not advance credible arguments in favour of Dr. Ball’s theory about the corruption of climate science. Simply put, a reasonably thoughtful and informed person who reads the article is unlikely to place any stock in Dr. Ball’s views...". The British Columbia Court of Appeal in April 2020 reversed the dismissal. Writing that Ball's statements "meet the classic test for defamation," it sent the case back to the trial judge to decide the amount of damages and whether the article was fair comment. The Frontier Centre for Public Policy's web site published a February 2011 interview, in which Ball told an anonymous interviewer that Michael E. Mann, director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University, "should be in the State Pen, not Penn State". This referred to Mann's role in the Climatic Research Unit email controversy. Mann then sued Ball and Frontier Centre for libel, and stated that he was seeking punitive damages and for the article to be removed from the web site. On 7 June 2019, the Frontier Centre For Public Policy published a retraction and apology and settled their part of the case with Mann. On 21 March 2019, Tim Ball had applied to the court to dismiss the action for delay, this request was granted at a hearing on 22 August 2019, and court costs were awarded to Ball. The actual defamation claims were not judged, but instead the case was dismissed due to delay by Mann's legal team. Funding sources Some have linked Ball's activism to funding from the fossil fuel industry, especially through the organization Friends of Science, whose scientific advisory board he sat upon. For example, Peter Gorrie said in the Toronto Star that Friends of Science received a third of its funding from the oil industry. Bankruptcy disclosures made by Peabody Energy, a large US coal company, showed that Friends of Science received funding from the company. Ball himself has publicly denied these claims, as has his wife, Marty Ball. Books References 1938 births 2022 deaths University of Winnipeg faculty Canadian geographers University of Manitoba alumni Canadian people of English descent Alumni of Queen Mary University of London