Pat Kenny's Climate Change Denial

international | environment | other press

Tuesday December 08, 2009 01:36

by Plebian

I was lucky enough to be able to listen to Pat Kenny's show last week and on Wednesday, he had yet another climate change denier on – the ludicrous and discredited Ian Plimer – opposite John Gibbons.

Pat Kenny's radio show has long been a platform for the most kookiest of deniers, and it is quite clear where his own views are on the subject. In fact, the only thing that appears to get him more, eh, heated, is somebody with the temerity to mention the use of progressive taxation! Particularly when as an alternative out of the current economic crisis...

So, I thought he'd yet again play it somewhat cagey (as in hiding his bias against the overwhelming consensus) but clearly give Plimer an easy time of it, however, Kenny just let the mask slip very, very visibly. The 'debate' would be Kenny & Plimer vs Gibbons and 99.9% of the peer-reviewed science. Kenny treated Plimer with kid gloves and then called Gibbons an “apostle” for climate change.

You really would need to listen to the audio (1), as if it was not so serious (2) it would in some way be funny.
It was an absolutely disgraceful performance for a public broadcaster and he would follow it up the following day with a very childish series of one-sided rebuttals. Kenny repeated the performance against a climate scientist on Friday, inferring dishonesty on the case for anthropogenic climate change and putting words into his mouth.

(1)

Click here to listen to the Pat Kenny/Plimer/Gibbons “debate” 2-12-09
http://www.thinkorswim.ie/?attachment_id=557

John The Apostle Walks The Plank
http://www.thinkorswim.ie/?p=556

"....Not by himself, of course, since the man is truly, deeply ignorant on the subject (until today, I thought he was just feigning ignorance; my bad). Anyhow, back to the story. Kenny drew me into his ménage à trois with one Ian Plimer, a professor of geology from the University of Adelaide, and director of at least one, and possibly three, mining companies (this fact not only escaped Kenny’s eagle eye, the great journalist felt it was irrelevant. Duh.)

The purpose of this circus, ostensibly, was to discuss Plimer’s anti-climate change science polemic, which Kenny seems to think was a learned volume on climate science, presumably because he, like me, hadn’t actually read Plimer’s tripe. I had, however, read detailed expert critiques, which are far more useful than wading through the molasses of half-truths, lies and deceptions that Plimer’s little confection consisted of.

A report in today’s Guardian makes interesting reading. Headed: ‘Climate change denial is the new article of faith for the far right’, it outlines a claim by neo-fascist Nick Griffin of the UK’s BNP explaining how climate change was all a left wing conspiracy. It gets better. According to the Guardian, “Prof Ian Plimer then helped the UK Independence party to launch its own declaration of climate change denial this week. Suddenly climate change denial has become a new article of faith among the far right”. Aaaaah, that would indeed be the very same “expert” trotted out by Kenny this morning.

The UK right wing rags such as the Daily Express have, like Kenny, pounced on Plimer’s pack of lies and blown it up into the 180 degree opposite of the truth. Yes, there is a climate scandal, and it’s that people like Pat Kenny are allowed to sabotage this deadly serious debate with their own ideology (in Kenny’s case, it’s as likely spiced up with a bad case of pique as well, since NOBODY talks to him like that, don’t ya know).

In the two years I’ve been operating in the public domain on this topic, I’ve never had a day like today. The phone, texts and email has been buzzing since 11am. Academics and others trying to mobilise action on climate change are dumbfounded that someone as reputable as Kenny can be so utterly, totally, and completely wrong on such an issue of overwhelming public import.

In many ways, it’s sad to see someone I once admired as a decent journalist and gifted interviewer descend in the twilight of his career into a parody of himself – RTE’s real-life version of the fictitious Alan Partridge on Radio Norwich, fearlessly asking the hard questions as he baits local farmers about the giant GM chickens they probably keep in their sheds, etc. etc....."

Kenny has form in this, also check out
Pat Kenny Show Climate Change Segment 16-11-09
http://www.thinkorswim.ie/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Pa...9.mov

And for more on Plimer check out his refusal to even answer the simplest of questions below. (Plimer is also a director of several mining companies)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/georgemonbiot/200...icism

"Michael Ashley, professor of astrophysics at the University of NSW:

"Plimer has done an enormous disservice to science, and the dedicated scientists who are trying to understand climate and the influence of humans, by publishing this book. It is not "merely" atmospheric scientists that would have to be wrong for Plimer to be right. It would require a rewriting of biology, geology, physics, oceanography, astronomy and statistics. Plimer's book deserves to languish on the shelves along with similar pseudo-science such as the writings of Immanuel Velikovsky and Erich von Daniken. "

"

http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2009/09/14/corresponden...ator/

http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2009/09/14/corresponden...imer/

http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2009/09/14/answers-come...none/

http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2009/09/23/it-doesnt-ge...this/

http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2009/11/02/death-denial/

http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2009/08/p...ment/

and
http://www.tribune.ie/arts/other/article/2009/dec/06/ra...-deb/

(2)

The consequences of a 4 degrees rise makes honest reporting all the more important...

How to survive the coming century - environment - 25 February 2009 - New Scientist
http://www.twine.com/item/121pcd05b-95/how-to-survive-t...ntist

Climate Change: Four Degrees of Devastation
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48791