Ian Plimer

Ian Plimer

Credentials

Background

Ian Plimer is a former professor of Mining Geology at the University of Adelaide, South Australia, and Emeritus Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne.5Ian Plimer,” Profile at the School of Civil, Environmental & Mining Engineering at the University of Adelaide. Archived July 9, 2009. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/DXxVH 6Professor Ian Plimer,” University of Adelaide. Archived April 30, 2013. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/h1Td2

Plimer has two books questioning the existance of man-made climate change including Heaven and Earth, and a second titled How To Get Expelled From School: A guide to climate change for pupils, parents and punters, descibed by some as the “anti-Warmist manual for the younger reader.”7RAPID REACTION: Ian Plimer launches new book on climate change – experts respond,” The Australian Science Media Center, December 9, 2011. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/fmSw2

Energy & Mining Industry Connections

Plimer has been a director of numerous mining companies including Ivanhoe Australia, a subsidiary of Bob Friedland’s Ivanhoe Mines, CBH Resources, Kefi Minerals, Silver City Minerals, Ormil Energy Ltd, TNT Mines, Niuminco Group and Lakes Oil.

Plimer was appointed to the boards of Roy Hill Holdings and Queensland Coal Investments by mining magnate and climate skeptic promoter Gina Rinehart on January 25, 2012.8Andrew Burrell. “Gina brings climate sceptic on board,” The Australian, February 2, 2012.

As non-executive Director and Deputy Chairman of Kefi Minerals, Plimer owns over 5.4 million shares (as of January, 2016) in the mining company.9Board of Directors,” Kefi Minerals. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/5Gcmr 10“Grant of Share Options” (PDF), KEFI Minerals plc, January 19, 2016. Archived .pdf on file at Desmog.

In an article titled “Why I’d put global warming on ice,” Plimer claims that his commercial interest in mining “does not colour his arguments, which he says are based on pure science” and “does not affect the independence of his beliefs.”11Penelope Debelle. “Why I’d put global warming on ice,” The Advertiser, May 28, 2009. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/bWaqB

Stance on Climate Change

April 2021

Plimer appeared on Sky News Australia where he claimed “‘We are being misled’ on the climate crisis.”12‘We are being misled’ on the climate crisis: Ian Plimer,” YouTube video uploaded by user “Sky News Australia,” April 26, 2021. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

“We’re not in a crisis. There is no climate emergency. We are living in the best times you could ever live on planet Earth. And we are so fragile and we are so protected and we’re so wealthy that if someone drops a feather, we panic,” Plimer claimed.

“The key scientific point is it has never been proven that human emissions of carbon dioxide drive global warming,” he added.

January 2016

“What is now regarded as human-induced climate change, any scientist will say well that’s just normal variability. Climate varies, temperatures vary, sea levels go up and down like a yo yo.”13SFi022 – Global warming is a SCAM w/ Prof Ian Plimer,” YouTube video uploaded by user StopFundingIsrael. Archived video on file at Desmog.

May 2011

According to a presentation by Plimer with the Friends of Science:14Ian Plimer. “Human-induced global warming: Why I am sceptical” (PDF), Friends of Science, Calgary, May 16, 2011. Retreived February 2, 2012, from friendsofginandtonic.org.

”- [The] Earth[‘s climate] always changes
– Climate change is normal
– Climate change occurred well before humans were on Earth
– The rate of climate change today is no different from thousands, millions or billions of years ago
– >80% [of the] time, Earth has been warmer and wetter than at present
– Ice is rare
– Just because [climate] change occurs in our lifetime does not mean that we humans are driving the change”

July 2009

“There is no problem with global warming. It stopped in 1998. The last two years of global cooling have erased nearly 30 years of temperature increase.”15James Delingpole. “Meet the man who has exposed the great climate change con trick,” The Spectator, July 8, 2009. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/Ilkzk

