This week sees the a gathering of climate skeptics in New York, as part of the Heartland Institute’s International Conference on Climate Change. Under the name ‘Global Warming – was it ever really a crisis’, it’s being billed as the biggest ever gathering of skeptics, and features some high profile speakers.
I’m torn on the whole climate skeptics thing. On the one hand, I’m all for debate. Science thrives on alternative points of view, and some of the biggest breakthroughs have come from those who were willing to question mainstream opinion. However, the skeptic movement doesn’t appear to be about good scientific debate. That’s odd, considering one of their main objections is that the IPCC were far too quick to declare the debate over.
For example, a keynote speaker at this week’s conference is Vaclav Klaus, president of the Czech Republic. Last night he accused the rest of the EU of being ‘alarmist‘, and of hiding their true agenda. What is that agenda? “They probably do not want to reveal their true plans and ambitions to stop economic development and return mankind several centuries back.”
Klaus got a standing ovation for that, for a speech that accuses the EU leaders of wanting to send us back to the dark ages. Yep, that’s why we’ve spent billions on bailing out the banks, shoring up the climate-destroying car industries, why we’ve authorised a third runway at Heathrow – because our governments are ‘alarmists’ and want to ‘stop economic development and return mankind several centuries back.’
That’s a conspiracy on a par with those who say Diana was killed to prevent her revealing that the Royal Family are actually shape-shifting reptiles.
By applauding such manifestly idiotic rhetoric the skeptic movement shoots its scientific credibility dead. There is no debating with people who are prepared to believe their governments are actually closet medievalists. Even if there are honest and intelligent opinions to be heard among the skeptics, they are drowned out by paranoid nonsense.
This helps nobody, not the skeptics, nor those non-scientists (including myself) just trying to work out an immensely complex issue and live accordingly.
The Earthbound Report 