THE GREAT GLOBAL WARMING CON...

The earth’s atmosphere is a  huge, complex phenomenon. It is palpably absurd to ascribe to a single cause, as CO2 fanatics do, short-term temperature changes (which appear now to be reversing).

Many academics on the eco-gravy train try to ignore or suppress data tending to undermine their pet theories. The Iraq war inquiry is revealing the deceit used by Tony Blair to justify his illegal war.

Hardened cynics will say that all politicians are the same but we do not expect scientists to behave similarly. recently, a computer hacker published thousands of emails between taxpayer- funded global-warmists at the University of east Anglia Climate research Unit, showing that they routinely behave like  political spin-doctors, too. The documents show collusion to exaggerate and manipulate warming data; destruction of embarrassing information; organised resistance to disclosure and private  admissions of flaws in their arguments they would never acknowledge in public.

In one of the leaked emails, a leading American scientist and cheerleader for global catastrophe, Kevin Trenberth of  the US National Center for Atmospheric  research, wrote: “The fact is that we can’t account for the lack of warming at the  moment and it is a travesty that we can’t.”

If this were just a storm in an academic tea-cup it wouldn’t matter. But hugely expensive long-term changes in government policy and reductions in our standard of living are being introduced on the back of the half-baked theories propagated by this man and his peers. Their research grants and jobs depend on a continuation of the hysteria.

The UeA revelations are shocking but not new. In 1989, Prof Stephen Schneider of Stanford University wrote: “To capture the public imagination, we have to offer up some scary scenarios, make  simplified dramatic statements and little mention of any doubts one might have. This ‘double ethical bind’ we frequently find ourselves in cannot be solved by any formula. each of us has to decide the right balance between being effective and being honest.” He said it!

What we are dealing with here is not science but a new form of religion. Those of us who question its scriptures are called “deniers”, an innuendo designed to link us to the Holocaust. Heretics are to be punished; Professor Phil Jones of the UEA has even apparently lobbied to dismiss  academics who disagree with him.

As organised Christian religion has withered away, a new form of worship has replaced it. Millions now worship every week at the bottle bank instead. How- ever, things may be changing.

Senior public figures are calling for a more rational view of the world. Former Tory chancellor Nigel Lawson has just launched the Global Warming Policy Foundation to even up the debate.

Sadly, today’s Tory leaders seem incapable of giving such a lead. Only three MPs voted against Labour’s damaging Climate Change Act. We should expect nothing more from “dave”, one of whose earliest acts of spin was to put a windmill on his roof – a gesture as futile as it was expensive.

The truth about CO2 is that it is not a pollutant. It’s the lifeblood of the planet. It stimulates plant growth and the water given off in transpiration neutralises the greenhouse effect of the gas. Why don’t we hear more of this? There is no money to be made from a non-crisis.