Key Quotes

January 14, 2021

Plimer was interviewed by Sky News. The interview was later reviewed by Climate Feedback and found to have misrepresented a Nature study.16Ryan Morrison. “How melting icebergs change ocean patterns: New study sheds light on how ice ages happen,” The Daily Mail, January 13, 2021. Archived February 4, 2021. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/vg5d4 17Starr et al. “Antarctic icebergs reorganize ocean circulation during Pleistocene glacials,” Nature, January 13, 2021. Archived February 4, 2021. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/C2Vez

“Well, what’s going on is cycle,” Plimer said in the interview. “It’s normal to have cycles of climate. We are getting towards the end of a warm period. The peak of the warmth was about 5000 years ago, and we are heading for the next inevitable ice age. Now, I know it will be on a Tuesday I just can’t tell you what’s Tuesday. But climates are cyclical. And just because you live on planet Earth doesn’t mean that you are controlling major planetary systems. For you to think that you can actually control what happens on the planet means you to have an ego incommensurate with your knowledge.”

[…]

“No one has ever shown that human emissions of carbon dioxide drive global warming. If you think it has been shown, please give me the five scientific papers that show this. That question has never been answered. Show me that human emissions drive global warming.”

January 2016

The following are some notable quotes from Ian Plimer’s interview with Steve Johnson on BBS Radio:

“Greens don’t read books. That’s evident from their perpetual ignorance.”18SFi022 – Global warming is a SCAM w/ Prof Ian Plimer,” YouTube video uploaded by user StopFundingIsrael. Archived video on file at Desmog.

“To be a green is to be anti-environmental.”19SFi022 – Global warming is a SCAM w/ Prof Ian Plimer,” YouTube video uploaded by user StopFundingIsrael. Archived video on file at Desmog.

“Just give a green a sniff of a few dollars and they change very quickly.”20SFi022 – Global warming is a SCAM w/ Prof Ian Plimer,” YouTube video uploaded by user StopFundingIsrael. Archived video on file at Desmog.

“The Green Movement is in effect attacking western civilization.”21SFi022 – Global warming is a SCAM w/ Prof Ian Plimer,” YouTube video uploaded by user StopFundingIsrael. Archived video on file at Desmog.

“If we look back in just the last 10,000 years, we’re living in quite cool times. For people that claim we’ve had the hottest year ever, it’s just absolute codswallop. We have had about 8,000 years where it’s been much hotter than now.”22SFi022 – Global warming is a SCAM w/ Prof Ian Plimer,” YouTube video uploaded by user StopFundingIsrael. Archived video on file at Desmog.

“Temperature hasn’t really changed for about 20 years. Yet the models are saying the temperature […] is going to increase extraordinarily. So what has been done, is the primary data has been changed to fit the model. That is fraud.”23SFi022 – Global warming is a SCAM w/ Prof Ian Plimer,” YouTube video uploaded by user StopFundingIsrael. Archived video on file at Desmog.

“The weather always changes. And weather over 30 years, you then start to call climate. Just because you’ve got one hot year doesn’t mean you have climate change. The weather always changes. If you move from say Helsinki to Florida, then you have a temperature change of about 30 degrees Celsius upwards. You do not die from that temperature change.”24SFi022 – Global warming is a SCAM w/ Prof Ian Plimer,” YouTube video uploaded by user StopFundingIsrael. Archived video on file at Desmog.

August 2009

“Climate has always changed. It always has and always will. Sea level has always changed. Ice sheets come and go. Life always changes. Extinctions of life are normal. Planet Earth is dynamic and evolving. Climate changes are cyclical and random. Through the eyes of a geologist, I would be really concerned if there were no change to Earth over time. In the light of large rapid natural climate changes, just how much do humans really change climate?”25The natural history of climate change,” IPA Review Article. Accessed February 2, 2012. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/oKPDh

“There is no problem with global warming. It stopped in 1998. The last two years of global cooling have erased nearly thirty years of temperature increase.”26The natural history of climate change,” IPA Review Article. Accessed February 2, 2012. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/oKPDh

Key Actions

April 2021

Plimer appeared on Sky News Australia where he claimed “‘We are being misled’ on the climate crisis.” They also promoted Steve Koonin‘s recent book on climate change.27‘We are being misled’ on the climate crisis: Ian Plimer,” YouTube video uploaded by user “Sky News Australia,” April 26, 2021. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

“We’re not in a crisis. There is no climate emergency. We are living in the best times you could ever live on planet Earth. And we are so fragile and we are so protected and we’re so wealthy that if someone drops a feather, we panic,” Plimer claimed.

