Today, CEI sponsored a full-page advertisement in The New York Times highlighting abusive efforts by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General Claude Walker, and a coalition of other “AGs United for Clean Power” to silence the speech of more than 100 businesses, nonprofits, and private individuals who question the AGs’ positions on climate change. Published as an open letter, the ad features signatures from 43 organizations, legal experts, and individuals who value Americans’ First Amendment rights and believe they should be protected.
Full text below. View the ad as a full color PDF here.
ABUSE OF POWER
All Americans have the right to support causes they believe in.
The right to speak out is among the most fundamental principles of American democracy. It should never be taken away.
Yet, around the country, a group of state attorneys general have launched a misguided effort to silence the views and voices of those who disagree with them.
Recently, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General Claude Walker, and a coalition of other “AGs United for Clean Power” announced an investigation of more than 100 businesses, nonprofits, and private individuals who question their positions on climate change.
This abuse of power is unacceptable. It is unlawful. And it is un-American.
Regardless of one’s views on climate change, every American should reject the use of government power to harass or silence those who hold differing opinions. This intimidation campaign sets a dangerous precedent and threatens the rights of anyone who disagrees with the government’s position—whether it’s vaccines, GMOs, or any other politically charged issue. Law enforcement officials should never use their powers to silence participants in political debates.
We are standing up for every American’s First Amendment right to speak freely. We hope you will join us. This is a critical battle, and it will determine whether our society encourages spirited debate or tolerates only government-approved opinions.
Kent Lassman
President & CEO, Competitive Enterprise Institute
C. Boyden Gray
Former White House Counsel
Andrew C. McCarthy
Former Chief Assistant United States Attorney, Southern District of New York
Michael B. Mukasey
U.S. Attorney General, 2007-2009; U.S. District Judge, 1988-2006
Ross McKitrick
Professor of Economics, University of Guelph
Ronald D. Rotunda
Distinguished Professor of Jurisprudence, Chapman University
Richard S. Lindzen
Professor Emeritus of Atmospheric Sciences, MIT
William Happer
Emeritus Professor of Physics, Princeton University
Jim DeMint
President, The Heritage Foundation
James H. Amos, Jr.
President & CEO, National Center for Policy Analysis
John A. Baden
Chairman, Foundation for Research on Economics & the Environment
Lisa B. Nelson
CEO, American Legislative Exchange Council
Paul Driessen
Author & Energy Policy Analyst
Thomas J. Pyle
President, Institute for Energy Research
Steven J. Allen
Vice President & Chief Investigative Officer, Capital Research Center
David Ridenour
President, National Center for Public Policy Research
Steven J. Milloy
Publisher, JunkScience.com
Brooke Rollins
President & CEO, Texas Public Policy Foundation
Paul Gessing
President, Rio Grande Foundation
Ron Arnold
Researcher & Author
William Perry Pendley
President, Mountain States Legal Foundation
Adam Brandon
President & CEO, FreedomWorks
Hank Campbell
President, American Council on Science and Health
Craig Rucker
Executive Director, Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow
Tom McCabe
CEO, Freedom Foundation
Richard B. Belzer
Economist
Heather R. Higgins
President & CEO, Independent Women’s Voice
Joseph G. Lehman
President, Mackinac Center for Public Policy
Sabrina Schaeffer
Executive Director, Independent Women’s Forum
Joseph Bast
President, The Heartland Institute
John C. Eastman
Founding Director, The Claremont Institute’s Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence
Robert Alt
President & CEO, The Buckeye Institute
Michael Pack
President & CEO, The Claremont Institute
Josh Blackman
Assistant Professor, South Texas College of Law
Lynn Taylor
President, Tertium Quids
David Rothbard
President, Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow
Tracie Sharp
President & CEO, State Policy Network
Kenneth Haapala
President, Science and Environmental Policy Project
Tim Phillips
President, Americans for Prosperity
Myron Ebell
Director of the Center for Energy & Environment, Competitive Enterprise Institute
George Landrith
President, Frontiers of Freedom
John Tillman
CEO, Illinois Policy Institute
Craig D. Idso
Chairman, Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change
Affiliations listed for identification purposes only.
So CEI choose to give money to the people that push precisely for that attorney generals behavior?
Smart guys…
Who else are you going to give it too if you want to reach the same people?
Beyond that, it’s only a few thousand dollars for a full page ad.
It’s not like CEI is keeping them in caviar for the rest of the year.
Best I can do on Google:
2015 cost of national edition full page NYT ad – $160-180 + unidentified “more” for color.
2016 cost of national edition full page WSJ ad – $160,000; $210,000 for color
$160-180 should be $160,000-180,000
i’d like to (naively) think that this is a good sign… CEI going to the green media and the green media welcoming them with open arms. i like it when e’er i see cracks in the cult of climate change.
The lawless green machine is starting to look pale, they obviously don’t like a taste of their own medicine!
Looks like I’ll be moving from Ontario
To
Saskatchewan
Shorter title;
Gang Green spreading through our legal system.
Now some retired lawyer with a physics degree claims global warming is accelerating…
https://consortiumnews.com/2016/05/18/global-warming-accelerates/
Beware of lawyers…
Ha. Pretty good example of cherry-picking…
Free speech nails it.
Oh to be a billionaire and be able to finance similar adverts in all news outlets across the globe. Good luck to them. I sincerely hope this excellent move will make a difference.
“To silence criticism is to silence freedom”- Sidney Hook. The MO of suppressing dissenting views should be getting everyone very suspicious as to the motives of suppressing views. Those with something to hide, tyrants and con men do this sort of thing.
Even more suspect is that those promoting the lies have had ample opportunity to distance themselves from their lies. This is something that “normal” liars relish-an opportunity to move on to the next scam without fear of being uncovered. Very suspicious that the scaremongering is increasing- the propaganda is getting ever more desperate. Hopefully people take heed of this page.
Being from OZ it does seem that the USA is heading for a correction both on Wall St and politically I do hope that it does not end in tears.
I’m glad somebody called out these misguided climate crabs. Every time I read Schneiderman’s name it’s in conjunction with forcing his views on on others. Can’t NY get rid of him? How did someone like this AG come into office?
Party politics.
Don’t argue with them just cut off the supply of fossil fuelled energy to the states and territories concerned.