AUGUSTA - A Republican lawmaker in Maine says the state should protect people from being discriminated against based on their beliefs about climate change.

Rep. Larry Lockman has introduced a bill that would limit the attorney general's ability to investigate or prosecute people based on their political speech, including their views on climate change. It would also prohibit the state from discriminating in buying goods or services or awarding grants or contracts based on a person's "climate change policy preferences."

Lockman says "skeptics" of climate change need to be defended because they get treated like "heretics."

Peer-reviewed studies, science organizations and climate scientists say that the world is warming from man-made forces.

Lockman's bill is scheduled for an April 6 hearing.