“The key scientific point is it has never been proven that human emissions of carbon dioxide drive global warming.”

Plimer also claimed renewable technologies like wind power and solar energy was “an absolute con.”

“We once had a country that had cheap, reliable electricity based on coal. And if you want to pull electricity off the grid and use it, most of it comes from coal. If you want to drive an electric car, it’s not an electric car, it’s a coal car. And we are having a perversion of the language to be able to try to persuade people that they are doing something morally good by sending this nation bankrupt. It is madness,” Plimer said.

January 14, 2021

Plimer participated in an interview with Sky News to speak about a study they claim showed “melting icebergs in the Antarctic could trigger a chain reaction that plunges Earth into a new ice age.” In the video, Plimer claimed an impending ice age was part of a natural cycle:28Video interview of Ian Plimer at Sky News falsely claims that a new study announces an incoming ice age, partly based on an incorrect Daily Mail headline,” Climate Feedback, January 20, 2021. Archived February 4, 2021. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/SPkcB 29Earth’s climate is ‘cyclical’ as new study claims an ice age is coming,” Sky News, January 14, 2021. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

“It’s normal to have cycles of climate we are getting towards the end of a warm period. The peak of the warmth was about 5000 years ago, and we are heading for the next inevitable ice age. […] climates are cyclical and just because you live on planet Earth doesn’t mean that you are controlling major planetary systems.”

Scientists at Climate Feedback evaluated the Sky News video, and found the “claim is inaccurate and misrepresents the results of the study it is based on.” The claim had also appeared in a now-corrected Daily Mail headline.30Ryan Morrison. “How melting icebergs change ocean patterns: New study sheds light on how ice ages happen,” The Daily Mail, January 13, 2021. Archived February 4, 2021. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/vg5d4

Ian Hall, author of the original study in the scientific journal Nature, told Climate Feedback: “This statement ignores the key finding from our study – we find that the climate systems response to Antarctic icebergs is highly sensitive to where they melt. We specifically describe the sequence of events which occurred during past interglacial to glacial conditions over the last 1.5 million years.”31Starr et al. “Antarctic icebergs reorganize ocean circulation during Pleistocene glacials,” Nature, January 13, 2021. Archived February 4, 2021. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/C2Vez

He added: “Our paper is unambiguous and not relevant for modern/future climate change in this way, and reporting it as so is fundamentally misinterpreting our findings. Our study does not say or imply that an ice age is coming.”

September 2019

The Australian reported Plimer was among those named in a statement by academic website The Conversation, which said it would ban comments from climate change deniers. The list was drawn from research published in the journal Nature, tracking the academic publications of climate change deniers and expert scientists across research in digital and print media on climate change. Those on the list included Richard Lindzen, Jennifer Marohasy, Judith Curry, Richard Tol, Bjorn Lomborg, Ian Plimer, and Maurice Newman.32Graham Lloyd. “No place in debate for climate contrarians,” The Australian, September 21, 2019. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/qIzvs 33Petersen, A.M., Vincent, E.M. & Westerling, A.L. Discrepancy in scientific authority and media visibility of climate change scientists and contrarians. Nat Commun 10, 3502 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-09959-4

Alex Petersen, lead author of the study, said: “It’s time to stop giving these people (contrarians) visibility, which can be easily spun into false authority. … By tracking the digital traces of specific individuals in vast troves of publicly available media data, we developed methods to hold people and media outlets accountable for their roles in the climate change denialism movement, which has given rise to climate change misinformation at scale.”34Graham Lloyd. “No place in debate for climate contrarians,” The Australian, September 21, 2019. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/qIzvs

