Dear Attorneys General, You’re not stupid. Stupid people don’t graduate from law school. Neither are you generally ignorant. You know lots of law. But the day of the “Renaissance man,” vastly learned across all fields of knowledge, is long gone. All intelligent and learned people are ignorant about some things. So, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch and members of Attorneys General United for Clean Power, take no offense when I tell you that your intent to investigate and … [Read more...]
Climate Litigation in a Topsy-Turvy World
Last month federal magistrate judge Thomas M. Coffin ruled that a lawsuit filed on behalf of 21 children and teenagers seeking damages from the federal government for its failure to fight climate change (enough) could go forward. His decision surprises many legal scholars, but Michael B. Gerrard, Director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law (I can't resist the temptation to refer to King Canute!) commented, It is the first time a federal court has suggested that government may have a … [Read more...]
Can We Defend Liberty against a Militarized EPA?
Did you know that the federal Environmental Protection Agency spends millions of dollars on guns, body armor, camouflage equipment, unmanned aircraft, amphibious assault ships, radar and night-vision gear, and other military-style weaponry and surveillance activities? You read that right—EPA, not the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marines. Why? Because EPA regulations are so ubiquitous, so onerous, and so contrary to the spirit of our freedom-loving nation that ordinary Americans find … [Read more...]
Modern mavens and maxims of meteorological mayhem
Here’s a bit of earthy mirth for Earth Day 2016. Inspired by the atmospheric angst of the November-December 2015 Paris climate change conference, late last year, we proposed new weather wonkery c our versions of popular meteorological anecdotes like the witticisms of old that folks frequently used to stay ahead of storms. For example, one of the most familiar traditional axioms is “red sky in morning, sailors take warning; red sky at night, sailors delight.” We proffered alternative, … [Read more...]
Attorney Generals Attack First Amendment Rights of Climate Skeptics
It’s hardball time, and things are going to get rough. That’s the current state of the desperate attempt of climate alarmists and their allies in the Obama Administration and sympathetic state pols. Failing to motivate significant public concern about manmade global warming, failing to get even those who express concern to be willing to make significant sacrifices to mitigate it, these political operatives and politicized scientists are resorting to brute force—the very opposite of … [Read more...]
More Saber-Rattling by the Enemies of Free Speech and Real Science
Last week U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch told Congress that her department has discussed taking civil legal action (under RICO, the Racketeer-Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) against "climate deniers" (whatever those are---I don't know any). “This matter has been discussed. We have received information about it and have referred it to the FBI to consider whether or not it meets the criteria for which we could take action on,” she said at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing … [Read more...]
Why are Young Americans Flocking to Bernie?
Of course young people like Bernie! He promises them free college, free health care—free, free, free. But why don’t these young people understand TANSTAAFL (“There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch”)? I’ll tell you. Their mistake is perfectly understandable. For eighteen, twenty, maybe twenty-five years or more practically all they’ve consumed has been free to them. Their parents have fed them, clothed them, housed them, medicated them, transported them, entertained them, educated … [Read more...]
Justice Antonin Scalia, 1936-2015
Justice Antonin Scalia, a champion of originalist Constitutional interpretation and one of the most brilliant justices in the history of the Supreme Court, died today. His strict adherence to the text of the Constitution made him the champion of every friend of liberty and the opponent of every attempt by government to exceed its Constitutional limits. One of his most recent opinions for the majority related to Cornwall Alliance's core concerns came in Michigan v. EPA last summer, in which the … [Read more...]
RICO and Climate Consensus: Putting the Chill on Science, Speech, and Human Flourishing
Forget about the First Amendment, the indispensable role of vigorous debate and testing in the progress of scientific knowledge, the reality of major reversals in science, the tremendous benefits of fossil-fuel-derived energy in lifting and keeping whole societies---and their individual members---out of poverty, disease, and premature death. Those mean nothing to climate alarmists like Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), the Natural Resources Defense Council and other large environmentalist … [Read more...]
Leading Scientists Urge Greater Data Quality Accountability
Over 300 scientists, engineers, economists, and other scholars last week sent a letter to Congressman Lamar Smith, Chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, in support of the Committee’s efforts to implement greater accountability for the scientific work of federal agencies involved in climate research, such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the Environmental Protection Agency … [Read more...]
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