Patrick Moore

Patrick Moore

Credentials

*Note: Patrick Moore has listed himself with a “Ph.D. in Ecology, Institute of Resource Ecology, University of British Columbia” in his profile at EcoSense5About Patrick Moore,” EcoSense.me. Archived February 7, 2020. Archive.ph URL:https://archive.ph/wip/FOsTT and at the Heartland Institute,6PATRICK MOORE,” The Heartland Institute. Archived February 7, 2020. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/tBfPV among others. However, Moore’s thesis at UBC was submitted for a Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Forestry. UBC confirmed by email that Dr. Moore received his Ph.D. from the Faculty of Forestry in 1974. When asked if that degree would be best described as in ecology or forestry, UBC replied: “It would be safer to say Forestry.” 7Moore, Patrick Albert. “Administration of pollution control in British Columbia : a focus on the mining industry,” The University of British Columbia, 1974. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

Background

Patrick Moore is a Canadian nuclear energy advocate and founder of Greenspirit Enterprises, a PR company he started in 1991 that works “with many leading organizations in forestry, biotechnology, aquaculture and plastics, developing solutions in the areas of natural resources, biodiversity, energy and climate change.”8About Greenspirit: Who is Patrick Moore? Greenspirit, Archived July 11, 2011. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/fJH7E

Moore is often incorrectly referred to as a founder of Greenpeace. According to a statement by Greenpeace, “Patrick Moore frequently portrays himself as a founder or co-founder of Greenpeace, and many news outlets have repeated this characterization. Although Mr. Moore played a significant role in Greenpeace Canada for several years, he did not found Greenpeace.”9Patrick Moore Background Information,” Greenpeace. Archived August 27, 2011. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/Q82IZ 10Greg Laden. “Who Founded Greenpeace? Not Patrick Moore,” Greg Laden’s Blog on ScienceBlogs, June 27, 2015. Archived July 11, 2016. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmogBlog. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/gAdJe

Although Moore worked with Greenpeace Canada and Greenpeace International between 1981 and 1986, he broke away from the organisation after he concluded that “the environmental movement had abandoned science and logic in favor of emotion and sensationalism.” According to Greenpeace, “what Moore really saw was an opportunity for financial gain. Since then he has gone from defender of the planet to a paid representative of corporate polluters.”11Environmental Movement Has Lost Its Way” (PDF), The Miami Herald, January 28, 2005. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog. 12Greenpeace Statement On Patrick Moore,” Greenpeace, July 6, 2010. Archived July 16, 2016. Archive URL: https://archive.is/synkk

After he left Greenpeace, Moore began work with the Nuclear Energy Institute front group, the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition (CASEnergy).13Co-chairs Biographies,” CASEnergy Coalition. Archived January 26, 2011. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/Hsmyo Moore stepped down from his leadership role at CASEnergy in January 2013,14Our Five Favorite CASEnergy Coalition Moments with Dr. Moore,” CASEEnergy.com. Archived March 9, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/0wZPe however said he would remain an active member.15A Message From Dr. Moore,” CASEnergy.com. Archived January 18, 2014. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/dlE1U

Moore has worked for the mining industry, the logging industry, PVC manufacturers, the nuclear industry, and in defense of biotechnology. Greenpeace issued a 2010 statement distancing itself from Moore, saying he “exploits long gone ties with Greenpeace to sell himself as a speaker and pro-corporate spokesperson, usually taking positions that Greenpeace opposes.”16Greenpeace Statement On Patrick Moore,” Greenpeace, July 6, 2010. Archived July 16, 2016. Archive URL: https://archive.is/synkk

Moore has been criticized for his relations with “polluters and clear-cutters” through his consultancy. His primary income since the early 1990s has been consulting and publicly speaking for a variety of corporations and lobby groups such as the Nuclear Energy Institute.17Drake Bennett. “Eco-Traitor,” Wired magazine, March, 2004. Archived July 16, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/dwgUa 18Q&A With Patrick Moore, CASEnergy Coalition Co-Chair,” Nuclear Energy Institute, September, 2009. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/eFpT

As of 2014, Moore was also listed as a board member of NextEnergy, a Canadian energy services company.19Our Company,” NextEnergy. Archived January 8, 2014. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog. https://archive.is/3XHVF

Refusal to Drink Pesticide that “Won’t Hurt You”

After the World Health Organization released a study concluding that glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide, is “probably carcinogenic,”20Watch Lobbyist Eat His Words After Saying Drinking Roundup Is ‘Not Dangerous to Humans’,” EcoWatch, March 25, 2015. Archived July 12, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/RSYFk Pat Moore told a French filmmaker that glyphosate is safe to drink.21Lobbyist Claims Monsanto’s Roundup Is Safe To Drink, Freaks Out When Offered A Glass,” YouTube Video uploaded by user Panteras Panteralandia, March 27, 2015.