Curry said the paper “does substantial harm to climate science … There are a spectrum of perspectives, especially at the knowledge frontiers. Trying to silence or delegitimise any of these voices is very bad for science.”35Graham Lloyd. “No place in debate for climate contrarians,” The Australian, September 21, 2019. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/qIzvs

The Conversation‘s editor and executive director Misha Ketchell commented: “We moderate anything that is a deliberate misinformation and distortion of facts or attempts to misrepresent arguments or community members. We know climate sceptics are very good at derailing constructive conversations, so we’ll remove comments that attempt to hijack threads or to push an agenda or argument irrelevant to the discussion.”36Graham Lloyd. “No place in debate for climate contrarians,” The Australian, September 21, 2019. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/qIzvs

October 4, 2017

Plimer was a guest on Andrew Bolt’s Bolt Report where he discussed the release of his new book to be launched on October 5 titled The Climate Change Delusion and the Great Electricity Ripoff. During his interview, Plimer asserts that climate models have been “doctored” and promote a “fallacy based on fraud promoted by fools.”37IAN PLIMER ON THE GREAT CLIMATE CON,” Herald Sun, October 4, 2017. Videos on file at DeSmog.

“To think we can do something is the ultimate of narcissism,” Plimer said. “And it’s all based on a failed fundamental: The fundamental is that it is the human emissions of carbon dioxide that drive global warming. That has never been shown. 99% of emissions are natural. “

[…] the 2nd thing is that we have to cur our emissions. Cut this plant food that we’re putting into the atmosphere. Now, to cut that, we build wind industrial complexes and solar complexes. Now, the amount of toxins that we release, the amount of carbon dioxide to build them, and to maintain them, to transport the products, doesn’t save anything.”

Videos below.38IAN PLIMER ON THE GREAT CLIMATE CON,” Herald Sun, October 4, 2017. Videos on file at DeSmog.

Video 1

Video 2

July 25, 2017

Ian Plimer was listed as a contributor to Climate Change: The Facts 2017, a book released by the Institute for Public Affairs (IPA) and edited by Jennifer Marohasy. While investigating the authors, DeSmog noted that one of the IPA’s listed “leading experts” involved in the book is New Zealand’s Ken Ring, who in addition to being a described “long range weather forecaster” has written “two, possibly three, books about cats” including Pawmistry: How to Read Your Cat’s Paws in 1998.39Donate to Climate Change: The Facts 2017,” Institute of Public Affairs. Archived October 31, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/KpLZh 40Graham Readfearn. “Australian Climate Denial Think Tank Picks Cat Author and Moonman Ken Ring as Climate Expert,” DeSmog, April 9, 2017.

Quoted in the IPA press release, Marohasy, said:41“NEW BOOK – CLIMATE CHANGE: THE FACTS 2017” (PDF), Institute of Public Affairs, July 25, 2017.

“[O]ur understanding of how the climate operates is incomplete and it is critically important to challenge the view that the planet is facing a global warming catastrophe.”

According to the book description:42Register your interest now and be the first to hear about the publication of Climate Change: The Facts 2017,” Institute of Public Affairs. Archived April 10, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/kvAFK

Climate Change: The Facts 2017 brings together contributions on the latest climate science from some of the world’s leading experts in the field including John Abbot, Sallie Baliunas, Paul Driessen, Tony Heller, Craig Idso, Clive James, Pat Michaels, Jo Nova, Ian Plimer, Tom Quirk, Peter Ridd, Ken Ring, Nicola Scafetta, Willie Soon, Roy Spencer, and Anthony Watts.

There are also essays by Matt Ridley, and Bjørn Lomborg on the economics of climate change, and by Simon Breheny on how the freedom to discuss climate change science is under threat.”

Prior versions of the book featured contributions from a range of prominent climate change deniers, and describes mainstream climate change research as “pseudo-science.”43Alan Moran. “Climate Change: the facts 2014,” Catallaxy Files (blog), December 16, 2014.

