Scientists already have well-established forums and procedures for debating competing models and hypotheses. They have peer-reviewed journals in which they publish findings that reviewers deem to be of adequate scientific quality. Then other scientists publish their peer-reviewed critiques—and readers draw on their own scientific expertise to draw their own conclusions. These decisions are made by scientists, without the aid of lawyers.
Jacobson is trying to short-circuit that process. The goal is to harass his scientific rivals with frivolous lawsuits. Even if his suit doesn’t win, you can see the deterrent effect. The next time rival scientists consider debunking a sloppy paper, they will think twice about whether they can afford the lawyers’ fees.
It’s not the first time this sort of thing has happened. Another celebrity global warming scientist, Michael Mann, filed a similar defamation lawsuit against writers who disparaged him for his statistically manipulated “hockey stick” graph of historical temperatures. That case tried to establish the idea that it is a violation of Mann’s rights to “question his intellect and reasoning.”
So calling in the lawyers to assert your immunity from questioning is becoming a trend. Backing it up is all the rhetoric we hear about how anyone who doubts the evil of fossil fuels or questions the viability of the future environmentalist utopia is a wicked “science denier.” It has even become acceptable to demand that such “deniers” be thrown in jail. So far, Jacobson’s effort has not been all that well-received. But the talk about prosecuting global warming skeptics provides the ideological support for an attempt to shut down normal scientific discourse.
Global Warming Alarmist Sues Scientists, Saying Academic Critiques Of His Work Are ‘Defamation’
A Princeton professor is suing other scientists for critiquing his work in favor of 'renewable energy.' That's not how science works.
Jacobson is trying to short-circuit that process. The goal is to harass his scientific rivals with frivolous lawsuits. Even if his suit doesn’t win, you can see the deterrent effect. The next time rival scientists consider debunking a sloppy paper, they will think twice about whether they can afford the lawyers’ fees.
It’s not the first time this sort of thing has happened. Another celebrity global warming scientist, Michael Mann, filed a similar defamation lawsuit against writers who disparaged him for his statistically manipulated “hockey stick” graph of historical temperatures. That case tried to establish the idea that it is a violation of Mann’s rights to “question his intellect and reasoning.”
So calling in the lawyers to assert your immunity from questioning is becoming a trend. Backing it up is all the rhetoric we hear about how anyone who doubts the evil of fossil fuels or questions the viability of the future environmentalist utopia is a wicked “science denier.” It has even become acceptable to demand that such “deniers” be thrown in jail. So far, Jacobson’s effort has not been all that well-received. But the talk about prosecuting global warming skeptics provides the ideological support for an attempt to shut down normal scientific discourse.
Global Warming Alarmist Sues Scientists, Saying Academic Critiques Of His Work Are ‘Defamation’
A Princeton professor is suing other scientists for critiquing his work in favor of 'renewable energy.' That's not how science works.
