Our Great Leader, Phil

[ Left to Right : Phil Thornhill (Campaign against Climate Change), Dr David Adam (The Guardian) ]

I bet you all thought I was going to talk about Professor Phil Jones, who has been completely and utterly exonerated this week :-

http://www.desmogblog.com/second-expert-panel-shows-climategate-was-sham

http://scienceblogs.com/deltoid/2010/04/phil_jones_vindicated_some_mor.php

But, no. I’m going to report on what Phil Thornhill said on Wednesday at the “Sceptic Backlash” meeting.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Guardian : Trumped by a Stuffed Toucan

[ Left to Right : Dr David Adam (The Guardian), Ben Stewart (Greenpeace), Tooki the Toucan operated by George Marshall (ClimateDenial.org) and Marina from Campaign against Climate Change]

On Wednesday evening, at the “Sceptic Backlash” public event, hosted by the Campaign against Climate Change, communications researcher George Marshall introduced the meeting to an unusual commentator on Climate Change…

http://www.campaigncc.org/scepticsmeeting

http://www.joabbess.com/2010/04/15/ben-stewart-greenpeace-stalking/

http://www.joabbess.com/2010/04/15/david-adam-liberal-pacifier/

Here is a transcript of what George Marshall said (as I have it) :-

- I do a lot of work around Climate Change communications and information.

- Climate Change is a large and technical issue. No one has the time to get totally on top of it. Even within the Science the specialists only look at their specialist areas.

- The average Media “punter” (somebody looking for information) is looking for a shortcut – their “ask” is “just tell me what’s going on”.

- Most people ask “Dave” down the pub (public house, bar). Friends and acquaintances in bars are the most important people in your social network, no doubt.

- And Dave says he saw this thing on telly (television)…

- The average person is just looking for a source of information that has some kind of authority…

Read the rest of this entry »

Polar Bear : Poster Child

So, I’m standing in the G2 theatre at the School of Oriental and African Studies, after the “Sceptic Backlash” event, talking with two Climate Change activists, one Irish, one American.

The question arises : since our lifestyles are causing deadly Climate Change for people in other parts of the world, maybe we should have communications based around pictures of suffering children ?

I disagree. I point out that when the environmentalists put out posters about Polar Bears, that the audience pretty quickly realised that the Polar Bears were being used as a “poster child” for Climate Change, and they started to mock the campaigning.

Read the rest of this entry »