The price of defending climate truth
by Dr. Ed Berry
(editing in process)
Behind the public curtain of known partisan positions on climate science, some Republicans work to help WEF achieve its climate goals.
Between 2009 and 2019, I helped Montana Republicans defeat several climate bills in the Montana legislature by driving to Helena and testifying. In 2011, I led the Intervention that stopped Barhaugh v Montana, the predecessor to Held v Montana.
But someone didn’t like that I was defeating these climate bills.
In 2020, Trump was running for re-election against Biden. The Democrats had harmed Trump with their COVID conspiracy.
In June 2020, I announced to my email list that I planned to publish Climate Miracle in August. I put my draft on my website and invited comments.
That same month, Our Children’s Trust filed Held v. Montana, and no one told me.
Montana Department of Revenue (MDOR)
One month later, in July 2020, MDOR sent me a letter stating that it was reviewing my small-business tax return.
MDOR forced me to work full-time to prove every minor expense in detail, far beyond what a tax review required, leaving me no time to run my business.
In September 2020, I asked my accountant to ride shotgun so I could publish Climate Miracle, which was then delayed to October 2020. I intended my first chapter to help Trump defeat Biden in their climate-change debate.
I asked US Senator Steve Daines and MTGOP chairman Don K to give a copy of my book to Donald Trump Jr. during his visit to Montana to help Trump win his upcoming climate debate with Biden. They refused.
MDOR’s review continued until April 2021, when MDOR announced that it found NO errors in my tax return, but added, “It has been decided” that my climate business is a hobby and demanded I pay them $4600, which I did.
My business is not a hobby. It’s work. MDOR continued to harass me until mid-December 2021, when MDOR’s director, appointed by Governor Gianforte, chose his most experienced man to make MDOR’s best attempt to destroy my climate business.
I wrote my own defense and defeated MDOR in its own court on all 9 points, proving MDOR’s attack was a fraud and an illegal attempt to destroy my climate business. Attorneys have told me that “no one” ever beats MDOR. This was a personal attack on me because the State of Montana had no way to benefit from the $100,000 of taxpayer money it wasted trying to destroy me. MDOR returned my $4600, but conscripted me for 9 months, doing permanent harm to my climate business.
The key point is that MDOR spent over $100,000 of taxpayer money and conscripted nine months of my work time over its fraudulent $4700 tax claim, which, if true, could have been easily resolved by adjusting my tax return. The IRS had no problem with my tax return.