Ian Plimer says science, not religious zeal, should govern the climate change issue

ABOUT 300 ATTEND MELBOURNE BOOK LAUNCH

When the long history of planet Earth is considered, “we can see that climate has always changed,” Professor Ian Plimer told about 300 people at the Melbourne launch of Heaven and Earth, his climate change best seller.

“What would be extraordinary is if we had no climate change.”

Professor Plimer said the planet came out of an ice age in 1850 and has been warming since.

“A little bit of cooling in the First World War time, [it] warmed again to 1940, then it cooled to 1976, then it warmed up to the great El Nino of 1998, then it was static for a while and it’s been cooling since 2003.

“Now I find it absolutely extraordinary that that fabulous story of history, archaeology and geology gets denigrated to where we say there’s one parameter, that is, [a] small amount of carbon dioxide … coming from us is changing climate.

“Because we’ve seen so many massive climate changes in the history of time, driven by everything except carbon dioxide, and to denigrate that to just one factor in a very complex, multi-component system, I think is a non-scientific argument.”

Professor Plimer said the collapse of Western socialism and the ineffectiveness of Western Christianity has left a spiritual vacuum which has been filled by the environmental movement.

“People have to believe in something … and I think that what we are seeing is a religious movement that has embraced a number of factors which are common to Christianity. Guilt, for example.”

“I argue very strongly that science is married to evidence.”

He pointed to chapter eight of his book, where he argues:

“Science where a majority of votes by climate scientists determines a scientific truth is politics, not science. And that is exactly what human-induced global warming is: politics. After the consensus method fails one too many times, there will be a quiet advance to real science. In the interim we have to live with the carping of ascientific unelected political pressure groups who behave like scalded cats should anyone have the temerity to argue that global warming is not a man-made phenomenon. Some scientists have placed science on the platform of religious dogma.”

BOOK LAUNCH ATTRACTS GREAT INTEREST

Even before last night’s launch, hosted by the Institute of Public Affairs at The Hotel Windsor in Melbourne, Professor Plimer’s book, published by Connor Court, had become a runaway best seller and was into its fourth printing.

The IPA’s chairman Rod Kemp deplored attempts to shut down debate on climate change.

“Cometh the hour, cometh the man. And Ian Plimer is such a man,” he said.

“We are overwhelmed by the interest that has been shown on this particular occasion.”

Mr Kemp said a smaller room, chosen to accommodate up to about 80 people, had been booked originally, but the response had been so enthusiastic that the event was moved to the larger room.

“It shows the interest that there is in this debate,” he said.

CLIMATE CHANGE ISSUE POLITICISED

Sir Arvi Parbo, former managing director and chairman of Western Mining Corporation, played a key role at the launch.

“The extraordinary feature of the so-called debate on global warming so far has been that there has been no debate,” Sir Arvi said.

“The proponents have virtually ignored the arguments of their critics.

“Instead of debating the issues, there have been open attempts, including, unbelievably, from some otherwise respected scientific institutions, to intimidate the sceptics into silence, accompanied by the extraordinary claim that the science is settled.

“The whole climate change issue has become heavily politicised.

“One would think that if there is evidence that the critics are wrong, the proponents of human-caused global warming would be only too keen to present it,” Sir Arvi said.

“If they don’t do so and, instead, try to silence and, sometimes, vilify the critics, doesn’t this suggest that there is no such evidence?”

Professor Plimer’s book Heaven and Earth is available from Australian Conservative.