House GOP to probe links between China and environmental group

WASHINGTON — Republicans on the House Committee on Natural Resources say they are launching a probe into the relationship between China and the Natural Resources Defense Council, one of the country’s leading environmental groups.

The investigation marks the latest probe by the committee into private groups or nongovernment organizations that oppose the GOP and Trump administration environmental and public land agenda.

In a letter sent Tuesday, Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop, R-Utah, and Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., ask the NRDC to clarify how its stances and advocacy on U.S. environmental policy may be affected by its relationships with foreign entities, chiefly China.

“The Committee is concerned about NRDC’s role in aiding China’s percep- tion management efforts with respect to pollution control and its international standing on environmental issues in ways that may be detrimental to the United States,” the lawmakers wrote. “The NRDC’s relationship with China has many of the criteria identified by U.S. intelligence agencies and law enforcement as putting an entity at risk of being influenced or coerced by foreign interests.”

The NRDC’s policy positions are backed by “sound science, U.S. law and the public interest,” according to Bob Deans, its director of strategic engagement.

“We work on behalf of every American to protect our people against dangerous pollution and leave our children a livable world,” Deans added. “Those are American values, American goals, and advancing them is manifestly in our national interest, as we have consistently demonstrated for nearly 50 years.”