Climate Science Legal Defense Fund Offerings at AGU 2012 Fall Meeting

The Climate Science Legal Defense Fund (CSLDF) has a large presence this year at the American Geophysical Union’s 2012 Fall Meeting. Please mark your calendars:

Legal Duties to Preserve and Disclose Scientific Data and Personal Communications

Mon Dec. 3 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm

San Francisco Marriott Marquis – Salon 10

Join us for a brown bag lunch with Michael Gerrard, director of the Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University.

Michael will discuss the increasing number of Freedom of Information Act requests and subpoenas that scientists are facing, and what kinds of documents scientists are required to disclose and to whom. Special attention will be devoted to e-mail and social media. Michael will leave ample time to answer your questions at this event.

The Law for Government Scientists

Tuesday Dec. 4 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm

San Francisco Marriott Marquis – Salon 1055

Please join us for this brown bag lunch with Kathryn (Kit) Douglass, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) staff counsel. PEER is a nonprofit service organization assisting public agency scientists, attorneys, and other specialists working on environmental issues.

Everyday PEER helps government scientists with a wide range of legal issues. Learn about legal provisions that affect you as a government scientist at this event. Kit will leave ample time to answer your questions.

An Inside Look at the Michael Mann Case

5 December 2012 from 12:30 – 1:30PM

Moscone South: Mezzanine – Room 226

Join us for a brown bag lunch with Peter Fontaine, counsel to Michael Mann and a leader of Cozen O’Connor’s Brownfield Development and Climate Change practices.

Peter will use examples from recent Freedom of Information Act litigation American Tradition Institute v. University of Virginia to discuss the application of state public records acts to researcher electronic correspondence, the interplay between the Federal FOIA and state laws, practical issues related to document review, potential exemptions to protect correspondence from disclosure, and other legal theories for the protection of correspondence, such as the First Amendment and Academic Freedom, and emerging trends in this dynamic intersection between science and the law.

One-On-One Time With a Lawyer (Have a question? Talk to a lawyer in private – no fees.)

Moscone South: Mezzanine – Room 264

8am-3pm Monday-Wednesday

Exhibit Hall Booth #140 Tuesday-Friday (Come visit the CSLDF booth and learn more about our mission.)

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…

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)

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.