Senator Ted Cruz of Texas is trying to shut down climate lawsuits against fossil fuel companies on two tracks at once: a federal bill that would dismiss every pending case and void every state climate liability law, and a public campaign alleging that China is secretly bankrolling the litigation. The bill, introduced in April 2026, is the most sweeping legislative attempt yet to end the roughly three dozen suits brought by states, cities, counties, and tribes. The China allegation, pressed in a Senate hearing he chaired in June 2025, has not been backed by documented evidence, including by Cruz’s own office.
The Stop Climate Shakedowns Act
On April 20, 2026, Cruz introduced the Stop Climate Shakedowns Act with Senators Tom Cotton, Ted Budd, and Mike Lee, alongside companion legislation in the House from Representative Harriet Hageman.1Office of Senator Ted Cruz. Sens. Cruz, Cotton, Budd, Lee Introduce Bill to Combat Climate Lawfare and Defend American Energy
The bill defines a “climate suit” broadly: any lawsuit seeking damages, injunctive relief, abatement, or restitution for harm resulting from climate change, including claims built on marketing, misrepresentation, or failure to warn. It defines an “energy penalty law” as any state law that requires compensatory payments from, or exposes to liability, anyone in the energy business for climate-related costs. Under the act, no such lawsuit could be filed or maintained in any federal or state court. Pending cases would be “immediately dismissed” when the law takes effect, and existing state energy penalty laws would be voided.2Office of Senator Ted Cruz. Stop Climate Shakedowns Act of 2026
The bill’s findings frame greenhouse gas emissions and climate change as subjects governed “exclusively by Federal law,” and assert that state-level climate liability efforts lack scientific credibility, threaten to destabilize industries, and burden interstate and foreign commerce.2Office of Senator Ted Cruz. Stop Climate Shakedowns Act of 2026
The China Funding Allegation
On June 25, 2025, Cruz chaired a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing titled “Enter the Dragon—China and the Left’s Lawfare Against American Energy Dominance.” He claimed at the hearing that “foreign money from entities tied to the Chinese Communist Party flows into the United States to bankroll climate advocacy groups who litigate against American energy.”3Politico Pro. Cruz Sees Chinese Influence in Climate Lawsuits He identified Energy Foundation China, a U.S.-based nonprofit, as the “primary vehicle” and named the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Rocky Mountain Institute, and the World Resources Institute as recipients.4Broadband Breakfast. Cruz Alleges Alliance Between China, U.S. Climate Groups Undermines American Energy
Cruz said Energy Foundation China had funneled roughly $12 million to U.S. climate groups since 2020.4Broadband Breakfast. Cruz Alleges Alliance Between China, U.S. Climate Groups Undermines American Energy He pointed to the background of the foundation’s CEO, Ji Zou, who previously served on China’s climate negotiation team for the 2015 Paris Agreement. Tax records do show grants from Energy Foundation China to the organizations he named. In 2021, the foundation gave $195,000 to the NRDC and $820,000 to the Rocky Mountain Institute.5U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee. Chairs of Energy and Commerce, Science, and Natural Resources Committees Open Investigation Into Chinese Influence in American Energy and Environmental Policy In 2023, it gave $350,000 to the Rocky Mountain Institute and $200,000 to the NRDC.6Washington Free Beacon. Ex-CCP Officials Steered Millions to U.S.-Based Green Groups, Universities for Climate Initiatives
What the records do not show is any of that money being used to fund U.S. climate litigation. When Cruz’s office was asked for evidence, spokesperson Macarena Martinez provided an AI-generated response from ChatGPT that acknowledged there was no “direct, documented grant-to-lawsuit pipeline.”7NPR. Climate Change Lawsuits Fossil Fuels
The organizations Cruz named rejected his characterization. Energy Foundation China’s Vance Wagner said the group is independent, does not litigate or lobby, and limits its funding to energy transition and climate work inside China. The NRDC’s chief litigation officer, Michael Wall, said Energy Foundation China money goes exclusively to pollution-reduction programs in China and is entirely separate from the organization’s U.S. litigation. The Rocky Mountain Institute said it does not participate in litigation at all. The World Resources Institute said the same.7NPR. Climate Change Lawsuits Fossil Fuels
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island called the allegation a “baseless conspiracy theory,” and Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois agreed.4Broadband Breakfast. Cruz Alleges Alliance Between China, U.S. Climate Groups Undermines American Energy Richard Wiles, president of the Center for Climate Integrity, said the unsubstantiated claims were designed to create “political cover” for Congress to grant the fossil fuel industry legal immunity.7NPR. Climate Change Lawsuits Fossil Fuels
Earlier Targets: a Law Firm, a Nominee, and a Judicial Program
Before the China hearing and the 2026 bill, Cruz’s work on climate litigation focused on the plaintiffs’ side of the docket. The firm Sher Edling LLP represents many of the state and local governments suing fossil fuel companies, including Rhode Island, Delaware, Minnesota, the District of Columbia, Baltimore, Honolulu, San Francisco, and Oakland.8Vermont Attorney General’s Office. Sher Edling Firm Resume In May 2023 and again on September 25, 2023, Cruz and House Oversight Chairman James Comer sent letters to Sher Edling demanding financial records and details about its relationship with Ann Carlson, then the acting administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.9U.S. Senate Commerce Committee. Sen. Cruz, Chairman Comer Demand Answers From Law Firm Regarding Acting NHTSA Administrator’s Role in Frivolous Lawsuits
