Local Climate Lawfare Is Undermining US Foreign Policy and National Security
19th November 2025
Lawfare has grown to be a huge problem. If a set of activists cannot win an election or get a favorable bill passed, they find and run to a sympathetic court. An additional emerging form of lawfare has now taken root in America: local governments and states suing domestic energy producers over their alleged role in climate change. These campaigns are sold as accountability, but they also threaten the strategic foundation of American foreign policy.
Energy is not just another sector of the economy. It is the engine of diplomacy and the backbone of military power. Retired Gen. Richard B. Myers and retired Adm. Michael G. Mullen recently reminded the Supreme Court that petroleum products supplied by American companies “have been critical to national security, military preparedness, and combat missions.” They stressed that “achieving energy security is a prerequisite for national security” and warned that unilaterally stripping the United States of higher-performing fossil fuels would “weaken our armed forces while relatively strengthening those of our adversaries.”
That warning should resonate far beyond the courtroom. America’s diplomatic leverage depends on affordable and reliable energy. Yet climate litigation and new climate superfund schemes attempt to regulate global emissions through a patchwork of state liability theories.