RICO Complaint against Climate Alarmism

RICO

I have filed a lawsuit against Climate Action Network, a German corporation headquartered in Beirut, Lebanon, along with 39 other corporations (most of them putatively non-profit) and several “John and Jane Does” who will be identified later. The complaint alleges that all the defendants violated The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”, 18 U.S.C. § 1961-1968) by participating in the Climate Alarmism Enterprise. Specifically, it alleges a pattern of racketeering activity, including multiple counts of:

  • Retaliation against witnesses

  • Tampering with witnesses

  • Bribery

  • Theft and/or Embezzlement from pension and welfare plans in astronomical amounts

The complaint also alleges other misconduct, including illegal foreign interference in the US elections, attempts to damage energy facilities, and following orders from the government of China.

Among the defendants are:

  • Ceres Inc., dedicated to “investing” $1 Trillion of the public money every year over the next 36 years in what it calls “clean energy.” Ceres admits that it leads “a coalition” between public funds (CalPERS, CalSTRS, California State Controller’s Office, California State Treasurer’s Office, Connecticut Office of the State Treasurer, CWA/ITU Negotiated Pension Plan, Florida State Board of Administration, Illinois State Board of Investment, Maryland State Retirement and Pension System, Maryland Treasurer’s Office, New York State Comptroller, New York State Teachers’ Retirement System, Sheet Metal Workers’ National Pension Fund, Vermont Office of the State Treasurer etc.) and environmentalist groups (Earth Island Institute, EDF, NRDC, UCS etc.).  Readers are advised to check whether their pension funds, state or municipal treasuries, or other fiduciary bodies are in this “coalition.”  Ceres also operates what it calls the Investors Network on Climate Risk, which includes state treasurers, institutional investors, and labor groups collectively managing $11 trillion in assets, and “partners” with some public corporations and banks.
  • Environmental Grantmakers Association (EGA), which describes itself as “more than 200 foundations from around the world … [that] collectively hold approximately $200 billion in assets …” EGA is closely associated with another defendant, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF).
  • Generation Investment Management LLP, Al Gore’s business that attempted to trade carbon credits.
  • The Alliance for Climate Protection, Al Gore’s non-profit that attempted to create demand for carbon credits. It’s doing business as The Climate Reality Project now.
  • Greenpeace International Corp., Greenpeace Inc., and Greenpeace Fund Inc. Greenpeace Corporation has a worldwide annual income exceeding $380 Million, but pretends that it is not a corporation and that it receives $0 from corporations.
  • The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). With an annual income of “only” $38 Million, it is one of the poorest defendants.

The complaint also mentions questionable payments by the Rockefeller Foundation (not a defendant and separate from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund) to the New York Times Corporation, and by multiple defendants to the National Academy of Sciences and to the “American Association for the Advancement of Science.”

The case is 5:16-cv-211-C, Goldstein v. Climate Action Network et al, pending before the United States District Court of the Northern District of Texas. I intend to keep exploring and exposing climate alarmism, just as I did before filing the suit.

The full list of defendants:

CLIMATE ACTION NETWORK,

CERES INC.,

ROCKEFELLER BROTHERS FUND INC.,

GENERATION INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LLP,

FORD FOUNDATION,

THE PEW CHARITABLE TRUSTS,

GREENPEACE INTERNATIONAL CORP.,

ENVIRONMENTAL GRANTMAKERS ASSOCIATION CORP.,

THE CONSULTATIVE GROUP ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY CORP.,

THE SIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION CORP.,

WORLD WIDE FUND FOR NATURE TRUST,

US CLIMATE ACTION NETWORK CORP.,

GLOBAL CALL FOR CLIMATE ACTION CORP.,

GENERATION INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT US LLP,

ALLIANCE FOR CLIMATE PROTECTION CORP.,

FENTON COMMUNICATIONS CORP.,

WORLD WILDLIFE FUND INC.,

GREENPEACE INC.,

GREENPEACE FUND INC.,

FRIENDS OF THE EARTH INTERNATIONAL CORP.,

FRIENDS OF THE EARTH US CORP.,

FRIENDS OF THE EARTH (ACTION) INC.,

ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INC.,

ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE ACTION FUND CORP.,

NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC.,

NRDC ACTION FUND CORP.,

SIERRA CLUB CORP.,

EARTHJUSTICE CORP.,

THE UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS INC.,

THE PEW MEMORIAL TRUST,

HOWARD PEW FREEDOM TRUST,

MABEL PEW MYRIN TRUST,

J.N. PEW JR. CHARITABLE TRUST,

THE JOHN D. AND CATHERINE T. MACARTHUR FOUNDATION,

THE WILLIAM & FLORA HEWLETT FOUNDATION,

THE DAVID AND LUCILE PACKARD FOUNDATION,

TIDES FOUNDATION CORPORATION,

TIDES CENTER CORPORATION,

CLIMATEWORKS FOUNDATION,

THE ENERGY FOUNDATION, and

JOHN AND JANE DOES 1-99.