U.S. states, Rockefellers clash with U.S. House panel on Exxon climate probes
…Alex Epstein: ‘Defend the Right to Free Speech Against Climate Fascism’
Via Alex Epstein’s email:
Last week I wrote you about how the government’s persecution of companies and think-tanks who challenge climate catastrophism extended to me–and that I responded with a righteous three-word response to the Massachusetts Attorney General and a $100,000 challenge to the leader of the campaign, Al Gore, to debate me.
The story has gotten good coverage in PJ Media, Ricochet, The Blaze, The Daily Caller, The Washington Times, Watts Up With That, Zero Hedge, Ari Armstrong’s blog.
I have never received so much positive, encouraging feedback in my life from those of you who supported my approach–but I also got some negative feedback from people, including several in the fossil fuel industry who think it is never acceptable to be disrespectful, let alone profane, to a public official.
Obviously, I disagree–I chose to use profanity in writing for the first time for very deliberate reasons. I gave some of my reasons in an interview for this excellent Ari Armstrong article:
Persecutors get away with violating rights in large part because the victims treat them as civilized. The Massachusetts Attorney General is demanding my emails at gunpoint because I have prominently voiced opinions that are contrary to hers. She is a fascist, acting profanely. “F**k off, fascist” was therefore the response she deserved.
For the general public, who may innocently misunderstand the issues regarding ExxonMobil, I explained them fully in a Forbes article. But I’m not responding to that thug (who calls herself an Attorney General) with an article.
I think most people understood my reasons, which is why my response received thousands of positive comments and made far more of an impact than the understated articles and press releases that others have written.
But even if you still disagree with how I defend our rights, if you value this country you need to be fighting for those rights in whatever way you can. If you are more upset about me using the f-word against the fascist suppression of free speech than you are about the fascist suppression of free speech then something is very wrong.
I have a standard question I now ask to anyone who is angry at me for my approach:
Have you written the AG yourself and criticized her for her suppression of free speech and attempt to destroy the fossil fuel
House GOP Pressures Dem. State AGs To Drop Attack On Climate Skeptics
…Columnist Peter Foster talks about Resolute racketeering lawsuit against Greenpeace
…Skeptic ponders: ‘Why can’t I bring a fraud suit against Al Gore?’
…Alex Epstein: ‘First The Government Went After ExxonMobil — Now They’re Going After Me’
Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey is persecuting ExxonMobil XOM +0.42% and now me for having opinions on fossil FOSL +1.56% fuels she disagrees with. My company, the Center for Industrial Progress, is one of the 12 cited in the new subpoena of Exxon, meaning that Exxon is supposed to release any private or confidential correspondence any of its employees have ever had with anyone from my company. I have nothing to fear whatsoever about what such a witch-hunt would or wouldn’t reveal on my end, but I do not tolerate anyone violating my rights.
So I wrote the Attorney General a three-word response that is not appropriate for a family publication. See it here.
That is all she deserved but it’s worth elaborating on some of the legal, moral, and scientific questions involved, particularly since the word “fraud” has been thrown around.
The government has no right to demand a single email of mine or Exxon’s unless it has evidence that we are committing fraud by concealing or fabricating evidence. In the case of the climate impact of CO2, this is impossible–because all the evidence about CO2 and climate is in the public domain, largely collected and disseminated by government agencies or government-funded educational institutions.
What ExxonMobil is being prosecuted for is expressing an opinion about the evidence that the government disagrees with. Or, in the case of the #ExxonKnew meme, they are being prosecuted for failing to express an opinion the government agrees with.…
Bring on the climate fraud game? If Exxon can be sued, so can Al Gore, renewables, insurance, banks
…House Science Panel Turns Up Heat on State AGs Over Ties to Climate Change Activists
House Republicans are pressing efforts to safeguard the First Amendment rights of scientific skeptics who dissent from what they consider the Obama administration’s alarmist position on climate change, according to letters to 17 state attorneys general.
The series of letters, sent Friday and signed by 19 of the 22 Republican members of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, renew an earlier request to the state attorneys general for information detailing their communications with environmental organizations.
They also ask for communications between employees for the state attorneys general and the Justice Department, the Environmental Protection Agency, or the White House.
“The committee intends to continue its vigorous oversight of the coordinated attempt to deprive companies, nonprofit organizations, and scientists of their First Amendment rights and ability to fund and conduct scientific research free from intimidation and threats of prosecution,” the letters say.
“I’m glad to see this House committee trying to investigate what these state AGs are doing, which is an abuse of their legal authority and a direct assault on the First Amendment rights of those vigorously debating climate change,” Hans von Spakovsky, senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Signal, adding:
The fact that these state AGs are targeting those who they believe have the wrong view on an unproven, scientific theory is shocking and the kind of behavior one would expect to see in Communist China or the old Soviet Union.
On March 29, state attorneys generals calling themselves AGs United for Clean Power held a press conference in New York with former Vice President Al Gore to announce formation of “an unprecedented coalition of top law enforcement” to “defend climate change progress made under President Obama.”
Members of the group of attorneys general, also dubbed the Green 20, have subpoenaed documents, communications, and research in an effort to acquire the work material of more than 100 academic institutions, nonprofit organizations, and individual scientists, the House committee notes. These organizations and individuals were targeted because they questioned the merits of Obama’s climate change agenda, the release explains.…
Republican state AG’s threaten to prosecute climate change alarmists
…GOP AGs To Dem AGs: You Prosecute Climate Skeptics, We’ll Go After Climate Alarmists
GOP AGs To Dem AGs: You Prosecute Climate Skeptics, We’ll Go After Climate Alarmists
http://lidblog.com/gop-a-g-s-to-dems-you-prosecute-climate-skeptics-well-go-after-climate-alarmists/
While some liberals are trying to destroy the second and fourth Amendments by taking away gun rights for anyone on the terrorist watch list even though the list puts people on who don’t deserve it, others are are attacking the first amendment by trying to toss in jail anyone skeptical of the climate change hypothesis. Not surprisingly one of the Attorney Generals leading the liberal effort to destroy the free speech of climate skeptics is New York State’s Eric Schneiderman of whom the nicest thing that could be said of him is that he’s a bully, more interested in his career than justice. Lauded by Vice President Gore as “the best, most hopeful step in years” in this effort, the AGs United for Clean Power coalition brings together attorneys general from 25 states, territories, cities and counties to explore ways to jointly support the fight against climate change. One such tactic includes facilitating ongoing and potential joint investigations into whether fossil fuel companies and industry groups mislead the public about the dangers of climate change or the viability of renewable energy resources. But as the saying goes what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. A coalition of Republican attorney generals sent a letter to the Schneiderman group warning that the prosecution of climate skeptics will be met with a prosecution of climate alarmists. (full letter embedded below) We all understand the need for a healthy environment, but we represent a wide range of viewpoints regarding the extent to which man contributes to climate change and the costs and benefits of any proposed fix. Nevertheless, we agree on at least one thing— this is not a question for the courts. Using law enforcement authority to resolve a public policy debate undermines the trust invested in our offices and threatens free speech. We are concerned that our colleagues’ investigation undermines the trust the people have invested in Attorneys General to investigate fraud. Investigatory subpoenas were issued to at least one company and one non-profit believed to have made statements minimizing the risks of climate change. At the press conference, one of our colleagues noted that “we are pursuing this as we would any other fraud matter.” We routinely investigate fraud, and have done so with many of the states present at the press conference. …