Accusation Implodes in MN World Warming Lawsuit
Reposted from The Gelbspan Information
The extra often these world warming lawsuits seem claiming fossil gas industry executives paid skeptic local weather scientists to take part in sinister disinformation marketing campaign efforts to undercut the ‘settled science,’ the simpler it’s to point out how the ‘proof’ for that accusation implodes. This Minnesota vs. API et al. lawsuit, filed on 6/24/20, finally ends up being a case examine on how you can commit political suicide, first by way of its enslavement to the identical two units of nugatory ‘leaked industry memos’ which have been floated ever for the reason that 1990s as proof of that company / skeptic conspiracy, and second, by way of its hyperlinks for copies of these memos from one of many central members of the small clique of enviro-activists who’ve been promulgating them that complete time.
If the Minnesota AG’s workplace had undertaken essentially the most primary form of due diligence to search out out if the ‘leaked memos proof’ truly proves the existence of disinformation campaigns, it may not have wasted any taxpayer cash submitting the lawsuit. With out that ‘proof,’ the lawsuit would wrestle to disprove massively detailed assessments from skeptic local weather scientists, whereas additionally making an attempt to show API and the opposite defendants ever truly accepted the ‘science’ of the IPCC / Al Gore aspect of the problem.
No joke, this 84 web page Minnesota lawsuit might be boiled right down to a single massively doubtful authoritative assertion, with a large arrow pointing to the place the central pillar of it collapses:
Minnesota has harmfully warmed resulting from Defendants’ actions, Defendants knew of this hurt, however their very own inner memos stating ‘victory can be achieved once we reposition world warming as principle fairly than reality’ have been used to create disinformation campaigns designed to purposefully downplay the position that the consumption of their merchandise performed in inflicting this warming, and since they profiteered from avoiding the prices of coping with world warming, Defendants — not Minnesota taxpayers — ought to bear the prices of these impacts.
I’ll start with the information merchandise that alerted me to the lawsuit. It’s a important component pointing a large arrow to who the long-term promulgators of the ‘industry-corrupted skeptics’ accusation are, which in the end prompts the large query I’ll have on the finish of this publish.
The information merchandise was the 6/24/20 “Minnesota Sues Fossil Gas Business for Local weather Fraud” Local weather Docket report. Local weather-who? It initially appeared like a brand new title to me, however a fast test of its About web page instantly revealed an issue I already knew about.
The Local weather Docket is a challenge funded by donations to Local weather Communications & Regulation … The editorial content material of CLN just isn’t topic to approval or affect by CCL or its donors.
CLN? That’s a typo, it ought to say “Local weather Docket” there. CLN is brief for the Local weather Legal responsibility Information web site.
To borrow a phrase from Al Gore, “we’ve seen this earlier than.” I lined that particular line about CLN in my October 27, 2017 weblog publish, utilizing CLN’s About web page to point out how one of many board members of Local weather Communications & Regulation was Kert Davies. Unknown to me till penning this publish, CLN modified its title to Local weather Docket. They’re only a bit careless in regards to the older content material of their pages. In the meantime, usual Kert Davies. Do not forget that title, it is going to come up once more beneath. The editorial content material of Local weather Docket just isn’t topic to approval or affect by CCL? Proper.
Now, relating to the Minnesota vs. API et al. lawsuit itself, an acute irony is how the first-named defendant is the API. Throughout the “Defendants Made Deceptive Statements” part, the lawsuit contends its claims of fossil gas industry disinformation campaigns is supported by the set of leaked memos generally often known as the infamous 1998 API “victory can be achieved…” memo set.
As I’ve famous in each certainly one of my weblog posts on the worldwide warming lawsuits referencing that API memo set, and inside my Backgrounder publish dissecting the outright worthlessness of this set, it was unsolicited and by no means carried out. Worse, no matter its standing was, it accommodates zero indication that anybody concerned can be making an attempt to implement one thing they knew was false. Extra embarrassing, the essential statements that have been presupposed to be ‘smoking gun’ proof are hardly greater than truisms that might be mirror-flipped for example what teams like Greenpeace would take into account to be victories after public acceptance of their very own environmentalist viewpoints.
Subsequent, the Minnesota vs. API et al. lawsuit locations nice religion in a single different memo set to assert disinformation campaigns exist. It’s on web page 32, the infamous “reposition world warming” memos attributed to the Data Council for the Setting (ICE) public relations marketing campaign, which supposedly focused “lower-income girls.”
