You know
how it is; you’re idly flicking through the newspaper trying to maintain
control in the face of so much unpleasantness and the plight of the England
Viscount
Monckton of Brenchley has come onto my radar before. Apart from his appearance
(which is quite startling and is maybe a warning shot across the bows of the
perils of in-breeding but, he is what he is and makes the most of it) it’s
really his quirky views that have attracted my attention previously. With him
being a prominent climate-change sceptic, I’ve followed, albeit loosely, his
occasional outbursts but it was the article in The Independent of Thursday 21st May (‘Climate-change sceptic Monckton claims
tombstone artwork is a ‘death threat’) that arrested my attention. VERY
briefly, His Lordship (his words not mine) took exception to an artwork
completed by a student at Anglia
Ruskin University
Using his
now familiar rhetoric of snobbish belittlement and Nazi overtones Christopher
Monckton made an effort to have the artwork taken down, conjuring up visions of
the Third Reich to add weight to his case. He also made the following remark
when dealing with the university’s vice-chancellor who had mentioned that Lord
Monckton was a climate-change ‘denier’:
‘It mattered not to the vice-chancellor, nor
the “artist”, that I do not deny the existence of climate change…I do not even
deny that man may have some as yet unquantifiable but probably insignificant
and even net beneficial influence on the climate.’
You wanna
read that again?
I can wait…
OK, now, I
don’t know about you but that sort of statement sets alarm bells ringing in my
head. I’m reminded of a one-man show I wrote and performed years ago and in it
I had my character say, ‘Be very suspicious when a politician tells you that
what he’s doing to you he’s doing to you for your own good’. I mean, why come
up with this stuff in an interview that was, ostensibly, about discussing a
work of art that you don’t think is very good…? When all else fails, turn to
Mr. Shakespeare; ‘methinks he doth protest too much’. So, I did a little
research as I wanted to work out just what Lord Monckton’s qualifications were
for making such statements and why he and others (later) are so set on denying
the existence and level of seriousness of both fracking and climate-change…
Pour a
coffee and kick back; it’s detailed and lengthy so you’ll need to pay attention
but at the close I trust you’ll know why it’s important to know the details and
just what we sign up for when we vote.
Viscount Monckton was educated at Harrow School
and then went to Cambridge where he gained a
B.A. in Classics then went to University
College , Cardiff
In 2011 he was advised by the then
Clerk of the Parliaments, David Beamish, that he ‘should
desist from claiming to be a Member of the House of Lords, either directly or
by implication, and also that you desist from claiming to be a Member without
the right to sit or vote.’ You know, sort of
one-upmanship in impersonations, like impersonating a police officer…but, as
he’s one of the upper crust, he chose to impersonate being a member of the
House of Lords instead…yes, he was a peer of the realm, but…
Then there was the time on the BBC
in 2011 (not a vintage Monckton year this) when he claimed that one of the
companies he was a director of (Resurrexi
Pharmaceutical; still is, I believe) had followed his methods when he had cured
himself of Graves’ disease and had, to date, had found cures for multiple
sclerosis, influenza, herpes and had reduced the viral load for HIV (more
later). To be fair he backed off from these claims on Australian radio but…
Then there were his claims that he’d
served as science advisor for Margaret Thatcher (I mean, sure, with those
degrees you’d snap him up, wouldn’t you) something that John Gummer (of all
people) called ‘laughable’ and searches by far more ‘connected’ people than
myself have failed to unearth even a single mention in either government papers
or biographies of his involvement in this or any other position of advice,
scientific or otherwise.
Then there was the time (2012) when
the noble Lord ran a scam that allowed him to take over the seat allocated to
Burma at the COP18 Climate Change Conference in Doha where he made a speech
attacking the idea of man-made climate change saying, amongst other things,
there had been no global warming in the last sixteen years; he was escorted
from the building and given a lifetime ban from attending any future UN climate
talks…
Then there was the time Lord
Monckton advertised his scientific qualifications when he proposed (this, a
board member of a pharmaceutical organisation remember…you know, as in ‘making
decisions on how to develop and use drugs for the betterment of mankind’) that;
‘…there is only one way to stop AIDS. That is to screen the
entire population regularly and to quarantine all carriers of the disease for
life. Every member of the population should be blood-tested every month…all
those found to be infected with the virus, even if only as carriers, should be
isolated compulsorily, immediately, and permanently’ also
claiming that ‘…official survey after
official survey…’ (never once mentioning which ‘official surveys’ he was
quoting) ‘…had found that homosexuals had an average of 500-1,000 partners in
their sexually active lifetime, and that some had as many as 20,000…’ (…sexually
active and ‘out’ at, say, 14 and an expected lifespan that saw you dead at,
say, 80…that’s 66 years of sexual activity…that’s…303 sexual partners per
year…every year…that’s a shag every 1.2 days…; oh, for the energy)…
Then there is the ‘project’ he
runs called ‘50 to 1’ who’s key purpose is to communicate the noble Lord’s
recent calculations on the cost of climate mitigation versus the cost of
adaptation. That is the cost difference; it is 50 times more expensive to
attempt to stop climate change than it is to adapt, in the event that
adaptation becomes necessary, and heaven forbid we should spend a bit of money.
