PRESS RELEASE
Tuesday, April 20th 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jeff Davis
Washington, DC — Penn State University’s Michael Mann, one of the central figures in the Climategate scandal, has threatened legal action against Minnesotans for Global Warming (M4GW) over the group’s popular satirical YouTube video “Hide the Decline.” The No Cap-and-Trade Coalition, a group that includes M4GW, responded today at an event at the National Press Club, releasing Mann’s threatening letter and an updated version of the “Hide the Decline” video.
“We understand why Michael Mann is eager to silence public discussion of the hockey stick scandal,” said Jeff Davis of No Cap-and-Trade, “but truth is an absolute defense.”
The original “Hide the Decline” video, which had more than 500,000 viewers, was removed today from YouTube by M4GW’s Elmer Beauregard. It received national attention when Rush Limbaugh played it on his radio show and was later featured on CBS Evening News in the wake of the Climategate email scandal. “Hide the Decline” parodied Mann, the Penn State professor who is largely responsible for the creation of the now debunked “hockey stick” graph, which purported to show a dramatic spike in average global temperature during the 20th century after 900 years of relatively constant temperature.
The video spotlighted a phrase from one of the central “Climategate” e-mails in which the University of East Anglia’s Phil Jones explains how he used Mann’s “Nature trick” to “hide the decline” of key temperature data. The hockey stick graph relied on “hiding this decline.”
When asked why he removed the video, Beauregard said “Right now, the last thing I need is a lawsuit. I can barely afford my electric bill.” Beauregard recently converted M4GW’s world headquarters (a recreational vehicle parked in Northern Minnesota) from propane to wood heat. “Mann should be glad to know that we don’t burn fossil fuels anymore — just trees,” said Beauregard.
“M4GW was started to poke fun at Global Warming because I knew it was a joke, it’s hard to believe in Global Warming when you live in a place like Minnesota. During last winter we all wished we had some global warming, hence the name of our group,” said Beauregard. As global warming developed into a political issue, M4GW has tried to educate the public that CO2 is not harmful but part of the natural carbon cycle.
Minnesotans for Global Warming did comply with Mann’s cease and desist demand, taking the “Hide the Decline” video down from their YouTube account and webpage. The No Cap and Trade Coalition unveiled a new video they’re calling “Hide the Decline 2,” however. It was screened at a press conference on April 20th and is available on YouTube and NoCapAndTrade.com.
“If Doctor Mann decides to sue,” said Davis, “we would welcome the opportunity to do legal discovery. I believe he’s hiding more than just ‘the decline.’”
Speaking at the No Cap-and-Trade Coalition press conference was M4GW spokesman “Chicken Little,” a man in a chicken suit who goes to rallies crying “The globe is warming, the globe is warming!”
When asked about the situation, Chicken Little said, “I used to believe in global warming — of course, I used to believe the sky was falling too, but Elmer set me straight.” Chicken Little went on to say, “I think it’s horrible that Elmer had to take down the video. Can’t a person have a little fun on YouTube anymore? Those Global warming guys sure don’t have any sense of humor.”
At the press conference, the No Cap-and-Trade Coalition handed out a historical review of the hide-the-decline controversy entitled, “Michael Mann: Defamed or Defined by Hide-the-Decline?” as well as mini-hockey sticks that read “Mann-Made Global Warming: Why We Should Be Worried About the Intellectual Climate.”
Both versions of the “Hide The Decline” video can be viewed at http://www.nocapandtrade.com/michael-mann-controversy/.
###
Minnesotans for Global Warming (M4GW) uses humor to illustrate the absurdity of anthropogenic global warming fears. Their slogans are “Turn your snow shovels into lawn chairs,” and “Nothing would be green without CO2.” – M4GW.com
The No Cap and Trade Coalition consists of over 40 state and national organizations that are opposed to cap and trade legislation. For more information, see NoCapAndTrade.com
Satirical political commentary still reigns in newsprint and media in every election year, many far worse than the presentation in question. Does this mean that Mann believes that these other presentations are also open to law suits? If that were the case, even Lincoln could have sued for defamation and libel and left his widow with coinage. The satirical comics portraying one of our most important republican presidents were far and away more potentially damaging than the one Mann is complaining about. Come on Mann, weather the storm or stop studying controversial subjects. You sound like a backseat child on this one.
