Thursday, August 13, 2009

Global Warming Denier Sen Steve Fielding Cherry-Picks Scientists

link

CLIMATE scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US have distanced themselves from the views of a colleague who helped shape Family First senator Steve Fielding's sceptical stance on global warming.

During his trip Senator Fielding heard several speakers question whether human-related emissions were leading to dangerous climate change. It is believed that a talk by MIT atmospheric physicist Dick Lindzen convinced him that the case supporting climate change was being exaggerated.

In June, the Government's former climate change adviser, Ross Garnaut, said he had spoken to Professor Lindzen in compiling his review but had discounted his opinion that the global-warming effect of carbon dioxide was overestimated.

''I would have been delighted if there were 10 or 20 or, better still, 100 Richard Lindzens around the world but unfortunately he's a one-off,'' Professor Garnaut said. ''It would be imprudent beyond the normal limits of irrationality to grab one dissenting view among the serious climate scientists and say, 'I am going to believe that' and not to believe the views of all of Australia's credentialled climate scientists.''


Imprudent beyond the normal limits of rationality is a nice way of describing the denialists.

There is a scientific consensus that AGW is real. Denialists like Sen Fielding seem about on a par with people who deny evolution - an anti-scientific position. And of course denialism accords with the interests of the industry that is killing the planet - the fossil fuel industry. Sen Fielding along with Sen Joyce and others among the conservative parties may have dithered a little in the early stages of the debate but they've since got a firm tap on the shoulder from the vested interests - we don't like this and you know what we want you to do.

No comments: