After 12 years of delays, the defamation lawsuit brought by climate scientist Michael Mann and writer Mark Steyn finally began this week. Mann sued Steyn and others in 2012 claiming they libeled him when they mocked his infamous “hockey stick” graph that has been the lynchpin of climate alarmism for decades. Steyn compared the cover-up of Mann’s shoddy science at his then-employer Penn State University to the way the school covered up the horrible sexual abuse crimes conducted by disgraced football coach Jerry Sandusky and then whitewashed an internal investigation.
Steyn, who gave one of the greatest keynotes ever at a Heartland climate conference about this case a while back (see below for a link), has been itching for this trial to finally happen since Obama was just starting his second term. It was Mann who employed one delaying tactic after another in an attempt to scare Steyn off.
Steyn never backs down from a fight, and is putting Mann’s hockey stick itself on trial. And, in a twist that will be either brilliant or disastrous, Steyn is acting as his own attorney in this civil suit.
In episode 94 of Climate Change Roundtable, host Anthony Watts and panelists H. Sterling Burnett, Linnea Lueken, and (maybe) Jim Lakely will get you caught up on the Climate Trial of the Century. After opening statements on Thursday, the jury trial in a DC court is expected to last well into next week. Join us at noon CT (1 p.m. ET) for the kind of coverage of this trial you won’t find anywhere else.
Below is Mark Steyn’s keynote address on the Michael Mann lawsuit in 2015 at Heartland’s 10th International Conference on Climate Change. Steyn called The Heartland Institute “an absolutely indispensable beacon of sanity on this issue [climate change].”
Watch LIVE (or recorded) here.
Discover more from Watts Up With That?
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Steyn is a smart fellow, but acting as his own lawyer?
My guess is he has some good lawyers advising him
My guess is that he has his remarkable grasp of English Common Law advising him, with a bit of the Magna Carta on the side.
Remember in Civil trials, rules of evidence are much different than in criminal trials.
While he does have some legal advisors with him at the trial, I’m pretty sure the decision was mainly financial. Twelve years of this—now with OfCom added to the mix—is a lot of money.
Ofcom is a UK regulator and nothing to do with US proceedings. Any ruling by Ofcom has no legal force in the US
Yes, but it still costs money to be dealing with that, too.
The point is that Steyn is suing Ofcom, which will be expensive.
No. Watch the entire video to find out.
Mann is bully. Steyn is a street fighter. The bully always loses against a street wise opponent.
“The behavior of Michael Mann is a disgrace to the profession”
— Dr. Henrick Tennekes
“Steyn, who gave one of the greatest keynotes ever at a Heartland climate conference about this case a while back…”
I watched that and was super impressed with Steyn! It’s not often that I say that about anyone.
Jim L.: It sounded to me as though were describing a Fauci.
Careful there! Comparing Mann to someone else often ends in him sueing!
Minimum to make trees grow.
Lack of atmospheric CO2 over the last few thousand years.
Trees finally started to respond to and grow properly once CO2 reached usable levels.. thanks fo humans.
Anthony, please post a link to the ending video “hide the decline” …priceless!