1. Pity the poor Flat Earth Society
Russell Grenning
Late lastmonthUS PresidentBarackObamagave a wide-rangingspeechonclimate change which,
accordingto the GreenWarriorIncarnate , formerUS Vice PresidentandClive PalmerfanAl Gore,
was the bestspeecheverdeliveredbyanAmericanPresidentonclimate change.
Duringthisspeech,Obamaswitchedtovaudevilletogeta few laughs,sayingthat “We don’thave
time for a meeting of the Flat EarthSociety.Sticking yourhead in the sand mightmake you feel safer,
butit’s not going to saveyou fromthe coming storm.”
Inferringthatsomebody‘sbelief issimilartothe belief of the FlatEarth Societythatthe earthis
actuallyflathaslong beenatactic to deride anddismissanycontraryview makingit,therefore, a
crackpot theory.
Oh dear.
As ithappens,the FlatEarth Societygota bit peevedatthe President’scheapshot.Yousee,they
actuallybelieve inman-madeclimate change.
TheirPresident,Daniel Shenton,toldUSmediathat, “Iaccept thatclimate changeis a processthat
hasbeen going on since the beginning of detectablehistory,butthereseems to be a definite
correlation between the recent increasein world-widetemperatures and man’s entry into the
industrialage.”
Shenton’scommentshadaworld-wearyfeel aboutthem.Theyare usedtobeingabused,denigrated
and generallyridiculedandShentonsaidthatObama’sdigatthemdidn’tsurprise himandhe didn’t
take it personally.Jollybigof him,isn’tit?
In fact,the FlatEarth Society’sbelief relies onprovable science.AsShentonexplained, “I’d likethe
public to know,though,thatourviewsarebased on extensiveresearch and we highly valuethe
pursuitof truth.”
Of course theyare.Andso are the beliefsof those whobelieve thatman-made or,atleastman-
aggravated,climate change isruiningthe planet.Dependingonthe era,climate change theoryhad
us descendingintoanewIce Age or,more recently,intoanightmare of tidal waves,fierce storms,
extensive flooding,ruined agricultural landandworse all because of global warming.
It’sa goodthingthat Obamadidn’tassertinhishilarious,rib-ticklingcommentthatostrichesstick
theirheadsintothe sandin some sortof desperate attempttoavoiddangerbecause theydon’tand
neverhave.
ActuallythiscommentbyObamawasclear plagiarism but,thenagain,he isthe boss.

2. His Secretaryof State,JohnKerry,saidexactlythe same thinginan addressinIndonesiainFebruary.
No doubthe broke up hisaudience withthe remark, “Thescience is unequivocaland thosewho
refuseto believe it are simply burying their headsin thesand.We don’thavetime fora meeting
anywhereof theFlat Earth Society.”
A majorcontroversyisragingin the USA currently overa proposedprojectcalledtheKeystoneXL
pipelinewhich,if itgoesahead,will transportdirtyfuel fromCanadiantarsandstorefineriesinthe
US State of NewMexico.Obamahad some statesman-like commenttomake aboutthat inhis
speechdeclaring, “Ournationalinterestwill be served only if thisprojectdoesnot significantly
exacerbatetheproblemof carbon pollution.”
The State Department –so ablyleadand inspiredbyJohnKerry – wasrequiredtocarry out an
extensive environmental reviewof thisproposedpipelineandconcludedlastMarchthat it would
not accelerate global greenhouse emissions.Quiteunderstandably,thisishardlythe outcome Kerry
and the climate change industry –not to mentionthe FlatEarth SocietyIsuppose –wantedso ithas
beensentback for a furtherreview.
If onlyfor Kerry’ssake,we can onlyhope andpray that thisfurtherreview will provide the answer
he wants. If I wasyou I wouldn’tmake anybetsonthe promotionchancesof these State
DepartmentNeanderthalswho don’thave the goodsense toprovide ananswertheirbossclearly
wants.
Meanwhile,inMay,ProfessorLennartBengtsson coppedatirade of abuse whenhe submitteda
paperto the journal EnvironmentalResearch Letters whichhad the unmitigatedgall toquestionthe
projects bythe UN IntergovernmentalClimateChange outfitthatglobal average temperaturescould
rise by more than4 degreesCelsiusbythe endof the century.Hispaperwas rejected.
ProfessorBengtsson,whoisSeniorResearchFellow atthe Environmental Systems Science Centre at
the UK Universityof Reading,haspublishedmore than200 scientificpapers,haswon20 prestigious
awardsand is a formerDirectorof the Max PlanckInstitute of Meteorology,one of the world’s
leadingclimate researchcentres.
He saidhe was worriedabout “The increased tendency of pseudo-sciencein climate research”and he
pointedto“the biasin publication recordstowardsonly reporting resultswhich supportoneclimate
changehypothesis” There are noprizesforguessingwhat “climate changehypothesis”isthe
acceptable one.
ProfessorBengtssonchallengedthe assertionthatthere wasa 97% scientificconsensusaboutthe
effectsof greenhouse gases –an assertionpeddledbythe climate change industrywithoutany
factual foundation –and addedthat there is “even less (consensus) concerning how weatherand
climate will turn out.”
He calledintoquestionthe verypractice of predictingclimatetrendswriting, “Itis practically
impossibleto makeclimate forecasts” andthat “climate calculationsare uncertain even if all model
equationswould beperfect.”

3. He has hadto cop a lotof abuse from the climate change industrywhichwillbrooknochallenge to
theirpettheories.AndIhave newsforhim – he won’tbe gettinganyinvitationstoaddressthe Flat
Earth Societyeitherandthatserveshimright.