Media Statement Sunday 1st July 2007
A new organisation called “The Carbon Sense Coalition” has been set up to defend the role of carbon on earth and in the atmosphere.
Chairman of the new group, Mr Viv Forbes, a pasture manager, soil scientist and geologist from Rosevale in Queensland, says the group is concerned at the growing and unjustified vilification of carbon by politicians and the media.
More information on The Carbon Sense Coalition can be found on our web site at www.carbon-sense.com.
“The impetus for the formation of the group was, firstly the proposal that carbon dioxide be labelled as a pollutant in the Federal National Pollutant Inventory, and secondly a set of wholly destructive policy proposals from the Queensland government in their document Climate Smart 2050 – Queensland climate change strategy 2007 – a low carbon future.”
The response from The Carbon Sense Coalition to Climate Smart 2005, is entitled Look before you Leap.
In it, The Carbon Sense Coalition accuses the Queensland Government of proposing draconian policies which will have no effect whatsoever on global temperature, but will, if pursued, do tremendous damage to most Queenslanders.
(The full text of Look Before you Leap can be downloaded from:
http://carbon-sense.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/look.pdf).
Mr Forbes said that Queensland, more than any other state or country, depended heavily on carbon products for its past and future livelihood.
“It is unbelievable that the Premier of the state with the resources and skills to lead the world in coal, cattle, sheep, tourism and mineral processing, all of which depend on carbon, should try to lead the world into a low carbon future.
“Queensland is a big decentralised state. It is heavily dependent on diesel fuel and coal power for the road, rail, sea and air transport which moves our mineral and food exports, our fishing fleets and brings our tourists. All of these cornerstone industries are threatened by carbon caps or taxes.
“What is also of great concern, is the spectacle of Australian state governments trying to out-bid the Federal government with silly carbon promises. They should all cease their emissions.
“Carbon is the building block for all life on earth. It provides all of the food and most the energy for the human race. Carbon dioxide is a tiny part of the atmosphere, yet it sustains all life on earth. It is NOT a pollutant. To be anti-carbon is to be anti-life and anti-human.
“It is unbelievable that many in politics and the media are whipping up public hysteria about ‘global warming’ when the best evidence suggests that for the 100 years ending in the year 2000, the century of coal, steel, electricity, the internal combustion engine, jet planes, two world wars and a population explosion, the average surface temperature rose by only 0.6 deg, and there has been NO increase in temperature since 1998. In many areas, surface temperatures have been falling for decades.
“Even if the water vapour and carbon dioxide produced by man did cause some slight warming of the earth, is this a problem? Eons of geological history show that a warm, moist, carbon-rich atmosphere encourages all life on earth. These periods are referred to as ‘Golden Ages’. The cold barren periods are those to be feared – they get called ‘The Dark Ages’.
“Most people prefer warm climates and look forward to summer. They do not flock to Alaska, Archangel or Antarctica for winter – they head for Bermuda, the Black Sea or Bali, and Australian politicians find reasons to visit Cairns. All over the world, the human race is migrating towards the sun belts – Florida, the Riviera, and Queensland – very few volunteer for Siberia. President Putin voiced what many Russians must think – ‘a bit of warmth would be welcome here’.
“Moreover, a bit of warmth would vastly increase the land suitable for growing food and natural fibres. On the other hand, a slight cooling would take much of the farmlands of Canada, Northern Eurasia and New Zealand out of production, and parts of Tasmania and Victoria may have to convert from producing wheat and dairy products to farming caribou or reindeer.
“There is no evidence that carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is driving surface temperature, and there is plenty of evidence to show that current levels of temperature and carbon dioxide are neither extreme nor of concern.
“Carbon dioxide plays a wholly beneficial role in the atmosphere, and there is no evidence that this would change should carbon dioxide levels rise. It is being vilified because it is a so-called ‘Greenhouse Gas’.
“However, it is not even an important ‘Greenhouse Gas’ – water vapour is more effective and 100 times more abundant. Moreover, these atmospheric gases are earth’s protective shield – without them we would fry by day and freeze at night.
“The unprecedented Climate of Fear gripping the Western World is based on long term forecasts of surface temperature produced by some complex and highly dubious computer models which cannot forecast the weather with any accuracy beyond 5 days and cannot forecast the path of a cyclone from hour to hour.
“The output of a complex computer simulation of the atmosphere is not ‘evidence’. It is a fluttering flag of forecasts, hung on a slim flagpole of theory, resting on a leaky raft of assumptions, which is drifting without the rudder of evidence, in cross currents of ideology emotion and bias, on the wide deep and restless ocean of the unknown.
“There is no evidence, no consensus among scientists, no clear benefits, no reliable projections but huge potential costs if Australia does indeed pursue a ‘low Carbon Future’.
“To understand the phenomenon requires more than knowledge of science, the carbon cycle and atmospheric processes – it requires an understanding of mass psychology, the field of choice for many in politics and the media.”
Mr Viv Forbes
Chairman
The Carbon Sense Coalition
MS 23
Rosewood Qld
0754 640 533
info@carbon-sense.com
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