Source: [1]
Robert (Bob) Carter is a research professor at James Cook University, Queensland, Australia, where he was head of the School of Earth Sciences between 1981 and 1999. He is a marine geologist and environmental scientist. [2]
In response to claims made by Carter that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change had not uncovered evidence that global warming was caused by human activity, a former CSIRO climate scientist stated that Carter was not a credible source on climate change and that "if he [Carter] has any evidence that [global warming over the past 100 years] is a natural variability he should publish through the peer review process."
Carter has written numerous newspaper articles primarily for UK and Australian newspapers that attempt to disprove global warming.
In reference to his involvement with the Institute for Public Affairs (IPA), Carter stated in a March 15, 2007 Sydney Morning Herald article: "I don't think it is the point whether you are paid by the coal or petroleum industry." [3]
According to leaked documents Carter receives $1,667 a month from the Heartland Institute, an organization with an intense focus on climate change skepticism.
"There IS a problem with global warming. . . . it stopped in 1998. . . . That industrial carbon dioxide is not the primary cause of earth's recent decadal-scale temperature changes doesn't seem at all odd to many thousands of independent scientists. They have long appreciated - ever since the early 1990s, when the global warming bandwagon first started to roll behind the gravy train of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) - that such short-term climate fluctuations are chiefly of natural origin." [4]
"The first thing to be clear about is that carbon dioxide is not a pollutant." [5]
"contrary to strong public belief, the effects of increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are generally beneficial. Enhanced plant growth has many obvious benefits, amongst them increased natural vegetation growth in general, and increased agricultural production in particular. And to maintain or slightly increase planetary temperature is also very much a global good if -- as Ruddiman and other scientists assert -- the human production of greenhouse gases is helping to hold our planetary environment in its historic, benignly warm, interglacial mode." [5]
". . .the empirical data stressed by climate rationalists will ultimately prevail over the predictions of the unvalidated computer models. Perhaps then we will be able to attend to the real climate policy problem, which is to prepare response plans for extreme weather events, and for climate warmings as well as coolings, in the same way we prepare to cope with all other natural hazards." [6]
May 21 - 23, 2012
Bob Carter was a speaker at the Heartland Institute's 7th International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC7).
DeSmogBlog researched the co-sponsors behind Heartland's ICCC7 and found that they had collectively received over $67 million from ExxonMobil, the Koch Brothers and the conservative Scaife family foundations.
Heartland's president Joe Bast revealed at the end of the conference that the Institute has no plans for future ICCCs. This could be in part due to the defections of corporate sponsors following Heartland's unsuccessful Unabomber billboard campaign and the unintended release of their confidential documents.
June 30, 2011
Carter was a speaker at the Heartland Institute's 6th International Conference on Climate Change. [2]
March 30, 2009
Carter's signature appears on a full-page ad funded by the CATO institute that appeared in numerous newspapers including the Washington Post, the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune in 2009.
The advertisement objects to President Obama's declaration that "few challenges facing America and the world are more urgent than combating climate change" and claims that "there has been no net global warming for over a decade" and that the dangers of global warming are "grossly overstated." [7]
March, 2009
Carter was a speaker at the 2009 International Conference on climate Change. [8]
The conference was hosted by the industry-funded Heartland Institute and focuses on "research that contradicts claims that Earth’s moderate warming during the twentieth century primarily was man-made and has reached crisis proportions."
March 8, 2007
Carter was listed on the "panel" for The Great Global Warming Swindle as a climate change skeptic.
In an interview with ABC, Carter describes how "increasing [carbon dioxide] in the atmosphere is actually a benefit to human kind." [9]
The Great Global Warming Swindle received critical response from the scientific community, including a letter to ABC that was signed by thirty-seven British Scientists who claimed "the misrepresentations of facts and views, both of which occur in your programme, are so serious that repeat broadcasts of the programme, without amendment, are not in the public interest. In view of the seriousness of climate change as an issue, it is crucial that public debate about it is balanced and well-informed." [10]
In an interview between ABC Australia’s Tony Jones and the film’s director Martin Durkin, The Great Global Warming Swindle’s validity and scientific accuracy were also put into question.
Feb 5, 2007
Carter is listed as a "expert reviewer" of the Independent Summary for Policymakers (ISPM), essentially a critical review of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report. [11]
The ISPM is published by the industry-supported Fraser Institute which received over $60,000 from ExxonMobil and which is also financially-supported by several tobacco companies including Philip Morris and British American Tobacco.
According to a search of 22,000 academic journals, Carter has published over 50 original research in peer-reviewed journals mainly in the area of stratigraphy, the study of rock layers and layering.
Carter's articles on global warming have largely appeared in economics journals, rather than mainstream science journals. A full list of his publications is available on his website.
Sample Articles:
"Profile: Robert M. Carter," accessed November 30, 2011.
"Robert 'Bob' Carter: 6th International Conference on Climate Change," the Heartland Institute.
Wendy Frew. "Minchin denies climate change man-made," The Sydney Morning Herald, March 15, 2007. Archived March 1, 2012 with WebCite.
Bob Carter. "There IS a problem with global warming... it stopped in 1998," The Telegraph, April 9, 2006.
"Clearing the Air," TCS Daily, May 5, 2004. Archived May 14, 2007.
"Bob Carter: British report the last hurrah of warmaholics," The Australian, November 3, 2006.
"Climate Change Reality," The Cato Institute.
"Heartland-2 session three," Quadrant Online, March 11, 2009.
"Climate Change Response" (Transcript), ABC, April 11, 2005. Archived January 17, 2006.
"The Great Global Warming Swindle: open letter to Martin Durkin from 37 signatories (April 2007)," Climate of Denial, April 24, 2007.
"Independent Summary for Policymakers of the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report (Working Group I)," Retrieved from Ross Mckitrick's homepage at the University of Guelph, March 1, 2012.
"People & Associates: Bob Carter," Institute of Public Affairs. Accessed November 30, 2011.
"Bob Carter," SourceWatch Profile.
"Experts," ICECAP. Accessed January, 2012.
"Experts: Robert M. Carter," The Heartland Institute. Accessed May, 2012.
"Deniers:Scientists:Bob Carter," ExxonSecrets Wiki.
Democracy is utterly dependent upon an electorate that is accurately informed. In promoting climate change denial (and often denying their responsibility for doing so) industry has done more than endanger the environment. It has undermined democracy.
There is a vast difference between putting forth a point of view, honestly held, and intentionally sowing the seeds of confusion. Free speech does not include the right to deceive. Deception is not a point of view. And the right to disagree does not include a right to intentionally subvert the public awareness.
This post is the second of a two part series. Read the first installment, Unreported Emissions From Natural Gas Blow Up BC's Climate Action Plan.
Methane leaks from British Columbia's natural gas industry are likely at least 7 times greater than official numbers increasing the entire provinces' carbon footprint by nearly 25%. That's like putting 3 million more vehicles on BC's roads.
As...
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