June, 2017

Writing at The Spectator, Ian Plimer asks, “why even bother with a Renewables Energy Target?”44Iam Plimer.”Climate notes: One lonely molecule…” June 17, 2017. The Spectator. Archived June 19, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/hdp6O

Before posing this question, Plimer claims that “it has yet to be shown that human emissions of CO2 drive global warming.” He adds that “Australia has far greater economic priorities than to change a whole economy, increase energy costs, decrease employment and decrease international competiveness because of one poor lonely molecule of plant food in 6.6 million other atmospheric molecules.45Iam Plimer.”Climate notes: One lonely molecule…” June 17, 2017. The Spectator. Archived June 19, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/hdp6O

The argument, that CO2 is just a trace gas compared to others in the atmosphere, is a common “climate myth” that has been debunked at Skeptical Science. While CO2 may be a small percentage of the atmosphere, that doesn’t change the large effects it can have on climate. Plimer also touts the “greening” of CO2 (debunked here):

“Satellite measurements show that there has been a greening of the planet over the last few decades, thanks to a slight increase in traces of plant food in the atmosphere.” Plimer adds that, “Without CO2, there would be no plants and without plants, there would be no animals.”46Iam Plimer.”Climate notes: One lonely molecule…” June 17, 2017. The Spectator. Archived June 19, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/hdp6O

He also claims that it hasn’t warmed in two decades: (further debunked)

“The planet has not warmed for two decades despite a massive increase in CO2 emissions during the industrialisation of Asia.“47Iam Plimer.”Climate notes: One lonely molecule…” June 17, 2017. The Spectator. Archived June 19, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/hdp6O

August 2016

Ian Plimer is listed as a “Founding Member” of group named Climate Exit (Clexit) led by climate change denier Christopher Monckton. According to Clexit’s founding statement (PDF), “The world must abandon this suicidal Global Warming crusade. Man does not and cannot control the climate.”48The Clexit Committee comprises” (PDF), Clexit.net. Archived.pdf on file at Desmog. 49“After Brexit, Clexit” (PDF), Clexit.net. Archived .pdf on file at Desmog.

Desmog reports on how the group grew in the wake of the UK’s decision to leave the EU. A key member of Clexit’s “60 well-informed science, business and economic leaders” is Hugh Morgan, a former board member of the Reserve Bank of Australia and former CEO of Western Mining Corporation with close ties to Australia’s Liberal party.50Graham Readfearn. “After Brexit, Climate Science Denialists Form New Group to Call for a Clexit,” Desmog, August 3, 2016. 51Hugh Morgan AO,” Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Archived February 22, 2002. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/1ObO

According to Clexit’s founding statement:

“If the Paris climate accord is ratified, or enforced locally by compliant governments, it will strangle the leading economies of the world with pointless carbon taxes and costly climate and energy policies, all with no sound basis in evidence or science […]”52“After Brexit, Clexit” (PDF), Clexit.net. Archived .pdf on file at Desmog.

August 29, 2016

Ian Plimer spoke at the Far Northern branch of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM). Cairn Post writes that AusIMM Far Northern branch chairman Brett Duck described Prof Plimer as Australia’s best-known geologist.53Daniel Batemen. “Controversial geologist to share insight into Great Barrier Reef,” Cairns Post, August 29, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/3RxR6

Plimer was brought in to discuss the Great Barrier Reef. Brett Duck downplayed the impact of climate change:54Daniel Batemen. “Controversial geologist to share insight into Great Barrier Reef,” Cairns Post, August 29, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/3RxR6

“There’s been that many climate changes in the past, and it’s survived in the past,” Duck said. “The reefs will come and go. The sea level will rise and the sea level will fall.”55Daniel Batemen. “Controversial geologist to share insight into Great Barrier Reef,” Cairns Post, August 29, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/3RxR6

January 26, 2016

Ian Plimer went on BBS Radio with Steve Johnson to discuss his two new books, Not for Greens (2014) and Heaven and Hell.

