Scientist recants.
Hysteria: The scientist who brought us the Gaia theory that Earth is a living being, which has led to a bizarre planet worship, has decided that global warming alarmists have gone too far. It's nice to see some clear thinking.
James Lovelock admitted on MSNBC in April that he had overstated the case for man-made global warming and conceded that "we don't know what the climate is doing."
The 92-year-old Lovelock said: "We thought we knew 20 years ago. That led to some alarmist books — mine included — because it looked clear-cut, but it hasn't happened."
Lovelock explained that "the world has not warmed up very much since the millennium. Twelve years is a reasonable time" for the warming to occur. Yet the temperature "has stayed almost constant, whereas it should have been rising" as carbon dioxide was rising.
More recently, as revealed in an interview with the British Guardian, Lovelock disclosed other points of contention with those he calls "greens."
He has come to support fracking to produce more natural gas to fire electric power plants. He's rebuked environmentalists for creating a "green religion" that "is now taking over from the Christian religion." And he has called the idea of sustainable development through renewable energy "meaningless drivel."
Moreover, Lovelock has cast doubt on the article of faith that the science on global warming is settled.
Are any among the alarmist movement listening?
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Unlikely. They don't want to hear one of their patriarchs confess that "the schemes" for development through renewable energy "are largely hopelessly inefficient and unpleasant."
Or that he's "very cross with the greens for trying to knock" natural gas fracking, which he sees as a preferred alternative to coal.
And they sure want to ignore that he said in reference to the "settled science" on global warming that the "one thing that being a scientist has taught me is that you can never be certain about anything."
He said: "You never know the truth. You can only approach it and hope to get a bit nearer to it each time."
No, the alarmists are still listening to the 2006 Lovelock, who predicted that "before this century is over, billions of us will die and the few breeding pairs of people that survive will be in the Arctic where the climate remains tolerable."
The environmental left and its allies in the media and Democratic Party desperately want to keep the hysteria boiling. Stirring up an environmental doomsday furthers the politics of envy, sets up conditions that allow more government control over the economy and the freedom of movement, and serves a biased press that enjoys fanning class warfare and promoting heavy-handed government policies.
Consequently, any honest effort regarding conservation has been run over by a political movement that loathes capitalism, deemed private property an abomination and taken advantage of well-meaning people who have not been fully informed.
Lovelock says he still believes that man is causing the planet to warm but just not as sharply as he predicted it would.
The greens will latch onto that, too. But they had better not hold on too tightly.
The statement sounds a lot like a wind-down for a scientist who has indeed gotten "a bit nearer" the truth.
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were in place.
