Climate Scientists Get Flooded With Requests to Hand Over Their Emails

A climate scientist at a University of California school got an alarming message last month. Her university told her she had to turn over all her emails about a study she published. The study showed how burning fossil fuels harms the environment through climate change. A law firm had sent the university a formal request for those records, and it was the fifth time this year the scientist had received a request like that.

The requests appear to be part of a bigger push by groups with ties to the energy industry. Their goal seems to be to discredit — or tear down — a growing area of science called climate attribution research. This type of research figures out how much human-caused climate change is responsible for extreme weather events like floods and heat waves. It is becoming more important in courts, where people are suing big energy companies for damages.

The science magazine Nature looked into the situation and found at least 30 of these records requests sent to climate researchers in the United States since 2024. The requests went to 13 public universities and involved dozens of scientists, lawyers, and legal experts. A news outlet called Politico also reported finding more than 100 similar requests sent to researchers since 2021. These requests were connected to lawsuits over damages caused by climate change.

Two groups have been sending many of these requests. One is called the Patriots Foundation, based in Des Moines, Iowa, which calls itself a government watchdog. The other is called Government Accountability and Oversight, based in Sheridan, Wyoming. That group posted online that attribution scientists are activists who oppose the fossil-fuel industry, and that people have a right to see their records under transparency laws.

Scientists who received requests say the timing and the type of information being asked for tell a story. They believe the requests are meant to dig for conflicts of interest — situations where a scientist might be paid by lawyers to reach a certain conclusion in their research. The scientists also think the requests might be a way to gather information about their colleagues at private universities, who are not covered by public-records laws.

These kinds of requests are legal, and several scientists told Nature they have nothing to hide. They say talking with lawyers involved in climate cases does not change their research or create a conflict of interest. But many scientists are frustrated because the flood of requests wastes their time and costs taxpayers money. They also worry that if scientists fear their emails might be investigated, they will stop sharing ideas freely with each other, which could hurt the progress of science.

Climate attribution science has been around since 2004, when researchers first started linking climate change to specific weather events. In recent years, scientists have gone further, trying to calculate how much pollution from a specific company contributed to specific harms, like deaths during a heat wave. Dozens of lawsuits in U.S. courts could depend on whether judges and juries trust this research. One major case involves the energy company Suncor and Boulder County in Colorado, and it recently went before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Because attribution science is being used in courts, it has become a political target. A Republican-led committee in Congress investigated a chapter in a guide for federal judges that explains attribution science, claiming it was an improper attempt to sway judges. President Donald Trump also called the chapter 'fraudulent, biased, and misleading' on social media. Trump has previously called climate change a hoax and is known for supporting the fossil-fuel industry.

Christopher Callahan, a climate scientist at Indiana University Bloomington, said the field is under attack. In May, he received a records request asking him to hand over emails involving eight people connected to climate lawsuits. A group called the Climate Science Legal Defense Fund in New York City helps scientists deal with legal issues like these. Its director Lauren Kurtz says the number of requests has grown sharply, adding: 'It's totally a surge.'