Stanford professor drops defamation suit
Stanford University environmental Professor Mark Jacobson made a big splash in 2015 with a paper predicting that renewable sources could provide 100 percent of the energy needed in the 48 contiguous states by 2050.
But he made an even bigger splash last September, when he responded to a critique of his claim published in a leading scientific journal by filing a $10 million defamation lawsuit.
After taking months of flak for what seemed to be an effort to stifle legitimate debate by bringing it into the courtroom, Jacobson withdrew the lawsuit last week.
A quick primer on the case: After Jacobson’s paper appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and got taken up as a rallying cry by climate activists such as Bernie Sanders, the journal published a lengthy critique by environmental scientist Christopher Clack and 20 co-authors. Their paper, which questioned Jacobson’s assumptions and methodology, appeared Feb. 24, 2017. The journal gave Jacobson and his own co-authors space in the very same issue to rebut the criticism.
Jacobson wanted more. He asserted that the Clack paper was filled with so many errors that the journal should never have published it.
He sued Clack and the national academy Sept. 29. Scientists became reluctant to comment for fear of being hauled into court.
In a statement Thursday that rehashed at length the issues he had raised in his lawsuit, Jacobson attempted to declare victory.
“A main purpose of the lawsuit has been to correct defamation by correcting the scientific record through removing false facts that damaged my co-authors’ and my reputations,” he said. “While I have not succeeded in having the scientific record … corrected, I have brought the false claims to light so that at least some people reading (the critical article) will be aware of the factually inaccurate statements.”
But he also acknowledged some of the drawbacks of litigating scientific discussions in court — the process is timeconsuming, expensive and inconclusive.
“It is possible there could be no end to this case for years, and both the time and cost would be enormous,” he said. Appeals could take months, even years, and even if the case reached trial, “the result of the trial would likely be appealed, etc., etc.”
Attorneys for Clack asserted that the reason for the withdrawal is simpler: “No doubt Dr. Jacobson based his decision on the high probability that his lawsuit would be dismissed.”
His action came after a hearing on the case Wednesday in Washington, D.C., Superior Court, where Clack and the National Academy of Sciences sought dismissal on grounds that it was a “strategic lawsuit against public participation,” which applies to litigation brought chiefly to censor and intimidate participants in a public debate.