As a UCLA Law professor from 2016 to 2019, Carlson had done pro bono consulting for Sher Edling. According to her UCLA annual reporting forms, she also fundraised for the firm, traveled to Hawaii to encourage the state to consider a nuisance lawsuit, and allowed students in UCLA’s Environmental Law Clinic to assist on climate cases.10U.S. Senate Commerce Committee. Sen. Cruz, Chairman Comer Demand Answers From Law Firm Cruz and Comer said Carlson had not disclosed her Sher Edling work on her Department of Transportation recusal form, and they raised questions about the firm’s funding, noting that the Resources Legacy Fund had provided Sher Edling more than $5.2 million between 2017 and 2021, and the New Venture Fund $3 million in 2021.11U.S. Senate Commerce Committee. Sen. Cruz and Chairman Comer Letter to Sher Edling Sher Edling, responding through outside counsel, said the requests raised “a host of confidentiality, privilege, and privacy concerns” and that Carlson “did not consult with Sher Edling about any specific climate damage and deception cases.”12Politico Pro. Cruz, Comer Demand Records From Law Firm That Takes on Oil Industry
In February 2024, Cruz turned to the Environmental Law Institute’s Climate Judiciary Project, which runs climate science seminars for judges. He wrote to the institute saying the project’s goal “may be to influence judges to side with plaintiffs in climate change cases,” noting that more than 1,700 judges had participated. He singled out Hawaii Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald, who had attended and later issued a ruling allowing Honolulu’s climate lawsuit to proceed, and alleged that Carlson had served as a “program architect” of the project.13U.S. Senate Commerce Committee. Sen. Cruz Letter to Environmental Law Institute
What the Lawsuits Actually Claim
The litigation Cruz wants to end runs to roughly three dozen cases filed by states, counties, cities, and tribes against companies including ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, BP, ConocoPhillips, and Suncor Energy. The complaints generally allege that the companies knew for decades that burning fossil fuels would cause serious climate damage, concealed or downplayed that knowledge, and worked to discredit climate science. Plaintiffs seek damages to help cover the costs of adapting to climate change, under state consumer protection, fraud, nuisance, negligence, and failure-to-warn laws.14Stateline. Supreme Court Takes Up Climate Case Testing Local Lawsuits Against Oil Companies
States with active suits include California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Vermont, along with local governments in Colorado, Maryland, South Carolina, and Washington, among others.14Stateline. Supreme Court Takes Up Climate Case Testing Local Lawsuits Against Oil Companies Sher Edling represents many plaintiffs on contingency. Its Minnesota contract, for example, provides for 16.67% of the first $150 million recovered and 7.5% of anything above that.15Climate Litigation Watch. Minnesota OAG Sher Edling Contingency Fee Agreement
Cruz represents the largest oil and gas producing state in the country.16Inside Climate News. Trump, Republicans, Big Oil, Climate Liability During the 2024 election cycle, the oil and gas industry gave more than $900,000 to his campaign.17Yale Climate Connections. The Fossil Fuel Industry Spent $219 Million to Elect the New U.S. Government Asked by Inside Climate News whether he supports granting the industry immunity from climate liability, Cruz did not respond.
Where Cruz’s Bill Fits Among Other Threats to the Cases
Cruz’s legislation is one of several active efforts to stop the cases. Sixteen Republican state attorneys general wrote to Attorney General Pam Bondi on June 12, 2025, asking the Justice Department to back a federal “liability shield” for the fossil fuel industry modeled on the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act of 2005, and to withhold federal funding from states that pursue the suits.18Office of the Attorney General of Kentucky. Letter to Department of Justice on Energy Actions In May 2025, under Executive Order 14260, the Department of Justice filed suits against Hawaii, Michigan, New York, and Vermont, challenging state climate superfund laws and seeking to prevent other states from suing fossil fuel companies at all.19U.S. Department of Justice. Justice Department Files Complaints Against Hawaii, Michigan, New York, and Vermont
The decisive track, though, runs through the Supreme Court. On February 23, 2026, the Court agreed to hear Suncor Energy (U.S.A.) Inc. v. County Commissioners of Boulder County, which arose from a 2018 Colorado suit by the city and county of Boulder against Suncor and ExxonMobil. The Colorado Supreme Court had ruled in May 2025 that Boulder’s state-law claims could proceed and were not preempted by the Clean Air Act.20Columbia Law School Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. Climate Litigation Updates The Court directed the parties to address whether federal law precludes state-law claims seeking relief for injuries caused by interstate and international greenhouse gas emissions, and whether the Court has jurisdiction to hear the case.21U.S. Supreme Court. Suncor Energy (U.S.A.) Inc. v. County Commissioners of Boulder County, No. 25-170 Oral argument is expected in the fall of 2026, with a decision anticipated by mid-2027. A ruling that federal law preempts the state claims would do much of what Cruz’s bill is written to do; a ruling the other way would let the cases proceed to discovery and trial.22SCOTUSblog. Suncor Energy Inc. v. County Commissioners of Boulder County
That is the context for the Stop Climate Shakedowns Act. If the Supreme Court sides with the plaintiffs, Cruz’s bill becomes the fossil fuel industry’s remaining route to the same outcome through Congress. If the Court sides with the companies, much of the bill becomes unnecessary. Either way, the fate of the dozens of climate lawsuits now moving through state courts turns less on Cruz’s hearings than on which track reaches a result first.