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The Board of Directors of the American Association for the Advancement of Science released a statement Wednesday about the way some climate scientists have been treated. "We are deeply concerned by the extent and nature of personal attacks on climate scientists," the statement said. "Reports of harassment, death threats, and legal challenges have created a hostile environment that inhibits the free exchange of scientific findings and ideas and makes it difficult for factual information and scientific analyses to reach policymakers and the public."
While some of the legal attacks have involved extensive records requests of scientists at public universities, the AAAS statement says that these inquiries go beyond legitimate requests for information. "The sharing of research data is vastly different from unreasonable, excessive Freedom of Information Act requests for personal information and voluminous data that are then used to harass and
intimidate scientists. The latter serve only as a distraction and make no constructive contribution to the public discourse," the statement says.
