William Lau, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, Kevin Trenberth, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, T.N. Krishnamurti, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, Vasu Misra, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
Ben Kirtman, University of Miami, Miami, FL, Robert Dickinson, University of Texas, Austin, TX, Michela Biasutti, Earth Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY
Mark Cane, Columbia University, New York, NY, Lisa Goddard, Earth Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, Alan Betts, Atmospheric Research, Pittsford, VT
From CEI’s web page:
CEI Defeats RICO-20 Ringleader In FOIA Lawsuit
George Mason University Must Release Documents Calling for Prosecution of Political Opponents
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) prevailed in a Virginia Freedom of Information Act (VFOIA) lawsuit against George Mason University (GMU). The VFOIA request sought public records showing how the “RICO-20” group of academics, using public funding, organized their call for a federal racketeering investigation of “corporations and other entities” who disagreed with them on climate policy.
The judge ruled for CEI on all counts in an April 22 ruling in Christopher Horner and CEI v. George Mason University that the court released today. The ruling concluded that by leaving it to faculty who simply told the school’s FOIA officer they had no responsive records, GMU failed to conduct an adequate search; the judge also ruled that documents including emails from GMU Professor Ed Maibach must be released to CEI.
“This victory puts on notice those academics who have increasingly inserted themselves into politics, that they cannot use taxpayer-funded positions to go after those who disagree with them and expect to hide it,” said Chris Horner, CEI fellow and co-plaintiff. “These records are highly relevant to the state attorneys general campaign that these academics hoped for, and will be of great assistance to the public in trying to understand how their tax dollars are being used for political fights.”
In 2015, George Mason University (GMU) faculty claimed “no records” existed in response to CEI VFOIA request for records regarding Professor Ed Maibach’s role as a ringleader of the RICO-20 campaign. Other universities provided proof that the “no records” claim was not true, which prompted CEI to sue GMU over the FOIA dispute.
The RICO-20, including six GMU faculty, wrote a September 1 letter from 20 climate scientists to President Barack Obama, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, and White House science adviser John Holdren requesting a RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) investigation of “the fossil fuel industry and their supporters.” The scientists allege that the aforementioned interests “knowingly deceived the American people about the risks of climate change, in order to forestall America’s response to climate change.” CEI’s FOIA efforts extend to each public university represented in the letter. GMU is not the only school to falsely claim “no records” existed.
In May 2015, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) called for a RICO investigation of “fossil fuel companies and their allies.” The academics “strongly endorse” Sen. Whitehouse’s proposal. Documents provided by two universities suggest the RICO-20 recruited this support, not for any legislation, but for his call to prosecute political opponents, in consultation with Sen. Whitehouse.
In April, 2016, CEI was subpoenaed by the Attorney General of the U.S. Virgin Islands for a decade’s worth of climate policy related work. CEI is vigorously fighting the subpoena, which is an attack on its First Amendment rights.
Here is the order denying their appeal to the April 22nd decision:
The full court document: GMU-FOIA-Orders (PDF)
There’s quite a backstory to this, which we’ll cover later. -Anthony
UPDATE: Some emails are released in this document, they make for interesting reading: http://eelegal.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/img20160205_17361082.pdf
UPDATE2:
From EELegal
For Immediate Release:
May 13, 2016
Virginia Circuit Court Dissolves Protective Order on GMU Professor’s E-mail;
National Campaign led by AG’s to Use RICO Against ‘Climate Skeptics’ will be Revealed in Released E-mails
Washington, D.C. – Today the public came one big step closer to learning the truth behind how university professors launched “a national campaign” to have state attorneys general investigate and prosecute political opponents under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) — investigations which have now swept up think tanks and climate scientists who have dared challenge the climate agenda and claims made to force it into place.
Representing Christopher Horner and the Competitive Enterprise Institute, attorneys from the Free Market Environmental Law Clinic successfully argued that the public records of Professor Edward Maibach should now be disclosed to all, having previously been submitted to the court under a protective order. Having reviewed these emails under seal, we were aware of their connection and importance to the ongoing and expanding abuses by state AGs to use law enforcement powers to go after opponents.
