NEWS FILE PHOTO MLA Drew Barnes, along with MLA Michaela Glasgo, say they have heard anger and disappointment from their constituents over the fraction of COVID -19 restrictions being lifted under Phase2 that was announced Monday by the Alberta Government.
jappel@medicinehatnews.com@MHNJeremyAppel
Cypress-Medicine Hat MLA Drew Barnes says his attending a lecture hosted by an organization that claims climate change is caused by the sun rather than CO2 emissions will be an exercise in “listening and learning.”
Barnes tweeted Friday morning that he and a few of his constituency association board members will be attending Friends of Science’s April 6 lecture entitled “Freedom of Speech! NO Climate Emergency.”
The event features a talk by Donna Laframboise entitled “Climate Activists Want Your Freedom” and another by Roy Spencer called “No Climate Emergency: 10 Reasons.” Both speakers are noted climate skeptics.
“While FoS does not do any original scientific research, it draws on the worldwide body of work by scientists in all fields relating to global climate change,” the Friends of Science position statement on its website says. “It is our opinion that the Sun (sic) is the main direct and indirect driver of climate change.”
The talk’s Eventbrite page says, “These presentations are designed for the general public. No special climate policy or science knowledge required.”
According to a 2016 study published in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Research Letters, 97 per cent of active climate scientists agree climate change is caused by human activity.
Barnes told the News he acknowledges the reality of man-made climate change, but wants to hear a variety of perspectives, including from those who don’t.
“I’m always interested in listening and learning,” he said, adding that he attends somewhere in the ballpark of five events a month, including some focused on renewable energy.
“There’s no doubt that anthropogenic climate change is occurring, but if I’m going to make policy decisions that are going to greatly affect Albertan families, businesses and communities, I think I should be as open as possible to learn as much as possible. It will be interesting to hear all viewpoints.”
Barnes says he believes the economics and science behind climate policy go hand-in-hand.
“I’ve read many times that strong economies have the best chance of preventing and working against man-made climate change, so as a politician I have to be interested in both – making sure that our economy stays strong so we can do the best things to have the cleanest air, water and land possible,” he said.
In 2017, when he was the Wildrose party’s energy critic, Barnes came under fire for funding a documentary by Postmedia columnist John Robson – “The Environment: A True Story” – which called the science behind anthropogenic climate change “extremely shaky.”
Barnes said at the time that his goal was to promote a “conversation on climate change.”
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Michelle Stirling
4 years ago
You forgot to mention that Dr. Roy Spencer is a NASA award-winning scientist.
Roy W. Spencer received his Ph.D. in meteorology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1981. Before becoming a Principal Research Scientist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville in 2001, he was a Senior Scientist for Climate Studies at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, where he and Dr. John Christy received NASA’s Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal for their global temperature monitoring work with satellites. Dr. Spencer’s work with NASA continues as the U.S. Science Team leader for the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer flying on NASA’s Aqua satellite. He has provided congressional testimony several times on the subject of global warming.
Dr. Spencer’s research has been entirely supported by U.S. government agencies: NASA, NOAA, and DOE. He has never been asked by any oil company to perform any kind of service. Not even Exxon-Mobil.
Dr. Spencer’s first popular book on global warming, Climate Confusion (Encounter Books), is now available at Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com.
PS – Michelle Stirling (me) is the Communications Manager for Friends of Science Society. Curiously the Medicine Hat News did not contact us for information or comment. Here’s our number in case you missed it: 1-888-789-9597 ext 1 for media OR : media@friendsofscience.org (Hard to find it? We know our website is a bit clunky – but…we are a mostly volunteer run non-profit. What do you expect?)
Donna Laframboise was our speaker in 2012 – on the topic of her book: “The Delinquent Teenager….” referring to the habits/methods of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – who produce what is known as the ‘CLIMATE BIBLE’.
Note that she reveals that Greenpeace and WWF activists are VERY influential in the writing of IPCC reports. And WHO is most responsible for the #TarSandsCampaign against Alberta?
I would be happy to speak with MHNews or even drive on down to Medicine Hat and give a presentation on these issues to any group.
Feel free to dispute/discuss our views.
We are on twitter : @FriendsOScience on facebook: @FoSClimateEd Instagram and LinkedIn…and of course, our YouTube channel where you can see videos that now have almost a MILLION views. https://youtu.be/GpVBH-HY5Ow
Clearly people want a broader discussion on climate and energy policies.
Fundamentally, science is about inquiry, not compliance, and democracy is founded upon freedom of speech and open, civil debate. These are Charter Rights.