Plimer spends much of the earlier interview criticizing the green movement. According to Plimer, “To be a green is to be anti-environmental.” He also contends that “The Green Movement is in effect attacking western civilization,” and that they are easily corrupted by money. Video below.56SFi022 – Global warming is a SCAM w/ Prof Ian Plimer,” YouTube video uploaded by user StopFundingIsrael. Archived video on file at Desmog.

December 2014

Ian Plimer is a contributor to the book Climate Change: The Facts published by the Institute of Public Affairs and featuring “22 essays on the science, politics and economics of the climate change debate.” The Institute of Public Affairs, while not revealing most of its funders, is known to have received funding from mining magnate Gina Rinehart and at least one major tobacco company.57Institute of Public Affairs,” SourceWatch. Accessed May 27, 2015.

The book includes essays and articles from a range of climate change skeptics, with contributors including the following:

According to Editor Alan Moran in a post at Catallaxy Files blog on Climate Change: the facts 2014, Ian Plimer “examines the politics behind the pseudo-science. He notes that many Western governments have a politically popular ideol­ogy involving human emission increases in carbon dioxide (CO2) bring­ing warming, possible catastrophic ‘tipping points’ and a need to phase out fossil fuels as the only means of stopping this. He dismisses the possibility of the catastrophic consequences, drawing from geological history and points to the adverse economic outcomes of attempts to drastically reduce fossil fuel based energy usage.”58Alan Moran. “Climate Change: the facts 2014,” Catallaxy Files (blog), December 16, 2014.

March 1, 2015

Plimer was listed as a writer/endorser of a Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) briefing paper titled “The Small Print: What the Royal Society Left Out“ that accused the Royal Society of “presenting a misleading picture of climate science.”59“THE SMALL PRINT: What the Royal Society Left Out” (PDF), Global Warming Policy Foundation, 2015. 60(Press Release). “Royal Society Misrepresents Climate Science,” Global Warming Policy Foundation, January 3, 2015. Archived August 17, 2014. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/BvDj3

“As an example, the Royal Society addresses the question of why Antarctic sea ice is growing,” said Prof Ross McKitrick, the chairman of the GWPF’s Academic Advisory Council, “but in doing so they present a recently proposed hypothesis as if it were settled science. Failing to admit when the answer to an important question is simply not known does a disservice to the public. We believe that this new paper does a much better job of presenting the whole picture to the public.”61(Press Release). “Royal Society Misrepresents Climate Science,” Global Warming Policy Foundation, January 3, 2015. Archived August 17, 2014. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/BvDj3

The paper was written/endorsed by the following “experts”:62“THE SMALL PRINT: What the Royal Society Left Out” (PDF), Global Warming Policy Foundation, 2015.

May 30, 2014

Ian Plimer published, “Not For Greens: He who sups with the Devil should have a long spoon,” through Connor Court Publishing. A summary on the publisher’s website, describes the book as follows:

“The processes required to make a humble stainless steel teaspoon are remarkably complicated and every stage involves risk, coal, energy, capital, international trade and finance. Stainless steel cutlery has taken thousands of years of experimentation and knowledge to evolve and the end result is that we can eat without killing ourselves with bacteria. We are in the best times to have ever lived on planet Earth and the future will only be better. All this we take for granted.

Greens may have started as genuine environmentalists. Much of the green movement has now morphed into an unelected extremist political pressure group accountable to no one. Greens create problems, many of which are concocted, and provide no solutions because of a lack of basic knowledge. This book examines green policies in the light of established knowledge and shows that they are unrealistic.

Policies by greens adopted by supine governments have resulted in rising costs, increased taxes, political instability, energy poverty, decreased longevity and environmental degradation and they don’t achieve their ideological aims. Wind, solar and biomass energy emit more carbon dioxide than they save and reduction of carbon dioxide emissions does nothing to change climate and only empties the pocket. No stainless steel teaspoon could be made using green “alternative energy”.

