From: "Michael E. Mann" <mann@meteo.psu.edu>
To: Phil Jones <p.jones@uea.ac.uk>
Subject: Re: Fwd: RE: review of E&E paper on alleged Wang fraud
Date: Thu, 30 Aug 2007 09:01:41 -0400
Cc: Kevin Trenberth <trenbert@ucar.edu>, Gavin Schmidt <gschmidt@giss.nasa.gov>

<x-flowed>
thanks Phil,

I did take the liberty of discussing w/ Gavin, who can of course be 
trusted to maintain the confidentiality of this. We're in agreement that 
Keenan has wandered his way into dangerous territory here, and that in 
its current form this is clearly libellous; there is not even a pretense 
that he is only investigating the evidence. Furthermore, while many of 
us fall under the category of 'limited public figures' and therefore the 
threshold for proving libel is quite high, this is *not* the case for 
Wei-Chyung. He is not a public figure. I believe they have made a major 
miscalculation here in treating him as if he is. In the UK, where E&E is 
published, the threshold is even lower than it is in the states for 
proving libel. We both think he should seek legal advice on this, as 
soon as possible.

With respect to Peiser's guest editing of E&E and your review, following 
up on Kevin's suggestions, we think there are two key points. First, if 
there are factual errors (other than the fraud allegation) it is very 
important that you point them out now. If not, Keenan could later allege 
that he made the claims in good faith, as he provided you an opportunity 
to respond and you did now. Secondly, we think you need to also focus on 
the legal implications. In particular, you should  mention that the 
publisher of a libel is also liable for damages - that might make Sonja 
B-C be a little wary. Of course, if it does get published, maybe the 
resulting settlement would shut down E&E and Benny and Sonja all 
together! We can only hope, anyway. So maybe in an odd way its actually 
win-win for us, not them. Lets see how this plays out...

RealClimate is of course always available to you as an outlet, if it 
seems an appropriate venue. But we should be careful not to jump the gun 
here.

Kevin: very sorry to hear about Dennis. Please pass along my best wishes 
for a speedy recovery if and when it seems appropriate to do so...

Mike

Phil Jones wrote:
> Mike, Kevin,
>     Thanks for your sets of thoughts. I've been in touch with Wei-Chyung,
>  who's in China at the moment. He forwarded the 'paper!' to the people 
> dealing
>  with Keenan's allegations at SUNY. He got a reply to say that Keenan
>  has now violated the confidentiality agreement related to
>  the allegation. So, it isn't right to respond whilst this is 
> ongoing.  I will
>  draft something short though, whilst it's all fresh in my mind. Then 
> I can
>  get onto something else.
>      I did send the email below to Peiser clarifying whether he wanted
>  a review or just thoughts. I got the amazing reply - sent to three 
> reviewers!
>      So, letting the SUNY process run its course. Once finished, Real 
> Climate
>  may be one avenue to lay out all the facts/details.
>
>   Away tomorrow. I think you have Monday off, so have a good long 
> weekend!
>
>  Cheers
>  Phil
>
>> Subject: RE: review of E&E paper on alleged Wang fraud
>> Date: Wed, 29 Aug 2007 17:48:43 +0100
>> X-MS-Has-Attach:
>> X-MS-TNEF-Correlator:
>> Thread-Topic: review of E&E paper on alleged Wang fraud
>> thread-index: AcfqVG3NykjMc9doTBWIfTqkHPH+xwACAfp3
>> From: "Peiser, Benny" <B.J.Peiser@ljmu.ac.uk>
>> To: "Phil Jones" <p.jones@uea.ac.uk>
>> X-OriginalArrivalTime: 29 Aug 2007 16:53:26.0748 (UTC) 
>> FILETIME=[1E7969C0:01C7EA5D]
>> X-UEA-Spam-Score: 0.0
>> X-UEA-Spam-Level: /
>> X-UEA-Spam-Flag: NO
>>
>> Dear Phil
>>
>> The paper has been sent to three reviewers. Of course I will take 
>> your comments and assessment into consideration. Indeed, if the 
>> claims are unsubtantiated, I would certainly reject the paper.
>>
>> I hope this clarifies your query.
>>
>> With best regards
>> Benny
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ________________________________
>>
>> From: Phil Jones [mailto:p.jones@uea.ac.uk]
>> Sent: Wed 8/29/2007 16:51
>> To: Peiser, Benny
>> Subject: Re: review of E&E paper on alleged Wang fraud
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>   Benny,
>>     Energy and Environment is presumably a peer-review journal. Your
>>   email wasn't clear as to whether you want me to review the paper? 
>> If you
>>   want me to, will you take any notice of what I might say - such as
>>   reject the paper? Or has the contribution already been reviewed?
>>
>>   Phil
>>
>>
>> At 15:18 29/08/2007, you wrote:
>> >Dear Dr Jones
>> >
>> >I have attached a copy of Doug Keenan's paper on the alleged Wang fraud
>> >that was submitted for the forthcoming issue of Energy & Environment
>> >http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/mscp/ene.
>> >
>> >
>> >I was wondering whether you would be happy to comment on its content 
>> and
>> >factual accuracy. Your comments and suggestions would be much
>> >appreciated. We would need your feedback by Sept 17.
>> >
>> >I look forward to hearing from you.
>> >
>> >Yours sincerely
>> >
>> >Benny Peiser
>> >Guest editor, E&E
>> >Liverpool John Moores University, UK
>> >
>> >
>>
>> Prof. Phil Jones
>> Climatic Research Unit        Telephone +44 (0) 1603 592090
>> School of Environmental Sciences    Fax +44 (0) 1603 507784
>> University of East Anglia
>> Norwich                          Email    p.jones@uea.ac.uk
>> NR4 7TJ
>> UK
>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
>>
>
> Prof. Phil Jones
> Climatic Research Unit        Telephone +44 (0) 1603 592090
> School of Environmental Sciences    Fax +44 (0) 1603 507784
> University of East Anglia
> Norwich                          Email    p.jones@uea.ac.uk
> NR4 7TJ
> UK 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------                                                                                 
>


-- 
Michael E. Mann
Associate Professor
Director, Earth System Science Center (ESSC)

Department of Meteorology              Phone: (814) 863-4075
503 Walker Building                    FAX:   (814) 865-3663
The Pennsylvania State University      email:  mann@psu.edu
University Park, PA 16802-5013

http://www.met.psu.edu/dept/faculty/mann.htm


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