The Great Free Speech Issue of Our Time

Government-funded climate activists have devised fraudulent models that exist for the sole purpose of stirring up alarm about “climate change.” They have blatantly misrepresented the relationship between “climate change” and extreme weather events, which have become less common in recent years. They have deliberately propagated data they know to be wrong or misleading in order to serve their government paymaster’s political cause.

When weather data have disproved their models, they have surreptitiously changed weather records rather than admit that their models are useless. Privately, they acknowledge among themselves that their models can’t explain what is going on with the Earth’s climate, and that their ignorance is a “travesty.” But as long as the billions of dollars flow, the fake scholarship flows, too, and the government’s checks are cashed.

Should these government-funded climate alarmists be criminally prosecuted? No, I don’t think so. While their motives are impure to say the least, and the quality of their work is abysmal, as long as they operate in the realm of scientific debate, they can be refuted and scorned, but not imprisoned. Not even Michael Mann.

But of course, no one is talking about sending alarmists or their painfully ignorant acolytes–Leo Dicaprio!–to prison. On the other hand, Democrats in Washington want to silence those who have bravely stood against the government-funded monopoly to bring a modicum of truth to the climate debate. The Hill reports:

The decision about whether to investigate ExxonMobil Corporation’s advocacy on climate change is now in the FBI’s hands.

The Department of Justice (DOJ), which received multiple requests to probe Exxon for potential legal action, has sent the case to the FBI for its consideration, it told a pair of Democratic lawmakers.

“As a courtesy, we have forwarded your correspondence to the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” DOJ wrote to Reps. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) and Mark DeSaulnier (D-Calif.), who asked for the probe.

“The FBI is the investigative arm of the department, upon which we rely to conduct the initial fact finding in federal cases. The FBI will determine whether an investigation is warranted,” Peter Kadzik, the assistant attorney general for legislative affairs, wrote.

Actually, the oil companies have mostly been bystanders in the climate debate. But the Democrats are trying to deflect attention away from the fact that their global warming theory is crumbling in the face of the facts. The oil companies make convenient scapegoats.

What is outrageous about this is not the debate–no matter however flimsy, dishonest and self-interested the government-funded alarmists may be–but rather the Democrats’ attempt to shut the debate off by trying to imprison those who won’t toe their line. This is the most blatant violation of the First Amendment that we have seen in a very long time.

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