This book argues that unless the greens live sustainably in caves in the forest and use no trappings of the modern world, then they should be regarded as hypocrites and treated with the disdain they deserve.” 63Not for Greens: He who sups with the Devil should have a long spoon,” Ian Plimer, Connor Court Publishing, May 30, 2014. Archived September 28, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/V7iTL

December 12, 2011

Plimer published the “anti-warmist manual,” How to Get Expelled From School: A guide to climate change for pupils, parents and punters, which was reviewed by numerous sources and found to be scientifically inaccurate, containing flawed or undocumented diagrams, and sloppily edited.64RAPID REACTION: Ian Plimer launches new book on climate change – experts respond,” The Australian Science Media Center, December 9, 2011. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/fmSw2 65Lexi Metherell. “Howard launches ‘anti-warmist manual’ for kids,” ABC News, December 13, 2011. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/0aaeC 66I. G. Enting. “Ian Plimer’s questions deconstructed. Analysis of ‘How to get expelled from school ..’” (PDF). Retrieved from Ian Enting’s home age at the University of Melbourne. PDF archived at Desmog.

The book has been billed as the “anti-warmist manual for the younger reader” and was launched by free-market think tank Institute of Public Affairs. Former Australian Prime Minister John Howard launched the book in Sydney.67Clare Peddie. “‘How to get expelled’: Climate sceptic recruits kids,” news.com.au, December 13, 2011. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/1cPfj

The Australian Government responded with “Accurate Answers to Professor Plimer’s 101 Climate Change Science Questions” (PDF), saying the questions posed in Plimer’s book are “misleading and are based on inaccurate or selective interpretation of the science.”68Accurate Answers to Professor Plimer’s 101 Climate Change Science Questions” (PDF), Australian Government Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency. Archived .pdf on file at Desmog.

Crikey notes that the government subsequently deleted the online version of their document. “We knew it would happen eventually,” they write.69Plimer rebuttals disappear,” Crikey, August 19, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/mNHlj

The Government report was created to “provide clear and accurate answers to Professor Plimer’s questions. The answers are based on up-to-date peer reviewed science, and have been reviewed by a number of Australian climate scientists.”70Accurate Answers to Professor Plimer’s 101 Climate Change Science Questions” (PDF), Australian Government Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency. Archived .pdf on file at Desmog.

July 2011

Ian Plimer spoke at a private luncheon hosted by billionnaire mining magnate Gina Rinehart. Crikey reported that in the audience were several high-powered politicians and diplomats, including Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett, the state’s environment minister Bill Marmion, former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and Chinese Ambassador Chen Yuming. Rinehart described Plimer as “one of the leading sources of reasoned and factual information in Australia on global warming and climate change.”71Sceptics on the menu at Rinehart’s luncheon,” Crikey, July 29, 2011. Archived September 28, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/8LIPI

May, 2010

Plimer was a speaker at the Heartland Institute‘s fourth International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC4) in Chicago, Illinois.72“4th International Conference on Climate Change” (PDF), The Heartland Institute. Archived February 20, 2018.

DeSmog found that the sponsors for Heartland’s 2009 International Conference on Climate Change had collectively received over $47 million from oil companies and right-wing foundations.73Heartland Institute’s 2009 Climate Conference in New York: funding history of the sponsors,” Desmog.

Plimer’s speech, titled “The Forgotten World of Climate Change: Time” can be viewed below.

February 1, 2009

Ian Plimer accompanied Lord Christopher Monckton who spoke at a luncheon lecture titled “Apocalypse? NO! ‘Global Warming’ is not a Global Crisis” co-hosted by the Australian Climate Science Coalition and the Institute for Private Enterprise.74Monckton luncheon,” Quardrant Online, January 8, 2010. Archived August 22, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/DWXQ7

2009

Ian Plimer Published Heaven and Earth. The book asserts that the temperature changes we have observed in the 20th century are within the “normal range of variability,” that significant global warming is not happening and that there is negligible human impact on warming.

