Bishop Hill Closed minds at the British Library
As a splendid example of how free exchange of ideas is under challenge from British institutions, take a look at the British Library's recent panel "discussion" on climate change. Chaired by James Randerson and with a panel featuring a climatologist in the shape of the Met Office's Steven Belcher and two green activists in the shape of Bob Ward and George Marshall.
Of course with nobody there to contradict them, the participants are free to make things up to suit their case. So we have Ward making the cynically dishonest statement that Owen Paterson "spent most of his time disputing the science of climate change" - to the best of my knowledge the only statement Paterson made on climate change during his time in office was acknowledge that the climate was changing and that there was a human element.
And Marshall was little better, claiming that records on extreme weather are being broken every year, a statement that directly contradicts the IPCC.
Reader Comments (18)
Once again a very worrying fact is emerging with regard to our cherished institutions: the tendency to stifle balanced debating, in favour of distributing pure propaganda. The obvious, unchallenged lie regarding Owen Paterson is another indication of truth being sacrificed, to get the official message out. Herr Goebbels would have been proud of them.
Oh Dear! I used to work for the British Library and I wanted to set up a series of debates/discussions on issues of literary and social significance. We did the first one on how digital communication is changing the world and I had lined up ideas on the future of Europe, I also wanted to set up a British Library magazine on the lines of the Smithsonian. All good fun at the time.
I have been out of the British Library scene for 10 years now and am saddened to hear about this.
Now you know , if you did not alreay, when they never what a sceptic around for these debates .
For their arguments are so poor and biased the be taken to bits , so avoid the issue by only having such circle wa**s for the true believers.
George Marshall was a co-founder of UK Earth First (with Goldsmith money) and according to one reference fond of direct action that even made FOe and Greenpeace nervouse..
George is also a former director of Greenpeace USA ( aa career activsist!) years at the Rainforest Foundation fighting big Oil (Chevron amongst others) before getting worried about climate change.
he started Rising Tide UK (which seem to have spawned many climate groups, and was one of e the first to put Lindzen into - a Deniers Hall of Shame -
He is very big on the psychology of climate change, and communicating climate change - despite having no qualifications in any of it .(he did a degree in socuiology in the 80's and then went off with the Rainforest group. )
And has worked with Cardiff University - Nick Pidegeon and Adam Corner (Adam is his policy advisor at COIN)
so when George talks about peoples denial strategies, he is no more 'qualified' to do so than anybody here.
this video sums up George's level of communications at a Climate Camp, (yes cattle trucks, Nazi's and holocaust get a mention)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SqFZgoE_Us#t=101
He led campaigns against Road building and Heathrow Air expansion, so we have him partly to blame for lack of UK infrastructure aswell
why would anybody in the gov/civil service, etc listen to such an activist?
Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, here, from 2014 is video of the guilty men. Hard as it is to believe now from the 2021, but as recently as 2014 these criminals were so confident of never being held to account that they even filmed themselves and uploaded it to the web! Astonishing, I know.
Paterson actually addressed the GWPF recently and for a highly-placed politician speaks a good deal of sense.
"...I also accept the unambiguous failure of the atmosphere to warm anything like as fast as predicted by the vast majority of climate models over the past 35 years, when measured by both satellites and surface thermometers. And indeed the failure of the atmosphere to warm at all over the past 18 years – according to some sources. Many policymakers have still to catch up with the facts."
Full speech here
The Left lie about everything, all the time. Unless you understand that you have no chance of grasping what is going on in modern politics.
Bottled water? Oh, dear.
I am compelled to agree
This video should be used as evidence in a future fraud trial of these lying charlatans.
Why is this debate being conducted in a lavatory?
Why is this debate being conducted with breaks for "recharge your glasses"?
Just asking . . .
No, silly me, it's obviously a lunatic asylum, not a lavatory.
Perhaps those chairs are as uncomfortable as they look? And that those buffoons stayed in those chairs for hours chatting inanely with each other?
Sins those CAGW clowns committed for the cause of CAGW could benefit from their self administered penance. Not for satisfaction or forgiveness, but because CAGW fools so love self a----. I understand that the flagellants felt religion and piety enter their souls as they whipped themselves with their lashes of insanity.
Surely there was an award for which contestant told the biggest whoppers?
The Guardian control was not mentioned by Bish
Our panel of experts was chaired by Dr James Randerson (assistant national news editor, the Guardian) ..from the event webpage
Comtext : note the event was in June 2014
Perhaps more discussion on their FB page no, and blog
- The BL also have a project for oral history of UK science.
I bet sceptics are excluded fopm that historical record but
Extreme Weather Mongers are there
"VOICES OF SCIENCE is the website of the Oral History of British Science programme, led by National Life Stories in association with the Science Museum, and with support from the Arcadia Fund "
The constructed reality PR trick, right out of climate hype central is used in the event blog post (no comment allowed of course)
Hey note the tricks
The totally undoubting title : "Communicating Extreme Weather: Beyond Science"
"Climate scientist and NERC Policy Intern, Adam Levy explores the communication of extreme weather"..
..then begins
"In spite of the immense threat posed by global warming, its impacts often seem too distant and abstract to motivate us to action. In contrast, extreme"
Then theres all the PR narratives "denialists" "false conflict"
Its hysterical, read it
From their perspective (and I share this) why would they invite a denier? In my experience the rationale for denial is usually so weak as to not pass much muster.
Your cries of conspiracy here are misplaced in my view. They simply replace the vacuum where the cries of science against AGW would sit if there were any.
The time for debates with deniers has long past. To do that to any great extent now is a luxury that we cannot afford.
It may make good blogging now and again. However Manchester United don't regularly play against Portsmouth any more for a good reason. That reason has nothing against them fearing their footballing abilities. You need to understand where you are here.
James Randerson: "Umm, er, umm, er, umm, er, umm, umm, er . . . . " I lacked the fortitude to progress onto the three guest speakers whose echoed cries of climate doom must surely have otherwise been uttered in splendid isolation - of any rationality or logic that is. What a disgrace that public money should be funneled into such absurd 'debates'.
Oba: "The time for debates with deniers has long past. To do that to any great extent now is a luxury that we cannot afford."
Of course you can afford it - you're using our money. It's the taxpayers and bill-payers who can't afford indulging the fantasies of a cabal of elitist Marxists, environmentalists and green industry hangers-on intent on restructuring the entire economic and social fabric of the West by claiming that they are saving the world from man-made climate change, plus a motley collection of a few genuinely demented characters who actually believe that man-made emissions of CO2 will imminently and catastrophically alter the climate.
Jan 10, 2015 at 5:16 PM | Jaime Jessop
You fell for the troll. The thing they really, really hate is being ignored.