Weaver, Andrew

<h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 19.2px; background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></h2><div><a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2018/02/14/climate-denier-tim-ball-trump-approved-not-credible-enough-stand-accountable-libel-0" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">https://www.desmogblog.com/2018/02/14/climate-denier-tim-ball-trump-approved-not-credible-enough-stand-accountable-libel-0</a>It was gratifying, today, to see a senior justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia denounce the professional “climate change sceptic” <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/timothy-f-ball-tim-ball" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">Dr. Tim Ball</a> as incompetent, inattentive and, perhaps, indifferent to the truth.<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden" style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); min-height: 280px;"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">But it was an outrage to see the same judge let Ball so casually off the hook, by <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/Judge%20Skolrood%2C%20re%20Weaver%20v.%20Ball%2C%2002-13.pdf" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">dismissing a libel action</a> that had been brought by University of Victoria climate scientist and B.C. Green Party leader Dr. Andrew Weaver.<h3 style="line-height: 1.28205em; margin-top: 1.28205em; margin-bottom: 1.28205em;">Related: <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2018/02/14/judge-dismisses-libel-claim-sceptic-tim-ball-not-credible-enough-take-seriously" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">Judge Dismisses Libel Claim, Tim Ball Not Credible Enough To Be Taken Seriously</a></h3>Weaver sued Ball in 2011 for one in a series of rabid diatribes that Ball had written for the website Canada Free Press (“Corruption of Climate Science Has Created 30 Lost Years,” Jan 10, 2011 — no longer available since CFP took it down and apologized for its defamatory content).Ball, a long-retired geographer who is more famous for overstating his own credentials than for anything accomplished during his academic career, had accused Weaver (then a lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) of bias and scientific incompetence — casting him as part of a politicized campaign to fleece Canadian taxpayers of grant money while overselling the dangers of climate change.The resulting libel action ground through the courts until it finally went to trial last fall, with 7.5 days of evidence heard over a period of more than three weeks — a brutal and expensive waste of time that would be a significant deterrent for almost anyone hoping to defend a reputation against the climate denial assault.But Weaver had become a target and stepped up to the task. And with this judgment, he was vindicated, entirely.

Justice <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/Judge%20Skolrood%2C%20re%20Weaver%20v.%20Ball%2C%2002-13.pdf" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">Skolrood found</a> that “… despite Dr. Ball’s history as an academic and a scientist, the Article is rife with errors and inaccuracies, which suggests a lack of attention to detail on Dr. Ball’s part, if not an indifference to the truth.” The judge further accepted that Ball was committed to damaging Weaver’s reputation. Justice Skolrood wrote: “These allegations are directed at Dr. Weaver’s professional competence and are clearly derogatory of him. Indeed, it is quite apparent that this was Dr. Ball’s intent.”But with the strangest get-out-of-jail-free card ever delivered in a Canadian libel trial, the judge concluded that Ball’s writing was too apparently idiotic to be taken seriously.

Again, from Justice Skolrood’s Reasons for Judgment: “The Article is poorly written and does not advance credible arguments in favour of Dr. Ball’s theory about the corruption of climate science. Simply put, a reasonably thoughtful and informed person who reads the Article is unlikely to place any stock in Dr. Ball’s views, including his views of Dr. Weaver as a supporter of conventional climate science.”But where in the Canadian or American climate conversation (or in either country’s governments) does Justice Skolrood think we might find the kind of “reasonably thoughtful and informed person” who would be immune to Ball’s low standard of science or accuracy?

Clearly, in a time of Donald Trump’s presidency, scientific, administrative and personal incompetence — not to mention indifference to truth — are no longer barriers to being taken seriously.Tim Ball, himself, <a href="https://www.therebel.media/dr_tim_ball_team_trump_about_global_warming" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">was invited to Washington</a> to participate in a briefing with the Trump transition team.In the Canadian libel tradition, if a plaintiff demonstrates that he or she has been defamed, the case is won. And you would expect, if the plaintiff was famous and credible and the defendant quite obviously a dunce, that damages would be minimal. But there would still BE damages.That is, unless the defamer can argue one of a narrow range of defences. “Fair comment,” for example, would require an affirmative answer to the question: “could anyone honestly express that opinion on the proved facts?” In this case, Justice Skolrood said, no.<blockquote style="margin: 1.5em 30px;">“While Dr. Ball presents his central thesis that climate science has been corrupted by politics, the Article offers little in the way of support for that thesis, apart from vague references to missing or falsified data and political manipulation, unsubstantiated and erroneous references ….”</blockquote>So, unable to claim conventional defences, Ball’s lawyer, Michael Scherr, went for something novel. Having admitted that his client was guilty of defamation, Scherr demanded that Weaver should have to prove that the defamatory comments actually caused damage. In the judge’s words, Scherr was seeking “a threshold of seriousness,” and arguing, in effect, that his client’s work didn’t meet that threshold.The notion arose from a case in another Canadian province (Vellacott v. Saskatoon Star Phoenix Group Inc. et al, Saskatchewan, 2012). In that case, the court found that certain published comments were not defamatory because they were so ludicrous and outrageous as to be unbelievable and therefore incapable of lowering the reputation of the plaintiff in the minds of right-thinking persons. Against that standard, Justice Skolrood wrote, “the impugned words here are not as hyperbolic as the words in Vellacott, (but) they similarly lack a sufficient air of credibility to make them believable and therefore potentially defamatory.”The woeful truth, now, is that climate change denial has suffered from a similar “lack (of) a sufficient air of credibility” for decades, and Tim Ball has spent that period on the lecture circuit saying blithely incredible things, dissembling about climate science and defaming climate scientists — without ever facing an impartial judge or being censured for the damage that he’s done.Now, finally, he is brought before — and broadly derided by — the court, but nevertheless allowed to walk away without so much as a requirement that he cease and desist.Ball’s supporters (who obviously have no illusions about the quality of his work) are cheering this decision as, “<a href="http://www.climatedepot.com/2018/02/13/alert-canadian-judge-dismissed-all-charges-in-lawsuit-against-skeptical-climatologist-dr-tim-ball/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">A great victory for free speech</a>.” But, one hopes, the celebrations will end with an ultimate comeuppance. Weaver’s lawyer, Roger McConchie, is already preparing the appeal. Beyond being castigated as inept and lacking integrity, Ball may yet be called to account.