His book was received critically, having been debunked numerous times by scientists.75The science is missing from Ian Plimer’s ‘Heaven and Earth’,” Deltoid, April 23, 2009. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/QMc8n 76John Cook. “Plimer vs Plimer: a one man contradiction,” Skeptical Science, December 9, 2011. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/DEORl 77Ian G. Enting. “Ian Plimer’s ‘Heaven + Earth’ — Checking the Claims” (PDF), retrieved from Ian Enting’s homepage at the University of Melbourne. PDF archived at Desmog.

Some critics have even accused Plimer of plagiarism.78Tim Lambert. “Plimer the plagiarist,” Deltoid, October 25, 2009. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/3ASk3

In his review of Heaven and Earth for The Australian, astronomer Michael Ashley wrote:79Michael Ashely. “No science in Plimer’s primer,” The Australian, May 9, 2009. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/3h9gH

“Plimer probably didn’t expect an astronomer to review his book. I couldn’t help noticing on page 120 an almost word-for-word reproduction of the abstract from a well-known loony paper…[that] argues that the sun isn’t composed of 98 per cent hydrogen and helium, as astronomers have confirmed through a century of observation and theory, but is instead similar in composition to a meteorite.

“It is hard to understate the depth of scientific ignorance that the inclusion of this information demonstrates. It is comparable to a biologist claiming that plants obtain energy from magnetism rather than photosynthesis.”

The Guardian‘s George Monbiot criticized Plimer’s book, saying “Since its publication in Australia it has been ridiculed for a hilarious series of schoolboy errors, and its fudging and manipulation of the data.” Plimer responded by challenging Monbiot to a public debate.80George Monbiot. “Spectator recycles climate rubbish published by sceptic,” The Guardian, July 5, 2009. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/Rv84I

Monbiot then challenged Plimer to give a set of “precise and specific responses” to his critics’ points. Plimer rejected this challenge.81George Monbiot. “Let battle commence! Climate change denialist ready for the fight,” The Guardian, August 6, 2009. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/FJ8SJ

Monbiot called Plimer “a grandstander, who wants nothing more than to make as much noise as possible in the hope that it will drown out the precise refutations published by his book’s reviewers.” Plimer subsequently reversed his earlier refusal, saying he would answer the questions in return for a live debate.82George Monbiot. “Why can’t the champion of climate change denial face the music?,” The Guardian, August 3, 2009. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/g9tt4

Instead of answering the questions that Monbiot posed, Plimer responded with his own set of questions. No official debate was actually held.83George Monbiot. “Plimer resorts to attack as the best form of defence,” The Guardian, August 12, 2009. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/SyN5p

The two did debate, however, on ABC’s Lateline in December, 2009. Monbiot concluded that Plimer had “used evasion and distraction when faced with straight questions,” and that the overall view was that “Plimer had been soundly thrashed.”84George Monbiot. “Ian Plimer’s volcano claims vaporise under questioning on Australian TV,” The Guardian, December, 2009. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/tX8GK

December 2009

During the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009 (COP15), Plimer spoke at a rival conference in Copenhagen called the Copenhagen Climate Challenge, which was organized by the climate change skeptic group Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT).85Giles Parkinson. “COPENHAGEN CALLING: Bolstering Barack,” Business Spectator, December 9, 2009. Archived December 9, 2012. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/ROR84

Among Plimer’s arguments at the conference is how carbon dioxide is “not a pollutant, it is plant food.” See footage of Plimer here.86Matthew Knott. “Climate Change skeptics stage rebel Copenhagen conference,” Crikey, December 10, 2009. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/U5kYM

While the UN’s conference attracted 33,200, the skeptics attracted only 60 people. “They’ve got us outnumbered, but we’ve got them outgunned, and that’s with the truth,” Plimer said at the conclusion.87Matthew Knott. “Climate Change skeptics stage rebel Copenhagen conference,” Crikey, December 10, 2009. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/U5kYM

Affiliations

Publications

According to a search of 22,000 academic journals, Plimer has published more than 40 research articles in peer-reviewed journals, mainly on the subject of ore deposits.

Other Resources

Resources

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