Posted on 05/10/2016 6:52:27 AM PDT by Kaslin
In the 1950s, it was: “Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the Communist Party?” Today, it’s: “Are you now, or have you ever been, a climate-change denier?”
I’m not referring simply to the fact that it’s politically incorrect to question assertions of man-made global warming. That’s bad enough, but no -- I mean that if some powerful individuals get their way, it could soon be a federal crime to do so.
“The bottom line is simple,” New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said at a recent press conference. “Climate change is real.” He was joined by more than a dozen other state attorneys general who vowed to investigate -- and quite possibly prosecute -- individuals and organizations that criticize the conventional wisdom on climate change.
Their crusade has captured the sympathy of U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who on March 9 told the Senate Judiciary Committee that she has discussed internally the possibility of pursuing civil actions against “climate change deniers.” Worse, she has “referred it to the FBI to consider whether or not it meets the criteria for which we could take action.”
That struck committee member Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) as a great idea. After all, he had urged Lynch to prosecute those who “pretend that the science of carbon emissions’ dangers is unsettled.” He particularly wants to go after those in the “fossil fuel industry” who allegedly have a “climate denial apparatus” in place to say something Sen. Whitehouse disagrees with.
The fact that this flies in the face of the First Amendment seems so crushingly obvious that I can’t believe it needs to be said. But when you have public officials talking about using the federal government to punish those who dissent from their viewpoint, it is actually necessary to say it.
And that’s what we’re talking about here: a viewpoint. “They want to investigate and prosecute corporations and individuals for their opinions on an unproven scientific theory, for which there is not a consensus, despite inaccurate claims to the contrary,” writes legal expert Hans von Spakovsky.
There is, in fact, more diversity of opinion than one would expect among meteorologists and scientists on climate change and what’s causing it. We’re constantly being told “the science is settled” -- that the scientific community is marching in lockstep behind Al Gore’s pet theories. But polls show that they’re split on the issue.
Many scientists and climate experts, yes, say that climate change is real and that human activity is causing it. Some say it’s a mixture of human activity and natural causes. Others say not enough is known to say for sure.
Perhaps this is why Lynch and the state attorneys general are contemplating federal intervention. On survey after survey, the public puts global warming low on the list of important issues. Perhaps a little extra-legal muscle from the feds will make the organizations that question climate change fall into line?
Von Spakovsky sees hints in this “of the old Soviet Union, where Joseph Stalin persecuted those whom he thought had the “wrong” scientific views on everything from linguistics to physics. Both Lynch and Whitehouse might want to read Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s book, ‘In the First Circle,’ in which he outlined the Soviet government’s suppression of dissenting scientists and engineers.”
Perhaps someone can remind Secretary Lynch that we have free speech protections for a reason. They are designed not to protect the liberty of those who express the politically popular point of view, but to protect those who dare to say something contrary to it.
As President Truman once said, “In a free country, we punish men for the crimes they commit, but never for the opinions they have.” The question is, are we still in a free country?
The phrase “man-made global warming” sums it up perfectly!
It sure does.
Lynch needs to stay out of science and stick to what she knows best. Toilets.
Ping.
The earth has been warming and cooling for more than four billion years.
Get over it...
Bring it on MOFO! Hemi idling for hours, lawn mower idling for hours, S80 Volvo V-8 idling for hours. Just helping to turn the north pole in to a tropical paradise. :)
I think it should be called “Woman made Global warming”
That would change the dynamic
The same thing can be said of the case of the Little Sisters of the Poor vs. the feds on the issue of contraception; Amendment One clearly is on the side of the Sisters.
The Federal Government no longer even pretends to be constrained by the Constitution which created it.
GloBULL warming.
Government wants more power
Government funds research on (topic)
Research supports government position on (topic)
Government claims position on (topic) scientifically proven
Government claims more power to address (topic)
Researchers get more money
Government gets more power
All for your benefit, of course.
FULynch
Exactly true !
Based upon 'computer models' and tainted statistics
First rule of computing is :" GIGO "(Garbage in /garbage out)
Statics don't lie , but selecting which statistics to use means that the statisticians do lie about facts.
Are we still living in a free country ??
Top Three Answers on the Board, Survey says. . . .
NO!!
I miss America. I wonder if we’ll ever get it back. . .
If you use government to attack me, because of my spreading my opinion on a matter of science, I have a legal and moral right to respond with violence.
Quite simply, all of these AGs should be fired after the next election cycle.
“The Federal Government no longer even pretends to be constrained by the Constitution which created it.”
...and the plethora of Moron’s who voted Congress into office who’s duty it is to control the Federal creature to keep a Federal Government within the constraints of the Constitution.
Recognition of the real problem is a good start on dealing with the desease.
Controlling the Federal Government was the job assigned to the Senate, members to be designated by the state legislatures.
Amendment 17 put an end to that safeguard.
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