Rep. Frank Lucas
U.S. Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK), chairman of the U.S. House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, recently demanded answers regarding the Biden administration’s potential outsourcing of emissions verifications to a foreign, non-governmental organization known as the Science Based Target Initiative (SBTi).
“After several letters sent by the committee with no answers provided, we seek further explanation into the selection of SBTi by the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and the Federal Regulatory Council (FAR), justification of the seemingly nefarious financial activities of SBTi, and legal analysis explaining the unconstitutional outsourcing of congressional authority to an international non-governmental organization,” Rep. Lucas wrote in an Aug. 16 letter sent to Shalanda Young, director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
The House Science, Space, and Technology Committee first raised concerns in March with a proposed rule by FAR that would require government contractors to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and develop emission reduction targets to be validated and approved by the international SBTi, which Rep. Lucas noted has come under scrutiny for potential conflicts of interest, a lack of transparency, and manipulation of emissions metrics, according to his letter.
Additionally, Rep. Lucas wrote that SBTi filed its official incorporation in the United Kingdom, but is currently not registered in the United States. And according to its incorporation documents filed in London, SBTi is funded and managed by We Mean Business, an organization closely linked to the New Venture Fund, a known Democratic “dark money” group that does not disclose its donors.
“SBTi’s connection to groups that routinely fund Democratic causes and campaigns exacerbates concerns that they were arbitrarily selected to perform this task and that this administration is potentially directing millions of dollars in business revenue to an organization that is closely tied to its donors,” wrote Rep. Lucas. “Congress needs to know immediately if this administration has been attempting to improperly use the rule-making process to funnel money to anonymous partisan corporate entities.”
Rep. Lucas also pointed out that under the administration’s proposed rule, SBTi would be “operating in a quasi-regulator stance… and yet it doesn’t have the kind of checks and balances or transparency for such an organization.”
He also noted the security concerns raised by outsourcing emissions verifications to a foreign entity.
“From a scientific and national security perspective, the unconstitutional outsourcing of congressional authority to SBTi limits the federal government from actively reviewing the processes and methodologies to ensure sound scientific practices are being followed,” Rep. Lucas wrote. “Additionally, the federal government would be inhibited from ensuring foreign actors are not influencing the group to harm the U.S. or our allies.”
Given the myriad issues raised in his letter, as well as the lack of answers to further explain and justify the selection of SBTi by CEQ and FAR, Rep. Lucas wrote that the committee requests that OMB provide a response by Aug. 30.