Del Boy And The Guff Inflation

Inevitably, following David Rose’s latest piece of highly selective climate change “analysis” – which, as I pointed out yesterday, was not endorsed by “NASA Scientists”, or indeed anyone from the scientific mainstream – this has been lauded by James “saviour of Western civilisation” Delingpole at the bear pit that is Telegraph blogs, who has commended Rose’s guff as “great”.

This endorsement, although it falls some way short of the ultimate Del Boy accolade of “magisterial”, shows clear approval of Rose’s determination to select only facts that are convenient to him, while discarding the rest, or where necessary, bending them to fit the narrative. And Delingpole has even more supposed “evidence” from a letter to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

This, he asserts, is signed by “16 distinguished scientists”, and not just any old scientists, but “proper ones”, which means they have met with the approval of Del Boy: this should put anyone of independent thought on their guard. The letter tells how wonderful more CO2 is, plays down its contribution to climate change, and kicks the IPCC (three boxes duly checked). So who are the 16?

They are, in order of signature, Claude Allegre (climate change denier), J Scott Armstrong (tried + failed to rubbish IPCC), Jan Breslow (physician), Roger Cohen (with Fred Singer + others, saying CO2 no cause for alarm), Edward David (electrical engineer), William Happer (see Roger Cohen, above), Michael Kelly (electronics professor), William Kininmonth (AGW opponent, colleague of Ian Plimer), Richard Lindzen (climate sceptic), James McGrath (polymer and adhesive specialist), Rodney Nichols (no climate science publications), Burt Rutan (AGW denier), Harrison H Schmitt (“CO2 scare is a red herring”), Nir Shaviv (global warming sceptic), Henk Tennekes (climate change sceptic), Antonio Zichichi (global warming sceptic).

So the WSJ letter proves that it’s possible to assemble sixteen contrarians in signature of a Letter To Rupe. But this does not detain Del Boy, who gets out his smearing stick to deliver the unfunny redefinition of the University of East Anglia as the “University of Easy Access” (Del Boy can look down on the UEA, of course, as he went to Christ Church – that’s part of Oxford University).

This is followed by the usual ranting about climate change, which in reality is Del Boy throwing a mardy strop because he isn’t getting as many column inches for his team as the other side are for theirs. All in all, it’s a superb example of the climate change denial lobby talking loudly and angrily to one another, while the more impressionable commenters look on admiringly. But it will change nothing, as the world has moved on.

No change there, then.