Straws in the Wind - Part 94

From Inside Higher Ed: A law firm representing anti–wind energy groups is demanding that Brown University researchers retract findings linking those groups to the fossil fuel industry... The move comes weeks after Brown reached an agreement with the Trump administration. The government restored $510 million in frozen federal research grants after the university agreed to certain demands, including adopting the Trump administration’s definitions of male and female and turning over admissions data...

Marzulla Law LLC characterized the research published by Brown’s Climate and Development Lab as “false and injurious” in a... letter to Brown’s general counsel. It threatened to file complaints with Brown’s public and private funders, including the Energy Department, the National Science Foundation and the Mellon Foundation... Brown researchers who authored a case study about Marzulla Law have written that the firm has “a history of advancing anti-environmental lawsuits and significant ties with the fossil fuel industry.” Researchers have also published findings accusing one of the firm’s clients—the nonprofit Green Oceans, which is trying to shut down the construction of a nearly complete $4 billion wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island—of being part of “a fossil-fuel-funded disinformation network.” ...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2025/08/26/law-firm-threatens-brown-climate-researchers.

From Inside Higher Ed: Virginia Democrats blocked 14 gubernatorial appointments to state university boards last week, escalating a fight with Republican governor Glenn Youngkin over institutional leadership. The Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections, led by a Democratic majority, voted 8 to 6 to reject four Youngkin appointments to the Virginia Military Institute board, four to the University of Virginia’s board and six to George Mason University’s board. The latter rejections now leave the GMU Board of Visitors without a quorum at a time when they are under federal scrutiny for alleged discriminatory hiring practices, which GMU president Gregory Washington has sharply disputed, even as concerns over his future hang in the balance.

Youngkin called the move “blatant partisanship.” But Senate Democrats have argued that the governor participated in his own brand of partisanship, stocking college boards with divisive conservative political figures. (An Inside Higher Ed analysis in July found that Youngkin has appointed numerous conservative activists, former Republican lawmakers and officials, and multiple GOP megadonors, among others.) Commonwealth Democrats have also demanded that Youngkin cease such appointments until he meets with Senate leaders, who have accused the governor of failing to adequately consult with them. The Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections previously blocked eight appointments in June. That action prompted a legal fight, with the governor arguing that his picks should be allowed to serve on their respective boards until the full Senate weighs in.

Attorney General Jason Miyares, a Republican, backed the governor’s view, but a judge blocked that effort in July after Democrats sued. Miyares has since appealed the case to the Virginia Supreme Court...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/governance/trustees-regents/2025/09/03/virginia-democrats-block-14-board-appointments.