On Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary’s Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action, and Federal Rights held a hearing on “Enter the Dragon—China and the Left’s Lawfare Against American Energy Dominance.” It was a hearing led by Chairman Ted Cruz (R-TX), who aptly called out the American left and the China Communist Party (CCP).
During his opening remarks, Cruz issued key reminders about how the threats from the left and the CCP are related.
“We’re witnessing right now a systematic campaign against American energy, there is a coordinated assault by the radical left, backed and paid for by the Chinese Communist Party to seize control of our courts, to weaponize litigation against us energy producers, all in order to undermine American energy dominance at stake is a lot more than an industry,” he reminded. “Our energy sector is the engine of American prosperity, the lifeblood of our industrial power, our national security and our geopolitical leverage. If American energy is under attack, so is American security and American independence,” Cruz added.
The chairman also spoke to “a three pronged assault” in “the campaign against American energy.” The first step, as Cruz explained it, involves how “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. Then, activist lawyers flood our courts with lawsuits designed not to win policy debates but to bankrupt energy producers and to dismantle energy infrastructure through sheer attrition.” The third step involves the courts, as “the judiciary itself is being quietly captured and brainwashed as left wing nonprofits host closed door trainings that indoctrinate judges to adopt the ideological goals of the climate lawfare machine.”