Government Targets 90 Conservative Groups for Being Skeptical of Climate Change

Regardless of how you feel about climate change (or any controversial debate for that matter) you probably already know that you can’t change someone’s mind by persecuting them. You can’t a hold a gun to their head, metaphorically or literally, and punish them for disagreeing with you. If anything that will only reinforce their beliefs. It’s not only wrong, it’s stupid.

Don’t tell that to Attorney General Claude Walker of the US Virgin Islands. He’s issued a subpoena to Exxon Mobil, asking them to hand over communications with 90 different conservative and libertarian groups, such as “the Heritage Foundation, the Cato Institute, the Federalist Society, the Hoover Institution, the Reason Foundation, and the Mercatus Institute” as part of a wider racketeering lawsuit.

So how could any of these organizations be a part of a racketeering scheme? Because somehow, being skeptical of climate change and expressing that opinion (an opinion shared by an oil company), makes you privy to a wider conspiracy to increase that companies profits at the expense of the public and the environment. Supposedly these groups are lying about climate change to help Exxon Mobil.

In reality, this is nothing more than an underhanded attempt to shut down the free speech of organizations that are skeptical of climate change, by leftist groups and the government. As a spokesman for the Heritage Foundation put it, “This investigation is intended to silence and chill any opposition…It is disgraceful and contemptible behavior by public officials who are willing to exploit their power to achieve ideological ends.”

Whatever happened to debating the issue, and letting the public judge the facts on their own merits?