Climate review linked to lawsuits was 'sham' shrouded in 'secrecy,' Attorneys General allege. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine produced a biased climate report designed to bolster lawsuits against fossil fuel companies, a coalition of state attorneys general alleges in a Thursday letter obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation. The attorneys general allege NASEM's July report on attributing extreme weather events to climate change was shaped by funders, researchers and legal advocates connected to climate litigation - including the landmark Suncor Energy v. County Commissioners of Boulder County case now before the Supreme Court. The coalition is also aiming for NASEM's handling of a separate review of its climate-related work, arguing the organization has failed to adequately address potential conflicts of interest. "However, this review appears to be a sham, as demonstrated by NASEM's secrecy around all aspects of the review process," the Republican attorneys general wrote in their 12-page letter. "A truly independent review would appoint an external panel; use reviewers who are not activists, litigation participants, or NASEM employees; publish the review process and findings; identify the review's scope; and ensure the review's scope addresses the material criticisms of the Chapter." "In July, NASEM released a biased climate-attribution report, entitled 'Attribution of Extreme Weather and Climate Events and Their Impacts 2026,' to aid climate plaintiffs, including in the pending" Suncor case, the coalition alleged. The dispute centers in part on the growing role of "attribution science," which researchers use to assess how climate change influences the likelihood or severity of individual extreme-weather events. That research has increasingly intersected with litigation seeking to hold fossil fuel companies financially responsible for alleged climate-related damages. NASEM's report itself acknowledged potential legal applications for the science, according to the letter. "Reinforcing its intended use in litigation, the Report states that attribution science 'may be relevant to policy and legal decisions pertaining to climate change and liability for losses sustained as a result of extreme weather and climate events,' may be 'useful in estimating marginal damages attributable to climate change,' and may inform 'responsibility or liability determinations,' including 'whether defendants may be held liable' in climate litigation," the attorneys general wrote. The attorneys general allege NASEM's report entered that legal battle at a particularly consequential moment. The letter comes as the Supreme Court prepares to hear oral arguments in Suncor this October. Boulder County and the City of Boulder sued Suncor Energy and ExxonMobil in 2018, seeking damages under Colorado law for alleged harms caused by climate change. The companies argue states cannot use state tort law to regulate alleged harms arising from interstate and international greenhouse-gas emissions and that such claims are governed by federal law. "The timing of the Report's release allowed plaintiffs' amici in Suncor to cite the Report, but prevented critiques from defendants' amici, whose filing deadline had passed," the coalition wrote. The letter specifically points to an amicus brief supporting the plaintiffs that repeatedly cited the NASEM report after its publication. "Notably, one amicus organization supporting plaintiffs in Suncor bragged about the Report's timing, cited the Report over and over on ten of its pages, and received $100 million to 'accelerate climate action' from the Bezos Earth Fund - which also funded NASEM's Report," the attorneys general wrote. They stressed that agencies "may wish to look further into the nature of this convenient coincidence." "The National Academies took taxpayer money and used it to manufacture a scientific-sounding basis for climate lawsuits courts have already rejected, then timed a follow-up report to help plaintiffs in the Suncor case while locking out any rebuttal. Calling their own secret internal review 'independent' is a punchline," Jason Isaac, CEO of the American Energy Institute, told the DCNF. Exploring Travel Maps Discover more Digital Newspaper Access Advertise With Us Subscribing To Newspapers "Federal agencies shouldn't need another minute to cut off funding to an organization laundering climate activism through the National Academies' name," Isaac continued. In the letter, the coalition also singled out the organizations that financed NASEM's report. "Each of the Report's three funders is connected to climate litigation," the letter alleges. The attorneys general point first to the Bezos Earth Fund, which helped fund the NASEM report and previously announced a $100 million grant to the Natural Resources Defense Council and $15 million to the Union of Concerned Scientists. Both organizations submitted amicus briefs supporting the plaintiffs in Suncor, according to the letter. The coalition also highlights financier Robert Litterman and the Heising-Simons Foundation, alleging both have financial or organizational ties to groups involved in climate litigation. "Another Report funder, Robert Litterman, is a board member and major funder for one of the nonprofit organizations that the government plaintiffs identify as providing 'most of the legal work' in Suncor," the attorneys general wrote. Discover more Subscribing To News Newspaper Subscriptions The letter alleges similar connections involving people who contributed input to the report, including Columbia University's Michael Burger. "The Report's Acknowledgments section thanks Michael Burger, without mentioning that Burger is 'Of Counsel' for the Sher Edling law firm," the coalition wrote. Sher Edling has represented state and local governments in numerous climate lawsuits against fossil fuel companies. Burger also co-wrote an amicus brief in Suncor and worked on litigation involving Honolulu, according