I’ve been a great ally of my latest Point of Inquiry guest Michael Mann, and even called him a climate hero. I’ve blurbed his new book, saying the following:

“Although not initially of his own choosing, Michael Mann has been the most important, resilient, and outspoken warrior in the climate battle–responding to threats and persecution with courage and resolve every step of the way. Anyone who cares about the climate issue must read his fascinating–and enraging–story.”

My feeling is that climate scientists in general–but Mann most of all–have been unfairly attacked for ideological reasons. This has gone far beyond arguments over ideas, and has grown to involve lawsuits, congressional inquiries, and so on.

Mann has risen to the challenge in the face of this, and become a powerful science communicator, as he demonstrates in his new book and on the show. But it hasn’t been easy, and my sympathies go out to him and also to his family.

As Mann explains in The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars, he was a geek who started out programming computers to play the tic-tac-toe scenario from the movie War Games. He later got into climate science because it was intellectually interesting and stimulating, following his mind.

There shouldn’t be a personal penalty for that.

It is with all of this in mind that I want to draw your attention to a recent letter from the Climate Science Legal Defense Fund, calling for support for Mann (see also here). I encourage you to to head over there and, if you believe in the cause, to make a donation. Check it out–and you should also buy Mann’s book, if you haven’t already.

Finally, see here for a statement from the American Association for the Advancement of Science in support of Mann.

(This post originally appeared at The Intersection.)