Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Monbiot shreds Plimer

The battle over climate change has descended to the level of religious bickering since the sceptics have massaged enough anti-science to counter the mainstream of science on climate change.

Both sides can muster arguments sophisticated enough to baffle the average Joe, so such people have to accept one side or the other as a matter of faith.

So it's good to see one of the current stars of the sceptic movement, Professor Ian Plimer, being shredded on Lateline by non-scientist George Monbiot.

As blogged here previously, Plimer's book spouts numerous denial-side factoids that have been soundly and publicly discredited -- but there are always a few ignoramuses left who will believe them, so he keeps getting paid to spout them. Monbiot and host Tony Jones asked Plimer the hard questions about these points and Plimer evaded, evaded and evaded, unable to defend his stance.

This helps me avoid any crises of faith as I find it hard to believe someone who repeats an argument after it has been soundly discredited. Plimer is the inspiration for such leading 'experts in the field' as Tony Abbott and Barnaby Joyce, our alternative government. The sad thing is, the ludicrous flat-earthery of these people helps make Kevin Rudd look good by doing next to nothing.

It's almost funny.

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