“As a climate skeptic who’s long argued against the unverifiable hysteria of the “climate crisis” and its ESG offshoots, the emerging scandal surrounding Michael Bloomberg’s NGO-backed placement…”
Thank you for your investigative journalism regarding Michael Bloomberg's SEEIC, Stephen. Your work is a good example of the phrase, "Sunlight is the best disinfectant."
Here's a relevant excerpt that is in alignment with your article via an InfluenceWatch.org article regarding the Bloomberg Family Foundation.
In 2017, Bloomberg Philanthropies began funding a new program created by State Energy and Environmental Impact Center (SEEIC), an organization run by New York University Law School. SEEIC financially supports the salaries and benefits of legal fellows in the New York Attorney General’s office that pledge to advance “progressive clean energy, climate change, and environmental legal positions.” The SEEIC claims it does not influence the work of the fellows, but controversy arose after Matthew Eisenson, a fellow in the Attorney General’s office, signed a lawsuit against Exxon Mobil alleging that the company falsely exaggerated the negative impact that climate change regulations would have on its business.41
In turn, Exxon alleged that “New York’s investigation of, and enforcement against, ExxonMobil are driven by improper motives,” claiming that the Attorney General office’s act of hiring fellows from SEeIC “generates a conflict of interest.” Christopher Horner, a fellow at the libertarian think tank Competitive Enterprise Organization, requested the Attorney General’s office release the quarterly reports they send to the SEEIC that detail their fellows’ progress on environmental initiatives. The Attorney General’s office only released emails that mentioned the reports but did not release the reports themselves.41
As of 2018, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Virginia, Oregon, Maryland, Washington state, and New Mexico were also participating in the Bloomberg-funded program.42
In June 2019, the Government Accountability and Oversight law firm sued Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, demanding that she divulge her two fellows’ documents pertaining to SEEIC.41 In March 2019, the state of Virginia had to block further speculation of Bloomberg influence by formally mandating that their Attorney General office only compensate their employees with public funds.41 43
CRITICISM OF THE GREEN NEW DEAL
In June 2019, Michael Bloomberg announced that he planned to donate $500,000,000 to launch a “Beyond Carbon” campaign meant to advocate for a stronger government response to climate change. 44
Bloomberg’s decision was reportedly a “direct response to the Green New Deal,” a left-wing environmental policy proposed in March 2019 by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), which Bloomberg criticized as a “pie in the sky” idea. 44
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL
Republican attorneys general, such as Indiana AG Curtis Hill, have criticized Bloomberg Philanthropies’ support for New York University Law School’s State Energy and Environmental Impact Center (SEEIC) as a means of implanting left-leaning AG special assistants into Democratic state offices to help promote Bloomberg’s “climate agenda.” 45 This would include, according to Republicans like Hill and Texas AG Ken Paxton, attacking energy companies such as Exxonmobil and pushing back against the Trump Administration’s environmental policies. This is in part a follow-up to court memos obtained by the Daily Caller in 2018 that indicated an attorney for Bloomberg Philanthropies, Gavin McCabe was part of a New York state lawsuit against ExxonMobil and Chevron due to their “contribution to climate change,” though the lawsuit was dropped later that year. 45
See also this relevant excerpt from a hearing on H.Amdt.544 to H.R.4821 in the U.S. House of Representatives: H.R.4821 Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2024, Offered on November 2, 2023.
Thank you for your investigative journalism regarding Michael Bloomberg's SEEIC, Stephen. Your work is a good example of the phrase, "Sunlight is the best disinfectant."
Here's a relevant excerpt that is in alignment with your article via an InfluenceWatch.org article regarding the Bloomberg Family Foundation.
https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/bloomberg-family-foundation-bloomberg-philanthropies/
EXXONMOBIL CLIMATE CHANGE ALLEGATIONS
In 2017, Bloomberg Philanthropies began funding a new program created by State Energy and Environmental Impact Center (SEEIC), an organization run by New York University Law School. SEEIC financially supports the salaries and benefits of legal fellows in the New York Attorney General’s office that pledge to advance “progressive clean energy, climate change, and environmental legal positions.” The SEEIC claims it does not influence the work of the fellows, but controversy arose after Matthew Eisenson, a fellow in the Attorney General’s office, signed a lawsuit against Exxon Mobil alleging that the company falsely exaggerated the negative impact that climate change regulations would have on its business.41
In turn, Exxon alleged that “New York’s investigation of, and enforcement against, ExxonMobil are driven by improper motives,” claiming that the Attorney General office’s act of hiring fellows from SEeIC “generates a conflict of interest.” Christopher Horner, a fellow at the libertarian think tank Competitive Enterprise Organization, requested the Attorney General’s office release the quarterly reports they send to the SEEIC that detail their fellows’ progress on environmental initiatives. The Attorney General’s office only released emails that mentioned the reports but did not release the reports themselves.41
As of 2018, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Virginia, Oregon, Maryland, Washington state, and New Mexico were also participating in the Bloomberg-funded program.42
In June 2019, the Government Accountability and Oversight law firm sued Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, demanding that she divulge her two fellows’ documents pertaining to SEEIC.41 In March 2019, the state of Virginia had to block further speculation of Bloomberg influence by formally mandating that their Attorney General office only compensate their employees with public funds.41 43
CRITICISM OF THE GREEN NEW DEAL
In June 2019, Michael Bloomberg announced that he planned to donate $500,000,000 to launch a “Beyond Carbon” campaign meant to advocate for a stronger government response to climate change. 44
Bloomberg’s decision was reportedly a “direct response to the Green New Deal,” a left-wing environmental policy proposed in March 2019 by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), which Bloomberg criticized as a “pie in the sky” idea. 44
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL
Republican attorneys general, such as Indiana AG Curtis Hill, have criticized Bloomberg Philanthropies’ support for New York University Law School’s State Energy and Environmental Impact Center (SEEIC) as a means of implanting left-leaning AG special assistants into Democratic state offices to help promote Bloomberg’s “climate agenda.” 45 This would include, according to Republicans like Hill and Texas AG Ken Paxton, attacking energy companies such as Exxonmobil and pushing back against the Trump Administration’s environmental policies. This is in part a follow-up to court memos obtained by the Daily Caller in 2018 that indicated an attorney for Bloomberg Philanthropies, Gavin McCabe was part of a New York state lawsuit against ExxonMobil and Chevron due to their “contribution to climate change,” though the lawsuit was dropped later that year. 45
REFERENCES
41. Board, The Editorial. “Opinion | State AGs’ Climate Cover-up.” The Wall Street Journal. June 07, 2019. Accessed June 13, 2019. https://www.wsj.com/articles/state-ags-climate-cover-up-11559945410.
