With a third piece on it this month, The Wall Street Journal seems to be in full damage-control mode after news broke that the FBI is starting investigations into what #ExxonKnew. It seems to have turned its op-ed page into an advertisement for a new group set up to defend deniers and attack those who don’t think the public should be deliberately deceived for profit.
Spearheaded by the pair of attorneys leading the lawsuit against the Clean Power Plan, the new “Free Speech in Science Project” claims to be designed to protect “open inquiry and debate” while also “executing an offense to turn the tables on abusive officials.”
While the focus is currently on climate, one can’t help but wonder if this group would have fought for the tobacco industry’s right to lie about its product on First Amendment grounds, or creationists who fight the teaching of evolution, or anti-vaccination advocates who endanger children’s lives by propagating false information on vaccines.
Though the scope of their interest may not be clear, it is obvious that these lawyers will cash in on the fossil fuel funding that flows to those who mislead the public on climate change.