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High-stakes clime litigation being pursued crossed the state and worldwide, purportedly connected behalf of children, tin beryllium traced to a single, left-wing nationalist involvement instrumentality firm with big-money backing and ties to longtime progressive activists, Fox News Digital has learned.
The Oregon-based steadfast Our Children’s Trust (OCT), which is classified arsenic a 501(c)(3) nationalist charity, was established much than a decennary agone to supply younker with ineligible services "to unafraid their ineligible rights to a harmless climate." Since its founding, OCT has filed aggregate national lawsuits, spearheaded ineligible actions successful each 50 states and is adjacent progressive successful litigation successful Canada, Mexico, Pakistan, India and Uganda.
"These young radical are doing precisely what they’ve been taught by elders — erstwhile they spot a wrong, they instrumentality steps to close it," Mat dos Santos, OCT's co-executive manager and wide counsel, said past week.
Dos Santos, who is tasked with overseeing OCT's ineligible program, made the comments during a rally extracurricular the White House wherever activists called for President Biden to instrumentality their broadside successful Juliana v. United States, 1 of respective cases the radical is pursuing. According to OCT, the plaintiffs successful the lawsuit are 21 young Americans who are acrophobic the authorities has violated their law rights to life, liberty and property.
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Youth plaintiffs represented by Our Children’s Trust await the commencement of the nation's archetypal younker clime alteration proceedings astatine Montana's First Judicial District Court successful Helena, Montana, connected June 12, 2023. (William Campbell/Getty Images)
OCT filed its ailment successful Juliana v. United States successful 2015, arguing that the national authorities has contributed to planetary warming for decades, contempt being good alert of the cataclysmic impacts of clime change. The suit — which is presently making its mode done the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals — takes purpose astatine policies allowing fossil substance extraction, proscription and combustion.
Days earlier the White House rally, Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., 1 of the archetypal architects of the Green New Deal, released a podcast with dos Santos and immoderate of the plaintiffs successful the case. In the episode, the elder lawmaker lauded the children for "fighting against what preceding generations person done to pollute and to make this problem."
The group's increasing suite of clime litigation, meanwhile, broadly follows the aforesaid format, asserting connected behalf of a fistful of younker that national oregon authorities agencies are harming their aboriginal by allowing fossil substance reliance.
OCT's astir caller suit was filed successful December against the Environmental Protection Agency, and its astir palmy lawsuit truthful acold has been Held v. State of Montana, which yielded a favorable judgement past year. The First Judicial District Court of Montana's ruling, which has since been appealed by the state, struck down definite authorities laws promoting fossil fuels and concluded younker plaintiffs were harmed by said laws.
"Today, for the archetypal clip successful U.S. history, a tribunal ruled connected the merits of a lawsuit that the authorities violated the law rights of children done laws and actions that beforehand fossil fuels, disregard clime change, and disproportionately imperil young people," Julia Olson, OCT's main ineligible counsel and co-executive director, said aft the ruling successful August 2023.
Wind turbines are seen astatine the Top of the World vigor installation successful Rollings Hills, Wyoming. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)
But, according to a Fox News Digital reappraisal of fiscal filings, vocation databases and recruitment documents, OCT has attracted the fiscal backing of large left-wing philanthropic nonprofits and is led by longtime activists. In its 2023 interaction report, the radical stated it receives pro bono ineligible enactment from radical affiliated with Earthjustice and Oxfam America, 2 monolithic groups progressive successful clime lawsuits.
OCT besides actively recruits children betwixt the ages of 8 and 18 years aged to service arsenic the look of their ineligible efforts. Children funny successful serving arsenic plaintiffs successful OCT's cases are directed to an online involvement form, which asks applicants for a wide scope of interaction information, including their pronouns, and however clime alteration has impacted them personally.
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"Our Children’s Trust exploits well-intentioned kids, utilizing them arsenic governmental screen to execute its extremity of shutting down liable vigor improvement successful Montana and astir the nation," said Chase Scheuer, a spokesperson for Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen. Knudsen has taken the pb successful defending his state's vigor policies successful Held v. State of Montana.
"Unable to instrumentality policies done the mean processes of typical government, they are trying to override the volition of the radical and usage the courts to enforce their extremist clime agenda," Scheuer continued.
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen is defending his authorities successful Held v. State of Montana, which Our Children’s Trust filed connected behalf of a fistful of children. (Fox News)
Overall, OCT reports having much than $5.4 cardinal successful nett assets and received $2.2 cardinal successful fiscal contributions successful 2022 and $3.2 cardinal successful contributions a twelvemonth prior, according to its taxation forms. While the group's donors are hidden from nationalist view, a reappraisal of assorted wide nonprofits' taxation forms shows the radical routinely receives ample grants.
For example, successful 2022, it received $200,000 from the Amalgamated Charitable Foundation; $100,000 from the Alex C. Walker Foundation; $100,000 from Impact Assets; and donations worthy $50,000 from the Jacob & Terese Hershey Foundation and Park Foundation, among others. Those grantmaking nonprofits mostly lend to progressive societal and biology causes.
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The Amalgamated Foundation, OCT's evident largest financier, is the charitable limb of Amalgamated Bank, an cognition focused connected progressive issues and which is majority-owned and controlled by Workers United, a part of the monolithic labour national Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
Under the enactment of its enforcement manager Anna Fink, the Amalgamated Foundation spearheaded a run aft the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot to unit organizations to divert donations for Republicans to the Amalgamated Foundation instead. That programme received backing from George Soros’ Open Society Foundation.
Sariel Sandoval is 1 of 16 younker plaintiffs suing the State of Montana implicit its contributions to clime change. (The Washington Post via Getty Images)
In addition, dos Santos and Olson, OCT's co-executive directors, person a agelong past of progressive activism.
Dos Santos remains connected the boards of the Transgender Law Center, Latino Network and the Chosen Family Law Center. He besides antecedently served arsenic ineligible manager of the ACLU's Oregon chapter, wherever helium advocated for LGBT rights, immigrants and transgression justness reform. Dos Santos notably led a situation against erstwhile President Donald Trump's migration actions and represented a transgender inmate demanding the authorities supply hormone therapy.
And Olson antecedently served arsenic an attorney astatine Earthjustice earlier opening her ain firm, Wild Earth Advocates.
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Other unit and members of OCT's committee of directors person ties to climate-focused organizations specified arsenic the Women’s Environmental and Development Organization, Western Environmental Law Center, Food & Water Watch and Columbia University's Earth Institute.
OCT and the Amalgamated Charitable Foundation didn't respond to requests for comment.
Thomas Catenacci is simply a authorities writer for Fox News Digital.
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