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The Federalist Society claims credit for creating a US judicial system sceptical of climate change – with ‘dark money’ backers linked to the fossil fuel industry and Donald Trump
A decades-long struggle between Steven Donziger, a human rights lawyer, and the citizens of Ecuador’s Lago Agrio region, Chevron, appeared to have come to an abrupt halt last October when Donziger was SentencedFor contempt of court, up to six months imprisonment
His sentencing tells a chilling story about a judicial structure that is increasingly hostile towards environmental protections. It includes dark money interests and libertarian radical-right organizations intent on pushing for a deregulatory agenda that entrenches the power the fossil fuel industry.
Donziger represented the Lago Agio people of Ecuador, who sued Chevron for environmental damage in 1993. In 2011, Donziger received a $9.5 billion settlement. Donziger was immediately placed under house arrest.IssuedAfter dubious allegations, he was fined a heavy amount for bribing the Ecuadorian judge in his case, Alberto Guerra.
Later it was revealed that Guerra was involved in the fossil fuel sector and was being assisted by corrupt justice. Chevron was accused.HelpGuerra will prepare to testify on more than 50 occasions evenRelocatingHe brought his family to the US, and paid him a handsome salary.
Judge Loretta Preska was shocked when Donziger appeared in front of him last autumn on contempt of court charges.Convicted by Seward and Kessel – a private law firm with proven links to Chevron. Preska was present at the trial. denied Donziger’s request for a jury trial, barred online access to the public, and refused to allow Donziger’s lawyers to justify their decision to protect attorney-client privilege by not granting the court access to his electronic devices.
Preska is a member of the Federalist Society – a conservative legal organisation which advocates for a textualist interpretation of the US Constitution, and which frequently align itself with rulings that seek to curtail progressive policies such as environmental protections. It is funded primarily by climate-denying, radical-right backers. They want a US legal structure that will support oil and gas interests.
Influencing the Supreme Court
Founded in 1982The Federalist Society was founded in response to what it perceived as a dominant leftist consensus at elite American educational institutions by Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, and Chicago Law Schools.
It has a long history ofPromoting climate denial and disinformation – which it seeks to bring to the US Supreme Court by supporting conservative nominees who promote a laissez faireFree market approach to the US Constitution, and environmental protections.
In 2018, the Society’s executive vice president, Leonard Leo, took a leave of absence to personallyPlease adviseDonald Trump, then US President, on his Supreme Court Picks. Under Trump’s leadership, the US Supreme Court swung to the right with the appointments of conservative judges Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. The Supreme Court now has a majority of conservative judges.
Gorsuch has oftenAdvocatedThis legal approach weakens federal agencies’ ability to regulate industries in line of decarbonisation targets. Coney Barrett, however, displayed her climate-skeptic credentials when she refused a clear answer to questions about the climate crisis. When asked: “Is climate change happening?” BarrettResponded: “I will not answer that because it is contentious.”
Leo and the Federalist Society also previously supported George W. Bush’s appointment of two conservative judges, Samuel Alito and John Roberts.
David Armiak, research director at investigative watchdog the Centre for Media and Democracy, believes that the Federalist Society’s influence over the US Supreme Court will make it difficult for President Joe Biden to enact the sweeping regulatory reforms necessary to address the climate crisis.
He said Byline Times: “With the Federalist Society, and its leader Leonard Leo’s help, the right-wing has packed the federal judiciary with corporate-friendly judges. Given the large number of Federalist Society ties to these Trump appointees, it is safe to conclude that the Federalist Society will remain influential for decades to come.”
Dark Money funds the project
The Federalist Society is funded by a trail of ‘dark money’ – including substantial donations from fossil fuel-backed billionaires and lobbyists – which it then uses to fund its campaigning work and to support radical-right lawyers and judges.
That money includes funding from the Koch brothers – oil and gas billionaires who use their vast wealth to fund right-wing, libertarian political causes.
Charles Koch is Charles Koch’s only survivor, David Koch having passed away in 2019. The Koch family and its business interests have supported fossil fuels for a long time. spentBetween 1998 and 2017, more than $115million was spent on lobbying activities, which accounted for approximately 97% total subsidising oil producers.
Polluter Watch analyzed data from 990 public taxes returns and determined that the Federalist Society was the result. ReceivedA total of $7,962,499 has been received from various Koch industries between 1997 & 2019.
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Further data from the Conservative Transparency Project (a database that tracks the flow money among conservative donors) revealed that the Federalist Society was the recipient of additional data.Received $22,499,100 from non-profit fund Donors’ Trust – an organisationFounded to “ensure the intent of donors who are dedicated to the ideals of limited government, personal responsibility, and free enterprise” between 2002 and 2017.
While there are no legal requirements for the Donors’ Trust to disclose its sources of funding, it is Well documentedThat Koch MoneyIt is used to funnel funds to radical-right causes. It is also linked to Robert Mercer (hedge fund manager and prominent Trump supporter), whose family foundationInvestedIn 2020, the organization received nearly $20 million.
In 2020, the Donors Trust gave $20 million to the 85 Fund – a funding organisation set-up and managed by Leonard Leo. The 85 Fund continued tobankroll several conservative organisations which were pushing for Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court nomination. Turning Point USA, which received $2.7million, and Job Creators Network, who received $500,000.
As such, it is possible to draw a line connecting fossil fuel money, Federalist Society and a Supreme Court judge who has failed to acknowledge climate science.
An Agenda for Deregulation
The Federalist Society has had a close relationship to figures who have tried to weaken the EPA including Scott Pruitt, its former head.
Trump appointed Pruitt in 2018, who is also the president of Pruitt.spokenFederalist Society events disputing efficacy of Clean Power Plan and isListedAs a contributor to its website, argued that, when it comes to environmental protections, “regulatory power should not be used by any regulatory body to pick winners and losers”.
Pruitt was introduced to the public in 2017 by Federalist Society lobbyists trusteeC Boyden Gray, 2017. Gray has a history in which he downplays the urgency and importance of combating climate change. Writing for Forbes 2016, Gray So called efforts by attorneys to litigate against oil giant ExxonMobil for funding climate disinformation a “new climatology inquisition”. He also argued that “when it comes to actual proposals for real legislative action on climate change, Exxon’s advocacy has been indistinguishable from some of the leading environmental organisations”.
Gray was born in 1995.HiringThe Comprehensive Regulatory Reform Act was drafted in response by the Koch Brothers to a lawsuit brought against Koch Industries. It was written by the EPA in response to major oil spillages from several facilities and pipelines in several states. The Act required that corporations being sued by US Governments not be subjected to severe fines.
Pruitt attended the same event one year later with Gray.AbrogatedThe Obama-era EPA regulations were amended to include new greenhouse gas emissions standards for light trucks and cars.
“Special interest groups like the Federalist Society have way too much influence over our the democratic process,” David Armiak added. He believes that more needs to be done with policies such as “recusal law/rules and transparency which may help to limit that influence, or at least, bring greater light to its role in politics”.
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