Then there
are the paid for speeches he gives to the Republican Party on climate
change…oh, OK, hang on… How does he get invited to speak, this man of no
scientific qualification, to the men who brought us Big Oil? Well, he gets
invited because he is ‘Chief Policy Advisor to the Science and Public Policy
Institute (SPPI – more later) in the USA
Well there
we are then. From the humble beginnings of England
Remember that old chestnut used by successive
governments, world-wide, whenever they want to push through yet more
legislation to impinge on the privacy of the citizen? The one we in the UK
An off-shoot of the ‘Frontiers of Freedom’
(great name, huh?) a climate-sceptic organisation which, according to a 2003 New
York Times report has an
annual budget of around $700,000 and received $230,000 of that budget from Exxon
in 2002 (up from $40,000 in 2001 - according to Exxon documents). As an aside,
when asked about this level of funding from within the oil industry their
president (yet another president) George Landrith, told the New York Times; ‘They
(Exxon) determined that we are effective at what we do and they’d like to make
it possible for us to do more of that.’ Well, that’s big of them, isn’t it?
Cut to the chase. Very basically, SPPI is a lobbying practice run for the
benefit of US state legislators to promote the ‘correct’ bills and steer them
through congress…and in an effort to show they have nothing to hide so nothing
to fear, I’m sure the following will be helpful in maintaining that level of
innocent involvement in what could, possibly, be construed as ‘a very shady
business’. Let’s see how perspicacious you are in spotting the common thread
contained in the following.
On SPPI’s quasi-board are
several people who, at first glimpse, seem to be worthy scientific types, it’s
only when we turn over the stones we discover just how ‘worthy’ and
‘scientific’ they are.
SPPI member
1) Robert Ferguson is its President (grand title that…these people, people like
Lord Monckton, REALLY LOVE titles…I’ve always thought those people who send
their title into a room before them are usually hiding a physical inadequacy
but, let that pass) who has a degree in history from the Brigham Young
University, a worthy place of education that was formed by the founder of the
Mormon religion (Church of the Latter Day Saints) Brigham Young (just in case
you were unsure, no slouch in the self-advertising dept) who led his people to
Salt Lake City in Utah, had divergent views on how to treat Native Americans
and people of black, African descent and decided to stop a 55 wives. Mr.
Ferguson also has a master’s degree in legislative affairs, which must come in
real handy given how the SPPI operates (later).
SPPI member 2) William Kininmonth is an Australian and runs his
Australasian Climate Research Institute (titles, titles) from his house with no
website or ’phone contact and has the dubious honour of being so clever as to
be able to defy the laws of physics when he stated; ‘Greenhouse
gases emit more radiation than they absorb and their direct impact is to cool
the atmosphere. More greenhouse gases will not cause the atmosphere to warm’. Way t’ go, Mr. Kininmonth.
SPPI member 3) Bob
Carter, also from Australia, is on the payroll of the Heartland Institute
(institutes, institutes) which is funded by Exxon, the Scaife
Foundation (foundations, foundations) and the Koch Family Foundation and here, I’m afraid, we have to
digress a little in order to understand what we’re up against when it comes to
opposing fossil-fuel stupidity, fracking obfuscation and the serious
money backing these self-styled voices of reason.
The Heartland
Institute’s president (yet another) is a Mr. J. Bast who, although describing
himself as an economist apparently holds no undergrad or graduate degrees in
economics and got no higher an education than the completion of high school;
all very laudable but… The organisation he is in control of, is the spokesman
for, promotes climate-change scepticism, funds climate-change deniers (fair
enough, you could say) in their work against the UN climate change reports and dabbles
with school curriculums in the science of climatology, oh, and also runs a
rapid mobilization group to counter new findings in climate science; what’s
more worrying, and what gives an insight into this institute’s social
conscience and core, however, is the Heartland Institute’s involvement with the
tobacco industry; it also gives an insight into Mr. Bast’s credentials as a
person to be relied on to do the best for humankind, which I’m sure he does.
An ally of the tobacco
industry for many years, the Heartland Institute opposes tobacco control
measures and denies the effects of second-hand smoke. Indeed, a Mr. Roy E.
Marden, who was on the ‘board’ of the Heartlands Institute, was a key player in
Phillip Morris as manager of industry affairs and a specialist in the lobbying
of congress. The fierce lobbying by tobacco companies to overturn legislation
world-wide, legislation that in any way threatened their profit margins, is
well documented et al but it’s worth noting that Mr. Bast is quoted as, ‘ a
Tobacco Policy Expert’ by non other than the National Association of Tobacco
(association, association).
