By PARIS APODACA
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.” (RELATED: National Academy Of Sciences Pulls Key Climate Science Chapter From Website Amid Massive Backlash)
The attorneys general of Nevada, West Virginia, Montana and Tennessee led the letter — which 21 others, including Republican Texas Senate nominee Ken Paxton, signed onto.
“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.
