Climate Science Legal Defense Fund on Face Book and Twitter

The Climate Science Legal Defense Fund has expanded our communication outreach by offering a Face Book page and a Twitter feed.  Please “like” and “follow” us and, as always, keep spreading the word to all.  We have received a tremendous amount of support already in the first 24 hours.  Thank you, eveybody.

Climate Science Legel Defense Fund Face Book page

@ClimSciDefense on Twitter

Climate Scientists Under Attack: Fear Not. Reinforcements Have Arrived.

Joshua Wolfe and I are very pleased to announce the official launch of the Climate Science Legal Defense Fund (CSLDF) home page. CSLDF is now a project of the non-profit group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). The official press release announcing this strategic alliance can be read here and here as well as in this post below.

Please spread the word to all so that CSLDF can grow its support base. Cross-post the press release, FaceBook it, Tweet it, e-mail it, etc. to all of your contacts and tell them to do the same.  Let us send a strong message to those that have harrassed and attacked our scientific experts and dissuaded countless others from entering the field of climate science.

Read on for the press release…

2011 Climate B.S.* of the Year Award

[* B.S. means "Bad Science"]

The second annual Climate B.S.* of the Year Awards were announced today on the Huffington Post and Forbes blogs by Dr. Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute, and simultaneously on a number of environment and climate blogs. These “Bad Science” awards go to particularly egregious, notorious, or well-publicized examples of bad climate science that were produced over the past 12 months and used to try to influence or confuse the public and policymakers. Nominations for the 2011 “bad climate science” awards came in from around the world and were reviewed, analyzed, and voted on by a panel of climate scientists and climate communicators. For this year, nearly 20 nominations were received and judged.

Long Island Climate Change Doubters: Let’s Have Coffee and Talk

Recently, I was interviewed by a Long Island Press reporter for their cover story Heating Up: Long Island’s Global Warming Vulnerability.  I highly recommend reading that comprehensive article if you are an area resident.  After the article appeared online, I noticed that there were some doubters in the comments section so I made this offer:

We are changing the climate because we are overloading the air with carbon and this carbon is very effective at trapping heat.  There are many lines of evidence that show the human fingerprint of climate change.  The evidence is so compelling that virtually every climate expert on the planet agrees humans are now dominating climate change.

We have the technologies now that are needed to put us on the path of reducing our carbon emissions.  The military, businesses, and everyday people are already taking action.  It is time that we tell our leaders to also take action.  There is still time but the window of opportunity is quickly closing.  It is urgent that we act now.

Solving the climate change problem offers tremendous economic opportunity and has the benefit of securing our national security and improving our public health.

To those that are still skeptical about human-caused climate change, I am willing to have a conversation with you over a cup of coffee.  I promise I will be friendly.  You have nothing to lose except for some time if you walk away unconvinced.

(The semester ends next week so if I do not return the call please try back in late January.)

Scott A. Mandia Professor – Physical Sciences, Asst. Chair
T-202 Smithtown Science Bldg.
Suffolk County Community College
533 College Rd. Selden, NY  11784
mandias@sunysuffolk.edu
631-451-4104

So far I have not been taken up on this offer but it still stands.  If you want to have a chat, please contact me.

AGU 2011 Presentation: The Climate Science Rapid Response Team

Want to learn more about the Climate Science Rapid Response Team (CSRRT)?  Come hear my presentation at the AGU Fall Meeting 2011 in San Francisco on Wednesday December 7.  During this 15 minute presentation, I will describe CSRRT’s history and process along with a few example success stories. The various other science communication outreach activities that the CSRRT scientists and its matchmakers are engaged in will also be presented.

PA33C-06. The Climate Science Rapid Response Team – A Model for Science Communication
Scott A. Mandia; John A. Abraham; Ray Weymann; Michael Ashley
Location: Room 302 (Moscone South)
Time: 3:10 – 3:25 PST

Snippets of Stolen Emails Cannot Make the Earth Flat

As has been reported in many news outlets today, a file containing over 5,000 emails from climate scientists has been made available in an apparent attempt to undermine public confidence in well-understood science.  This, only days before the COP17 Climate Conference in Durban, South Africa where international leaders will gather again try to hammer out international treaties to get the world off its high carbon emission path and to save humanity from the suffering that human-caused climate change brings with it.  Sound familiar?  Copenhagen deja vu?

Mike Mann’s Thank You Letter to Supporters

Some very good news regarding Mike Mann’s legal case:

Mike Mann spoke with John Abraham yesterday and stated:

“ATI could not convince the court that he (Mike Mann) did not have legal standing. The court has allowed him legal standing so he can be a party in the settlement.

Second, the court allowed that there was reason for UVA to reopen the protective order before the court. The original protective order would have allowed ATI to review the emails themselves. That court order is now invalid. ATI will not see the exempt emails.

The only matter to be resolved is the process by which ATI can challenge the exempt emails. Now, a neutral party will be able to see the emails, not ATI. The neutral party must be agreed upon by all parties in the good.