42. “How Bloomberg Embeds Green Warriors in Blue-State Governments.” RealClearInvestigations. Accessed June 13, 2019. https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2018/10/09/bloomberg_funds_green_work_of_democrat_state_attorneys_offices.html.
43. Richardson, Valerie. “Virginia Bill Blocks Bloomberg from Embedding Climate Lawyers in Attorney General’s Office.” The Washington Times. March 03, 2019. Accessed June 13, 2019. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/mar/3/virginia-blocks-mike-bloombergs-climate-lawyers/.
44. Williams, Tate. “Game Changer? The Promise and Perils of Bloomberg’s Big New Climate Funding Push.” Inside Philanthropy. June 19, 2019. Accessed June 25, 2019. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2019/6/19/game-changer-the-promise-and-perils-of-bloombergs-big-new-climate-funding-push.
45. White, Chris. “Republican AGs Say Bloomberg Is Secretly Embedding An Army Of Anti-Trump Attorneys Inside State Offices.” The Daily Caller, January 5, 2020. https://dailycaller.com/2020/01/04/michael-bloomberg-donald-trump/.
See also this relevant excerpt from a hearing on H.Amdt.544 to H.R.4821 in the U.S. House of Representatives: H.R.4821 Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2024, Offered on November 2, 2023.
https://www.congress.gov/amendment/118th-congress/house-amendment/544/text
..... The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Colorado.
Ms. BOEBERT. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to offer my amendment that
utilizes the Holman rule to reduce the salary of the Director of the
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Elizabeth Klein, to $1.
Ms. Klein is a radical environmentalist and a partisan hack
compromised by special interests and mired in ethical conflict. Her
conflicts of interest were so severe that even Senator Manchin voted to
block her nomination as Deputy Secretary of the Interior.
As deputy director at the New York University School of Law's State
Energy and Environmental Impact Center, Klein placed and paid the
salaries of legal fellows in State attorneys general offices to advance
Michael Bloomberg's radical environmental agenda.
The use of private money to conduct public business is ethically
flawed. An Indiana attorney general categorized Ms. Klein's program as
an ``arrangement through which a private organization or individual can
promote an overtly political agenda by paying the salaries of
government employees.''
In just the first year of the program, SEEIC fellows participated in
filing at least 130 regulatory, legal, and other challenges to
President Trump's policies.
Now, Ms. Klein is working for the Federal Government and on the other
side of lawsuits that she helped file. Under President Biden's own
ethics rules, she should be prohibited from participating in matters
involving her former employer.
During her testimony to the House Committee on Natural Resources, I
questioned Ms. Klein about her failed nomination to become Deputy
Secretary of the Interior. I asked if she had been provided with a
recusal list and formally requested that she provide this list to the
committee. Ms. Klein told the committee that she was happy to provide
the list.
Shamefully, it took a letter from the committee and this aggressive
committee questioning for Ms. Klein to send the committee a very
delayed recusal list that should have been in place almost immediately
after her hiring.
Ms. Klein spent several years funneling money from Michael Bloomberg
to sue the Trump administration and pay for the Green New Deal lawyers
she had placed in attorneys general offices across the country.
Given her myriad of Federal lawsuits and conflicts, there should be
little to
[[Page H5293]]
nothing that Ms. Klein is allowed to work on at any subagency within
the Department of the Interior.
Senior Federal employees are required to be transparent in their
ethical obligations and act impartially, placing their sole loyalty to
the Constitution and the laws of the United States.
Ms. Klein's history of infiltrating State governments with Michael
Bloomberg minions and supporting lawsuits against the Federal
Government makes it impossible for her to meet the ethical obligations
that her position of public trust requires.
Ms. Klein's continued employment as Director of the Bureau of Ocean
Energy Management has been riddled with a controversial and extensive
history of ethical conflicts and is a stain on the Department of the
Interior and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
Radical, partisan extremists have no place in the Federal Government,
especially those in charge of our energy industry.
Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support my amendment to restore
integrity to the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Ocean
Energy Management.
Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. PINGREE. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to this amendment.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Maine is recognized for 5
minutes.
Ms. PINGREE. Mr. Chair, this amendment is petty and punitive. Rather
than pursuing grudges against public servants and spewing inaccurate
and disrespectful information, my colleagues across the aisle should
focus their energy on negotiating with the Senate on a bill to fund the
government.
Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to reject this amendment, and I yield
back the balance of my time.
Ms. BOEBERT. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
{time} 1445
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentlewoman from Colorado (Ms. Boebert).
The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the ayes
appeared to have it.
Ms. PINGREE. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from Colorado
will be postponed..... (The amendment was rejected in the recorded vote.)