to the attorneys general. "In other words, the Report gave the plaintiffs' supporters exactly what they needed, exactly when they needed it, to further their litigation goals, without affording the other side an opportunity to weigh in," the attorneys general alleged. "Agencies may wish to investigate this coincidence given the heavy overlap between the Report's funding and development and the Suncor litigation." Bezos Earth Fund, the Heising-Simons Foundation, Litterman and Sher Edling each did not immediately respond to the DCNF's requests for comment. "The National Academies has a history of bias that will not be forgotten just because it's feigning an 'independent' review of the controversial climate science chapter. Climate lawfare is a critical tool for trial lawyers and woke activists to weaponize the courts to push policy through lawfare," O.H. Skinner, Executive Director of Alliance For Consumers, told the DCNF. Skinner added that the activists "have built a huge dark-money-fueled apparatus to boost and support this lawfare and they don't want to see this manual changed." "The Attorneys General are right to question NASEM's federal funding and seek a charter review. As the Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments in the Suncor case, neutrality needs to be restored, and the radical left-wing apparatus behind these cases questioned at every turn," he continued. "Critics have demonstrated that the Chapter materially misquotes the IPCC, directly contradicts the manual's statistics chapter, was apparently substantially ghost-written by climate plaintiffs' attorney Michael Burger, and had funders, authors, and reviewers that included climate funders, activists, and litigation participants," the attorneys general wrote in the letter. The controversy has also drawn congressional scrutiny. The House Science, Space and Technology Committee previously raised concerns about NASEM's conflict-of-interest policies. "The Congressional committee further noted that NASEM's January 2025 policy changes require NASEM committee members to merely disclose non-financial conflicts, such as professional and legal affiliations, with no protocol for mitigation," the attorneys general wrote. NASEM subsequently launched a review, but the attorneys general argue its structure and lack of publicly available information do little to address their underlying concerns. The coalition is now asking federal agencies to consider whether those alleged problems justify cutting NASEM off from federal funding. "Taxpayer money should not be funding NASEM's biased actions, which warrant suspension or debarment," the attorneys general wrote. "If NASEM continues to lend its imprimatur to litigation-driven advocacy, then Congress should find another source for objective analysis and consider revoking the 1863 charter that designates the Academies as an adviser to the federal government." Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of its original content, please contact [email protected]

Leonardo DiCaprio and Jeff Bezos team up to save endangered species. Emily Burack Tue, August 4, 2026 at 8:04 AM PDT Leonardo DiCaprio and Jeff Bezos's foundations, Re:wild and the Bezos Earth Fund, have teamed up to save 100 of the Earth's most endangered species. Called the Phoenix Species Project, "the effort begins with a $200 million commitment, making it the largest single philanthropic initiative dedicated exclusively to the recovery of critically endangered species across taxonomic groups, a diversity of habitats, and countries," according to a release. "It will provide unprecedented support to help recover 100 species facing imminent extinction, collaborating with Indigenous Peoples, local communities, scientists and conservationists working to secure the future of biodiversity and the planet." The 100 species include mammals, amphibians, reptiles, birds, fish, invertebrates, and plants from 30 countries, including the golden-crowned Sifaka lemur (pictured above), the Visayan warty pig, the Malayan pangolin, the Charco Azul pupfish, and the Torrey Pine tree. "For decades, scientists, Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and conservation leaders have been on the front lines of protecting nature, and what has been made clear through research, is that species on the brink of extinction are often the ones that anchor some of the world's most important ecosystems," DiCaprio said in a statement. "When we protect those species, we also protect the forests, wetlands, grasslands, and oceans they depend on." He added, "The Phoenix Species Project has the potential to drastically shift how we approach conservation and combat the climate crisis at a global scale. By creating the largest philanthropic initiative in history dedicated to the recovery of critically endangered species across continents, made possible by a transformative gift from the Bezos Earth Fund, we have an opportunity to make a lasting impact where it's needed most. The goal is for the Phoenix Species Project to become a global movement that inspires others to invest in nature and help protect our planet." Lauren Sánchez Bezos, vice chair of the Bezos Earth Fund, added, "Kids fall in love with animals before anyone tells them those animals are disappearing. Ask any seven-year-old about their favorite creature. It's something wild. Something most adults have never heard of. What do we tell them when the night parrot or the golden-crowned sifaka isn't there anymore to fall in love with? This project is our answer. One hundred species, thirty countries, and a real commitment to bringing them back. Not managing their decline. Recovering them. That's the whole difference. We know how to do this. We just have to stay committed long enough to see it through." The funding will go to local and international partners around the world, and strategies to revive the species include conservation breeding programs, disease management, and restoring habitats, among others.