‘GOOD DAY FOR SCIENCE’

Climate Scientist Wins $1M in Defamation Suit Against Right-Wing Bloggers

Two bloggers accused Michael Mann of manipulating his data and compared him to convicted child molester Jerry Sandusky.

A prominent climate scientist accused by two right-wing bloggers of manipulating his research data was awarded more than $1 million by a jury after they found the pair defamed him. Michael Mann, 58, became well known for his so-called “hockey stick” graph that in 1998 predicted the climate crisis. He filed his lawsuit against policy analyst Rand Simberg and author Mark Steyn in 2012. That year, Simberg published a column with a libertarian think tank alleging that Mann had “molested and tortured” his data in much the same way Jerry Sandusky, the disgraced former Pennsylvania State University football coach, had abused children. At the time, Mann was a professor at the school. For the National Review, Steyn quoted Simberg’s writing, adding that he believed Mann’s work was “fraudulent.” The jury awarded Mann $1,000 from Simberg, who was cleared of other allegations of defamation in the case, and $1 million from Steyn. After the month-long trial concluded on Thursday, he told the Associated Press, “It feels great. It’s a good day for us, it’s a good day for science.”