By their powers combined, the Bureau of Meteorology and The Greens just delivered a parliamentary smackdown to Tony Abbott‘s chief advisor on climate change’s terrible views on climate change.
It all started when Maurice Newman – that’s the chairman of the Prime Minister’s business advisory council, and the one advising him on our widely criticised climate change policy – wrote a piece in The Australian that basically said fuck you UN, fuck you climate change, it’s not happening and I’m going to stick my head in the sand till the sea levels rise up and drown me.
In a ‘don’t-you-wish-you-were-there-to-see-it’ moment, climate spokeswoman Senator Larissa Waters calmly stood up in a Senates estimate hearing yesterday to read Newman’s article, paragraph by paragraph, to the Bureau of Meteorology’s Director of Meteorology and Chief Executive Dr Rob Vertessy, and ask him to respond.
And then they tore it to fucking shreds.
On Newman’s claims that “95 percent of the climate models we are told prove the link between human CO2 emissions and catastrophic global warming have been found […] to be in error?”
“Incorrect.”
On Newman’s claims that “weather bureaus appear to have ‘homogenised’ data to suit narratives”?
“Rejected.”
On Newman referencing the “coldest December records [which] began as temperatures plummet to minus 10C bringing travel chaos across Britain“?
“An old red herring,” said Dr Vertessy. “The theory of global warming does not hold that there will be no cold weather anywhere.”
Liberal Senator Simon Birmingham prevented Vertessy from responding to Newman’s claim that global warming was a “hook” being used by the UN for their “real agenda [of] concentrated political authority.”
He also tried to prevent Vertessy responding to Waters’ question if climate science support statements by Abbott that “coal is good for humanity”, but Vertessy got this zinger in:
“What I can say is the primary cause of global warming is the emission of CO2 and the primary reason CO2 emissions are increasing is from the burning of fossil fuels. Coal is a fossil fuel.”
Have a mic drop, you guys. You’ve earned it.
via SMH
