Another Climategate investigation

Apr 30, 2010
Bishop Hill in Climate: Mann

The headline today is the news that the Virginia attorney general has launched an investigation into Michael Mann's time at the University of Virginia.

In papers sent to UVA April 23, Cuccinelli’s office commands the university to produce a sweeping swath of documents relating to Mann’s receipt of nearly half a million dollars in state grant-funded climate research conducted while Mann— now director of the Earth System Science Center at Penn State— was at UVA between 1999 and 2005.

If Cuccinelli succeeds in finding a smoking gun like the purloined emails that led to the international scandal dubbed Climategate, Cuccinelli could seek the return of all the research money, legal fees, and trebled damages.

How many investigations have now been started as a result of Climategate? Here's the list:

• Science & Technology Select Committee
• CCE Emails
• Scientific Appraisal Panel
• Norfolk Police
• Commonwealth of Massachusetts
• Penn State University (now two separate investigations)
• State of Virginia

And how many of them had any meaningful interactions with sceptics? Arguably none so far. Although the select committee accepted evidence from sceptics, most of it seems to have been ignored. Sir Muir has also taken submissions from critics of the CRU, but at the moment one rather gets the impression that CRU will get to justify themselves to his panel after which things will be brought to a close.

 

 

Article originally appeared on (http://www.bishop-hill.net/).