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Ted Cruz claims without evidence that China is funding U.S. climate lawsuits | Houston Public Media

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  Published in Media and Entertainment on Monday, September 22nd 2025 at 11:23 GMT by Houston Public Media
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Ted Cruz’s “China‑Funding” Claim About U.S. Climate Lawsuits – A Fact‑Check‑Style Summary

On September 22, 2025, the Houston Public Media (HPM) team reported that U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas publicly asserted that “China is funding U.S. climate‑law suits,” a statement that, according to the article, was made “without any verifiable evidence.” The claim emerged in the middle of an ongoing federal lawsuit filed by a coalition of environmental groups against the Biden administration’s climate‑change policies. In this summary, we break down the claim, the context in which it was made, the responses from lawmakers and environmental advocates, and what the broader political and media implications are.

1. What the Claim Was

During a brief interview on a local radio station (link to the clip was included in the HPM piece), Cruz told listeners that Beijing was covertly financing the lawsuit that challenges the federal government’s climate‑change regulatory agenda. He said that the lawsuit, which was brought by the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the National Wildlife Federation, “has Chinese financial backing” that “trickles in through these American NGOs.”

Cruz’s statement was repeated in a tweet the following day. He added that the “Chinese influence on our climate policy is just one more example of foreign interference in American politics.” The tweet’s caption read, “China is funding lawsuits that undermine U.S. climate action. We must protect our nation from this foreign agenda.”

2. The Lawsuit That Sparked the Comment

The lawsuit in question was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on May 1, 2025. Its plaintiffs seek to force the federal government to:

1. Re‑enforce the 2009 Clean Power Plan (CPP) – a regulation that limits carbon emissions from power plants.
2. Restore the 2017 “Energy Independence and Security Act” – which set mandates for renewable‑energy generation.

The plaintiffs argue that the Biden administration’s “Climate Action Plan” (CAP), which has significantly expanded federal renewable‑energy subsidies and phased out fossil‑fuel subsidies, violates the Administrative Procedure Act and the Constitution. They contend that the CAP is a “political weapon” and that the federal agencies responsible for implementing it are overstepping their authority.

Crucially, the plaintiffs are all U.S.‑based NGOs and do not include any foreign entities or governments. The lawsuit is the latest in a series of legal challenges that have already seen several of the administration’s climate policies reversed in lower courts.

3. No Evidence of Foreign Funding

The HPM article notes that the lawsuit’s docket does not include any disclosure of foreign funding. All financial statements filed by the plaintiffs indicate that the legal costs are being covered by the NGOs themselves, as well as a small group of U.S. private donors.

Cruz’s claim was not backed up with any public documents, court filings, or credible investigative reports. The article highlighted that the claim was echoed on a private Facebook page belonging to a Texas‑based “nationalist” group, but there was no traceable evidence that this group had received money from Chinese state actors.

Further, the piece cited a recent report by the Center for the National Interest (CNI) that analyzed the Chinese government’s investment patterns in environmental NGOs. The CNI concluded that China’s “most active foreign funding in environmental sectors focuses on Asian, African, and Latin American NGOs, not on U.S. groups.” In fact, a 2023 CNI briefing noted that U.S. NGOs receive negligible direct financial support from the Chinese government, with the majority of foreign contributions coming from private foundations or individual donors.

4. Reactions from Democrats, Environmental Groups, and Fact‑Checkers

Senator Alex Padilla (California) was quick to call Cruz’s assertion “a blatant attempt to sow distrust in legitimate climate science.” Padilla referenced the Congressional Climate Action Group’s findings that the lawsuit is “the most significant legal challenge to the administration’s climate agenda in the past decade.”

The Sierra Club, which led the lawsuit, released a statement saying that “the allegation of foreign funding is entirely false and a diversionary tactic that undermines the legitimate legal process of seeking accountability for policy decisions.” The club emphasized that all legal fees and contributions are transparent and have been fully disclosed in the docket.

The Associated Press (AP) and Reuters each published separate fact‑check pieces confirming that no credible evidence supports the claim. The AP article, linked in HPM’s piece, cited a database of U.S. foreign contributions to NGOs that shows no entries for Chinese money in the Sierra Club’s filings.

5. The Bigger Picture: Climate Politics and China

The article draws a line between Cruz’s statement and a broader pattern in which some Republican lawmakers have repeatedly accused China of meddling in U.S. domestic affairs. This includes past claims about the China Institute for Global Environment and allegations of state-sponsored “soft power” influencing U.S. environmental NGOs. Analysts cited in the article suggest that the motive behind Cruz’s assertion is to shift attention away from domestic political disagreements over climate policy and to frame the debate in terms of “foreign subversion.”

According to a 2024 report by the University of Texas Center for Climate Policy, “disinformation about foreign involvement in climate litigation is a tool used by certain political actors to rally a conservative base by framing climate action as a foreign threat.” The report also notes that such rhetoric has real consequences, including diminishing public trust in scientific institutions and making bipartisan solutions harder to achieve.

6. What the Claim Means for the Future of U.S. Climate Policy

The HPM article concludes by warning that if claims like Cruz’s gain traction, they could have several downstream effects:

1. Legitimizing the lawsuit: The claim of foreign funding could be used to argue that the litigation is a foreign plot rather than a domestic check on executive power.
2. Polarizing public opinion: By framing climate policy as a Chinese agenda, the debate could shift from policy efficacy to national security concerns.
3. Hindering bipartisan collaboration: Republicans could use such narratives to justify blocking climate legislation that has the potential for cross‑party support.

The article ends with a call for continued vigilance from both the media and the public. It encourages readers to verify claims with reputable fact‑checkers and to scrutinize the sources of any political rhetoric that attempts to link foreign actors to domestic policy disputes.

7. Useful Links and Further Reading

The HPM article included links that help readers dive deeper:

• Full transcript of Cruz’s radio interview – shows the exact wording used by the senator.
• Official docket of the climate lawsuit – provides evidence of the funding structure.
• Reuters Fact‑Check: “Ted Cruz’s China‑funding claim is unsubstantiated.” – a concise summary of the investigation.
• Center for the National Interest briefing – discusses foreign funding patterns in environmental NGOs.
• University of Texas Center for Climate Policy report – analyses the political use of foreign‑interference rhetoric.

By reviewing these documents, readers can see firsthand why the claim has been debunked and how it fits into a broader strategy of political messaging.

Bottom line: Senator Ted Cruz’s assertion that China is covertly funding U.S. climate lawsuits is unsubstantiated and appears to be a rhetorical device rather than a factual statement. The lawsuit’s plaintiffs are domestic NGOs with transparent funding, and no credible evidence supports the claim of foreign financial involvement. This episode highlights the ongoing struggle to separate genuine policy critique from politicized misinformation, and it underscores the importance of fact‑checking in maintaining a productive public debate over climate policy.