A suggestion. Now that Mann has threatened a lawsuit, an action in declaratory judgment would lie in federal court. Any volunteers? Discovery would be a gas.
has anyone posted this?
19 April: New Scientist: Kate Ravilious: Blame the volcano trouble on sun and global warming
“We predict that the frequency and length of blocking events will increase in a warmer climate,” says Christophe Cassou of the European Centre for Research and Advanced Training in Scientific Computation in Toulouse, France.
Using IPCC simulations of air flow, Cassou and colleague Eric Guilyardi show that global warming will increase summer blocking events over Europe…
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18794-blame-the-volcano-trouble-on-sun-and-global-warming.html
Christophe Cassou was at NCAR:
2003: UCAR Quarterly: Bob Henson: How random is our winter weather?
Only recently has the tropical Atlantic been getting the attention it deserves, says Christophe Cassou, who is completing a two-year visit to NCAR’s Climate and Global Dynamics Division…
Cassou will return this autumn to France’s European Center for Research and Advanced Training in Scientific Computation. He and colleagues at NCAR and CERFACS have been using a tool called cluster analysis to get at the distinct climate modes that predominate across the North Atlantic…
http://www.ucar.edu/communications/quarterly/spring03/winter.html
Eric Guilyardi is also at University of Reading, Department of Meteorology Centre for Global Atmospheric Modelling (CGAM)
http://ncas-cms.nerc.ac.uk/people/custom_person.php?user_ID=1
new scientist writer, Kate Ravilious, has written for the Guardian:
2005: What a way to go: Super-volcano, robotic rebellion or terrorism? Kate Ravilious asks 10 scientists to name the biggest danger to Earth and assesses the chances of it happening
According to Sir Martin Rees, author of Our Final Century, astronomer royal and professor of cosmology and astrophysics at the University of Cambridge, humans only have a 50-50 chance of making it through the 21st century without serious setback. “Some natural threats, such as earthquakes and meteorite impacts, remain the same throughout time, while others are aggravated by our modern-interconnected world. But now we also need to consider threats that are human induced.”…
1: Climate Change
Nick Brooks is a senior research associate at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of East Anglia:
“By the end of this century it is likely that greenhouse gases will have doubled and the average global temperature will have risen by at least 2C. This is hotter than anything the Earth has experienced in the last one and a half million years. In the worst case scenario it could completely alter the climate in many regions of the world. This could lead to global food insecurity and the widespread collapse of existing social systems, causing mass migration and conflict over resources as some parts of the world become much less habitable. I don’t think that climate change will sound the death knell for humans, but it certainly has the potential to devastate.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2005/apr/14/research.science2
Some people have no sense of humor. I can understand that. No one likes to be the butt of a joke. Then one needs to be very careful not to place ones self in that position. I suggest this is little more then an attempt at intimidation and the old adage about all publicity being good just spell my name correctly, comes to mind. One should take care however, when going into courts of law. I suspect the rules of evidence are far higher then the political baffle gab, propaganda and sophistry we have been subjected to.
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Henry chance (16:25:26) :
If Jones and Mann had stepped off the sky high egos and sent some data when requested under the FOIA, I really believe this crisis would have been preempted years ago.
I think a lot of other crises would also have been averted, but that wouldn’t have advanced Mann’s agenda.
I too would be happy to contribute to a legal defense fund. My attorney friends tell me that discovery in a civil suit can go very wide and deep. Anything that might be relevant can be supoenaed with few exceptions. This might expose every problem in Mann’s questionable career.
Dan Lee (17:15:59) :
“Mann has never heard of the Streisand effect?”
My exact thought Dan! Talk about shooting oneself in the foot!
You can bet your life that Google results on “Hide the Decline” will hit another high today!
I wonder who paid lawyer Mann used?
I will contribute to your legal costs. Put that video up and be sued. There are 10,000 people with $20 who will support you. You can check with Anthony and Leif that I do come through.
In rereading this article, I think this is my favorite part. Funny. And ridicule on a level that most people can relate to is a powerful force.
“Speaking at the No Cap-and-Trade Coalition press conference was M4GW spokesman “Chicken Little,” a man in a chicken suit who goes to rallies crying “The globe is warming, the globe is warming!”
