| August 3, 2010 |  |
VA Attorney General Continues to Misrepresent Climate Science in His Latest Court Filing Against UVA
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s July 13 court filing requesting documents related to climate scientist Michael Mann from the University of Virginia contains even more false and misleading claims than his June 11 filing, according to an analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). A point-by-point breakdown of his latest filing is available online.
Cuccinelli’s most recent filing reiterates previous, discredited attacks on Mann’s research, especially Mann’s now-famous “hockey stick” research documenting a dramatic jump in the Earth’s average temperatures. Cuccinelli cites these critiques, but fails to acknowledge that Mann and his fellow researchers’ conclusions have been vindicated by extensive scientific review.
Contrarians have been trying unsuccessfully to malign the entire body of climate science for years by attacking Mann’s hockey stick research. Back in 2005, for example, Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) became the first high-profile U.S. politician to use this tactic. Barton’s arguments against the hockey stick, however, were debunked by scientists years ago. Regardless, Cuccinelli makes some of the same arguments in his most recent filing.
Mann’s hockey stick, which was published in a 1998 paper and again in a paper the following year, was groundbreaking for its time, but contrarians place undue emphasis on it. Over the past decade, studies examining the Earth’s past climate have progressed significantly. Mann and other climate scientists have improved their methods and gathered more data. And the latest research reaches the same basic conclusion as Mann’s hockey stick: Modern-day global warming is unprecedented and primarily caused by human activity.
At several points in the July filing, Cuccinelli presents wrong, misleading statements about Mann’s research. For example, he claims that the hockey stick does not include the Medieval Warm Period or the Little Ice Age, two natural climate events that occurred over the past millennium. In fact, both trends are clearly represented in the hockey stick graph, which tracks temperature trends over both time periods.
In addition, Cuccinelli confuses actions taken by scientist Phil Jones, head of the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, with those taken by Mann. (Email correspondence among Mann, Jones and other climate scientists were stolen and made public last fall, which prompted Cuccinelli to launch his investigation.) The July filing, like the one in June, also confuses a reference Jones made to Mann’s research with one Jones made to another scientist’s research. UCS pointed out earlier this month that Cuccinelli made this mistake before.
Finally, the July filing demonstrates a lack of understanding regarding how science works. Cuccinelli presents a fanciful conspiracy view of climate science and fails to recognize the self-correcting nature of science.
In sum, this sloppy, error-filled filing offers more evidence that Cuccinelli’s investigation is misguided and politically motivated. Cuccinelli should drop it and stop harassing the University of Virginia and Michael Mann.
The Union of Concerned Scientists puts rigorous, independent science to work to solve our planet's most pressing problems. Joining with citizens across the country, we combine technical analysis and effective advocacy to create innovative, practical solutions for a healthy, safe, and sustainable future.
