In climate scientist Michael Mann’s defamation lawsuit against individuals and organizations that published blog posts that characterized his work as fraudulent and attributed misconduct to him, a District of Columbia Superior Court denied summary judgment motions by the defendants on the issue of the individual authors’ “actual malice” and by Mann on the issue of the falsity of the blog posts. The court found, however, that Mann failed to offer evidence establishing that Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI)—which published one of the blogs—acted with “actual malice.” (The court made a similar ruling in March 2021 with respect to National Review, Inc. the publisher of the other blog.) The court said this failure to establish actual malice was the result of the nature of the blog, which was “designed for low-effort management on the part of CEI, where outside writers enjoy a platform for their opinions, with only cursory review by a relatively low-ranking CEI employee prior to publication.” With respect to the author of the post on CEI’s blog, the court found that Mann offered “significant evidence” that would allow a reasonable jury to find that the author acted with actual malice. The court denied summary judgment on the issue of whether the article was false.

Defamation action brought by climate scientist against authors and publishers of articles about scientist's work.

Mann v. National Review, Inc.

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D.C. Court Said Climate Scientist Provided Sufficient Evidence of Actual Malice for Blog Authors but Not for Publisher

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United States of America

District of Columbia

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

Fossil gas, commonly known as natural gas, is a fossil fuel consisting chiefly of methane with smaller amounts of other hydrocarbons and trace gases, found in underground deposits.

This sector involves activities to move goods and people, alongside the storage of products.

This sector creates and distributes information and entertainment through television, radio, print, and digital platforms.

This sector includes firms and individuals offering specialised expertise in fields such as law, accounting, consulting, science and engineering.

Slow onset events evolve gradually from incremental changes over many years or from increased frequency or intensity of recurring events. As defined in the Cancun Adaptation Framework (2010), slow onset events include risks and impacts from rising temperatures, desertification, biodiversity loss, land and forest degradation, glacial retreat, ocean acidification, sea level rise, and salinization.

D.C. Court Said Climate Scientist Provided Sufficient Evidence of Actual Malice for Blog Authors but Not for Publisher

Risk

Impacted group

Fossil fuel

Economic sector

Finance