Climate change activists have reacted hysterically to news that a think tank run by “sceptical environmentalist” Bjorn Lomborg is to be given state funding by Australia. (h/t Bishop Hill)
Earlier this month the Australian government announced the awarding of a $4 million grant to the University of Western Australia’s (UWA) business school for the establishment of the Australia Consensus Centre, in partnership with Lomborg’s Copenhagen Consensus Centre.
According to the UWA, the program will aim to “identify the key challenges facing Australia and the world”, and advise the government on potential policy reforms and other interventions that will deliver the most cost-effective solutions.”
Predictably, environmentalists have reacted with fury, taking to Twitter to brand Lomborg a ‘denier’ and question why the Abbott government was handing out the funds.
Some of the reactions include:
Could have guessed, confirmation that government funding for climate denier Bjorn Lomborg was an Abbott call http://t.co/FV2H6f2WTI
— Good Sir Knight (@BrigadierSlog) April 23, 2015
It’s embarrassing to live in a country where the govt cuts science funding then hands $4mil to climate denier Bjorn Lomborg for “research”.
— natalie (@godlessnat) April 23, 2015
Another “captain’s pick” by Abbott, paying a climate change denier millions” What a fuckwit. http://t.co/wwZbVOLe4g via @theage — Angus McNeil (@Kinsayder) April 23, 2015
Bjorn Lomborg is a liar and a climate change denier https://t.co/L2cx439xaY via @YouTube — norkie (@norkietiger) April 22, 2015
Why did #Abbott give climate change denier Bjorn #Lomborg a whopping $4 million, and where did the money come from? https://t.co/Q1hDB453gz
— Neil Naessens (@medjak40) April 23, 2015
$4m Decision to host climate change impact denier Lomburg in Australia another PM’s “captains call” – SMH. #auspol http://t.co/7CjN90wJvJ
— Keith Cohen (@keithdcohen) April 23, 2015
Seems Lomborg isn’t just a climate denier. He’s first and foremost one of Abbott’s mates. #auspol https://t.co/niLNQ3bxim
— Nick (@NSunners) April 22, 2015
Speaking to the New Scientist in 2010, Lomborg, author of The Skeptical Environmentalist said: “Global warming is real – it is man-made and it is an important problem. But it is not the end of the world.”
When asked whether this meant that he was no longer a ‘denier’, he responded: “No, I haven’t changed my mind, but the global warming debate is so polarised that there is space for only two possible viewpoints: either it’s the end of the world, or you think it is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated. Because I dared to be sceptical, a lot of people pushed me into the deniers’ camp.
“I have been sceptical all along, but about the solution. Our current solution – the Kyoto approach – doesn’t work.”
Despite his clearly stated views on climate change, Lomborg is still being castigated as a ‘denier’ today.
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