Comer, Burlison Launch Investigation into Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Funding of Anti-American Energy Lawfare
WASHINGTON—House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs Chairman Eric Burlison (R-Mo.) are investigating Bloomberg Philanthropies’ funding of environmental activist organizations waging lawfare against American energy producers and critical economic development projects. In a letter to Bloomberg Philanthropies Chief Executive Officer Patricia E. Harris, the lawmakers raise concerns that the organization’s financial support for radical anti-fossil fuel campaigns and China-linked entities is undermining America’s economic and energy security. They request documents and communications concerning Bloomberg Philanthropies’ funding and grantmaking activities and its ties to environmental organizations operating in the United States and China.
“The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is investigating environmental lawfare by activist organizations, including those funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies. Since 2019, Michael Bloomberg, a progressive New York billionaire, and his nonprofit Bloomberg Philanthropies have spent more than $1 billion through their Beyond Carbon and Beyond Petrochemicals philanthropies to litigate against or otherwise challenge American energy production. By funding these efforts, Bloomberg Philanthropies has delayed and blocked American energy development projects across the U.S., particularly in the Gulf of America region. This has inhibited economic development and the creation of good paying American jobs. The Committee is concerned that Bloomberg Philanthropies is also actively undermining U.S. economic and energy security through its support of Chinese entities which fund anti-fossil fuel efforts in the U.S. The Committee therefore requests documents and communications from Bloomberg Philanthropies,” wrote the lawmakers.
Bloomberg Philanthropies has funded radical organizations such as Earthjustice, a national environmental litigation group that conducts organized campaigns against American energy investments. In February 2026, Earthjustice opposed the development of a liquefied natural gas facility in the Gulf of America region, which was projected to create approximately 3,000 jobs and generate more than $4 billion in local property tax revenue. Bloomberg Philanthropies has also partnered with other activist organizations in the Gulf of America region to obstruct energy production and economic development. In addition, Bloomberg Philanthropies provides financial support to Energy Foundation China (EFC), an organization whose senior executives have reportedly held high-level positions within the Chinese government and China’s state-run research institutions. EFC spends millions of dollars funding U.S.-based nonprofits and universities and supports the climate and energy ambitions of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Chairman Comer previously investigated Bloomberg Philanthropies for partisan activism with state attorneys general to file activist lawsuits and lobby for burdensome regulations.
“In December 2025, 26 U.S. state attorneys general wrote to the Department of Justice asserting EFC had unlawfully failed to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act despite its close ties to China and the CCP. The Committee has identified at least $11,970,000 in grants payments made to EFC since 2015 directly from the Bloomberg Family Foundation, which is part of Bloomberg Philanthropies. Additional reports have found that EFC has donated millions of dollars to left-wing climate groups in the U.S. that seek to phase out fossil fuels entirely and implement green energy alternatives. Such an intricate web of financial ties between a climate-focused entity in China and numerous American anti-U.S. energy nonprofits, both supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, demands not only a careful review of national and energy security implications, but also an investigation of those ties themselves, such as whether American climate activists may be knowingly or unknowingly acting as agents of the CCP,” concluded the lawmakers.
Read the letter to Bloomberg Philanthropies here.