W&L to host climate scientist Michael Mann, who the MAGAs here helped run off

We had world-renowned climate scientist Michael Mann at the University of Virginia for a while, before he left for Penn State, then Penn – then Ken Cuccinelli, doing the bidding of the climate deniers, tried to play legal footsie with him.

Mann got the last laugh, campaigning for Terry McAuliffe against The Cooch in the 2013 Virginia gubernatorial race, which McAuliffe won.

I’d say Cuccinelli blinked, but I don’t think Cuccinelli has the capacity.

Mann will be the special guest of Washington and Lee University at a March 4 event at Stackhouse Theater, in which he will discuss his new book, Science Under Siege: How to Fight the Five Most Powerful Forces that Threaten Our World, which was co-authored with Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.

The 5:30 p.m. event is free and open to the public.

Mann will be introduced by Lisa Greer, the Harry E. and Mary Jayne W. Redenbaugh Term Professor of Earth and Environmental Geoscience at W&L.

The discussion will be followed by a question-and-answer session and book signing.

“I have long admired Michael Mann as one of the best known and most accomplished climate scientists, activists and authors I know of,” Greer said. “He is a fierce advocate for understanding and communicating about climate change. It is a tremendous honor and opportunity to host him here at W&L.”

Science Under Siege explores the five main forces threatening science in a world where the health of our people and planet is following an unstable path.

“His books directly address the challenges scientists and society face in addressing the climate crisis,” said Greer. “They highlight, in great detail, the challenges we face but also the paths we could take to mitigate the worst that human-caused climate change has to offer.”