California’s partnership with the Chinese Communist Party to impose green energy mandates may violate the U.S. Constitution and merits a Department of Justice investigation, according to a new report from the National Association of Scholars.
Ian Oxnevad, a senior fellow for foreign affairs and security studies at NAS, argues that China is weaponizing climate policy as economic warfare — and California is helping Beijing succeed.
His May report, Behind the Climate Curtain: China’s Hidden Role in California’s Energy Mandates and University Partnerships, documents how the Golden State formalized ties with a Chinese military-linked university and enshrined the relationship in state law.
“This is a specific agreement with our top adversary. That’s what makes this even more egregious.”
China controls the supply chains for rare earth elements required in electric vehicles, batteries, and solar panels — giving Beijing “global economic leverage in the event of a transition to alternative energy,” Oxnevad writes.
The plan works only if Western nations abandon traditional energy and depend on Chinese-made green infrastructure.
California established its first formal tie with Tsinghua University in 2015 through a Memorandum of Understanding promising collaboration “in the fields of energy and climate change.”
Tsinghua is flagged as “High Risk” by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute for its connections to the Chinese military. The university assists “the Chinese government in developing nuclear weapons, artificial intelligence capabilities, and nanotechnology,” according to Oxnevad’s report. It has also been linked to cyberattacks against American companies and Alaska’s state government, plus “human rights violations in Xinjiang Province.”
The schools launched the California-China Climate Institute in 2019, allegedly funded by the China Institute for Innovation and Development Strategy — an entity directly tied to the CCP. CIIDS founder Zheng Bijian previously chaired the China Reform Forum, run by China’s intelligence service, the Ministry of State Security.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 39 in 2021, legally protecting the UC-Tsinghua partnership. The bill requires the institute to “foster collaboration to inform and shape climate policy and advance the goals of the Paris Agreement” — the international accord President Trump withdrew from twice.
Oxnevad told The Federalist that universities give the CCP “access to policy makers, the mass public, [and] the business world.” He added, “There’s really no sovereignty guardrails on universities.”
The report documents how “Sacramento and Beijing worked with China to create restrictive environmental policies in California” following the CCCI’s establishment. The effort involved Energy Foundation China — a left-wing grant-making organization with a Beijing office — plus UCLA and the Natural Resources Defense Council.
NRDC is a climate litigation nonprofit whose program staff includes multiple former Chinese government officials. The House Committee on Natural Resources demanded an explanation why NRDC is not registered as a foreign agent under FARA, citing the group’s “self-censorship of criticism of China, regular meetings with CCP officials, and the organization’s hostility towards American interests.”
As California increases green mandates, demand for EVs, batteries, turbines, and solar panels skyrockets. China controls the market for all these items — leaving California dependent on CCP supply chains.
“[California] is a backdoor into energy policy nationally, because other states have pacts with California where they adopt California standards.”
Oxnevad argues the CCCI partnership could be unconstitutional under Article I, Section 10, which prohibits states from making treaties with foreign nations.
A spokesman for Newsom’s office insisted the MOU was “lawful and non-binding” and said California “can’t tackle this [climate] challenge alone.”
UC Berkeley’s School of Law Assistant Dean of Communications responded that the CCCI “does not make treaties. Nor does it engage in policy-making in any way.”
Oxnevad countered: “It acts in every way just like it is a treaty, and when you actually dig into it … it is essentially a treaty by any other name.”
The report recommends expanding FARA, opening federal investigations into those who made formalized agreements with China, and mandating that all regulatory-agency employees are U.S. citizens.
Oxnevad said the Trump administration should simultaneously increase U.S. production of oil, coal, and nuclear energy while partnering with non-Chinese nations for rare earth elements.
He told The Federalist that American citizens can counter the CCP through voting and purchasing decisions: “The mindset … and the wallet of the American citizen is the biggest commodity that everyone wants to control and manipulate.”
