretending to teach them about climate science? That’s not the same thing,”Davies said.
