“New Aussie skeptic movement“ (May 16, 2011). Anthony Watts promotes the comical Galileo Movement, founded by Australian “retirees Case Smit and John Smeed”.
Although once “they simply accepted politicians’ claims of global warming”, they were so “incensed” to discover that “climate claims by some scientists and politicians contradict observed facts” that they felt they had to “[risk] their personal finances” and bring Lord Monckton, “famous for explaining the scientific data, the statistics and the UN bureaucracy’s political fabrication of global warming alarm”, to tour Australia. Their background page is a sea of ad hominem claims, straw-men arguments and libertarian paranoia.
The purpose of “Case’s and John’s apolitical public campaign”?
- Protect freedom – personal choice [the hell with everyone else] and national sovereignty [because no country’s climate is related to another’s];
- Protect the environment [by doing nothing];
- Protect science and restore scientific integrity [two words – Lord. Monckton.];
- Protect our economic security [by impeding rational preparation for climate impacts on same];
- Protect people’s emotional health by ending Government and activists’ constant destructive bombardment of fear and guilt on our kids and communities [instead bombarding them with right-wing conspiracy theories].
Famous climate denialist. From Wikipedia.
Why invoke Galileo Galilei? Well, apparently he “stood up publicly… to ensure [that] objective science replaced superstition, ideology, ignorance and state control.” Just like them, bravely espousing the radical new idea that CO2 has no climate consequences! Except of course that they are really defending an old idea that has been progressively replaced by new knowledge (gosh, CO2 increases do have climate consequences). Um guys, this analogy makes you the Catholic Church not the courageous scientist... You’re resisting change in your own short-sighted self-interest.
Sometimes the jokes just write themselves.
Get a load of the Galileo Movement’s collection of “independent advisers”, which apparently “includes diverse opinions”. It’s a Who’s Who of denialists and their apologists: Professor Tim Ball, Warwick Hughes, Professor Fred Singer, Professor Dick Lindzen, Professor Bill Kininmonth, Professor Bob Carter, Professor Ian Plimer, David Archibald, Professor Peter Ridd, Professor Garth Paltridge, Dr Vincent Gray, Dr Jennifer Marohasy, Jo Nova, Des Moore, John Nicol, David Flint, Andrew Bolt, John McLean, David Evans and Viscount Monckton. Don’t forget to include Alan Jones, whose “innate[?] expertise straddles the fields of politics, sport and the media.”
2011-08-15 Update: Scientific American has take notice of these bozos, posting Why Carbon Dioxide is a Greenhouse Gas.
In making a case against CO2 as a greenhouse gas, the Galileo Movement relies on irrelevant facts while omitting pertinent ones.
Wott's Up With That? 
Whenever a “skeptic” compares himself to Galileo, he’s essentially forfeited the debate. It’s one of the sure signs of a crank. The need to be a martyr outweighs the need to make a rational argument. And that list of advisors reads like a who’s who of denialist idiocy. It almost comes off as an elaborate joke. Alas…
[It’s just another “kick me” sign… – Ben]
Is the Galileo invocation like a corollary of Godwin’s law?
[I think you’re on to something! Godwin’s Law. Damn, I wish I’d said it first… – Ben]
Must be something to do with arrival of another winter season down under in Oz, the level of denial ‘Bull Dust’ storms of much ado noise about absolutely nothing, seem to go up another level in magnitude.
A good thing Oz down under, has the antidote in the form of “Skeptical Science” by John Cook. Who just happens to be a co-author of a new book written to debunk this denial pseudo trash junk science the carbon pollution denial propaganda industry so religiously clings to like grim death.
Bull Dust is an Oz colloquial slang for telling blatant lies.
[Good things do come from Oz. I did! – Ben]
Ok, so after all of your snide and sarcastic remarks, the bottom line is that climate denial is winning in Australia. I think that is what you are saying behind the feeble comments. You talk like a girl. Nice work Sally.
Cheers
[Thanks for your thoughtful insights. So you admit that it’s “climate denial”? Hugs. – Ben]
“…the bottom line is that climate denial is winning in Australia.”
Sadly this might be true. Wouldn’t it be better if science were winning instead?
[Declarations that ignorance is winning, whether true or not, are so very sad. – Ben]