When asked about the situation, Chicken Little said, “I used to believe in global warming — of course, I used to believe the sky was falling too, but Elmer set me straight.”
So-called “Scientists” can’t prove their point, so they resort to legal action.
Well, sue me you liar, Michael Mann. I want to see your “evidence”| You are a liar, Mann.
Mann forced to man up in court? I too would pay money to see that.
latitude (17:10:54) :
No, you must understand that the “climate scientists” are not just stupid. They are the herd following the money; they are also fatally flawed as characters as they are prostituting their reputations for ideaological (in the case of Hansen) or pecunary (CRU, etc) purposes.
Personally, I like a good whore. She is proficient, honest, a benefit to society and fun to be with … unlike c(r)(l)imatologists.
“For some reason, climate scientists seem to have the worst P.R. sense in this whole world.
…
I wonder if it’s a requirement for being a climate scientist,
or if people with that disability just migrate toward climate science.”
I think it’s the latter.
It’s half political already and certain people are drawn to that. Then let them marinate for a few years in their hermetically-sealed, hothouse little world where they are only accountable to each other and get to choose their own reviewers and you can imagine the shock when they suddenly find they have to answer to the rest of the world. They’re simply not used to it and it’s bracing.
I was recently reading the Wegman Report and what struck me the most were the comments on the lack of professional statisticians involvement in most paleoclimate research. It’s just another example of the insularity of the field. It appears, on casual examination, that three or four years later the situation hasn’t changed appreciably. Trillions of dollars and the future of the world economy and the prosperity of its citizens are riding on the policies that will come from this research and according to the Wegman Report, “We note that there is no evidence that Dr. Mann or any of the other authors in paleoclimatology studies have had significant interactions with mainstream statisticians.” And this: “As statisticians, we were struck by the isolation of communities such as the paleoclimate community that rely heavily on statistical methods, yet do not seem to be interacting with the mainstream statistical community. The public policy implications of this debate are financially staggering and yet apparently no independent statistical expertise was sought or used.”
When someone pricks their bubble, they simply aren’t prepared for it. They’re used to being unanswerable to anybody except each other. With an ethos like that, no wonder they fare so badly in the PR department. The isolation of their science from the mainstream has allowed it to grow sloppy and squishy and it can’t stand the rigor.
I almost wish Mann would sue because then he would have to explain what he did with his hockey stick in a court of law.
Hey, for national security reasons, we must hide the decline, or the enemy may get it.
I’ve just made my contribution. Would’ve loved to have given a lot more but I’m on a fixed income. Maybe I’ll review my finances and give more tomorrow.
I think Mann feel emboldened because he was exonerated on the whitewashed inquiry at Penn state and now Jones has been exonerated on a similarly whitewashed inquiry.
So the 1st Amendment does not exist anymore?I suspect there may be quite a few lawyers who might take their case pro bono. Who knows, with the legal defense donations, & pro bono lawyers, M4GW could make as much money as Al Gore. Would that be sweet revenge or what? Give it to em.
There is court precedence in America that legal action can’t be taken on satire.
DirkH (15:38:45) :
It’s satire. Wasn’t that supposed to be legal in the U.S.?
I don’t think there was real reason to take the original video down.
Al Gored (15:47:58) :
This law suit would be the best possible outcome, unless the AGW gang can cherry pick an ‘appropriate’ judge.
That is a real problem in America, i.e., judges that use their politics in their decisions. And you can always find a judge who uses his left politics in the courtroom. So that drags things out and adds to the expenses. Eventually you get a judge, or judges, that use the law and not their politics to make decisions. But it could cost millions by then.
I’d think Mann would be a public figure on the basis that he participates at Realclimate, he authored a book called “Dire Predictions” and that he contributes to IPCC reports.
“….he falsified data….”
It would be very interesting to see all of his methods finally brought out into the light to see if he didn’t falsify data.
I’d like to see if random noise put into his program outputs a hockey stick. Cause I’m just wondering……..
Zorro (17:32:29) :
“Stick it” to Mann. He’s bluffing.
Is Michael Mann is smart enough to bluff? 😉
If “Dr” Mann thought FOI was hard wait til he goes throught the legal discovery process, BTW Dr in quotes is satire.
Please put the video back on youtube, it was GREAT!! If Mann sued, he would have to release all code and data, image that!!