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An environmental advocacy group accused of trying to manipulate a judge has removed and anonymous the names of jurists who worked with the network of activists and praised their activities, and the Fox News Digital Report has since revealed an online forum to facilitate Climate Litigation Update.
According to its website, the Climate Justice Project (CJP), founded in 2018 by the Left Environmental Law Institute, calls itself “an authoritative, objective and trustworthy education of climate science, the impact of climate change, the impact of climate science, and the way climate science is produced in law.”
The group has been accused by Republican lawmakers such as Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who are committed to “training judges” and “making them agree to creative climate litigation strategies.” In July, Fox News Digital reported on CJP’s multi-year national forum that jurists and CJP leadership privately exchanged climate-related legal updates and information—which was suddenly privatized in May 2024.
CJP’s recommendation page This summer, the praise of jurists participating in the program has been overhauled, including refuting the testimony of the judge identified in the July report of Fox News. Fox Digital reviewed archived links to the CJP’s proof page and found that Judge Sam Scheele’s comments were still public on the site in May, but were deleted in late July after Fox Digital’s report.
In recent years, the number of climate-related lawsuits in the United States has increased significantly, including in the last two years of Biden’s administration. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
“It’s really a privilege. I’ve absorbed everything that has brought us passionately and I look forward to paying ahead and forward.” Scheele read while serving in the civil department of the Indiana Lake Superior Court, according to a link on the website’s page, which started in May.
At the end of July, another archived link showed that Scheele’s quote and name had been removed from the CJP’s testimony page, while four other quotes were attributed to anonymous “participating judges.” The remaining offer is still attributed to the William and former president of the Flora HP Foundation, a nonprofit that funded progressive causes in the U.S., and it is unclear the exact day that changes to the referral page.
Asked about changes to the proof page, a spokesperson for the Environmental Law Institute told Fox Digital that it was an update made to “protect privacy and prevent unfounded criticism and harassment.”
“The judges are encouraged and require many to attend continuing education on topics related to emerging legal trends, including those related to science. Recent changes to the CJP website are intended to protect privacy and prevent unfounded criticism and harassment.”
Scheele is a minority Who is the judge According to documents previously reviewed by Fox News Digital, the document was communicated on the CJP’s online forum, which lasted until May 2024. Although Scheele’s testimony was removed from the website’s testimony page, two other favorable quotes of the judge were anonymous and attributed to “the judge of participation”, while the other two quotations remained the same, both attributed to the “the judge of participation” Fox News Digital discovery.
Last month, the Fox News figures for the now-lost chat forum of CJP and jurists detailed numerous information between at least five judges and CJP employees who traded links on climate research, congratulated each other on the recent environmental events, shared the latest information on recent climate cases that were called to state courts and encouraged others to participate in other CJPs and to participate in other situations along with other CJPS.
A message from Delaware Judge Travis Laster is a Delaware Court vice president, which contains a YouTube video containing a 2022 climate speech by Delaware officials and professors at Columbia University, focusing on. Climate litigation Since the mid-2000s.
It also includes claims that the lawsuits could one day go bankrupt in the fuel industry.
Laster shared the video in a disclaimer with others in the group: “Because the link is a link to a judicial incident, otherwise it will not be public, please do not contact me without using it.
Scheele was one of a handful of other judges who responded to Laster’s video and message, praising it as “great work.”
Since the 2000s, litigation concerning climate and energy has increased. (Getty Image)
According to Fox News Digital documents, Scheele replied: “This is a great job/a great thing, Travis; congratulations on getting the job done!”.
Scheele’s office did not respond to Fox Digital’s request for comment, which involved why his name and testimony were removed from the website.
Scheele’s office did respond to Fox News Digital’s inquiries last month about his past participation in forums, saying he had been in the 2022 National Climate Science Justice Conference for the first time, more than two years before being appointed to the Indiana Court of Appeals.
“At the last minute, when another appointed delegate unexpectedly failed to attend, the Indiana state court administration asked Judge Scheele to fill Indiana’s delegate, who accepted the invitation. It’s normal for our judges to attend our meetings, which addressed the emerging, hot ass issues that could arise in the courtroom,” Scheele’s office said.
“Judge Schell does not remember any substantive communications of the ‘list service’ mentioned. He is like the appeal court of all our Indiana judges, committed to the state’s impartial, politically-free judicial administration. He educates new subjects on his own legal and applies legal training to assess his legal issues, like all of our judges.”
CJP told Fox News Digital last month that the now lost email list was created in September 2022 to help judicial leaders of its climate science program communicate and connect with each other during the program’s deadline.
An environmentalist scaled the Wilson building as part of a Earth Day rally in Washington, D.C. on April 22, 2022. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
The group told Fox News Digital that a one-year program, established by the CJP and the National Academy of Justice, “train the judicial leadership skills that integrate climate science and how judicial leadership skills are produced in the law.” The group told Fox News Digital.
A spokesperson for the group said in an emailed statement that CJP’s educational activities were “conducted in partnership with leading national judicial education institutions and state judicial authorities, meeting its recognized standards.” “Its curriculum is fact-based, scientifically based, consensus reporting, and meets the highest academic standards with a strong peer review process.”
The spokesperson added: “The work of CJP is no different from that of other ongoing judicial education organizations that deal with important and complex topics including medicine, technology and neuroscience.”
Senator Ted Cruz is one of two senators targeted via voicemail threats. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)
The news of the program’s publicity comes as the United States has seen a sharp rise in climate-related litigation in recent years, including cases against oil giants Shell, BP and ExxonMobil, allegedly using “deceptive” marketing and reducing the risk of climate change, as well as lawsuits against internal governments, litigation, litigation, and litigation against internal governments, litigation, and litigation against litigation, to resolve scope, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to infringement, to in According to the plaintiff.
Senator Cruz Having put CJP under the microscope of the public many times, including at a Senate subcommittee hearing in June, called “Entering Dragon – Laws of China and the Left on American Energy Rule”, Texas Republicans believe that the Chinese Communist Party and American left-wing activists have launched a “systemic movement” to weaponize the courts’ systems to weaponize “American Energy Rule underground.”
Cruz said the CJP is a key player in the “law” because it ensures “judicial prisoners.”
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Cruz said the CJP’s claim on neutrality was shocking, and the group allegedly promoted “indoctrination of parts, forcing judges to abandon the rule of law and rule based on predetermined political narratives.”
The CJP denied Cruz’s allegations and described itself as “a neutral, objective message to the judiciary regarding climate change science, which is understood by the expert scientific community and is related to current and future litigation.”
The judge had previously landed in hot water in a panel forum due to climate-related issues, including in 2019 Federal judge hits “all replies” An invitation to a climate workshop with 45 other judges and court staff about the Email Chain about the Environmental Law Institute chaired by the judges. The judge then scolded colleagues who shared “this nonsense” and suggested it was an act that was against moral norms, while others defended that it was not immoral to promote the incident to others.
Breanne Deppisch and Andrew Mark Miller of Fox News Digital contributed to the report.
Senior News Analyst & National Affairs Writer
Prabhat Sharma is a veteran journalist with over 12 years of experience covering national news, current affairs, and breaking stories across India. Known for his analytical approach and in-depth reporting, Prabhat brings clarity to complex topics and delivers content that informs, educates, and empowers readers.
He is passionate about political transparency, policy analysis, and the evolving landscape of Indian journalism.
When he’s not writing, you’ll find him reading non-fiction, watching documentaries, or exploring offbeat destinations
