The Tribune-Review Editorial Board Complains (Climate Science, EXXON and the CEI)

From today's Trib:

The question of collusion, supposedly by climate-change “deniers” and industry “exploiters,” is more appropriately directed to the Democrat attorneys general in their United for Clean Power campaign. Emails reveal that prior to the AGs' announced initiative, they received briefings from environmental activists.

Um, guys?

First, you got the name wrong.  While at the news conference in March:

Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today joined Attorneys General from across the nation to announce an unprecedented coalition of top law enforcement officials committed to aggressively protecting and building upon the recent progress the United States has made in combatting climate change.

There was a sign on the podium that read:

 
It's not like that's the name of the plan.  In fact, as far as I can tell, if you google "United for Clean Power" you get a small non-partisan DC lobbying firm.

It's a tiny point, granted, but for a newspaper to give out information that's that misleading, is probably a mistake.

So let's move on.  What is it that this AG coalition doing?

From the NYAG:

The participating states are exploring working together on key climate change-related initiatives, such as ongoing and potential investigations into whether fossil fuel companies misled investors and the public on the impact of climate change on their businesses.

That's what the braintrust is looking to spin into a "silence-the-skeptics crusade" - Fraud, pure and simple.

We've already written about the fraud part - about how Exxon knew, as far back as the late 70s, that the science was true and yet misled the public in order to scoop up more profits.

But the braintrust is taking a different approach today.  They're calling out the hidden communication between the AGs and some climate scientists - using the sticky word "collusion" to describe it.

Interesting that they'd be looking for backroom connections - all while hoping (I surmise) that no one will notice their own connections to this very story.

It's in this paragraph:

So while some state AGs demand that ExxonMobil come clean on any climate-change deception — which ExxonMobil denies — and the U.S. Virgin Islands subpoenas the Competitive Enterprise Institute for its global-warming critiques...

That would be the same Competitive Enterprise Institute mentioned numerous times by the Trib over it's "climate" reporting.  And that would also be the same Competitive Enterprise Institute that's accepted close to $4 million from foundations controlled by the former owner of the Tribune-Review.

If the alleged fraud was perpetrated by Exxon to fund the CEI for its science denial, what about all that money given to it by Scaife and company?  Was that part of the alleged fraud as well?

I guess now we know why they're struggling to spin this into a "silence-the-skeptics" story rather than what it is: a "fraud for profits" story.