A conservative group has asked a judge to expedite the release of documents related to climatologist Michael Mann, a former University of Virginia professor who has become a target of global warming skeptics since the so-called “Climategate” incident of 2009.
The American Tradition Institute filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the University of Virginia in January seeking records related to Mann, now a professor at Penn State University. On Monday, the group, along with Virginia Del. Bob Marshall, R-Prince William, asked a judge to expedite the release of the documents.
Mann, who is associated with the infamous “hockey stick” graph that shows an increase in the earth’s temperature during the 20th century, has been cleared of academic wrongdoing by investigations at both the University of East Anglia and Penn State.
A protracted timeline of the University’s FOIA battle with the group is available on the school’s website.
The University of Virginia gained support in its effort from a coalition of groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia and the Union of Concerned Scientists, who recently wrote a letter to university President Teresa Sullivan urging her to “balance the interests of public disclosure against the public interest in academic freedom” in her response.
Sullivan responded with a letter dated April 21 saying that the university will follow the law while using “all available exemptions” in the FOIA law in its response.
The request comes as Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, a global warming skeptic, is seeking records related to Mann under the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act.
A judge quashed his effort last year, but Cuccinelli appealed to the state Supreme Court and is re-filing a new subpoena-like demand in response to the judge’s ruling.
