alt Hacker NewsUnfounded comments that are nothing but a lie are OK. Yet, calling it out directly goes against the rules.
In this case the response is warranted. Until people start to see what actually goes on in these data centers with respect to pollution (of many kinds) I don't have a problem being direct.
What the link I'd shared stated was "Please edit out swipes, as the site guidelines ask".
It also states "Your comment would be fine without that ... bit."
I frequently address poorly-founded comments myself. Just did immediately before this reply, see: <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49064763> (
I'm doing so both staying within the guidelines and specifically calling out the idiocy displayed, though without relying on that particular word.
Calling out Guidelines violations does not imply disagreement with what's been said otherwise. It is a call for more substantive participation, and probably strengthening your own arguments.
You've been here long enough that all of this should be quite familiar to you.
(I'm not a mod, which is why I'd initially linked a mod's own admonition.)