Penn State climate scientist Michael Mann used his lecture on academic freedom to attack “climate deniers” who allegedly launched a “massive misinformation campaign” to mislead Americans about global warming science.
Ironically, University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel introduced Mann by saying he hoped the school would always be “an unalienable forum for discovery, debate and discussion” where “respect and disagreement are complementary, where each makes the other stronger and where we all advocate for and learn from their confluence.”
Mann, a fervent advocate for left-leaning global warming policies, said climate scientists “were dealing with fake news and alternative facts before they were in fashion.” He went after the for inviting “climate change contrarian[s]” to debate against him and others on the subject.
Inviting two sides to debate a science and policy topic undermines the consensus that global warming “is real, it’s human-caused, it’s already a problem,” Mann said during his academic freedom speech on Tuesday, The University Record reported.
Mann has often claimed to be the subject of persecution by industry-funded “deniers” looking to undermine his scientific findings. Mann gained notoriety as one of the co-creators of the “hockey stick” graph that predicted catastrophic man-made global warming.
Critics did pounce on the “hockey stick” graph’s flaws, and former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli did try to get Mann to turn over emails while he worked for the University of Virginia.
But Mann has given it right back. Mann has labeled those who disagree with him as “deniers” and questioned their motives and credibility.
Recently, Mann did an interview with New York magazine on a potential future where nothing is done to stop global warming. In the interview, Mann largely affirmed the magazine’s assertions Earth that could be “uninhabitable,” but authored a Facebook post attacking the article. Turns out he was not quoted in it.
Mann once borrowed from a poem about the Holocaust to describe criticisms against his work and the global warming “consensus.”
Mann also attacked President Donald Trump’s energy policies, including his plan to withdraw from the Paris climate accord.
“If you look objectively at the impacts of climate change on food, on water, on human health, on our economy, on national security — across the board, climate change is already doing great damage,” Mann said in his lecture. “And if we continue on this road, we will see truly catastrophic and irreversible impacts.”
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