CSLDF Answers Call as Predatory Public Records Requests Target the Scientific Community

As a sprawling investigation by Nature revealed last week, dark money groups are weaponizing public records laws against the nation’s climate scientists and public researchers. The tactic isn’t new or novel; the fossil fuel industry has a long history of waging campaigns of harassment against the climate science community through the misuse of state and federal laws. However, as Nature and Politico reported last month, attacks on scientists have dramatically increased as generationally important climate litigation moves through state courts.

Defending researchers against predatory records requests has always been core to CSLDF’s mission. As attacks on the scientific community escalate, we remain at the vanguard of their defense, helping targeted researchers navigate the often lengthy process of defending against bad-faith records requests.

While the tactic isn’t new, the scale and scope of current open records requests are unprecedented. Over the last two years, climate researchers at public institutions, especially those engaged in attribution science, have received a steady stream of invasive and overly broad records requests. The goals of the dark money groups waging this campaign are transparent — dissuade and overwhelm the experts engaged in research.

Right now, dozens of lawsuits are proceeding across state courts in the United States, utilizing a diverse array of state laws that could hold fossil fuel companies accountable for their decades of misinformation about climate change. The burgeoning field of attribution science is critical to these lawsuits, seeking – among other things – to quantify how specific companies’ emissions contributed to the damages caused by climate events like hurricanes and heatwaves.

With no ability to deny the scientific reality of climate change, the fossil fuel industry has shifted to targeting researchers. These bad-faith open records requests are punitive, attempting to derail research and collaboration, instead of attempting to legitimately critique the actual science or provide broader public transparency. Abusing state records laws serves as a way to isolate scientists and academics, forcing them to spend countless hours responding, chilling collaboration with peers, and threatening costly lawfare that could result in subpoenas and depositions.

This recent surge in predatory public records requests is a drastic attempt to derail the critical litigation underway that seeks to finally bring accountability and transparency to fossil fuel companies and their allies. As always, the Climate Science Legal Defense Fund stands beside the scientific community. We will not be deterred.

If you are facing a state records request or have any questions about your rights please contact lawyer@csldf.org for free, confidential help.