The Koch
Family Foundation
is owned and run by two of the richest men on the planet, the multi, multi
billionaires (yup, that’s right ‘multi, multi’) David and Charles Koch. It’s
worth quoting the New Yorker who
described these two brothers as, ‘…longtime libertarians who believe in drastically lower
personal and corporate taxes, minimal social services for the needy, and much
less oversight of industry—especially environmental regulation’ and who have built up, ‘a labyrinth of tax-exempt groups and limited-liability companies
help[ed] mask the sources of the money, much of which went to voter
mobilization and television ads attacking President Obama and congressional
Democrats.’ So, we know how they stand on equal rights and such then. It’s
also worth noting that the brothers have apparently contributed over $7m to
Islamophobic groups in the US
SPPI member 4) Craig D. Idso…(we use
the middle letter to differentiate between the family members as it would be so
easy to get Keith, Sherwood and Craig mixed up, wouldn’t it)…Craig D. Idso is
Chairman (lovely) and founder of the Centre for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and
Global Change (centre, centre) and, coincidentally, the son of Sherwood B. Idso
and the brother of Keith E. Idso, president and vice president respectively of ExxonMobil who part fund the Centre for
the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change…so there’s lucky then, having
such high-powered and well-versed people to call on if you need to tease out
some details about climate change. Mind, Mr. Idso (D.) has had a good grounding
in the vagaries of fossil fuel use and markets seeing as he was Director of
Environmental Science at Peabody Energy which is
the largest private-sector coal company in the world with total revenue of $6.9
billion.
SPPI member 5) David Legates is
Professor of Geography at the University of Delaware and the Director for the
University’s Centre for Climate Climactic Research and he and it run on funding from many companies involved in fossil
fuel production (ExxonMobil) and various institutes and foundations (institutes
and foundations, institutes and foundations) who fight climate change,
including the Koch Bros.
SPPI member 6) Joseph (Joe)
D’Aleo is a retired meteorologist who has registered the name ICECAP which is
an organisation set up to challenge this tomfoolery of global warming. On the
payroll of ICECAP are:
Robert C. Balling Jr. who
has acknowledged receiving $408,000 in research funding from the fossil fuel
industry over the last decade including contributions from ExxonMobil, the
British Coal Corporation, Cyprus Minerals and OPEC.
Sallie Baliunas who, between
December 1998 and September 2001 was a Scientific Adviser to the Greening Earth Society
(dontcha just love the way they use soft-and-cuddly English) a group funded and
controlled by Western Fuels Association, an association of coal-burning utility
companies.
Robert M. Carter
who is on the advisory board of the Institute
of Public Affairs
SPPI member 7) Your own, your very own
Lord Monckton of Brenchley who we’ve had quite enough of, thank you very much.
And finally, saving the best
’til last, we bring you (drum roll) ExxonMobil. The largest oil company in the
world they are heavily involved in policy-making globally, USA
So after all that sound and
fury, what does it signify? Well, it means that the playing-fields of England,
certainly when it comes to fracking and meaningful movement on tackling climate
change in the UK (and elsewhere in the world) are heavily stacked against the
‘concerned citizen’ and the proofs of scientific research. There a number of
Conservative members who decide on tax breaks and policy for these things who
are heavily involved in the smooth progress of fracking and dumbed-down climate-change
rules, including our beloved Chancellor of the Exchequer’s father-in-law. My
guess is that it was pure coincidence that his son-in-law stated that ‘fracking has the potential to keep energy
bills low for millions of people’ and announced a new low tax regime for
fracking companies. Aligned with him are such luminaries as Lord Browne, Ben
Moxham (until recently David Cameron’s advisor on energy and the environment)
Sarah Hogg, Sam Laidlaw, Ian Taylor and David Cameron’s chief advisor, Lynton
Crosby. All these people have sunk considerable investments in oil, gas and
shale-gas exploration operations, and Mr. Crosby, bless, runs a lobbying
company, Crosby Textor, that is employed
by…Phillip Morris! This lobbying company also represents Dart Energy who holds
shale gas extraction licences in Scotland…bet he was thrilled skinny with the
election results and the cessation of shale gas extraction licences north of
the border then… There were calls for Crosby
to be sacked, Cameron refused…wonder why?
I think that, in many cases, it isn’t
what they do that’s a major part of the concern of how they treat the earth and
view the safety of our planet but how they go about it that gives me most
annoyance. The brutal methods used and the short-sighted, ‘profit first-well-being
second’ that runs through all their dealings with people, countries and
environments can never be justified when all it buys is another yacht in Monaco
and the ways-and-means to buy a Presidency.
So, there you have it, your
cut-out-and-keep guide to the machinations of how our democracies work. Thing
is, these people, the companies, the fancy names, the institutes, foundations,
freedom, policy think-tank organisations have all sunk millions, nay billions
into the continued use of fossil fuels and the extension of fracking, the
people best placed to be our planet’s guardians, the folk we voted into power
have sunk considerable portions of their personal fortunes into the very
industries that threaten our degradation. There’s no way they’re going to roll
over and play dead to what they see as the fawn-snuggling lefties. Opposition
to what they see as the swelling of their already massive personal coffers (in
some cases their billions) will be fought with lies, dirty tricks, the law and
scare-mongering; we have a real fight on our hands, and money talks.
