State and federal government officials are trying to harass, intimidate, and silence NRDC and other nonprofit environmental advocates.

The Attorney General of West Virginia recently initiated an investigation of NRDC and a handful of other groups on the stated ground that we may have committed consumer fraud. The theory appears to be that it’s deceptive for NRDC to say that the burning of fossil fuels contributes to climate change, which, in turn, causes harm to the planet and its people. But that’s fact, not fraud.

To pursue his investigation, the AG served a subpoena seeking a vast trove of confidential internal and external communications relating to our advocacy around climate change for the past 10 years. The demand could cover sensitive strategy memos for policy advocacy, draft comments on regulations, exchanges with coalition partners, back-and-forth among scientists, dialogues with donors, and drafts of NRDC publications; all disclosed to a hostile adversary.

Co-counseling with Democracy Forward, we responded to the subpoena by preparing a federal lawsuit asserting infringement of our First Amendment rights to speak, associate with others, and advocate for effective solutions to the climate crisis. Those solutions include the replacement of fossil fuels with renewable sources of energy. And that is what drives the AG’s attempt to punish NRDC: pure retaliation for the content of our point of view.

m. on October 22, we advised the AG that we were going to file suit early that evening. , the AG withdrew the subpoena.

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