On Monday, April 13, Sunrise Columbia filed a complaint with the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, accusing the Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP) of claiming to be “unbiased” while accepting millions of fossil fuel funding. 

This Monday, Sunrise Columbia, a student group focusing on institutional environmental issues at Columbia and Barnard, accused Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP) of receiving millions in fossil fuel funding. The group has been campaigning against fossil fuel funding in university research since 2023. Monday’s complaint is the latest escalation in that effort, following a 2024 investigative report, faculty open letters, and campus protests.

CGEP’s own partners page currently lists Occidental Petroleum and Tellurian as “Visionary Circle” donors who have contributed $1,000,000 or more since July 1, 2022, alongside ExxonMobil, Shell, and Chevron. The page asserts that CGEP “take[s] transparency of funding very seriously, which is why all are listed on our website.” However, Sunrise Columbia argues differently. “What we’ve seen consistently from the committee is stonewalling,” Leel Dias, (CC ’27), president of the group, told Bwog. “They don’t want progress. They want to maintain the status quo and they do that by creating committees and bureaucratic structures.” 

Sunrise Columbia alleges CGEP has accepted funding from ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, and more, while marketing its resulting research as “independent”. It shows twelve exhibits of evidence, including internal industry documents identifying CGEP director Jason Bordoff as an “opinion leader” who could “illustrate BP’s energy transition narrative” and a 2021 Shell memo flagging a CGEP panel as a PR opportunity to counter criticism of hydrogen fuel. Dias pointed to a lack of meaningful disclosure. “Their funders are listed, but it’s very obtuse. It doesn’t tell us much,” he said. “When these reports are cited in Congress or in the media, they’re cited as Columbia studies, not as funded by fossil fuel companies.”

The complaint has support from the student workers union SWC-UAW 2710, and two faculty groups. If the complaint succeeds, Columbia could face financial penalties and be required to remove marketing claims of “independent” and “unbiased research” until a fossil-free funding policy is adopted. As of publication, The Department of Consumer and Worker Protection has not responded to the complaint.

In a statement to The Guardian, a Columbia spokesperson called the deception allegations “absurd and unfounded,” adding that “no external organization or individual, including funders, can influence the work of our scholars.” Dias pushed back on Columbia’s transparency defense. “If they’re serious about confronting the climate crisis like they say on their website, they need to do the bare minimum. Right now, the transparency is just not enough.”

Dias sees the complaint as part of a larger reckoning for the university. He argued that by allowing CGEP to accept fossil fuel funding unchecked, Columbia’s central administration has implicitly prioritized corporate interests over research freedom. “The university wants to maintain its stature as a leading research university. It needs to make sure people perceive its research as unbiased,” Dias told Bwog. “But what’s happening at CGEP is really laundering industry talking points through the university, and that’s highly concerning not just for the climate crisis, but for the long-term reputation of Columbia.”

For Sunrise Columbia, the complaint is ultimately a push for a university that lives up to its own values. “Columbia administration exists in a bubble,” said Addie, a member of Sunrise Columbia. “This is a measure of accountability that Columbia doesn’t always have to subject itself to.” Dias echoed that sentiment, saying that “Section 440 of the Columbia University statute says this is a place for robust debate, a place where ideas can be tested and criticized. But it’s really concerning that the university is putting the interests of corporations above that.”

Image via Bwarchives