28 Sep 2013 Famous Global Warming Activist Says Elected Officials Who Don’t Know Climate Science are Committing a “Crime”; Then Exposes Himself as Not Having Followed the Science

Global warming alarmists can be absolutely shameless.

Take David Suzuki, Canada’s Al Gore and a man famous throughout the English-speaking world (except, blissfully for us, in the United States).

Suzuki believes it should be a crime for politicians to “ignore the science on climate change”:

As reported by Oliver Milman in the UK Guardian:

Suzuki said he didn’t regret comments made to the University of NSW on Saturday which accused the prime minister, Tony Abbott, of “criminal negligence” over his policies, which include the dismantling of the carbon price and scrapping various climate change agencies associated with it.

“I don’t think I went too far – what we are seeing is a crime against future generations,” he said. “There ought to be a legal position on intergenerational crime. If you stand out for a role of leadership and ignore the science on climate change, I think that’s wilful blindness.”

But when asked questions about the science during a TV interview on Australia’s ABC network, Suzuki is revealed as a fraud. He knows less about climate change than could be read in a newspaper.

As revealed by Andrew Bolt of Australia’s Herald Sun, and my own review of the broadcast, Suzuki:

• Had no idea global warming stopped, or paused, around 15 years ago.
• Didn’t recognize the names of the four most famous and often-cited (including by the IPCC) scientific sources of global temperature measurements.
• Blamed, in a published op-ed, global warming for increasing cyclones in the Australian region and claimed these extra cycles were killing the Great Barrier Reef, although the number of cyclones in Australia has decreased, their severity has not increased, and hardly anyone believes they are harming the Great Barrier Reef. Asked about it on the air, he said his op-ed’s assertion “may be a mistake; I don’t know.”
• After opposing the use of nuclear power (which emits no CO2) and extolling the virtues of solar power as a replacement, confessed “I don’t know” when asked if solar power could power Australia’s cities. (32:12)
• Cited the profit motive behind the development of genetically-modified crops as a reason to oppose them, saying poor countries can’t afford them: “Are we going to just create these new crops, and then give them away? I simply don’t believe that’s what’s going to happen.” Immediately, a Berkeley-trained scientist in the audience responded, “Actually, we are. Bt corn technology has been given away to the Kenyan state government research people for use with subsistence farmers. Monsanto gave away insect-resistant potatoes in Mexico over twenty years ago… it is in fact being given away.” Suzuki then said, “Well, I don’t have any response. It sounds great! I don’t know.”(43:44)

It seems one can be an internationally-recognized climate and environmental activist (who reportedly receives $30,000 each plus $11K in expenses — and pretty girl escorts who may have a chance to be in Suzuki’s “sanctified air” — to give speeches!) and not feel pressure to keep up with the science, or think through science issues, even superficially.

Go here to see the Australian ABC network’s broadcast. It’s surprisingly entertaining, though perhaps not so much if you are a Suzuki fan.

On the way out, here’s another funny broadcast about Suzuki’s appearances: