British Reporting on Climategate

The Guardian newspaper, one of the more responsible and less 'tabloidish' newspapers in England, has done an investigative series of articles on 'climategate', that will probably be the leading edge of a spate of other investigations, both there in Britain and in the United States.

The emails reveal repeated and systematic attempts by him [scientist Phil Jones] and his colleagues to block FoI requests from climate sceptics who wanted access to emails, documents and data. These moves were not only contrary to the spirit of scientific openness, but according to the government body that administers the FoI act were "not dealt with as they should have been under the legislation".

Jones foresaw that his arch-inquisitor, the Canadian former minerals prospector and editor of the sceptic blog Climate Audit, Steve McIntyre, would be a thorn in his side. As long ago as 2005, before the incoming legislation had been tested in Britain, Jones was laying out his uncompromising views on protecting "his" data. In a note to the prominent US climate scientist Michael Mann in February that year, he noted that "the two MMs", McIntyre and his co-author the Canadian environmental economist Ross McKitrick, "have been after the CRU station data for years. If they ever hear there is a Freedom of Information Act now in the UK, I think I'll delete the file rather than send to anyone."

Other articles from the series can be found here.