Marc Morano lauded for 'demonstrating courage and achievement in defence of scientific truth' as he publishes email addresses of scientists receiving death threats

Congratulations must go to climate sceptic Marc Morano, for he has won a prestigious award, as chosen by his peers.

Last week, Doctors for Disaster Preparedness (DDP), a truly bizarre lobby group about which I recently wrote, announced it had chosen Morano to be this year's recipient of the Petr Beckmann award. Just in case you are not on top of the sorts of awards handed out by obscure rightwing lobbyists, the Petr Beckmann award is given to "individuals who demonstrate courage and achievement in defence of scientific truth and freedom". (Beckmann was a man who thought he knew better than Albert Einstein about the theory of relativity. Ring any bells?)

That such a citation could ever be accorded to a man with Morano's impressive track record – he once worked for Rush Limbaugh, played a key role in breaking the "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" story which so gravely damaged presidential nominee Senator John Kerry in 2004, and, until recently, was the communications director for Senator James Inhofe - should in itself be enough to cause you to choke on your morning coffee.

But that this award was announced within hours of Morano posting on his Climate Depot website the email addresses of a climate scientist next to a link to my story from last Monday about the said climate scientist, Stanford University's Professor Stephen Schneider, receiving death threats and hate mail should cause you to throw down that coffee in disgust.

Here's what he wrote (juxtaposed beneath a picture of Adolf Hitler on Climate Depot's homepage):

Warmist Prof Stephen Schneider accuses sceptics of telling 'Hitlerian lies about climate scientists' - Complains of 'hundreds' of hate email – [Morano supplied two email addresses for Schneider here]

Schneider: 'I get scared that we're now in a new Weimar republic where people are prepared to listen to what amounts to Hitlerian lies about climate scientists'

[NB: Schneider didn't actually accuse sceptics of telling "Hitlerian lies" – he was speaking of a neo-Nazi website that had included his name on a "death list" – but Morano somewhat conveniently failed to mention this rather important point.]

So, what possible reason could Morano have for prominently displaying these email addresses – as he does for many other stories that involve climate scientists he evidently despises – other than to encourage his readers who lap up his warped world vision to "get in touch"? I'll let you fill in the gaps. But it might be worth bearing in mind that Morano has said some rather choice things himself about climate scientists in the past:

I seriously believe we should kick them while they're down. They deserve to be publicly flogged.

If this is what Doctors for Disaster Preparedness means by "demonstrating courage and achievement in defence of scientific truth and freedom" then it has a rather different interpretation of the words "courage" and "defence" than I do.

Here's how Jane Orient, DDP's president, introduced Morano to the stage to receive his award:

It's given to those who speak out courageously, even though it might be politically incorrect, to support the truth that is essential for our progress in science. Our recipient this year has been particularly effective in winning victories in this field. And he also uses with great effectiveness one of Petr Beckmann's best weapons – humour.

I'm sure Professor Schneider, and all the other climate scientists who have been receiving death threats and hate mail in recent months, must be tickled sick with humour by the vicious irony of this award.