“The only real finding in the judgment is that it didn’t defame Dr. Weaver and it’s a little puzzling because the defendants themselves admitted in their defence that they did defame him,” <a href="http://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/b-c-green-party-s-andrew-weaver-loses-defamation-lawsuit-1.23174209" target="_blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">McConchie told</a> the Times Colonist.

</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-14 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above" style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding: 1.5em 0px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); margin-top: 1.5em;"><div class="field-label" style="text-transform: uppercase; display: inline;">TAGS: </div><div class="field-items" style="display: inline;"><div class="field-item even" style="display: inline-block; margin-right: 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/799" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">tim ball</a></div><div class="field-item odd" style="display: inline-block; margin-right: 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/tags/andrew-weaver" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">andrew weaver</a></div><div class="field-item even" style="display: inline-block; margin-right: 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/topics/climate-lawsuit" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">climate lawsuit</a></div><div class="field-item odd" style="display: inline-block; margin-right: 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/1574" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">libel suit</a></div></div></div></div><div></div><div>mann bk:</div><div>a weaver ubc lab breakin to gewt email got nothing.spr '10</div><div></div><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 19.2px; background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Lawsuit</h2>

In September 2006, Ball filed a lawsuit against The Calgary Herald, a division of CanWest MediaWorks, specifically naming four of its staff, as well as Dr. Dan Johnson, a professor of environmental science at the Department of Geography at the University of Lethbridge and the Board of Governors of the University of Lethbridge. Ball's suit is over the publication of a letter to the editor published in April 2006 by Johnson responding to an opinion column by Ball. In his statement of claim, Ball objects to Johnson's letter in which statements about his academic record were disputed. Ball's claim seeks $250,000 in damages, special damages for loss of future income and punitive damages of $75,000.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Tim_Ball#cite_note-BallvsJohnson-10" style=" text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; white-space: nowrap; background-image: none;">[10]</a>

Johnson has filed an 18-page statement of defence denying "each and every allegation of fact and law" made by Ball.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Tim_Ball#cite_note-BallvsJohnson-10" style=" text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; white-space: nowrap; background-image: none;">[10]</a>

In the face of this and an even-more strident Statement of Defence by the Calgary Herald (“The Plantiff (Dr. Ball) is viewed as a paid promoter of the agenda of the oil and gas industry rather than as a practicing scientist.”), Ball withdrew the suit in June 2007.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Tim_Ball#cite_note-BallvsJohnson-10" style=" text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; white-space: nowrap; background-image: none;">[10]</a>

<h2 style="margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 19.2px; background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Canada Free Press retraction</h2>

On January 10, 2011, Canada Free Press began publishing on this website an article by Dr. Tim Ball entitled “Corruption of Climate Change Has Created 30 Lost Years” which contained untrue and disparaging statements about Dr. Andrew Weaver, who is a professor in the School of Earth and Ocean Sciences at the University of Victoria, British Columbia. Ten days later, Canada Free Press issued a full apology to Dr. Weaver and retracted Ball's article.

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Feb 2, 2011

<a href="http://climate.uvic.ca/people/weaver/" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Andrew Weaver</a>, a University of Victoria Professor and Canada Research Chair in Climate Modeling and Analysis, <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/michael-mann-suing-tim-ball-libel" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">filed suit for libel</a> against Tim Ball.

The suit arose from an article Ball wrote for Canada Free Press which accused Weaver of being uninformed about climate and unqualified to teach.<p style="line-height: 19.5px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0.39px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=<p style="line-height: 19.5px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0.39px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">  VANCOUVER, B.C. (CN) -<p style="line-height: 19.5px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0.39px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> A Pennsylvania State University professor claims climate-change denier Timothy Ball defamed him in an interview published by the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, a Winnipeg-based think tank. <p style="line-height: 19.5px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0.39px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">      Michael Mann, a professor in Penn State's meteorology department and director of the university's Earth Systems Science Center, claims that Ball defamed him when he said that Mann "should be in the State Pen, not Penn State," for his alleged role in the so-called climate gate email tussle. <p style="line-height: 19.5px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0.39px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">      Mann says that Ball and the Centre refused to issue an apology and published the words with the "purpose of harming the plaintiff and exposing him to hatred, ridicule and contempt, lowering the plaintiff in the estimation of others, and causing him to be shunned and avoided."<p style="line-height: 19.5px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0.39px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">      It's not the <a title="http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/02/04/33907.htm" href="http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/02/04/33907.htm" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 17.4319px;">first</a> time Ball's been sued by a climate scientist for defamation. <p style="line-height: 19.5px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0.39px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;">      In February, Andrew Weaver of the University of Victoria sued Ball over an article published by the Canada Free Press, in which Ball allegedly accused Weaver of cherry-picking scientific data in his work with the UN's intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.Mann seeks punitive damages and wants the article removed from its electronic database. He is represented in B.C. Supreme Court by Roger McConchie. <p style="line-height: 19.5px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0.39px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">

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