Democratic party officials responsible for writing the platform in advance of the convention, to be held in Philadelphia July 25 – 28, have unanimously adopted a provision calling for the Department of Justice to investigate businesses that disagree with Democrats on global warming:
Another joint proposal calling on the Department of Justice to investigate alleged corporate fraud on the part of fossil fuel companies who have reportedly misled shareholders and the public on the scientific reality of climate change was also adopted by unanimous consent.
This signals that the drafting committee, led by DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings, has decided to back investigations, by mostly liberal Democratic state attorneys general, into ExxonMobil’s stance on global warming.
Currently, Attorneys General from California, Massachusetts, New York and the U.S. Virgin Islands have launched investigations of Exxon. New York AG Eric Schneiderman was the first to launch an investigation into Exxon, based on reporting from eco-left wing reporters at InsideClimate News and Columbia University. Schneiderman hosted a conference in March with other AGs to announce more investigations into Exxon.
But unfortunately this charade goes beyond subpoenaing records from large oil companies, who have deep pockets and are able to defend themselves. At least two AGs have attempted to subpoena records from conservative think tanks and scientists skeptical of global warming.
Last year, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D., R.I.) called on the Justice Department to bring charges against those behind a “coordinated strategy” to spread doubt about man-made global warming, including the energy industry, trade associations, “conservative policy institutes” and scientists. Whitehouse urge the Justice Department to use the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”) a law designed to take down the mafia, as a basis for prosecuting man-made global warming skeptics.
Sadly, even some “scientists” are calling for other scientists to be prosecuted. Last September a group of 20 climate scientists wrote to President Obama and Attorney General Loretta Lynch encouraging them to launch a RICO investigation targeting climate skeptics. (It was later revealed that the ringleader of this group of 20 had enriched himself with federal grant money to the tune of more than a cool million dollars.)
Earlier this year, California state senator Ben Allen introduced SB-1161, a measure that would have authorized suits against fossil fuel companies, think tanks, skeptical scientists, and others who have “deceived or misled the public on the risks of climate change.” The measure would have effectively repealed the statute of limitations, meaning that companies could be sued for any act, even if it occurred decades ago, that allegedly constituted misleading the public regarding the danger of climate change. The measure is currently stalled, but could be revived later.
Why does the global warming issue split along partisan lines, with many Republicans skeptical about the supposed dangers of man-made global warming while Democrats are boosters of the theory, and are even willing to prosecute, sue, and otherwise legally harass skeptics, whom they call “deniers”? Opinions vary, but mine is that if you can convince people that virtually all human activity is warming the planet, then you can convince them that virtually all human activity needs to be regulated by government. Since “common ownership of the means of production”—Marxism—has been thoroughly discredited (except on college campuses and at Spectrum) as an excuse for totalitarian control of society, Leftist utopians need another excuse to micro-manage your life. Global warming is that excuse.
If carbon dioxide is going to super-heat the planet, then government should regulate all aspects of human action, including when, where, how far, and how often people are permitted to travel, what people are allowed to drive, how large people’s houses may be, and how cool or warm they are allowed to keep them, how the buildings people work in will be designed and built, where people live in relation to where they work, how far they are allowed to commute, etc.
Man-made global warming is today’s Marxism—the all-sufficient excuse for all-encompassing government--and it is no coincidence that the theory of man-made global warming started to gain prominence in the early 1990s, right after the Soviet Union collapsed and, but for a few holdouts like North Korea, world communism collapsed with it. That’s why the issue breaks down along partisan lines.