If the Department of Justice’s (DoJ) recent charges against former President Donald Trump are not enough to make you believe that the DoJ is hopelessly corrupt and politicized, consider that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is now “strongly” urging the DoJ “to bring suits against the fossil fuel industry for its longstanding and carefully coordinated campaign to mislead consumers and discredit climate science in pursuit of massive profits.”

Yes, Sanders and a few of his fellow socialists in the U.S. Senate have recently penned a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland stating that, “fossil fuel companies represent a clear violation of federal racketeering laws, truth in advertising laws, consumer protection laws, and potentially other laws, and the Department must act swiftly to hold them accountable for their unlawful actions.”

Before going into the details of Sanders’ ludicrous letter, I think it is important to state that these silly senators would not have even broached this topic unless they believe the DoJ will actually carry out this ham-fisted attempt at criminalizing the fossil-fuel industry.

Unfortunately, this is what happens when those in positions of power are under the assumption that the DoJ is a political weapon to be used against their opponents. But, based on recent events, I do not blame them for considering the DoJ to be a cudgel by which they can intimidate and/or throw their political enemies in jail. In effect, that is what the DoJ has become under Biden.

Now, back to the absurd letter. According to Bernie, “Thanks to the illegal lies of the fossil fuel industry, climate change is wreaking catastrophic damage upon the United States. Floods, droughts, extreme weather disturbances, and wildfires are causing unprecedented damage.”

This is patently false. As my colleague, Justin Haskins, recently wrote in an op-ed for Fox News, “Although certain parts of the U.S. have undoubtedly experienced strong heat waves this summer, there’s no reason to believe these weather events are evidence that the world is hurtling toward a climate change catastrophe. In fact, the best available evidence suggests that heat waves recorded a century ago were more problematic than anything we’re seeing today.”

The same is true for floods, droughts, wildfires, and tornadoes. 

Bernie would like you to believe that the fossil fuel industry is an evil cabal, akin to “Big Tobacco,” which relies on a “coordinated campaign of misinformation.” This is preposterous.

The fossil-fuel industry is the backbone of our economy, supplying the energy we need to do practically everything in life. From transportation to cooling our homes, fossil-fuel companies provide us with the modern conveniences and luxurious life we have grown accustomed to.

Without them, we would be living in deplorable conditions.

Yet, despite of the surge in living standards that we can directly attribute to bountiful and affordable energy from fossil fuels, Bernie and his misguided compadres seek to destroy these companies, all in the name of climate change.

As Bernie states, “The Department of Justice must join the fight and work with partners at the Federal Trade Commission and other law enforcement agencies to file suits against all those who participated in the fossil fuel industry’s illegal conspiracy of lies and deception under federal racketeering laws, truth in advertising laws, consumer protection laws, and any other applicable federal law. The future of our planet depends on it.”

Actually, the future of mankind and the incredible technological developments that have made life so much better over the past century or so depends on a thriving fossil-fuel industry.

Chris Talgo (ctalgo@heartland.org) is editorial director at The Heartland Institute.

Image: Gage Skidmore