Alarmist Prosecutor Demands E-mails from Climate Skeptics
The New American reports on the subpoena sent to CEI as a part of the Attorneys General's campaign to silence the debate on climate change.
But now, the prosecutors hope to silence those who point out the flaws in AGW using a new tactic: using a thus-far unknown amount of taxpayer resources and the justice system to harass, investigate, intimidate, terrorize, and potentially prosecute or even jail global-warming skeptics. Case in point: Virgin Islands Attorney General Claude Walker, who likely just committed career suicide by brazenly abusing his power, just unveiled a subpoena seeking a decade of CEI's materials and communications on climate policy, ranging from 1997 to 2007. The demand also calls for the market-oriented group to hand over information on its private donors. All of it is being demanded by the end of the month. The attorney general's office did not respond to requests for comment by press time.
The attorneys general also hope to win the debate using these tactics, rather than scientific evidence. “The subpoena from the attorney general of the Virgin Islands is another round in this long campaign by global warming alarmists to win the debate by defunding and silencing their opponents,” Myron Ebell, CEI director of energy and global warming policy, told The New American in a statement. “They cannot win on the science, so the only way they think they can win the debate is to threaten our First Amendment rights."
In a statement to the Daily Caller, Ebell, whose face was plastered by alarmists around Paris in December for the UN global-warming summit with the words “climate criminal,” also blasted the alarmist industry's agenda. “CEI has long been public enemy number one to the global warming alarmist industry, which knows that it can’t win an open public debate on the merits of their anti-energy, anti-people agenda,” he said. “The subpoena we received today is just the latest round in a campaign of harassment and intimidation begun in 2006 designed to win the debate by silencing and destroying CEI and other non-profit groups that rely on sound science to speak truth to power. They will continue to threaten us, but we will not give up defending freedom and prosperity.”
CEI General Counsel Sam Kazman, meanwhile, vowed in a statement to fight the subpoena and defend free speech. “CEI will vigorously fight to quash this subpoena,” he said. “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. 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.” Also working for CEI's rights on this case are attorneys Andrew Grossman and David Rivkin, Jr., founders of the Free Speech in Science Project, which aims to defend First Amendment rights against government abuse.
Read the full article at the New American.