The Patriot Post® · Climate Alarmists Want Dissenters Imprisoned

On Sept. 1, twenty professors and climate scientists wrote a letter to Barack Obama, Attorney General Loretta Lynch and science czar John Holdren praising their regulatory assault on fossil fuels. That wasn’t the point of the letter, however. The disgruntled authors encouraged a more crushing strategy the White House should use to speed up compliance to Obama’s climate change agenda. The group stated, “We appreciate that you are making aggressive and imaginative use of the limited tools available to you in the face of a recalcitrant Congress.” But… “One additional tool — recently proposed by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse — is a RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) investigation of corporations and other organizations that have knowingly deceived the American people about the risks of climate change, as a means to forestall America’s response to climate change.” In other words, why not just prosecute and imprison those darn skeptics getting in the way?

Specifically, the authors cite RICO’s success in taking on the tobacco industry, adding, “[I]t is imperative that these misdeeds be stopped as soon as possible so that America and the world can get on with the critically important business of finding effective ways to restabilize the Earth’s climate, before even more lasting damage is done.” As climate blogger Steve Goddard retorted, “They might want to consult with the Pope about this. The Vatican has considerable experience arresting heretics.” Investor’s Business Daily’s Kerry Jackson put it best: “[W]e could be wrong about global warming. It might all be as the alarmists claim. We acknowledge this. Science is not static but always moving. Let’s see what it tells us. Yet has any true believer ever renounced his global warming faith or conceded that there is even the slightest chance that he might be just a bit wrong?” Who exactly are acting like cultish fanatics?

Oh, and by the way, George Mason University Professor Jagadish Shukla, a leader of the letter writers, reportedly profited from government climate grants to the tune of $1.5 million.