On April 22, the Richmond (VA) Circuit Court held that the emails were public records, that they are not protected by any exemption and thus must be disclosed. Because they were being held secret under a protective order, and in light of the Court’s decision, today FME Law asked the court to dissolve the protective order and allow the records to be made public. The Virginia Assistant Attorney General, representing George Mason University, asked the protective order remain in place and that the ruling be stayed while it appealed the underlying decision to the Supreme Court. After extensive oral argument, the Court concluded that the appeal would most likely fail and thus it dissolved the protective order, allowing the public to view records about a disgraceful campaign that the public paid for.
Director of the FME Law Clinic, David W. Schnare, commented, “We need to protect the work of academics as set forth in Freedom of Information Acts, which laws make exception for information that should be legitimately protected, for example relating to research. But when professors voluntarily enter the policy arena, particularly in this case when they use their positions specifically to advance a political agenda, they are no different than any other government employee and the law treats them accordingly.”
FME Law, the Energy & Environment Legal Institute, and others should now look forward to publicly discussing what this information reveals about the ongoing campaign by text pair funded academics, lawn force meant officials, and major political party donors to use the offices of attorney general to prosecute and silence political opponents.
A total of 5 PDFs, 190 pages
Here’s one:
Here’s another showing how they planned to use tobacco lawsuit tactics:
Here is the genesis of the whole affair. Shukla can’t believe the public remains mostly skeptical, therefore it must be a big oil conspiracy. Some scientist, op-eds replace factual research for him:
Here’s Shukla’s response to a tobacco lawyer meeting, seems his first effort into political lobbying turned into a disaster, as we see now:
“Don’t turn climate into God.”:
LOL! Union of Concerned Scientists bows out of climate circus they propose, doesn’t think it is a good idea to get involved:
Here’s the worst part – they knowingly tried to circumvent future FOIA requests:
Clinton update from The Daily Bail:
CNN Won’t Discuss Bill Clinton’s ‘Energizer’ Mistress
http://dailybail.com/home/cnn-wont-discuss-bill-clintons-energizer-mistress.html
Alesci On Clinton Foundation Charity Scandal
The Clinton Foundation is denying a Wall Street Journal report that CGI steered money to a for-profit company partly owned by Clinton friends and Democratic donors. One of those friends was Bill Clinton’s mistress. See her photo here.
As a former CNN employee, I can confirm that the Hillary Protection Program is real, and it’s standard brainwashing procedure at CNN and virtually every other national media outlet. The Clinton story was not mentioned on the nightly news this evening by any of the three networks. It was censored completely — an orchestrated blackout to keep viewers from hearing the truth about the Clintons.
More here:
http://dailybail.com/home/wsj-bombshell-clinton-foundation-gave-2-million-to-bills-ene.html
Fox News covers it ….and more..!
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/05/12/clinton-charity-aided-clinton-friends.html
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/05/13/flight-logs-show-bill-clinton-flew-on-sex-offenders-jet-much-more-than-previously-known.html?intcmp=hppop
These climate people need to understand that people like me are not falling for their climate fairy tales because some corporation is pushing us to believe otherwise. I don’t believe their climate change fairy tales because I go out side year around and see the same old spring, summer, fall and winter with the same old unpredictable weather as there has been the last 48 years. Like every other religion that exists out there, they can take theirs and shove it where the sun don’t shine.
I agree. CAGW is just more faith-based rubbish that should be consigned to the round filing cabinet labelled “religion”.
This is why we need Trump in the office… he’s not the world’s smartest guy, not the best leader I could imagine.. pretty much a buffoon from the overly aggressive real estate market (those guys are really nasty) but his natural instincts are off the charts in the art of defeating the crazy leftist agenda.
One of the best explanations of “Climate Change” in simpleton speak !! Even I understood it !! LOL
https://youtu.be/iEPW_P7GVB8
It’s ironic. Every time (way too many) I see a left-of-center individual play an empire-building game that allows you to set your own tax rate, they all get it right every time. Not one percentage point too high, not one percentage point too low. Intelligent numerical analysis.
