David Schnare, attorney for the Energy & Environment Legal Institute, said the only question that remains is how quickly the university will surrender the documents his organization first sought seven years ago.

Schnare said E & E is particularly interested in their work since it became a crucial part of a report that linked human activity to global warming. And that report, in turn, has become the basis for policy changes that have sought to move away from the use of fossil fuels for energy generation because of the production of “greenhouse” gases like carbon dioxide.

What E & E wants to see, Schnare said, is the interaction the pair had with other scientists as the report was being prepared. He said that should reveal were comments from others “that were never included or never seriously considered.”

“How these reports are put together and how these comments are dealt with is a valid question with regards to reliance on this report,” Schnare said. “One has to ask, just because they claim they had a lot of experts involved, was it an honest piece of work or not.”

Messages left with Hughes, who is still at the UA, and Overpeck who is now with the University of Michigan, were not immediately returned.

Schnare said he is not saying that either scientists did anything wrong or even that their research is erroneous. But he said the only way questions can be answered is through full release of all the documents that were being considered.

In filing the original lawsuit, Schnare said Overpeck was prominent in the “cause” of global warming, including “activism for environmental pressure groups.”

Schnare also said the pair came to his group’s attention after a server at a British university was hacked, disclosing thousands of email exchanges between academics and others involved in climate research.

Some of what was found was labeled “climategate” and is being used by groups to show that global warming is just a conspiracy.