UK Environment Minister: Man-made climate change is a hoax

“How on earth were we ever conned into spending billions” on climate change hysteria?  This is the question Sammy Wilson is asking.

The growing chorus of scientists and prominent policy-makers that oppose the premise of man-made global warming has added another voice:  the Environment Minister of the UK:  Sammy Wilson.  Wilson has been a prominent member of the UK parliament since 2005 and has been controversial all the while.  He has again made headlines on the climate change front by stating that the spending of billions of dollars on attempting to reduce or eliminate carbon emissions is a hoax that is depriving countries – particularly underdeveloped nations of the third world – of vital funds that could be better used to fight AIDS, hunger, and other immediate dangers:

“I think in 20 years’ time we will look back at this whole climate change debate and ask ourselves how on earth were we ever conned into spending the billions of pounds which are going into this without any kind of rigorous examination of the background, the science, the implications of it all. Because there is now a degree of hysteria about it, fairly unformed hysteria I’ve got to say as well.

Wilson argues that the attention and money paid to reducing climate emissions is not only on the path to bankrupt many western societies, but is going to profoundly harm third-world countries that have fewer resources and means to go green:  “what are the problems that face us either locally and internationally. Are those not the things we should be concentrating on?” he asked.

Rather than continue to pay homage to the environmentalist movement, Wilson is urging the public to become more educated and well-informed about climate change:

“I mean I get it in the Assembly all the time and most of the people who shout about climate change have not read one article about climate change, not read one book about climate change, if you asked them to explain how they believe there’s a connection between CO2 emission and the effects which they claim there’s going to be, if you ask them to explain the thought process or the modelling that is required and the assumptions behind that and how tenuous all the connections are, they wouldn’t have a clue.

While Wilson disagrees with the environmentalist movement to reduce carbon emissions as a means of minimizing climate change, Wilson agrees that a reduction in fossil fuel usage may benefit society in a number of other ways:

“I don’t couch those actions in terms of reducing Co2 emissions,” he said. “I don’t care about Co2 emissions to be quite truthful because I don’t think it’s all that important but what I do believe is, and perhaps this is where there can be some convergence, as far as using fuel more efficiently that is good for our economy; that makes us more competitive. If we can save in schools hundreds of thousands on fuel that’s more money being put for books or classroom assistants.

“So yes there are things we can do. If you want to express it terms of carbon neutral, I just express it terms of making the place more efficient, less wasteful and hopefully that will release money to do the proper things that we should be doing.”

Wilson’s recent comments are not a departure from his long-held views that the current attention paid to global warming is misplaced and harmful.  In the past, Wilson has referred to man-made climate change as a”hysterical pseudo-religion“.  While he admits that the climate can and does change, he disputes the premise that this change is primarily caused by human activities, arguing “reasoned debate must replace the scaremongering of the green climate alarmists.”

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