Then when they get out in the real world it’s as if they never gave any of those factors a second thought. Sheesh. They can’t be real unless they are playing a game — in which venue they are the epitome of wisdom and common sense. (Yes, I mean you, Matumbah! You too, Winston X. Et alia.)
There’s an old saying, “Experience keeps a dear school, but a fool will learn in no other.” But there seems to be a resistance to learning going on here. Or at least a misplacement. They have learned little. And a lot of what they have learned appears to be incorrect.
..You must play ” Civilization” or some such online game !! Me, I’m poor, so I play the cheap downloaded version !! Haven’t lost yet even at the Expert level !
and what have you done with the lefties in your “civilisation” Marcus.. :p Breaking rocks at Leavenworth?
😀
Professor Kirke famously asked, What are they teaching in these schools?” This was in 1950. The book was set around 1940 and the author was a conservative (U.S. definition).
I wonder what the prof would be saying now? Just thinkin’.
Ship in distress: MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY We are sinking, we are sinking
German Coastguard: And what are you sinking about?
Good joke – Thank you for that.
But please do realize: Planet Earth is not sinking, it’s thriving!
http://www.nature.com/articles/srep20716
No problem. We’ll just ask the White Witch to conjure us up an eternal winter. That’ll fix things up.
The most absurd thing of all is that we have been experiencing the best weather and climate for life on this planet since the Medieval Warm Period, 1000 years ago………..that was warmer than this in many places.
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v532/n7599/full/nature17441.html
“Here we show that in the United States from 1974 to 2013, the weather conditions experienced by the vast majority of the population improved. Using previous research on how weather affects local population growth8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 to develop an index of people’s weather preferences, we find that 80% of Americans live in counties that are experiencing more pleasant weather than they did four decades ago.”
Planet earth is greening up:
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-36130346
Warming the higher latitudes most, has decreased the meridional temperature gradient and decreased many measures of extreme weather. As an independent operational meteorologist the past 34 years, that has been observing global weather on a daily basis, I can say that these people are stark raving delusional.
The broken model projections do show these bad things happening of course, but in reality, so far the increase in CO2 from burning fossil fuels has been almost entirely beneficial to life based on observations/empirical evidence.
Turkeys voting for Christmas.
Now, your jokes get cheaper and boring… Good bye, troll 😉
Gentle Tramp,
Exactly right. Horne is just an ignorant site pest, cluttering up threads with his witless comments.
And you are cluttering up the thread with name calling
..Personally, as a Canadian that lived for 12 years in Daytona Beach, Fla. as a kid…I really would not care if it never snowed again !! ANYWHERE ! Just sayin’ ..
I love skiing, but warmer climate just means that the snow is a few hundred meters higher, or that we have to go skiing a few weeks earlier, maybe the snow will be gone by Easter – prime time for skiing.
Move the Easter for christ!
It´s greener, warmer and calmer – the only thing hurt by CO2 is the pride of the greens.
I don´t get it – people are thrilled to get married and still afraid of global warming.
“Suggest ways of incorporating language that resonate with conservative values, such as accountability.”
?w=720
That quote highlights the complete and utter moral bankruptcy of the progressive left, that quote highlights how progressives mock values such as “accountability.” It also demonstrates how progressives employed by universities show no fear of discussion their moral bankruptcy with others. It exposes a culture of absolute corruption and moral bankruptcy. We allow people that mock accountability to educate our youth. We use tax payer dollars to fund the future destruction of American by corrupt and morally bankrupt educators. Accountability is exactly what is needed for our Universities. Tax payers should not be paying those who work to undermine America.
..Liberals have no morals or any idea about ethics..They believe the “End Justifies The Means”, no matter what the cost in Human lives ! Because they know whats best …for them !
