EPA to Probe Threatening E-Mail Sent to Global Warming Skeptic

On July 13, NewsBusters reported that Michael T. Eckhart, president of the American Council on Renewable Energy, sent an e-mail message to Dr. Marlo Lewis of the Competitive Enterprise Institute threatening to destroy his career:

If you produce one more editorial against climate change, I will launch a campaign against your professional integrity.

During a hearing of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Thursday, this matter was brought to the attention of Stephen Johnson, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, as was the shocking revelation that the EPA is a part of ACORE.

Presenting this information was Sen. James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma), who showed and read the following panel of the offensive e-mail message for the record (video available here):

After reading the text of the e-mail message, Inhofe pointed out:

We have all of these people who have a stake in [promoting man-made climate hysteria] like the Weather Channel's Heidi Cullen. If the trend now in science is refuting that anthropogenic gases are a primary cause of climate change, then she is out of business, her whole weekly program is gone, her career is gone.

Inhofe then showed a chart indicating that the EPA is a part of ACORE:

Johnson acknowledged that he was aware of this, and told the committee:

Statements like this are of concern to me...I am a believer in cooperation and collaboration across all sectors. This is an area I will look into for the record.

Inhofe replied:

This is so typical of these hate filled people who threaten and use vile language. I was called a traitor by one of the extreme left, this is what happens when you lose your case and this is the best evidence of it. So I would like to have you look into this and make an evaluation, talk it over with your people and see if it is appropriate to be a part of an organization that is headed up by a person who makes this statement.

As Eckhart admitted to the Washington Times that he did indeed send this e-mail message, it will be interesting to see how the EPA responds now that it has been made aware.

Stay tuned.