A robust group that boasts 28 Republican legal professional generals, together with many who’ve sided with oil and gasoline companies to dam states looking for compensation for climate disasters attributable to local weather change, has raked in tens of millions of {dollars} from fossil gasoline giants and a darkish cash fund tied to Federalist Society co-chair, Leonard Leo.
The Republican Attorneys Basic Affiliation (Raga) has roped in about $5.8m from oil and gasoline giants and their allied lobbying teams since Joe Biden was elected president in 2020, marketing campaign finance information present.
Additional, Raga has acquired a whopping $18.8m from the Leo-linked Harmony Fund since 2014 when the darkish cash non-profit first registered with the IRS, in accordance with the liberal leaning Heart for Media and Democracy.
In the course of the first half of 2024, the Harmony Fund was the most important donor to Raga, plowing $2m into the group’s coffers. The Harmony Fund, previously known as the Judicial Disaster Community, spent tens of millions of {dollars} supporting Donald Trump’s three conservative supreme courtroom nominees and is led by Leo’s longtime shut affiliate Carrie Severino.
Labelled by watchdogs and critics as a “pay to play” operation for sometimes supporting lawsuits by main donors, Raga has garnered six determine checks from fossil gasoline giants equivalent to Koch Industries, which is chaired by billionaire Charles Koch, the American Petroleum Institute and the American Gas and Petrochemical Producers.
Whereas oil and gasoline monies have been pouring into Raga’s coffers, Republican legal professional generals have emerged as main allies of the oil business on litigation to beat again local weather change lawsuits and environmental guidelines
Raga, which payments its mission as “Defending the Rule of Legislation. Protecting America Protected,” drew hearth throughout Trump’s battle to thwart Biden from assuming workplace when an affiliate, the Rule of Legislation Protection Fund, spent $150,000 on robocalls to spice up attendance at Trump’s January 6 rally. The robocalls urged “patriots” to come back to the rally and stated: “We’ll march to the Capitol constructing and name on Congress to cease the steal.”
Launched in 1999, Raga has raised and spent tens of tens of millions of {dollars} to assist elect conservative legal professional generals – together with many who’ve filed corporate-friendly litigation.
Key Democrats in Congress and vitality analysts voice sharp criticism of Raga’s position in defending fossil gasoline pursuits at a time when climate-related disasters are rising, and Raga is raking in tens of millions of {dollars} from oil and gasoline pursuits and darkish cash teams
“Raga is one tentacle of the hassle by rightwing billionaires and the fossil gasoline business to seize our courts and authorities to the good thing about huge company pursuits,” Sheldon Whitehouse, Rhode Island Democratic senator, stated.
“With huge oil going through the potential of actual accountability in sincere courtrooms, obedient Raga attorneys basic are speeding in to supply taxpayer-funded authorized companies for his or her polluter funders. It’s a corrupt scheme.”
Power consultants too see GOP attorneys basic working in tandem with the oil business to dam main environmental guidelines.
“Purple state AGs try to place up a brick wall towards essential new environmental rules,” Michael Gerrard, who heads the Sabin Heart for Local weather Change Legislation at Columbia College, informed the Guardian “For the reason that starting of the Obama administration, every little thing that Democrats do to curb fossil gasoline emissions or battle local weather change is challenged by purple states and business.”
Gerrard’s level is underscored by a number of latest authorized strikes by Republican attorneys basic who belong to Raga and have been busy this yr submitting authorized actions to defend fossil gasoline pursuits in key battles.
In late Could, as an example, 19 Raga members requested the supreme courtroom to halt actions by Democratic attorneys basic in 5 states together with California, Connecticut and Minnesota which introduced instances in state courts looking for billions of {dollars} in damages from oil and gasoline firms as a consequence of local weather change-related climate disasters equivalent to wildfires, extreme storms and floods.
The Raga members’ argument, which consultants have stated is uncommon, comes as dozens of native and state governments have filed lawsuits that allege fossil gasoline companies for years deceived the general public about their merchandise’ dangers which contributed to local weather disaster.
The Republican attorneys basic argue solely federal businesses can regulate interstate gasoline emissions and that the state fits will improve prices for customers in different states.
“They don’t have authority to dictate our nationwide vitality coverage,” Steve Marshall, the Alabama legal professional basic, stated in an announcement asserting the 19 state lawsuit. “If the Supreme Court docket lets them proceed, California and its allies will imperil entry to inexpensive vitality for each American.”
after publication promotion
Earlier in Could, 27 Republican attorneys basic and business commerce teams filed lawsuits to dam the Environmental Safety Company from going ahead with a brand new Biden administration rule that requires coal-fired energy vegetation and new pure gasoline vegetation to make giant scale reductions in carbon emissions.
The EPA rule, which had simply been accepted in April, requires present coal-fired vegetation and plenty of new ones to chop their emissions by 90% by 2032 which may require billions of {dollars} in new expenditures.
Moreover, this April, 20 Republican attorneys basic filed a petition asking the supreme courtroom to intervene in a significant lawsuit introduced by Honolulu towards Sunoco and slated to go to trial later this yr that seeks billions of {dollars} in damages from main oil firms for deceptive the general public about local weather crisis-related disasters.
The transfer by the Republican attorneys basic got here as a number of oil and gasoline giants together with the highly effective American Petroleum Institute filed comparable petitions with the excessive courtroom.
The rising quantity of litigation by GOP attorneys basic attacking environmental guidelines and attempting to thwart local weather change lawsuits, dismays vitality consultants and watchdog teams.
“What the oil business is attempting to do is to dam efforts to carry them accountable for his or her actions, and undo the legal guidelines that may maintain them accountable,” stated Joe Romm, a senior analysis fellow on the College of Pennsylvania’s Heart for Science, Sustainability and the Media.
“The oil business is lots like their pal Donald Trump. They each consider they need to be above the regulation.”
Very long time Raga watchers concur.
“It ought to come as no shock that state attorneys basic whose electoral campaigns are buttressed by the fossil-fuel funded Raga are utilizing their public places of work to assault efforts to mitigate local weather change regardless of how rising temperatures are harming their states,” stated Lisa Graves, the chief director of the progressive watchdog group True North Analysis and the co-founder of Court docket Accountability.
Extra broadly, Graves lambasted Raga as a “pay-to-play group that has acquired tens of millions through Leonard Leo, the rightwing lawyer who orchestrated the packing of the US supreme courtroom”.
In an identical vein, Jim Jones, the previous Republican Idaho legal professional basic, informed the Guardian final yr that he was troubled by Ragas conservative route.
“They’ve turn into political operatives as an alternative of the individuals of their states to safeguard the rule of regulation. They appear to be pandering to rightwing extremist teams to achieve workplace within the first place after which to retain workplace.”
Supply hyperlink