Very well said – it´s amazing to see how values and language are being misused and getting corrupted. “It can´t happen here” is always wrong – actions to silence opponents happens everywhere. Who would have thought that Universities, once the bastions of free thought, are now heading the fight against free thought. Parents have to start being aware of where they send their kids.
Appalling.
There is an orchestrated campaign by clever men trying to stop the truth being heard: Substantial emissions of CO2 are altering the climate. At this rate coastal cities will be flooded.
If you don’t believe that you’ve been conned.
Horne actually believes he knows the “truth”. heh
[Snip. More comments like that and you can find another blog to post on. -mod.]
I think you hit a nerve, db.
And now he needs a time out. Someone give him a juice box.
… he was referring to himself.
Dennis Horne: “w1tlessbullsh1tt1ng1mbec1le”
From which, we can assume you have conceded that you have lost the debate, is that right Horny old chap?
You really haven’t the first clue, have you?
ye sure, that is why al gore got into beach side property . anyone basing any argument relating to sea level rise is a simpleton. look at the physical data and you will stop wetting your panties over it.
[snip – rant multiple policy violations, assigned to permanent bit bucket -Anthony]
Wow, I think you just calloused the ends of your fingers from banging on the keys so HARD. But we do appreciate it!
Fun to read, a bit long but still fun.
http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2015/feb/13/dana-perino/fox-news-host-climate-scientists-fabricated-temper/
“The net effect of adjustments is to actually reduce the amount of global warming we’ve observed since 1880 by about 20 percent,” Hausfather said. “Folks skeptical of temperature adjustments are welcome not to use them if they’d like, but you end up with more global warming, not less.”
I’ll try again. The temperatures are measured!
Discuss it with your therapist.
Dennis, Agw is supposed to only discernible post 1950 (according to the conjecture). one of tricks of the “adjustments” is to dampen down the 1930/40’s warm spell, and reduce the warming rate 1880 to 1940 . I think you need to get off of those political brainwashing sites and maybe do a little real research because It’s you that’s being played
You talking to your mirror?
Or deep sarcasm?
The truth will out, as our poor climate communicators keep finding out.
Tis hard to “believe ” the message from men who insist lying is a message enhancing meme.
Yes, according to the top Warmists of the 1960’s the world would experience 10 feet of sea level rise by the year 2000, followed by an additional 200 feet of sea level rise by 2200 (+1 foot per year). “At this rate” coastal cities are already flooded.
If that’s too far back for you, in 2004, the Pentagon warned GW Bush “that major European cities will be sunk beneath rising seas as Britain is plunged into a ‘Siberian’ climate by 2020. Nuclear conflict, mega-droughts, famine and widespread rioting will erupt across the world.”
Today’s warmists have backtracked so far that now the “nightmare scenario” is that by the year 2100 sea level rise will go from 3 mm/year (steady for the last 150+ years, meaning CO2 has nothing to do with it) to 7 mm/year. SEVEN MILLIMETERS. ALMOST 1/3 of an inch.
If you think major coastal cities can’t cope with anywhere from 1/10 to 1/3 of an inch of rise per year, you don’t have much regard for humanity, and even citing it as one of the evidences everyone should agree upon is actually evidence of how much you yourself have been “conned”.
Horne says:
Substantial emissions of CO2 are altering the climate.
Another baseless assertion by the guy who can’t ever produce a measurement to support his beliefs.
Are the “fossil fuel” companies , like Exxon, responsible for the CO2 my car emits,
after I bought it? They aren’t burning it, I am.
Mike, May 14, 2016 at 2:18 am wrote: “Wow- you really handed my ass to me. Especially that well informed comment about CO2 increases following temperature increases. Shows you understand the literature really well.
Love winding up middle aged male climate contrarians. They’re as stupid as antivaxxers and Trump supporters.”
Yeah, we will see who ends up looking stupid or not.
As for “winding up middle aged male climate contrarians”, I think *they* probably look at it as entertainment.
Reading through these I have to conclude that these persons actually have no idea as to what constitutes due diligence or that they are amazingly sloppy academics or have an inability to understand written text or something else as bad.
