President Nicolas Sarkozy’s desire to appoint an outspoken climate-change sceptic to a new French super-ministry of industry and innovation has drawn strong protests from party colleagues and environmentalists… Putting him in charge of scientific research would be tantamount to “giving the finger to scientists”, said Nicolas Hulot, France’s best-known environmental activist. Read more here.
People
First Carbon Billionaire?
Al Gore is now worth $100 million and with cap and trade he will be worth even more. Read more here.
Allegations of Fraud
Professor Wei-Chyung Wang is a star scientist in the Atmospheric Sciences Research Center at the University at Albany, New York. He is a key player in the climate change debate and he has been accused of scientific fraud. Read more here.
No Debating for Mr Gore
Lord Christopher Monckton, a former science advisor to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, claimed House Democrats have refused to allow him to appear alongside former Vice President Al Gore. Read more here.
Jared Diamond Just Keeps Making It Up
JARED Diamond is not a man to spoil a good story for the sake of the truth.
Some years ago I reviewed the chapter on Australia in his highly acclaimed book ‘Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Survive’. I found it full of factual errors that played to popular myth while denigrating Australian primary industries.
Today I received a copy of his article ‘Annals of Anthropology: Vengeance is Ours’ published by The New Yorker in April 2008, which Professor Diamond claims tells the true story of Daniel Wemp and the battles he led in the New Guinea Highlands. Along with this article I also received research by Rhonda Roland Shearer exposing it as a hoax.
Rather than the true story of clan warfare that resulted in the death of 30 men and the theft of over 300 pigs, the story may well represent nothing more than the contrived ramblings of an aging Professor inspired by a yarn from a man who fancied himself as a hero once responsible for the marshalling of hundreds of warriors and the provision of some sex on the side.
Skeptical Scientist May Be Tapped as French Environmental Minister: A Note from Marc Morano
A bombshell report from the German publication “ScienceBlogs” reveals that renowned geophysicist and former socialist party leader Dr Claude Allegre –- France’s most outspoken global warming skeptic — may be considered as the next French Environment Minister in President Nicolas Sarkozy’s administration.
If Dr Allegre, who has mocked former Vice President Al Gore’s Nobel Prize as “a political gimmick,” is chosen for the appointment, it would send political earthquakes through Europe and the rest of the world.
Allegre is a former believer in man-made global warming who reversed his views in recent years to become one of the most vocal dissenters of man-made global warming fears.
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD has worked in industry and government. She is currently researching a novel technique for long-range weather forecasting funded by the B. Macfie Family Foundation.