Before I get to the meat of this, let me note the following: the Mann just can’t stop it with a certain poetic approach to the facts. Looking at the Mann’s court filing, I find the following:
Responsible media reviews, including the Columbia Journalism Review, have described the defendants’ attacks against Dr. Mann as “deplorable, if not unlawful.” Responsible scientific publications, including Discover Magazine, have described these attacks as “slimy,” “disgusting,” and “defamatory.” […] Similarly, the scientific publication Discover Magazine described the attacks as “slimy,” “disgusting,” and “defamatory.”
Please home in on the sections I’ve bolded. Now type in “Scientific publication” into google and see what pops up. Right.
Scientific publication is, almost exclusively, taken to mean peer reviewed technical publication. Take a look at the following. By no stretch of the imagination does Discover Magazine fit the description. Yes, yes, Wikipedia mentions, as an aside ‘blogs and science forums’, but that is emphatically not what scientific publication means for just about everyone in this business.
This is basic. I remember being told, in so many words during my first year at University that, popular science magazines, newspapers, blogs, or your Aunt Mabel do not count as scientific publication. Only peer reviewed literature counts.
Discover Magazine is a responsible scientific publication the way that Michael Mann is a Nobel Laureate.
Now to the subject of this post, it has to do with the Obama administration’s Secretary for Energy. I’m not the biggest fan of Obama, but Chu is a first rate choice. This is what the technocratic Obama does really well (something the War Nerd notes).
Chu has won a real Nobel Prize (Physics, 1997) and has come up with practical ways of approaching the problem of global warming. He’s a strong supporter of nuclear power, just about the only practical carbon free energy source we have today, and champions the idea of painting roofs white to increase albedo and reflect more heat back into space. These are concrete, practical steps, which is why Chu’s gotten a good write up from the American Enterprise Institute, the same AEI that’s also being sued by Mann.
This is how you actually make some headway on this issue. You propose a workable solution that doesn’t rely on tyranny or mass immiseration and you treat people’s concerns with respect and not #kochdenialmachine.
The fake Nobel should take some lessons from the real Nobel.
