Keeping campaign promises we wish the politician would ignore

The Sept. 1 edition of The Washington Spectator (alas, no link) has a long article about Kenneth Cuccinelli, the GOP Attorney General of Virginia, elected last November. Cuccinelli -- to his credit -- is working diligently to fulfill his campaign promises. I suspect many in Virginia didn't think he was serious about what he campaigned on or didn't think he would be so vigorous in executing his agenda.

Cuccinelli came to my attention shortly after he took office. He said he didn't like gays. He proved it by telling all state funded universities they had to remove mention of gays from their anti-discrimination policies.

The dislike of Cuccinelli that caught the attention of Washington Spectator was over global warming science. He really doesn't like it. So much so that even after the Supremes said the Environmental Protection Agency has the authority to regulate greenhouse gases, Cuccinelli sued to block the EPA's work.

But the EPA is apparently small potatoes. The big target is Michael Mann, climate scientist at Penn State, but formerly of University of Virginia. Mr. C alleges that Mann falsified data in applying for grants that were awarded to UVa. It is through that hook that Mr. C subpoenaed all of Mann's work so it could be sifted through to find "evidence" that global warming is not caused by human activity. By "all" the subpoena requests everything Mann wrote to other climate scientists or to UVa staff over an 11 year period. This is a blatant and huge assault on academic freedom. UVa will spend lots to defend itself and Mann. Other institutions will pause when considering similar research, clearly Mr. C's goal.

Mr. C has filed a brief for the case in state court. It employs many lies -- or glaring errors -- to discredit Mann. The Union of Concerned Scientists have posted a point-by-point critique, so it may not get very far in an actual trial. Even so, if Mann's entire output becomes public record climate change deniers will sift through it for the slightest hint of doubt, controversy, or error to attack the scientific consensus of global warming. Of course, other GOP AGs will look to Mr. C for ways to attack scientists in their own states. It will also put Mr. C on the short list of GOP vice president candidates for 2012. This is frightening.