A university has criticized conservative media for a serious misrepresentation of one of its academics that sparked a torrent of abuse from climate scienceย deniers.
As revealed by DeSmogBlog, Rochester Institute of Technology assistant professor Lawrence Torcello received hundreds of e-mails after conservative media incorrectly claimed he had called for climate skeptics to beย jailed.
Torcello wrote an article forย The Conversationย website arguing there was โgood reason to considerโ that โthe funding of climate denialโ was morally andย criminallyย negligent.
But conservative media, including FoxNation, The Drudge Report, Breitbart and The Daily Caller, incorrectly claimed that Torcello had either called for contrarian scientists to be jailed or for Americans who did not accept the evidence for human-caused climate change to be imprisoned. Climate skeptic blogger Anthony Watts also encouraged readers to complain to theย university.
In a followup statement, the universityย said:
The search for truth is the animating force of a university, and it behooves those who support open and respectful discussion of controversial issues to get the facts right. Recently the views expressed by a member of our community, Professor Lawrence Torcello, have been misrepresented by some in the media. The misrepresentation follows a pattern similar to other incidents of misrepresentation involving academics that work on topics related to climateย change.
The statement encouraged people to read Torcelloโs original story in The Conversation rather than rely on the misrepresentations. The statementย added:
The Institute wishes to acknowledge, with Professor Torcello, that a strong scientific consensus exists in support of anthropogenic globalย warming.
Torcello told DeSmogBlog by e-mail that he โapplaudedโ his university for defending academicย freedom:
Acknowledging the scientific consensus on anthropogenic climate change is important for any respectable university to do. Honest discourse requires that we concede a scientific consensus when one exists, even if we wish to challenge it. I would like to see the kind of strong and open support my university has shown me become the standard practice for other universities faced with similar situations of harassment when faculty write on politically chargedย topics.
He said the hate campaign has shown him that โthose seeking to distort the findings of climate science are equally willing to distort philosophical and political argument with blatant acts ofย dishonestyโ.
The recent disinformation campaign surrounding my work mirrors the larger disinformation campaign surrounding climateย science.
It is a sad matter that all the distortions of my work have come from conservative media outlets and bloggers, just as those who deny the scientific consensus on climate change tend to be conservatives. It shouldnโt be the case that oneโs political affiliation prevents one from engaging with science or philosophical argumentย honestly.
Torcello added he hoped that โauthentic conservativesโ could find a way to โtake ideological control back from the loud fringe,โ which he said was making it โnearly impossibleโ for reasonable public discourse to takeย place.
