Prominent Climategate Figure (Prof Mann) Threatens Lawsuit over Spoof Video

Washington, DC — Penn State University’s Michael Mann, one of the central figures in the Climategate scandal, has threatened legal action against Minnesotans for Global Warming (M4GW) over the group’s popular satirical YouTube video “Hide the Decline.” The No Cap-and-Trade Coalition, a group that includes M4GW, responded today at an event at the National Press Club, releasing Mann’s threatening letter and an updated version of the “Hide the Decline” video.

“We understand why Michael Mann is eager to silence public discussion of the hockey stick scandal,” said Jeff Davis of No Cap-and-Trade, “but truth is an absolute defense.”

The original “Hide the Decline” video, which had more than 500,000 viewers, was removed today from YouTube by M4GW’s Elmer Beauregard. It received national attention when Rush Limbaugh played it on his radio show and was later featured on CBS Evening News in the wake of the Climategate email scandal. “Hide the Decline” parodied Mann, the Penn State professor who is largely responsible for the creation of the now debunked “hockey stick” graph, which purported to show a dramatic spike in average global temperature during the 20^th century after 900 years of relatively constant temperature.

The video spotlighted a phrase from one of the central “Climategate” e-mails in which the University of East Anglia’s Phil Jones explains how he used Mann’s “Nature trick” to “hide the decline” of key temperature data. The hockey stick graph relied on “hiding this decline.”

When asked why he removed the video, Beauregard said “Right now, the last thing I need is a lawsuit. I can barely afford my electric bill.” Beauregard recently converted M4GW’s world headquarters (a recreational vehicle parked in Northern Minnesota) from propane to wood heat.

About Us

team The No Cap-and-Trade Coalition is an alliance of organizations concerned about the devastating impact that a cap-and-trade scheme could have on American families, businesses and the faltering US economy.

At the onset, cap-and-trade is projected to cost the average family over $1,700 per year in new energy costs, growing to over $6,000 per year by 2035. Independent analyses of cap-and-trade proposals project the loss of millions of additional jobs and trillions of dollars out of the nation’s GDP.

The U.N. climate treaty being currently debated proposes a massive shift from American taxpayers to third-world countries by forcing the U.S. to make payments of billions of dollars in “climate debt”. In addition, increased energy costs will drive manufacturing out of the United States, resulting in the loss of millions of jobs.

Objectives

The Coalition intends to become a leading voice against state and federal cap-and-trade schemes, energy taxes and the Copenhagen Climate Treaty.

We will achieve our goals through public education, grass-roots organizing, paid media campaigns and direct lobbying efforts. Specifically, the coalition will:

Sponsor a new website (NoCapAndTrade.com) where visitors can sign a petition against the Waxman-Markey cap and trade bill and the UN’s proposed climate treaty expected to be debated in Copenhagen this December.
Run radio and television ads in major markets.
Bring a localized educational program to all areas of the state, featuring the new global warming documentary film, “Not Evil, Just Wrong.”
Educate policymakers on the economic ramifications of proposed cap and trade schemes being currently debated.
Organize and motivate the grassroots to provide a high-profile citizen voice against these proposals.

Coaltion Members

Current members of the coaltion include:

If your organization is interested in joining the coalition, send an email to: membership [at] nocapandtrade [dot] com.

From the Keyword: michaelmann

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The Washington Times ^ | Dec.4, 2009 | Amanda DeBard

Posted on Fri 04 Dec 2009 07:40:57 PM PST by Free ThinkerNY

A leading researcher at the heart of a raging debate over leaked e-mails about the validity of climate change said Friday that his work has been manipulated and that he is the target of a "smear campaign" by global warming naysayers.

"It's an 11th-hour smear campaign where words in e-mails were taken out of context," said Michael Mann, director of Pennsylvania State University's Earth Systems Science Center, in a teleconference Friday with reporters.

Mr. Mann's research has been aired over the Internet following a security breach in which thousands of e-mails between prominent American and British climate-change scientists were stolen. Global warming skeptics say the private correspondence could prove that climate data have been hoarded and manipulated by leading climate scientists to overstate the case for human-caused global warming.

(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...

Link to Hide the Decline in the thread....

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