化石燃料行业如何骚扰617888九五至尊娱乐617888九五至尊娱乐家迈克尔·曼

2017年10月12日发布

A Koch-funded think tank tried to harass 和 discredit prominent climate scientist Michael Mann by suing for access to his private correspondence. Mann defeated the effort—but fears the resulting “chill” could deter young climate scientists.

信封里塞满了玉米淀粉,用来模拟炭疽. 有成千上万封充满仇恨的电子邮件,夹杂着警告和威胁. 有国会听证会, where presenting scientific evidence—和 fighting off fact-free 攻击 by hostile members of Congress—was a torturous uphill battle.

617888九五至尊娱乐617888九五至尊娱乐家迈克尔·曼 过得不容易第一次出版 他在1998年首创的“曲棍球棒”图表. 与共同作者雷蒙德. Bradley 和 Malcolm Hughes, the research indicated unprecedented global warming in the last century. 这样做的时候, the graph also painted a bright red target on the authors’ backs for those intent on undermining public underst和ing of climate change. While some of the 攻击 对曼 have been the work of rogue 个人—albeit 个人 possibly spurred by the fossil fuel industry’s decades-long work manufacturing doubt against climate science—it’s remarkable how many 攻击 actually trace directly to involvement by the fossil fuel industry.

其中之一 更引人注目的竞选活动 对曼 是企图吗? to discredit his work by accessing his private correspondence through Freedom of Information Act requests. 1999年至2005年, 曼恩在弗吉尼亚大学担任助理教授, 公立大学. In 2010, 五年前,曼恩离开加州,前往宾夕法尼亚州立大学任职, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli issued a civil Investigative dem和 under the state’s Fraud Against Taxpayers Act (generally used to prosecute Medicaid fraud) to attempt to access Mann’s correspondence. An 编辑在 自然 他严厉地指出,“鉴于缺乏任何不当行为的证据, it’s hard to see Cuccinelli’s subpoena…as anything more than an ideologically motivated inquisition that harasses 和 intimidates climate scientists.”

州法院最终认为库奇内利的行为是滥用权力, 弗吉尼亚州最高法院拒绝了这些要求. 当时案件正在法庭审理中, 然而, 美国传统研究所(ATI, now the 能源 和 Environmental Legal Institute) sought the same documents—和 continued the same harassment—under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. 作为一个 分析 of ATI的IRS 990 2010日历年的表格公布了, 该组织得到了业内人士的大量资助.

ATI近25%的资金来自其姊妹组织, 美国传统伙伴关系, 哪一个获得了化石燃料行业的资助. ATI还从阿特拉斯经济研究基金会获得了一小笔捐款, 它得到了埃克森美孚公司的大量资金支持, 科赫基金会, 以及教皇基金会. 与此同时, more than 75 percent of ATI’s funding came from Doug Lair 和 the Lair Family Foundation, 一笔来自莱尔石油的财富, 1989年被威廉·科赫收购. 此外, 克里斯·霍纳, ATI的诉讼主管, was serving (和 still serves) as a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), 保守的智囊团 接收 significant amounts of money from the fossil fuel industry 和 spends liberally on projects meant to undermine the science around global warming. 破产申请的后续分析 发现, ATI及相关机构 个人 也从煤炭公司获得了大量资金.

起初, 弗吉尼亚大学校长特蕾莎·沙利文承诺保护曼恩的信件, but then agreed to give ATI special access to the documents under a protective order. 在曼恩和其他人的干预下,法院宣布保护令无效. 经过一场漫长的法律斗争——在2012年, 巡回法庭支持弗吉尼亚大学, a decision ATI appealed—in April 2014 the Virginia Supreme Court unanimously ruled that unpublished research by university scientists is exempt from the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. 判决结束后,曼恩告诉《617888九五至尊娱乐》 华盛顿邮报》 that “this is a victory for science, public university faculty, 和 academic freedom.”

Although Mann eventually won the case, he spent years tied up in court 和 dealing with 其他行业资助的攻击. 他的许多同事也花了大量时间处理 类似的骚扰攻击 因为他们在617888九五至尊娱乐变化方面的517888九五至尊娱乐. 这些骚扰性攻击的危险是多方面的. Attempts to silence scientists studying global warming leave both government 和 the public in the dark about the critical steps needed to mitigate the very real dangers of climate change. 骚扰著名的617888九五至尊娱乐617888九五至尊娱乐家, these powerful interests may keep new scientists from asking the most challenging policy-relevant questions—or even entering the field of climate science altogether—when they are needed now more than ever.

曼恩在一篇文章中写道 2016年12月专栏“我担心寒冷会降临. I worry especially that younger scientists might be deterred from going into climate research (or any topic where scientific findings can prove inconvenient to powerful vested interests). As someone who has weathered many 攻击, I would urge these scientists to have courage. 地球的命运岌岌可危.”

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