Lockhart said Steyer “takes up a good chunk of my time.” She was in the room on June 12 when Steyer called on leaders of the $191.5 billion California State Teachers’ Retirement System to consider divesting from fossil-fuel stocks. On Aug. 11, Lockhart sent reporters an e-mail calling Steyer a “billionaire super-PAC king” and asserting his criticism of higher gas prices is out of sync with his goal of weaning drivers off gasoline.

Her e-mail also noted that a July 2014 Washington Times article said Steyer used tax havens in the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands and Mauritius while heading Farallon. Steyer declined to comment to the Washington Times, and Duran and Henkels didn’t respond to an e-mailed request for comment from Bloomberg News.

‘Dirty Him Up’

“They are going to try to dirty him up,” said Court, a Steyer ally. “He is personally committed on a moral level to preventing a 4-degree temperature change that is irreversible, and he has $3 billion to pursue his passion.”

Last year, Steyer’s NextGen super-PAC tried to influence elections in several states by appealing to voters concerned about climate change. In Florida, it dispatched more than 500 staffers and volunteers to criticize Governor Rick Scott’s energy policies and used a “Noah’s ark” to show the threat of rising ocean levels. Scott still won re-election.

Steyer gave $75.4 million to federal candidates and causes in 2014, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, almost triple the contributions of the next-highest individual donor, Michael R. Bloomberg, majority owner of Bloomberg News parent company Bloomberg LP.

Inequality, Environment

On Aug. 12, Steyer announced he’ll broaden his policy agenda to include “income inequality and middle-class opportunity.” In an interview at the event in Oakland, California, where he unveiled the “Fair Shake Commission,” he said issues related to inequality are linked to his environmental activism.

Lockhart of Californians for Energy Independence said before the announcement that Steyer “didn’t become a hedge-fund billionaire without getting a significant return on his investment,” and he could “take the same path in politics.”

Steyer has denied his efforts are intended to position himself for political office, even while refusing to rule out a bid. He considered running for the U.S. Senate before bowing out in January.