Many, many Warmists have agitated to go after climate skeptics for their heretical belief that Mankind is not responsible for the majority of the minimal global warming since 1850 (or whatever date they choose to attempt to prop up their cult). Sitting elected officials like Sheldon Whitehouse. Former ones like Al Gore. A man running for president, Bernie Sanders, published as his official platform that he will “Bring climate deniers to justice”, a tyrannical view of the government. The examples of this assault on personal belief, science, and the First Amendment are continuous and breathtaking. Now comes this
Virgin Islands AG Begins Persecution Of Climate Change Skeptics… https://t.co/2WuuN3XJk5
— Weasel Zippers (@weaselzippers) April 9, 2016
That tweet leads to the Independent Sentinel, which reminds us
If you recall former Vice President and global warming guru Al Gore and 16 Attorneys General, calling themselves the “AGs United for Clean Powerâ€, announced at a press conference last week that they will criminalize climate change denial by corporations. This is meant to squelch dissent and free speech.
The first volley was lobbed by the US Attorney General for the Virgin Islands, one of the sixteen, and he is going after a powerful think tank, Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI). Are they our new thought police?
Interestingly, the US Virgin Islands rely heavily on fossil fuels to bring tourists and goods on airplanes and ships.
CEI released this statement
Attack on Free Speech Is Abuse and Intimidation
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) today denounced a subpoena from Attorney General Claude E. Walker of the U.S. Virgin Islands that attempts to unearth a decade of the organization’s materials and work on climate change policy. This is the latest effort in an intimidation campaign to criminalize speech and research on the climate debate, led by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and former Vice President Al Gore.
“CEI will vigorously fight to quash this subpoena. It is an affront to our First Amendment rights of free speech and association for Attorney General Walker to bring such intimidating demands against a nonprofit group,†said CEI General Counsel Sam Kazman. “If Walker and his allies succeed, the real victims will be all Americans, whose access to affordable energy will be hit by one costly regulation after another, while scientific and policy debates are wiped out one subpoena at a time.â€
The subpoena requests a decade’s worth of communications, emails, statements, drafts, and other documents regarding CEI’s work on climate change and energy policy, including private donor information. It demands that CEI produce these materials from 20 years ago, from 1997-2007, by April 30, 2016.
On March 30, 2016, Attorney General Schneiderman, former Vice President Al Gore, and attorneys general from Massachusetts, Virginia, Connecticut, Maryland, Vermont, as well as Attorney General Walker, held a press conference in New York City to announce “an unprecedented coalition of top law enforcement officials committed to aggressively protecting and building upon the recent progress the United States has made in combating climate change.â€Â Schneiderman said that the group, calling itself “AGs United for Clean Power,†will address climate change by threatening criminal investigations and charges against companies, policy organizations, scientists, and others who disagree with its members’ climate policy agenda.
CEI has long been a champion of sound climate change policy, and opposed previous attempts to use McCarthy-style tactics by officials aiming to limit discussions between nonprofit policy groups and the private sector regarding federal policies. CEI is being represented in this matter by attorneys Andrew M. Grossman and David B. Rivkin, Jr., who recently founded the Free Speech in Science Project to defend First Amendment rights against government abuses.
As Sarah Noble at the Independent Sentinel notes “This is particularly shocking because they are going after a think tank, not an oil or gas company. Think about that!” But, should we be shocked? This is the direction of the Cult of Climastrology, which is made up primarily of Progressives (nice fascists), and, despite their calls for tolerance, diversity, and multiculturalism, they are wholly intolerant of any belief, fact, and opinion that doesn’t jibe 100% with theirs, and are willing to use abusive tactics, tactics they decry when others use them, to get their way. They will use the power of government as one method.
Interestingly, they still cannot prove that the miminal warming during the Modern Warm Period has been caused mostly/solely by Mankind, nor will the majority of Warmists give up their own use of fossil fuels and make their lives carbon neutral.
Crossed at Right Wing News.
The CEI makes their living filing lawsuits and FOIA requests and harassing climate scientists (and in fact, the Republican House has requested all documents from a target of CEI’s harassment). It’s not surprising they don’t like the tables turned.
Why is it OK for the government to investigate climate scientists but not to investigate so-called skeptic organizations?
They are funded in part by the Koch Foundations, Exxon Mobil, Texaco, Ford Motor, Amoco, Philip Morris etc and formerly lobbied for the tobacco industry – now for the fossil fuel industry.