As an example: On Sept 29th, 2015 at 3:36 pm Edward Maibach was responding to Elizabeth Woodley’s email about the FOIA. She had explicitly requested materials related to
“2) approvals of the appropriate collegiate dean or institute director for Prof.
Maibach to use university facilities, equipment,
supplies or computer time in their consulting”
He responds that it is ONLY his laptop he uses, (implying that that is so insignificant this small piece of equipment must then somehow be exempt from the requests!)
So the specific request doesn’t apply to HIS equipment provided by GMU because…..????
He ends his email with “Is this sufficient?””
I did not search for a response from her but since they replied overall that there were no responsive documents ….
LASTLY, he has the gaul to say they are trying to hurt him and Shulka in response to them encouraging someone to pick up a weapon (RICO) and assault these people and they are aghast! surprised! that they would fight back! OMG. How simple minded.
I think that farmers should sue these oil companies. Exon knew that the increase in CO2 would cause crop yields to explode upwards via the law on photosynthesis.
Now, at harvest, many producers don’t have room in their bins for the massive crops being produced………..Exon should pay for new bins to store the bumper crops (-:
Paul Ehrlich is butt-hurt that with all the food that’s being produced and delivered to market, millions of people aren’t starving as he predicted. We need to cut back on all this technology.
Well done for all the hard work in getting this far and exposing the lies and machinations of these people. It reminds me of this line from Sir Walter Scott’s poem.
“Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive”
They are now finding how tangled in it they are.
James Bull
The left-leaning media continues to misrepresent and soft-peddle the reasons why Lois Lerner, Hillary, Lisa Jackson (aka Richard Windsor) of the EPA, and now these clowns, use private e-mail accounts to conduct official public business. It’s NOT about convenience, it’s not about privacy, mobile. It’s about controlling the information that they do NOT own, and about skirting FOI and other laws. They want the ability to evade responsibility for their official communications, yet they want the power and credibility of their public offices.
When I hear about a bureaucrat or scientist using a secondary e-mail to communicate official business, this pretty much disqualifies them as credible sources, and brands them as disingenuous propagandists.
I am almost out of words – almost – but there should no longer be any doubt about which are really the racketeer influenced and corrupt organizations.
I was informed today that my energy costs will increase 15% this year because of the green policy of my government. Anyhow – I just donated 100 dollars to CEI for their continued effort to provide what the United States government is unable to provide to the American people. And I´m not an United States citizen.
Totally irrational? Maybe – or maybe not! Do the same:
https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/cei
Always struck me that they were playing with fire by playing the RICO card on their opponents when THEY fitted RICO far more accurately. The hunter is now the hunted. Deservedly. Sh1t just got real.
Portion of the e-mail dated June 31, 2015 from Peter Frumhoff to Edward Malibach:
“As you know, deception/disinformation itself isn’t a basis for criminal prosecution under RICO.”
I can imagine the basis for that “as you know”, and the discussions that they have had about how far THEY can go.
People who set traps for others often fall into them themselves. When will we learn?
“..the wicked were ensnared by their own actions.”
—Psalms 9:16
A little late in this, but besides lack of provable damages, I think their RICO case against Exxon, et al, has two other major problems. The first is HOW did the oil companies sway public opinion? As we have witnessed, the main stream media has done a fine job muzzling those who do not agree with man made climate catastrophe. Ask the average man on the street why he does not agree with “the consensus”, and only a few will be able to quote ANY source for his skepticism, just that the climate’s always changing and he doesn’t think man can change it. So just how has Exxon had any influence on their customers?