The broader message is that this is a major victory and a huge setback for ATI. ATI might appeal this to the Supreme Court…“

Mike could not have achieved this victory without the generous support of those that have contributed to his legal defense.  Mike sent me the letter below thanking his supporters.

Dr. Michael E. Mann’s letter to supporters

There is still a long road ahead so please keep the contributions coming.  Click the Climate Science Legal Defense Fund Logo on the upper-right of this blog to contribute.

The Climate Science Legal Defense Fund is nearing the point where tax-deductible funds will be accepted through a unique web site (hopefully before the end of the year).  In the short-term there is an immediate need to help Mike with his case so please continue to use the Pay Pal button posted here or personal checks sent via postal mail.

For more background on this case please read SPECIAL INVESTIGATION: Who’s behind the ‘information attacks’ on climate scientists?

My previous posts regarding this case:

Climate Science Legal Defense Fund – Spread the Word & Logo (09/19/11)

Climate Scientists Defense Fund – Please Help (09/09/11)

Ask U.VA to Protect Its Scientists from the Political Witch Hunt (08/12/11)

Others reporting on this case:

Climate Scientist Wins A Round for America (Huffington Post)

Climate scientist wins his day in court (Nature.com)

Score Another Victory for Scientists, Michael Mann, and the Freedom of Inquiry (Desmogblog.com)

Climate change scientist Michael Mann fends off sceptic group’s raid on emails (The Guardian)

An Important Victory for Climate Science (Greg Laden’s Blog)

Favorable Virginia court procedural ruling in Michael Mann v. global warming denialist email raid (Climate Science Watch)

Mike Mann Wins one for the Planet (Climate Denial Crock of the Week)

Judge Approves Request to Protect Scientists’ Private Emails from Disclosure to Special Interest Group (Union of Conerned Scientists)

ATI & UVa: Reopening the review of exempted material (Climate Science FOI report)

Happy Halloween from The Caped Climate Crusader

The Caped Climate Crusader: Battling the evil forces of global warming deniers. "Faster than global T rise, more powerful than a stranded polar bear, able to leap over rising seas in a single bound."

Senator James Inhofe’s Sneer-Reviewed Science

After an exhaustive review of peer-reviewed scientific studies included in the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports; four reports by the National Research Council (NRC), a division of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences; 20 federal studies; and the international Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, the EPA concluded:

“that the current and projected concentrations of the six key well-mixed greenhouse gases — carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) — in the atmosphere threaten the public health and welfare of current and future generations.” 

(See Endangerment and Cause or Contribute Findings for Greenhouse Gases under Section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act for the details.)

The EPA was correct in relying on the IPCC and NRC reports because these reports represent our current understanding of climate change science so they must be used to inform policy.  Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) suggests otherwise.  His position is nonsensical and completely disrespects thousands of international experts and their fields of expertise.

Climate Science Legal Defense Fund – Spread the Word & Logo

Climate Science Legal Defense Fund Logo

Update (01/22/12): Visit the new home page for Climate Science Legal Defense Fund at http://climatesciencedefensefund.org/.  If you are using the CSLDF banner above on a Web page please edit the link to point to the new URL.

Update (12/21/11): The Climate Science Legal Defense Fund (CSLDF) is now an affiliate of the non-profit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) so I have removed the Pay Pal button from the donation page.  Donations are now tax-deductible and can be sent to PEER.  For those with a Pay Pal account, please send donations to info@peer.org and be sure to record “CSLDF donation” in the memo field.  Donations can also be mailed to PEER at the address below.  Be sure to record “CSLDF donation” in the memo line of your check.

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER)
2000 P Street, NW
Suite 240
Washington, DC 20036

John Abraham and I are grateful for the generous response to our appeal for legal defense fund support. We are happy to inform everyone that we have met, and exceeded the initial goal of $10,000. This appeal is a great start for a long-term plan to develop a permanent fund for defending scientists against these attacks. Consequently, we are working to develop a funding structure that allows donations to be made to a 501c3 non-profit entity.

All funds that are in excess of those currently needed will be placed into this entity for future use defending climate scientists. We believe that the existence of this fund will send a strong message that groups like ATI cannot bully scientists.

Please consider adding the logo above to your blogs, web pages, Face Book posts,etc. The image URL is:

http://www2.sunysuffolk.edu/mandias/global_warming/images/defense_fund_logo.gif

and the link to direct people to is:

http://profmandia.wordpress.com/2011/09/09/donation/

It will take time to establish the 501c3 so in the meantime please keep sending your support via PayPal or personal checks.

GOOD NEWS: A positive development has already resulted from this effort in the case of Dr. Mike Mann.

On Friday, a Virginia judge ruled to stay the current court order indefinitely, with a followup hearing to take place on Nov. 1st. Chris Horner and the fossil-fuel front group ATI cannot view the exempted personal emails from 39 climate scientists.  This is definitely a victory, which wouldn’t have happened without the funding to intervene.

For background on this case, see: http://climscifoi.blogspot.com/2011/09/ati-uva-intervention.html and my letter to U.VA President Teresa Sullivan.