As cons routinely say – if they (CEI) have nothing to hide, they have nothing to worry about.
Bloggers like Teach will still be able to lie with impunity.
Discovery will be very interesting when it comes to having the science on the side of the Climastrologists examined. Would like to be at the court during testimony and cross examination.
Leave it to Jeffrey to think that a think tank’s primary product, words, can be criminal.
He prob’ly thinks that it’s a violation of the law that says you can’t put anything on the internet that isn’t true.
Jeff seems very upset that a private organization would dare demand accountability and transparency from government.
As always, dana is wrong.
from the CEI website:
So CEI is not being ordered to cooperate in a criminal investigation for their “words” but for evidence they may have relevant to the case. CEI is not a target.
Of course, the irony of CEI’s whining is that they, with the cooperation of House Republicans have harassed private citizens (university scientists), e.g., Jagadish Shukla, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, Edward Maibach, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, Paul Dirmeyer, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, Barry Klinger, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, Paul Schopf, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, David Straus, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, Edward Sarachik, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, Michael Wallace, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, Alan Robock, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, Eugenia Kalnay, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, William Lau, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, Kevin Trenberth, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO , T.N. Krishnamurti, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, Vasu Misra, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, Ben Kirtman, University of Miami, Miami, FL, Robert Dickinson, University of Texas, Austin, TX, Michela Biasutti, Earth Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, Mark Cane, Columbia University, New York, NY, Lisa Goddard, Earth Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, Alan Betts, Atmospheric Research, Pittsford, VT … not to mention NASA and NOAA scientists.
Because these scientists strongly criticized Exxon to the government recommending that Exxon be investigated, CEI has flooded the organizations with lawsuits. You likely approve of this harassment. You likely approve of Congressman Lamar Smith using the power of the Federal government to harass climate scientists, both private and public.
I don’t believe that the government ought to be “harassing” either side; I believe that the government ought to leave them alone.
Jeffrey and the Progressives think otherwise, yet, strangely, get upset when we call the fascists and authoritarians.
As said, it’s not the same because one is investigating where and how taxpayer money is spent. The Climate Inquisition continues.
Do you support Lamar Smith’s (R-TX) attacks on climate scientists?
The CEI (a nonprofit, meaning they don’t pay taxes that other for-profit organizations pay) may have been paid by Exxon Mobil to harass scientists, and if Exxon was misleading their shareholders – that’s what the investigation is to uncover.
CEI is still free to mislead people and lie about global warming, but they may be justifiably afraid that the investigation will uncover collusion to commit fraud.
Teach: Don’t shoot!
What would “prove” the theory to your satisfaction?
The warming is hardly “minimal”. 1 degree Centigrade increase in a century is significant and dangerous.
Scientific proof using the scientific method, with hard, physical data, rather than computer models using manufactured data.
Says who? 1.5F increase since 1860 is not much compared to other Holocene warm periods. Prove that this is danagerous.
-the little guy who exaggerates often who maybe could explain what “fraud” has been commited
Teach: WHAT hard scientific proof would satisfy you? Ignore the models. CO2 absorbs infrared. More CO2, more warming. Less radiation in the CO2 absorption spectrum is leaving Earth to space. Less leaving, more warming. CO2 is higher and it’s proven it’s from fossil fuels. Earth is warming. WHAT specific hard scientific proof are you looking for?
It’s warmer now than during any so-called Holocene warming period. And the warming is continuing.
Exxon is being investigated for potentially defrauding investors and shareholders.
That “think tank” is an advertising agency helping to perpetuate a fraud on both the investors and consumers of fossil fuels.
This is what resulted in the RICO act being used against tobacco companies
It is not a matter of “free speech” it is a matter of criminal commercial fraud. You are not allowed to do that in my country
Teach you could also continue to say that smoking doesn’t cause cancer, BUT You are not allowed to be paid to say that
What fraud has been committed john?
The tobacco case and this one are totally different in scope and nature.
This is a direct attack on the First Amendment as it is not against any law to advocate for a position.
[…] we are continually having to fight against the left and their efforts to criminalize speech. William Teach pointed out how the Attorney General of the Virgin Islands is going after a private think tank, for speech that […]
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[…] together to go after Exxon, along with looking at ways to silence climate skeptics, such as the Virgin Islands AG going after a private group, Competitive Enterprise Institute. Now we […]