What happened: Judges involved in the Environmental Law Institute’s Climate Judiciary Project are being questioned for potential bias in climate lawsuits, raising alarms about judicial impartiality. 

Tell me more: The CJP claims to educate judges on climate litigation, but its narrow focus has led to concerns that courts may be influenced to push climate policy, a role traditionally left to the legislative and executive branches.

As a reminder: The U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether to review Honolulu’s climate nuisance case, which could set a precedent for how courts handle future climate nuisance litigation. 

• Two Hawaiian Supreme Court justices have participated in CJP activities related to climate litigation. They later ruled against energy companies in Hawaii’s climate nuisance case.

TLR Thoughts: Texas must ensure that the judiciary remains focused on justice—not creating public policy—keeping complex decisions like climate change within the purview of lawmakers, not judges. The Legislature has a chance to address this in the 2025 session.

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