A decisive pushback against one of the most dangerous threats to American energy is underway. This comes as state attorneys general across the nation continue to scrutinize activist environmental groups that cripple U.S. energy, undermine markets, and threaten our national security.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced that his office is officially probing the “climate cartel,” CDP (formerly the Climate Disclosure Project) and the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), for possible violations of the state’s consumer-protection and antitrust laws.
Subpoenas have been issued to both entities to assess whether they’re coercing American companies into paying for environmental disclosures and net-zero pledges under a veneer of transparency, while consolidating market power and extracting profit from those pledges.
According to the press release, Uthmeier’s investigation focuses on CDP’s model of charging companies to disclose and revise climate data, and the SBTi’s role validating these pledges and funneling that information back into CDP’s scoring system.
The investigation will examine deceptive trade practices, whether coordination between CDP, SBTi, and the financial sector amounts to market manipulation, and whether companies that decline participation are punished, an anticompetitive scheme that Florida refuses to accept.
“Radical climate activists have hijacked corporate governance and weaponized it against the free market,” Uthmeier stated. “Florida will not sit back while international pressure groups shake down American companies to fund their ESG (environmental, social, and governance) grift.”
This move complements recent actions in Kansas, where Attorney General Kris Kobach urged the U.S. Department of Justice to open a federal probe into the China-backed Energy Foundation China over its suspected role in financing radical climate lawsuits targeting fossil fuel producers.
The global energy race is playing out right now, and China is surging ahead. While U.S. firms battle climate litigation, foreign ESG pressure, and activist mandates, China is adding massive grid capacity, largely dependent on coal, and locking in long-term energy dominance, all while quietly funding the rules that hamper its competitors.
Against this backdrop, the unraveling of ESG’s favorite instrument, the SBTi, is striking. Shell, Aker BP, and Enbridge recently walked away from SBTi, refusing to halt development of “new oil and gas fields” by the end of 2027.
These investigations must be backed up with broader reform: Federal and state policies should prohibit taxpayer dollars or government contracts from going to entities that participate in foreign-funded ESG or environmental scoring systems. Companies forced to conform to these climate cartels should be disqualified from subsidies, procurement, or pension-related investing.
This legal pressure is now being matched by financial oversight. In a powerful show of unity, 21 state financial officers issued a warning to the heads of JPMorgan, BlackRock, and other financial institutions to stop using ESG metrics that discriminate against American energy producers. The letters follow a report Will Hild of Consumers’ Research and I released exposing how BlackRock continues to take action against fossil fuel companies despite claiming otherwise. Together with the attorneys general investigations, this marks a turning point in the effort to roll back the climate cartel’s influence over American business.
American energy and commerce must not bow to foreign influence masquerading as ethical capital. It’s long past time to call out these global pressure networks and demand accountability. Whether via deceptive trade practices, antitrust violations, or covert influence, if laws are being broken, the perpetrators should face consequences.
This wave of state leadership is more than ideological; it’s strategic. U.S. energy independence hinges on a legal environment that rewards performance, not posturing. Financial transparency should protect investors, not exploit producers. Corporate governance should empower boards to innovate, not impose tedious pledges that undermine realities.
Florida’s attorney general is using “every tool of the law to stop the Climate Cartel from exploiting businesses and misleading consumers,” a bold statement of state sovereignty and consumer protection. Kansas is exposing foreign-funded litigation vendettas. If we sustain that momentum, we can reclaim our economic agency and restore objective, accountable energy policy.
These actions by Uthmeier and Kobach, and the demands from state financial officers, are necessary steps in an ongoing battle. These are investigative, not symbolic. Now comes the enforcement: subpoenas, court summonses, legislative reforms. The goal must be to dismantle the cartel’s influence and reassert free enterprise.
We face a global energy power play. If U.S. climate law becomes a tool of foreign influence, America loses. If ESG schemes become mandatory for access to capital, innovation stagnates, grid reliability weakens, and consumers lose.
Florida and Kansas are showing how to use law, not slogans, to expose the modern climate cartel. Let’s follow their lead, demand accountability, and defend American energy dominance.
American energy dominance isn’t just an ideal—it’s a necessity. And it’s time we protected it accordingly.
Originally published in The Daily Signal August 12, 2025
That the climate left hates America and western civilization is obvious. That they’re taking Chinese money to attempt to destroy us from the inside is unacceptable. Those NGOs should surely be investigated and prosecuted if crimes were committed and sued out of existence.
Is it a plot? Why yes, yes it is. Book em Dano, too bad there's no enviro groups in China to sic on their coal use. How about jacking up the price of our coal to the equivalent costs we've suffered at their hands?