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| Someone with extreme views, and John Rhys-Davies |
Well, this week's Question Time may have had only one passionate Brexit supporter among a sea of People's Vote advocates - actor John Rhys-Davies - but even that was too much for some people:
The actor said that "the real elephant in the room is population. If we had fewer people, we would have less pollution."
Now, of course, Carole is correct about this argument being "a whisper off eugenics" and must cough up a furball every time the BBC platforms Sir David Attenborough, patron of Population Matters, who campaigns on the very point JR-D raised - i.e. for a reduction in the human population. I can almost hear her now, "Who is Sir David Attenborough? Why must we listen to him? Why is the BBC platforming an argument that is a whisper off eugenics? Can someone - anyone - explain?". Ah but, Sir Boaty is strongly anti-Brexit, so no, I'm guessing she'll let him off.
Ah, that's who Sir Boaty is. I wondered.
ReplyDeleteJust when I've given up watching Question Time, weary of having to mute ranting loons like Lammy, something interesting happens. I missed Charles Moore taking on BBC bias and now this actor chap I'd never heard of, getting a standing ovation. Maybe I'll have to start watching again.
Why when Attenbore was given such a prominent platform for a lecture on climate change wasn't someone else invited to give a lecture on the ins and outs of climate science? Occasional comments I see suggest it's quite complicated and not straightforward to work out what causes fluctuations in climate but I only see reference to those aspects by random bloggers and not on official broadcasters.
For non-random bloggers on the AGW-sceptic side of things, have a look at 'Watts Up With That' (not a typo, his name is Watts!) and 'Climate Audit.' It helps if you have a scientific background & understand statistics. If, like me, your mathematical ability is only one step ahead of Diane Abbott's, you may have problems! :)
DeleteThanks for those suggestions, Sisyphus. Have heard of Watts Up. I have no claim to mathematical or statistical expertise - though have worked with statisticians and did do maths, physics and chemistry when we still had distinct subjects and things called O and A Levels. Those were the days, those ancient pre-calculator times when we worked with the aid of log tables and some basic ability and techniques.
DeleteIn The BBC world the science is “settled” and therefore not for debate, despite the inherent contradiction in that very idea....
ReplyDeleteWell yes. Exactly why it should be discussed at length and in depth in something like a series of lectures by scientists in relevant disciplines. What BBC serves up on Today or Newsnight or putting up Attenbore to deliver the BBC's official view / deliberate indoctrination - is he a statistician or climate scientist? - doesn't count. I genuinely don't know what to believe but I heard some woman on Any Questions? today speaking with such passionate conviction I thought that's what politicians do and all it is is received wisdom rather than authoritative pronouncement.
DeleteThere was a time when the Greens, then the Ecology Party, opposed mass immigration to the UK and overpopulation generally.
ReplyDeleteIt couldn't be plainer that overpopulation plus economic growth is what causes huge loss of habitat around the planet. It is obviously the greatest causes of species loss - far more than climate change.
Craig - Many thanks for the "coughing up a furball" image - it annoys all the right people & I wish I'd thought of it myself. Never mind, give me a month or two and I probably will!
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