Climategate Meets the Law

[Maluco]

I applaude you Senator Inhofe!

http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/climategate-and-the-law-senator-inhofe-to-ask-for-congressional-criminal-investigation-pajamas-mediapjtv-exclusive/

By naming potential criminal offenses, Senator Inhofe raises the stakes for climate scientists and others involved. Dr. Phil Jones of the University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit has already been forced to step aside because of the Climategate FOIA issues, and Dr. Michael Mann of Penn State is currently under investigation by the university for potential misconduct. Adding possible criminal charges to the mix increases the possibility that some of the people involved may choose to blow the whistle in order to protect themselves..

In requesting that the EPA reopen the Endangerment Finding, Inhofe joins with firms such as the Peabody Energy Company and several state Attorneys General (such as Texas and Virginia) in objecting to the Obama administration’s attempt to extend regulatory control over carbon dioxide emissions in the United States. Senator Inhofe believes this staff report “strengthens the case” for the Texas and Virginia attorneys general.
Senator Inhofe’s announcement today appears to be the first time a member of Congress has formally called for an investigation into research misconduct and potential criminal acts by the scientists involved.

The question, of course, is whether the Senate Democratic majority will allow this investigation to proceed, in the face of the Obama administration’s stated intention to regulate CO2 following the apparent death of cap and trade legislation. The Democratic majority has blocked previous attempts by Inhofe to investigate issues with climate science.

[mrsleeve]

IS AL gonna get his peace prize taken back and given to some one more befitting its honor.

ALong with toss his ass in jail for fraud


Please pleas please say this will happen

[jrobie79]

no, he will defend his founding of the internet as a backup reason for his prize

IS AL gonna get his peace prize taken back and given to some one more befitting its honor.

ALong with toss his ass in jail for fraud


Please pleas please say this will happen

[joshh]

Nice!!
I wonder what's next?

[Maluco]

this is a joke, now they're wanting to regulate emissions based on claims of damages to health. Texas is not having it. I can't wait until this shit hits hearings already!!! When will they start acting and passing legislation on hard evidence!?



Texas joins flurry of lawsuits challenging EPA carbon ruling
More bad news for Obama administration's climate change strategy as state governor and coalition of trade groups launch legal action against EPA's right to regulate emissions



The in-tray for lawyers at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will be close to over-flowing after the state government of Texas and a host of business lobby groups filed separate petitions in federal court challenging the agency's right to regulate carbon emissions.
Just days after the US Chamber of Commerce launched legal action against the EPA's "endangerment finding", which gives it the authority to impose limits on carbon emissions under the existing Clean Air Act, the agency was hit yesterday by two further petitions.
Texas became the first state to formally oppose the EPA's decision, filing a petition for review with the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Texas governor, Republican Rick Perry, said he remained fully committed to reducing the state's environmental footprint, but warned that regulating carbon emissions through the Clean Air Act would impose unacceptable economic costs on the state.
"Texas is aggressively seeking its future in alternative energy through incentives and innovation, not mandates and overreaching regulation," he said. "The EPA's misguided plan paints a big target on the backs of Texas agriculture and energy producers and the hundreds of thousands of Texans they employ. This legal action is being taken to protect the Texas economy and the jobs that go with it, as well as defend Texas’ freedom to continue our successful environmental strategies free from federal overreach."
The legal action came on the same day as a coalition of eight trade groups, including the National Association of Manufacturers, the American Petroleum Institute (API), and the National Association of Home Builders, filed a similar petition against the EPA that also questioned the scale of the economic burden that could be imposed by new carbon regulations.
Mirroring the stance of the US Chamber of Commerce, John Engler, president of the National Association of Manufacturers, said that the trade group would " support a comprehensive climate change policy", but opposed the use of the Clean Air Act to regulate carbon emissions.
"We are challenging EPA's "Endangerment Finding" determination and focusing on whether they asked the right questions, sought the right information and whether they are meeting their burden under the standards set forth in the Clean Air Act," he said, warning that new carbon regulations would have a negative effect on the US economy.
"If EPA moves forward and begins regulating stationary sources, it will open the door for them to regulate everything from industrial facilities to farms – even American homes," he added. "Such a move would further complicate a permitting process that EPA is not equipped to handle, while increasing costs to the manufacturing sector. These costly burdens and uncertainty will stifle job creation and harm our competitiveness in a global economy."
The legal actions are the latest moves in an increasingly fractious campaign by Republicans and some business groups to derail the Obama Administration's climate change policies.
The White House has always maintained it too would prefer to see carbon regulated through new legislation and that the EPA's would only be used to curb greenhouse gas emissions if attempts to pass specific legislation fail. However, efforts to pass a climate bill are being fiercely opposed by Republican Senators and scepticism is growing that the administration will be able to deliver on its pledge to cut emissions 17 per cent on 2005 levels by 2020.

[ck_taft325is]

"Don't mess with Texas" seems a whole lot more relavent to the EPA now I guess.

[Farbin Kaiber]

A lot of potential blow up in faces moments are coming in the days/weeks/months/years ahead on this topic.