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Reporting in Rolling Stone this week revealed that Leonard Leo’s dark money network is leading a public-facing campaign to push his handpicked Supreme Court to block a climate lawsuit filed by the city of Honolulu, Hawaii.

In 2020, Honolulu sued companies such as Exxon Mobil, Shell, and Chevron (a client of Leo’s CRC Advisors), for violating public nuisance laws and concealing the harm of climate change for decades. Now, as the Supreme Court prepares to consider the case, Leo’s network of organizations, including the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) and the Alliance for Consumers (another trade name for Leo’s Concord Fund), are working to block the lawsuit in an attempt to shield their allies in the oil and gas industries.

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For years, we’ve seen Leo apparently line his pockets with cash from polluters and use it to push cases undermining the federal government’s ability to combat climate change. Now, he’s employing the same strategy to block local governments from climate litigation — and ultimately, shield his industry allies from accountability.”

Accountable.US president Caroline Ciccone

Less than 24 hours after the Rolling Stone report was published, close Leo ally Carrie Severino, president of Leo’s Judicial Crisis Network, authored a National Review article urging the Supreme Court to resolve the case on behalf of the oil companies.

In April, 20 RAGA members filed an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to take up the Honolulu case. Leo, alongside key oil and gas firms, has been a major funder of RAGA in recent years. Since 2014, RAGA has taken approximately $1 million from Exxon and Chevron and another $20 million from the Leo network.

According to Rolling Stone, Leo isn’t just pushing the case behind the scenes — he’s also running a public-facing media campaign. The so-called Alliance for Consumers has been running ads, pushing articles, and publishing misleading reports on climate litigation to shield its industry allies.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) noted Leo’s long-term connections and funding from players with fossil fuel ties: “No surprise from Leonard Leo, central figure in the scheme to capture the Supreme Court, which is heavily funded by right-wing, polluting industry billionaires.”

Learn more about Leonard Leo, his extremist agenda, and his dark money network at LeonardLeo.org.

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