Brown University faces legal pushback over research into offshore wind opposition

America’s clean energy transition has often collided with political and legal resistance, but the latest battlefront is in academia. According to The New York Times, Brown University is under pressure from a Washington law firm representing opponents of offshore wind farms, demanding the retraction of research that connects anti-wind groups to conservative networks.

The letter that sparked controversy

Marzulla Law L.L.C., a firm with deep ties to the conservative legal movement, called the research by Brown’s Climate and Development Lab “false and injurious.” In an August 11 letter to the university’s general counsel, founding partner Roger J. Marzulla threatened to escalate the issue to Brown’s public and private funders, including the Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, and the Mellon Foundation.Brown, however, stood by its principles. University spokesman Brian E. Clark told the Times, “Scholars shape their own research and course of instruction at Brown. One principle that is core to research at Brown is the ability for scholars to discuss contested topics and themes and to have those topics openly debated.”

Offshore wind at the center of the storm

The dispute comes as the US offshore wind industry faces mounting political headwinds. The Trump administration has made halting offshore wind a priority, even ordering construction of the $6.2 billion Revolution Wind project off Rhode Island to stop, citing unspecified concerns, the Times noted. The 65-turbine project, nearly completed, is one of several being challenged in court.

Marzulla Law represents Green Oceans, a nonprofit fighting federal permits for Revolution Wind. The Brown research in question found that groups like Green Oceans had amplified misinformation about climate change and operated within what it described as a “fossil-fuel-funded disinformation network.”

Sharp rebuttals and accusations

Green Oceans rejected the findings. In a statement reported by the Times, spokesman Mark Herr said the group was a “local and nonpartisan” organization: “We have no association with the fossil fuel industry nor any conservative political groups.

These oft-repeated lies are designed to discredit the messenger while preventing the public from absorbing the substance of our valid and well-researched concerns.”The lead researcher, J. Timmons Roberts, who directs Brown’s Climate and Development Lab, described the letter from Marzulla as an attempt to silence him. “It’s strategic harassment to shut me up and waste my time and make me more cautious,” he told the Times.Lauren Kurtz, executive director of the Climate Science Legal Defense Fund, went further, calling the letter academic harassment. Speaking to the Times, she said, “It definitely struck me that they were dangling the possibility of getting the Trump administration involved. It seems to me like they’re trying to bully Brown and their researchers.”

Mapping the connections

The Climate and Development Lab, founded in 2010, began investigating offshore wind opposition nearly three years ago.

While the lab’s research did not claim Green Oceans directly received fossil fuel money, it highlighted similarities between the group’s arguments and those historically advanced by climate misinformation networks.A new publication by the lab, released just last week, mapped connections between offshore wind opponents and their law firms. Marzulla Law was featured as a case study, with the lab pointing to the firm’s record of filing lawsuits against environmental protections and its roots in the conservative legal establishment.

Both Roger Marzulla and his wife, Nancie, previously worked at the Mountain States Legal Foundation, and later founded Defenders of Property Rights — an organization that joined the Cooler Heads Coalition, a network that disputed climate science.

Universities under political fire

The pushback against Brown is unfolding at a moment when American universities are already under political scrutiny. As the Times reported, Brown recently struck a deal with the federal government to restore research funding and end investigations into alleged discrimination.

The Marzulla letter underscores how academic research itself can become a flashpoint in the nation’s broader energy and political battles.At its core, the dispute raises questions beyond offshore wind: Should universities retreat when political or legal pressure mounts, or should they double down on defending academic freedom? For Brown, the answer so far seems clear.TOI Education is on WhatsApp now. Follow us here.