Michael Mann Sues the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and That's a Good Thing

Among the scientists most besieged by the global warming denial industry is Michael Mann. Mann is a faculty member in the Meteorology and Earth Sciences departments at Penn State University, where he is also the director of the Earth System Science Center. He was the lead author of the “Observed Climate Variability and Change” chapter for the IPCC’s Third Scientific Assessment Report in 2001. One the graphs that resulted from his work on climate showed a great increase in recent times and nicknamed the “hockey stick” graph. That might be how you’re familiar with him. He is also coauthor of Dire Predictions: Understanding Global Warming and the author of Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars: Dispatches From the Front Lines, which gives his account of the forces behind the global warming denial industry.

            Industry, their allies in Congress, and their sponsored “think tanks” have attacked Mann and his work for the last ten years. That is why I’m glad to see that he is fighting back and fighting back against one of the most prominent players in this misinformation industry, the Competitive Enterprise Institute. A post on the institute’s blog referred to the scientist as “the other scandal” at Penn State and accused Mann of “molesting data” in his research, obviously comparing him to Jerry Sandusky, the convicted serial child molester.

            Mann now has a lawsuit suing the Competitive Enterprise Institute for defamation, as well a right wing magazine, National Review, that reposted the institute’s blog. The 37-page complaint also accuses the institute and National Review of recycling “false and defamatory statements” about the scientist’s research.

            Good luck to Michael Mann. He’s done good science. I don’t know much about how well the legal system will treat his case. The Competitive Enterprise Institute and National Review are guaranteed to employ some high-power lawyers, so he might have an uphill battle. It is nonetheless a good thing to see a scientist fighting back against the industries that try to cover up and distract us from a global problem.