One would hope that the media would support and advance such Charter Rights and Freedoms.
I’m sure we were taught in grade school that radiation from the sun to earth and from earth back out to space is the driver of the complex heat transfer and fluid flow processes in the atmosphere and ocean that determine earth’s climate. Sure there are some factors that influence that through changes to that radiation heat transfer. Carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel are one of many possibilities that are discussed at great length in the science literature and even more in the often ill-informed media.
It is good to see that MLA Drew Barnes is one who wants to learn more about these processes. Surely more knowledge of the topic will be helpful to him and us. Far too many minds have been closed on this topic for many decades now as they develop and promote ineffective or inappropriate policy to “fight” climate change due to CO2. Still, after 30 years of climate change anguish the “change” seems almost indistinguishable from the “noise” of other perturbations and inadequate measurement.
Kudos again to MLA Barnes for looking into this. Friends of Science is a good starting point to find serious information on the topic.
You forgot to mention that Dr. Roy Spencer is a NASA award-winning scientist.
Roy W. Spencer received his Ph.D. in meteorology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1981. Before becoming a Principal Research Scientist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville in 2001, he was a Senior Scientist for Climate Studies at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, where he and Dr. John Christy received NASA’s Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal for their global temperature monitoring work with satellites. Dr. Spencer’s work with NASA continues as the U.S. Science Team leader for the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer flying on NASA’s Aqua satellite. He has provided congressional testimony several times on the subject of global warming.
Dr. Spencer’s research has been entirely supported by U.S. government agencies: NASA, NOAA, and DOE. He has never been asked by any oil company to perform any kind of service. Not even Exxon-Mobil.
Dr. Spencer’s first popular book on global warming, Climate Confusion (Encounter Books), is now available at Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com.
PS – Michelle Stirling (me) is the Communications Manager for Friends of Science Society. Curiously the Medicine Hat News did not contact us for information or comment. Here’s our number in case you missed it: 1-888-789-9597 ext 1 for media OR : media@friendsofscience.org (Hard to find it? We know our website is a bit clunky – but…we are a mostly volunteer run non-profit. What do you expect?)
Donna Laframboise was our speaker in 2012 – on the topic of her book: “The Delinquent Teenager….” referring to the habits/methods of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – who produce what is known as the ‘CLIMATE BIBLE’.
Ironically, who is the representative of ‘climate change’ today? A….delinquent teenager.
https://www.amazon.ca/Delinquent-Teenager-Mistaken-Worlds-Climate-ebook/dp/B005UEVB8Q
Maybe the Medicine Hat News would like to interview Donna Laframboise?
Here is Donna’s 2012 presentation for Friends of Science Society. https://friendsofscience.org/index.php?id=603
Note that she reveals that Greenpeace and WWF activists are VERY influential in the writing of IPCC reports. And WHO is most responsible for the #TarSandsCampaign against Alberta?
Well well well. https://friendsofscience.org/assets/documents/Fear&Loathing.pdf
And: https://blog.friendsofscience.org/2019/07/24/markham-hislop-plays-softball-with-tides-canada/
I would be happy to speak with MHNews or even drive on down to Medicine Hat and give a presentation on these issues to any group.
Feel free to dispute/discuss our views.
We are on twitter : @FriendsOScience on facebook: @FoSClimateEd Instagram and LinkedIn…and of course, our YouTube channel where you can see videos that now have almost a MILLION views. https://youtu.be/GpVBH-HY5Ow
Clearly people want a broader discussion on climate and energy policies.
We also have a bilingual plain language site: http://www.climatechange101.ca/
Fundamentally, science is about inquiry, not compliance, and democracy is founded upon freedom of speech and open, civil debate. These are Charter Rights.
One would hope that the media would support and advance such Charter Rights and Freedoms.
I’m sure we were taught in grade school that radiation from the sun to earth and from earth back out to space is the driver of the complex heat transfer and fluid flow processes in the atmosphere and ocean that determine earth’s climate. Sure there are some factors that influence that through changes to that radiation heat transfer. Carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel are one of many possibilities that are discussed at great length in the science literature and even more in the often ill-informed media.
It is good to see that MLA Drew Barnes is one who wants to learn more about these processes. Surely more knowledge of the topic will be helpful to him and us. Far too many minds have been closed on this topic for many decades now as they develop and promote ineffective or inappropriate policy to “fight” climate change due to CO2. Still, after 30 years of climate change anguish the “change” seems almost indistinguishable from the “noise” of other perturbations and inadequate measurement.
Kudos again to MLA Barnes for looking into this. Friends of Science is a good starting point to find serious information on the topic.