Big Oil prepared to sue to stop offshore wind farms

They claim a few turbines would be disruptive to their operations:

The warning over legal action came from trade body Oil and Gas UK. The government is currently consulting on national policy statements, which set out how the UK's ambitious renewable energy targets will be met, with offshore wind turbines a key factor. In its submission, Oil and Gas UK said the policy statements did not take account of the way offshore wind farms could impede mobile drilling rigs, disrupt helicopter flights and get in the way of pipelines and underwater equipment.

From the Guardian. What do you think their real reason is?

More right wing madness

The fanatical zeal of the teabaggers is not limited to the general public. Elected officials are in on the game too:

Georgia lawmakers reacted to Wednesday's news that their Attorney General, Democrat Thurbert Baker, would not sign on to a multi-state lawsuit to block the health care bill in his state by filing papers to have him impeached.

The blog Peach Pundit reports that the resolution to impeach Baker, also a candidate for Georgia governor, now has at least 30 signatures and is still going forward.

From the Huffington Post, via nebris (in a comment to a Blaque post, natch). Interesting to note Baker's comments on the lawsuit:

"I cannot justify a decision to initiate expensive and time-consuming litigation that I believe has no legal merit," Baker wrote in a two-page response to Gov. Perdue. "In short, this litigation is likely to fail and will consume significant amounts of taxpayers' hard-earned money in the process."

Sounds quite reasonable to me. Funny thing is, it's usually the right that goes on about frivolous lawsuits and the need for tort reform, yet they're impeaching a guy for refusing to sign on to a lawsuit that he believes to be frivolous. He might or might not survive the impeachment, but either way a clear message has been sent. In any case, the governor has decided to appoint a "special attorney general" specifically for the task of signing on to the lawsuit.

Oh, and a Democratic member of Congress from New York just got sent some white powder, too. Turned out to be harmless, but a none too subtle message either. The teabaggers, at all levels, are using whatever means they think they can get away with to get what they want. Scary stuff.

Nygard sues to block media

This guy has long been known for his litigious ways; here he's using his formidable legal arsenal to try to stop investigative journalists:

Winnipeg fashion baron Peter Nygard has turned to the courts in Winnipeg, New York and San Jose in a bid to shut down a CBC investigation of him.

To help him prove his case in Winnipeg, Nygard also wants the courts in California to force Google to reveal the identity of someone who posted an item on an anonymous blog.

Nygard is trying to block the CBC from airing a "negative and critical" story on him that he claims is based on information supplied by two former managers.

The crux of Nygard's challenge was filed last March in Court of Queen's Bench, but it now extends to courts in New York and California as the women's fashion designer and his lawyers try to tighten the noose around the CBC to stop a story from being aired on The Fifth Estate.

The case went largely unnoticed until Monday when the New York Times ran a piece on its website that Nygard had lodged a copyright-infringement complaint against the CBC, stemming from the attendance of reporter David Common and a cameraman at his Manhattan store on its opening Nov. 6. He claims they were trespassing.

In the Dec. 18 complaint, Nygard said he wants the CBC -- who he says did not have permission to be at the event -- to be ordered to return to him the video they recorded and to be prohibited from airing it ever again.

In Manitoba, Nygard's legal challenge is more complex.

He wants the courts to rule that the CBC's The Fifth Estate should be forbidden from airing a story he claims is based on confidential information supplied by two former employees in Winnipeg; ex-director of human resources Patrick Prowse and ex-recruitment and retention manager Dana Neal.

In his statement of claim, Nygard says Prowse and Neal were bound by confidentiality agreements and had no legal right to share information about their work at Nygard with local CBC researcher Timothy Sawa. Nygard also names Fifth Estate executive producer David Studer in the claim.

From the Winnipeg Free Press. One has to wonder how investigative journalists will be able to do their job, if Nygard gets his way. Evidently at least one court shares these concerns.

Edited to add: It finally aired.

Could this be why the Liberals supported the budget?

The Tories are dropping their silly lawsuit:

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has dropped a $3.5-million libel lawsuit against the Liberal party over statements published on the party's website suggesting the Tories offered a bribe to the late Independent MP Chuck Cadman.

Lawyers for both parties issued a joint news release late Friday, saying they've settled all issues in the case.

Neither side will make any further comment.

Harper launched the lawsuit in March 2008 after the Liberal party posted website headlines alleging two senior Conservatives attempted to bribe Cadman to secure his co-operation on a crucial budget vote that threatened to topple the Liberal minority government in May 2005. The headlines claimed Harper also knew about the alleged bribe.

Back in March, Harper called the allegations "absolutely false" and "despicable."

In a book published earlier in 2008, B.C. author Tom Zytaruk quotes Cadman's widow, Dona, as saying her husband told her that Conservatives offered him a $1-million life insurance policy in return for his vote against the Liberals.

In an interview for the book, Harper can be heard on tape saying: "I don't know the details, I know that, um, there were discussions, um, but this is not for publication?"

From the CBC. It doesn't seem to be in the article, but on the radio this morning it was said that no cash payment occurred. The Liberals have been really hard up for cash lately, so perhaps this was an offer they couldn't refuse.