As I’ve famous in each certainly one of my weblog posts on the worldwide warming lawsuits referencing that alleged ICE memo set, and inside my Backgrounder publish dissecting the outright worthlessness of this set, it was a separate unsolicited proposal for title titles and viewers concentrating on that was by no means half of the real ICE marketing campaign.
When rejected proposals like those for API and the ICE marketing campaign are by no means seen by anybody outdoors the preliminary small circles of people that seen and tossed them out, they’re subsequently not viable proof proving the existence of any industry-orchestrated / industry-funded disinformation campaigns working beneath the route of these memos. Al Gore claimed that “Exxon Mobil has funded 40 totally different entrance teams which have all been part of a strategic persuasion marketing campaign to, in their very own phrases ‘reposition world warming as principle fairly than reality’.” How would any govt at Exxon know of these phrases after they have been buried in a landfill someplace within the jap U.S.?
Amongst varied different bits of so-called ‘proof’ within the lawsuit’s “Defendants Made Deceptive Statements” part, these two memo units are essentially the most damaging ones the lawsuit affords. That’s it. That’s actually the very best this lawsuit or some other one advancing the ‘industry orchestrated / funded skeptics’ accusation has to supply.
Concerning the long-term promulgators of those nugatory memos – discover what the supply is for the web web site exhibiting these memo units:
It’s cited at least twenty instances on this lawsuit: ClimateFiles.com, the ‘new’ web site I detailed in my October 27, 2017 weblog publish, it’s the “platform” for the Local weather Investigations Heart …… which is operated by Kert Davies. The identical man who ‘has no approval or affect’ over information from CLN/Local weather Docket, who’s been disseminating the information in regards to the “victory can be achieved” / “reposition world warming” memo units going all the best way again to the 1990s.
Within the lawsuit’s try to assert the ICE PR marketing campaign pushed disinformation, it unintentionally bolstered Davies’ longtime involvement. Its quotation for the newspaper advertisements supposedly used within the ICE marketing campaign doesn’t go to Local weather Information (it might have, inadvertently revealing a massively problematic scenario with one of many alleged advertisements), it as a substitute goes to a Union of Involved Scientists File report. Drawback is, UCS isn’t the unique holder of the ‘ICE paperwork,’ as I detailed in my July 9, 2015 weblog publish. They cited Greenpeace, the place the place Kert Davies labored as an accuser towards Exxon previous to 2013. Who offered Greenpeace with them? John Passacantando (do not forget that title, it’ll come up subsequent). When he merged his Ozone Motion group into Greenpeace USA, he introduced the 50 pages of memos / advert scans – together with the Ozone Motion cowl web page with him. His prime co-worker at Ozone Motion was Kert Davies, however Ozone Motion by no means stated the place they ‘obtained’ all of these pages.
Similar major pair of nugatory ‘leaked memo’ units used to indict skeptic local weather scientists of colluding with industry executives, identical Kert Davies, seen not solely with John Passacantando again within the early days of the accusation, but in addition apparently in current efforts to painting Exxon as a corrupt establishment, with Davies technically popping up as soon as once more unnamed on this very newest lawsuit. As I detailed in my February 13, 2020 weblog publish, Passacantando dropped out of the general public eye virtually utterly after 2011, solely to resurface not directly lately, uncovered as an obvious mega-dollar funnel – almost 5 million dollars to date if no more – to Davies’ Local weather Investigations Heart. In my March 30, 2020 weblog publish, I requested what all that money purchased.
Now for the large ongoing query: in contrast to the newest Honolulu v. Sunoco lawsuit following 9 different boilerplate equivalent world warming lawsuits being dealt with by the Sher Edling legislation agency (with the fingerprints of Kert Davies seemingly on these), the Minnesota vs. API et al. case is being dealt with by the Minnesota Legal professional Basic’s Workplace, headed by Keith Ellison. Did he or his workers give you this complete memos-prove-disinformation-campaigns concept all by themselves ……. or does almost $5 million purchase ready-made world warming lawsuit templates that may be distributed to state Attorneys Basic,** together with speaking factors distributed to not solely these AG places of work, but in addition to any media shops who by no means query something about these ‘leaked memos, and likewise to so-called “reporters” who work for fellow accusation promulgators that are assured to by no means query something about these ‘leaked memos conditions?
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** Guess what my subsequent publish should cowl: 6/25/20, “DC sues oil corporations over local weather change”
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