A group of professors at Old Dominion University has joined University of Virginia faculty and a national professors organization in criticizing Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's demand that U.Va. hand over research documents by former U.Va. climate scientist Michael Mann.
In a letter, the professors accused Cuccinelli of "exploiting the powers of his office to engage in personal attacks on climate scientists" at U.Va. and elsewhere.
"These actions also threaten the political, economic and cultural well-being of our other state universities and the commonwealth of Virginia by discouraging top students and scholars from associating with our academic institutions," states the letter, signed by 19 faculty members of Old Dominion.
On Thursday, a group representing university professors joined the American Civil Liberties Union in urging the University of Virginia to resist a demand by Cuccinelli's office to hand over the research documents.
The request came in a letter that the American Association of University Professors and the Virginia chapter of the ACLU sent to the U.Va. board of visitors.
"Cuccinelli's injection of politics into the academic arena is profoundly counter not only to the interests of scholars in climate science but to the interests of the state's flagship institution . . . and to the public interest as a whole in vigorous debate," said Rachel Levinson, senior counsel with the professors group.
The University of Virginia's faculty senate also issued a statement, saying the attorney general's actions "directly threaten academic freedom and, thus, our ability to generate the knowledge upon which informed public policy relies."
Yesterday, U.Va. spokeswoman Carol Wood said the attorney general has broad authority to initiate an investigation, and said the school is required by law to comply with the demand.
At the same time, Wood added, "it is important that groups like the faculty senate and the AAUP take a stand. They are the ones able to initiate a public debate about state policy and whether the policy needs to be reviewed."
She said the university has never received a complaint of misconduct against Mann. "And while we may not understand the basis of the [demand], we will gather what information may still reside at the university."
The school has until July 26 to respond to Cuccinelli's April 23 request.
Mann, who left U.Va. in 2005 and is now a professor at Penn State University, is one of the scientists whose research was used to help form a scientific basis for global warming. The Environmental Protection Agency used the research to formulate more stringent federal guidelines governing greenhouse gases.
"The revelations of Climategate indicate that some climate data may have been deliberately manipulated to arrive at preset conclusions," Cuccinelli's office said in a statement.
"The use of manipulated data to apply for taxpayer-funded research grants in Virginia is potentially fraud," the statement continued. "Given this, the only prudent thing to do was to look into it."
Mann has described the Cuccinelli inquiry as a smear campaign by opponents of global warming theory.
Kent Willis, executive director of the ACLU of Virginia, said: "If the attorney general is merely trying to discredit a scientist with whom he disagrees on climate change, that's a shameful abuse of his office and a real threat to academic freedom in Virginia.
Cuccinelli has sued the federal government over greenhouse gas regulations.
Contact Jim Nolan at (804) 649-6061 or jnolan@timesdispatch.com.
Staff writer Karin Kapsidelis contributed to this report.
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