Environmental Defense Fund v. Wright

Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) filed a lawsuit to compel the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Archives and Records Administration to fulfill legal obligations under the Federal Records Act (FRA) to preserve and recover federal records sent or received by DOE officials on their personal emails. EDF alleged that documents produced in response to EDF’s Federal Advisory Committee Act <a href="https://www.climatecasechart.com/collections/environmental-defense-fund-inc-v-wright_5be7">lawsuit</a> regarding the Climate Working Group convened by Secretary of Energy Chris Wright revealed that multiple DOE political appointees “used personal email accounts extensively to conduct government business.” EDF further alleged that the DOE officials had not forwarded those emails to their official email accounts, that the officials had used their personal email accounts for other official business related to the Climate Working Group and EPA’s endangerment finding for greenhouse gases without forwarding those emails to their official accounts, and that records that had not been properly preserved were relevant to nine requests that EDF had submitted to DOE under the Freedom of Information Act since January 2025. EDF asked the court to “[d]eclare that the communications sent and received by DOE employees from personal electronic messaging accounts related to the transaction of government business are agency records subject to the FRA,” that “the failure to ensure such messages and communications are preserved … constitute[s] an unlawful removal of federal records in violation of the FRA,” and that the defendants violated their duties under the FRA. EDF also requested injunctive relief.