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Charles accuses climate sceptics of ‘pseudo science’
Prince jokes about ‘strange irony’ of his attack as Mandy memoir reveals Blair thought Charles was ‘anti-scientific’
Prince Charles has hit out at so-called climate change sceptics, criticising them for pushing "pseudo science". The Prince, who is no stranger himself to accusations of making unwanted pronouncements, also attacked environmental naysayers of intimidating others from trying to take measures to halt global warming.
Charles told a group of international business leaders at a climate change seminar in London that "the problem of climate scepticism appears to be on the rise again". He said: "People have heard the climate sceptics and attempted to listen to the kind of pseudo science they are peddling."
Charles (pictured in Cornwall earlier this week) did not mention any sceptics by name. However the heir to the throne blasted the "siren voices" who "say that everything is okay, there is no need to worry and that we can all carry on as before as all this fuss about climate change and environmental collapse is merely part of a sinister attempt to undermine the entire foundations of the market-based capitalist system."
He added: "I believe the urgency of the situation is too great simply to sit back and do nothing."
Leading sceptics include former Conservative chancellor Lord Lawson and environmentalist and broadcaster David Bellamy. In contrast, in the past two decades Charles has become a standard-bearer for the environment, giving a number of high-profile speeches on the subject on the world stage. Last year he addressed the UN climate negotiations in Copenhagen.
Refreshingly, the Prince, who is well-known for making public his stances on everything from architecture to agriculture, joked that some may view his attack as a paradox. "I have endlessly been accused of peddling pseudo science, in one way or another, for most of my life - just think about the strange irony."
One who will certainly appreciate this "strange irony" will be Peter Mandelson. In his forthcoming memoir he reveals that then-Prime Minister Tony Blair asked him to tell Charles to stop his "anti-scientific and irresponsible" remarks on genetically modified crops.
In The Third Man Mandelson accuses Charles of making numerous "unhelpful" attempts to influence government policy. "I thought they were anti-scientific and irresponsible in the light of food shortages in the developing world." ·
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Even if the sceptics are right and the climate isnâ??t changing we still need to take the same action.
Reducing our output of greenhouse gases is essentially a requirement to reduce our consumption. Not just of travel or heating fuel but of everything. For everything we eat or wear, our buildings and our travel, leisure etc requires fuel somewhere along the line even if we donâ??t realise it.
The United States of America uses 25% of the worldâ??s resources but has a population of only 307 million. India has a population of 1169 million and I am reliably informed that at least 921 million of them aspire to an American standard of living. That takes care of 100% of the currently available resources and doesnâ??t leave much for the other 5,772 million of us.
Someone has calculated that for everyone to have a Western standard of living would require 5 planet Earths.
If the developing world is to continue developing we in the West have got to reduce our consumption. Or find another 4 planets!
So there is no excuse for not taking action â?? even for Nigel Lawson.
Charley boy's A-level results were poor to moderate, in spite of his advantages. He isn't bright...perhaps a little dim. Why doesn't he learn to shut up?
Prince Charles is commenting on "climate sceptics"?? What are they? People who don't believe in climate? Strange how terminology changes, the "believers" all being on the back foot since the exposure of the bought-and-paid-for goverment flunkey scientists, and the green-mean hysteria-mongers - the "Save the Planet, help the starving poor" type - and the lying politicians who want to keep the populace scared and accepting their carbon taxes, and all the useful idiots who pile on any bandwagon. They used to be call "global warming" sceptics did they not? And before that, "manmade (that's 'anthropogenic' if you are a bit brainy!) global warming" sceptics before that too. But who ever denied that the planet had warmed, or that there were Ice Ages (you learned about it in school, and you have seen the cartoon film...)? And were there many Ice Ages? Well, yes. So the planet warms, cools, warms, cools...do you detect a pattern here? Anyone? Did humans cause the end of the last Ice Age 12,000 years ago? Hmm...