The big issue, though, is motivation. They were motivated to protect their revenue? Is there any reasonable belief that anything would change if Exxon aggressively URGED everyone to stop using gasoline? What is the alternative? The very limited-use electric vehicles on the market? How many people would switch to an alternative fuel vehicle if they knew with 100% certainty that it would prevent a climate disaster in 100 years? HAVE THE CLIMATE SCIENTISTS CHANGED THEIR OWN LIFESTYLES?? (Won’t even mention Gore). If everybody started using electric cars, it might hurt the revenues of oil companies, but certainly not fatally. First, they are energy companies. They would take on a larger presence in the alternative fuel industry, or in electric generation and distribution (with everyone driving EVs, the entire grid would need reinforcement). Secondly, just what fuels will be used for jets, freighters, trains, and tractor trailers? What about farming and construction equipment? They will still use oil-derived products for many decades. Finally, what about the hundreds of oil-based products, from fertilizers to medicines (and the plastic parts in those EVs!)? They, too, would still be desired. So, in all honesty, oil companies had little to fear concerning climate change, and I’m sure they realized it. They know we have a choice: use oil, or end civilization as we know it. So why should they engage in a conspiracy to ‘hide the incline’? Just ask the jury, would you lower your standard of living, if you knew with certainty that not doing so would create problems a hundred years from now? No one needed con people to stop them from boycotting or making oil products illegal. It was never going to happen.
I am a professor so I have academic freedom. Shut the @ur momisugly@ck up.
Well, I had a long, quite brilliant comment, that totally disappeared when I hit the post button. The gist of it was, does anyone really think Exxon, et al, could influence people on their use of oil products? If they announced using oil was going to destroy the world in a hundred years, how many would trade in their cars for EVs? Ground airplanes? Stop freighters carrying international merchandise? Stop rail traffic? Prohibit construction and farming equipment fueled by oil products? Exxon, et al, didn’t need a conspiracy to ‘hide the incline,’ and I’m sure Exxon recognized that. Their business simply is not seriously endangered by a theoretical climate change a hundred years from now, regardless of how convinced people may be of such a future climate change. People are not going to end civilization as we know it and live a life of deprivation for ANY reason.
The questions I would ask those ‘scientists’ pushing the RICO suit would be: do you believe we are changing the climate by our use of oil? Do you think we are headed for a climate disaster? What car do you drive? When is the last time you have flown? Have your actions been influenced by Exxon? Have you any evidence that anyone has been influenced by anything Exxon has done? So how has anyone been damaged?
(Well, sometimes a comment gets sent into comment “purgatory” till a mod sets it free, ’cause the system gets “triggered” . . apparently it’s an SJW system ; )
“How many people would switch to an alternative fuel vehicle if they knew with 100% certainty that it would prevent a climate disaster in 100 years? HAVE THE CLIMATE SCIENTISTS CHANGED THEIR OWN LIFESTYLES?? (Won’t even mention Gore).”
A very strong logical point, though the term ‘knew’ sort of obscures it a bit, it seems to me. I suggest ‘believed’ would keep the point sharper, since that is of course what the “consensus” claim implies . . I don’t believe most “climate scientists” (or any other kind) truly believe, but rather that many rationalize considering it possible, into considering probable, into very likely, into believe . . rather than face criticism for not clearly seeing the emperor’s spiffy new duds ; )
I find the delusion of his enemies colluding with “well funded” groups to oppose the RICO action interesting.
I don’t know if this has been covered, but it is a felony for any government official to act to deprive one of your rights by falsely claiming you are doing something criminal. 18 USC para 242 “Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law”
Notice how we don’t get comments here any more in which someone or another moans “why don’t you just talk about science? Why do you talk about politics?”
This entire issue has been nothing BUT politics from the very beginning. This attempt to criminalize all dissent was ALWAYS the warmist’s goal, right from the very start.
Eh? Thousands of scientists getting together to bluff you:magic. Jolly gosh, you’ve seen right through them!
P.S. The planet is warming and the ice is melting. More magic from the scientists…
Horne, you lost the ‘consensus’ argument a long time ago. Your (un-named) “thousands of scientists” are trumped by tens of thousands of scientific skeptics, all with degrees in the hard sciences. And every one of them is named.
Keep digging. I’ll keep reminding you of how small your contingent really is.
Since 1980 more than 12 million students have graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree. To claim that tens of thousands, or less than .03% of them, is a meaningful number in any way seems a silly claim.