A bill is working its way through the California assembly that would allow local prosecutors to bring criminal charges under the State’s Unfair Competition Law (UCL) for expressing skepticism or denial of man made climate change. Seriously.

Now this is not one of those situations where some random crazy assemblyman proposes a bill that goes nowhere. Nor is this an offhand comment by Loretta Lynch. This bill has made it through committee and is scheduled for floor action on Thursday. This is a bill that has a real chance of becoming law.

The measure would allow state and local prosecutors to pursue claims against climate-change skepticism as a violation of the state’s Unfair Competition Law [UCL], as well as extend the four-year statute of limitations for such claims retroactively to Jan. 1, 2021.

“This bill explicitly authorizes district attorneys and the Attorney General to pursue UCL claims alleging that a business or organization has directly or indirectly engaged in unfair competition with respect to scientific evidence regarding the existence, extent, or current or future impacts of anthropogenic induced climate change,” says the state Senate Rules Committee’s floor analysis.

This bill is a direct frontal assault on the very principle of free democracy. It is also, I should note, in blatant violation of the First Amendment, and you would hope that in a sane era, the Federal judiciary would put a swift and immediate end to this bill after it becomes law and before it is enforced.

But liberals are increasingly intolerant of dissent of their worldview and openly willing to use the coercive power of the state to achieve the end of debate. Liberal judges, in particular, are and have always been willing to look the other way and tread on longstanding precedent and the rule of law itself when doing so suits their political predilections.

We could truly be entering a dark era in America.