Upon being offered some glyphosate to try, Moore refused to take up his own suggestion, ending the interview and telling the filmmaker, “I’m not an idiot.” Video below.22What happened when Patrick Moore was challenged to drink a glass of glyphosate?” GMWatch, March 23, 2015. Archived July 12, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/uK4pU

Stance on Climate Change

September 24, 2020

In Marc Morano’s 2020 film Climate Hustle 2: Rise of the Climate Monarchy, produced by the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT),23Fox & Friends guest: ‘The whole climate crisis … is not only fake news, it’s fake science’,” Media Matters for America, March 12, 2019. Archived March 12, 2019. Archive.fo URL:  https://archive.fo/kqmDu a clip was played in which Moore described the climate crisis as “fake news”:24 Climate Hustle 2: Rise of the Climate Monarchy. CFACT/ CDR Communications, Inc., 2020

In fact, the whole climate crisis, as they call it, is not only fake news, it’s fake science. There is no climate crisis,” Moore commented.

Jun 12, 2018

In a debate including Michael Mann, Judith Curry, and David Titley, Moore said in response to a question:25Climate Debate – Mann vs Curry & Moore June 2018,” YouTube video uploaded by user “1000frolly,” July 22, 2018. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

“I didn’t say CO2 emissions were not affecting climate change. I said that it is an insignificant effect. CO2 is a greenhouse gas, but it is in the atmosphere at four one hundredths of a percent. How can we something in the atmosphere that is invisible, tasteless, odorless, colorless at 0.04% be the most powerful agent in the universe at this point in time? Obviously the climate changed dramatically throughout history with nothing to do with CO2.”

2015

“As I have stated publicly on many occasions, there is no definitive scientific proof, through real-world observation, that carbon dioxide is responsible for any of the slight warming of the global climate that has occurred during the past 300 years, since the peak of the Little Ice Age,” Moore said at the 2015 annual lecture for the Global Warming Policy Foundation.26PATRICK MOORE: SHOULD WE CELEBRATE CARBON DIOXIDE?The Global Warming Policy Foundation, October 15, 2015. Archived July 12, 2016. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmogBlog. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/F6Ytl

February 25, 2014

“There is no scientific proof that human emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) are the dominant cause of the minor warming of the Earth’s atmosphere over the past 100 years,” Moore declared in testimony before the U.S. Senate Environment & Public Works Committee.27UPDATED TIME: Subcommittee on Oversight hearing entitled, ‘Natural Resource Adaptation: Protecting Ecosystems and Economies’,“ U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, February 24, 2014. Archived March 13, 2019. Archived .mp4 on file at Desmog. Archive URL:  https://archive.fo/88fMS

May 24, 2007

“We do not know if we are a small or large part of the present global warming. It is not possible through science to determine an exact answer to this question. Certainly the natural factors, and there are many, that have acted to change the climate many times through the history of the Earth, are still operating today. They have not gone away. But human emissions of CO2 is a new (natural) factor. So it is very unlikely that we are the only factor causing the present global warming but we may be one of the factors,” Moore said in an interview with EUWatch.28EU Watch Interview with Patrick Moore, May 24, 2007,” EUWatch. Republished by Greenspirit Strategies Ltd. Archived March 16, 2016. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/SbHJG

2006

According to an article in the Honolulu Advertiser, “Moore contended that global warming and the melting of glaciers is positive because it creates more arable land and the use of forest products drives up demand for wood and spurs the planting of more trees. He added that any realistic plan to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and the emission of so-called greenhouse gases should include increased use of nuclear energy.”29Greenpeace co-founder praises global warming,” The Honolulu Advertiser, January 13, 2006. Archived July 16, 2016. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/tA2k1

Comments Surrounding 2021 Capitol Insurrection

Patrick Moore was among dozens of the individuals and organizations profiled in DeSmog’s Disinformation Database who posted online or gave interviews about the events surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection. Some posted claims of election fraud, similar to those that drove the Stop the Steal rally on Jan. 6. Some circulated dubious information about the insurrection itself. DeSmog has preserved a selection of notable posts related to the events of Jan. 6, 2021, including some that were later deleted or removed.

On Jan. 3, 2021, Moore posted the following message on Twitter:

Three days after the failed insurrection, Moore called moves by Twitter to curtail the spread of election misinformation “worse than Pearl Harbour or 9-11.”

He also posted repeatedly about his views of the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection: 
 

On Jan. 16, 2021, The Washington Post published a profile of John Earle Sullivan, shown in the photo accompanying the DailyWire.com article. “Activists in Utah have spent months condemning Sullivan, who has at turns identified himself as a racial justice protester and leftist documentarian, and they have warned others to be leery of his motives and any events he sponsored,” the Post wrote, adding that Sullivan has a history of “alienating activists on both ends of the political spectrum” and had organized a demonstration that “featured members of the Proud Boys, an all-male extremist group with ties to white nationalism.”30Tom Jackman, Marissa J. Lang, and Jon Swaine. “Man who shot video of fatal Capitol shooting is arrested, remains focus of political storm,” The Washington Post, January 16, 2021. Archived February 14, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/EVwWQ

He also suggested that a Rebel News article about alleged election fraud was the “tip of the iceberg.”

Key Quotes

April 6, 2020

Moore tweeted, comparing coronavirus models to climate models:

His tweet was included in an article at E&E News and Scientific American discussing how many climate science deniers have made comparisons in their critiques of climate and virus modeling despite scientific evidence to the contrary.31Scott Waldman. “Climate Science Deniers Turn to Attacking Coronavirus Models,” E&E News, April 15, 2020. Republished at Scientific American. Archived October 5, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/Y6w0i

January 26, 2020

In an interview with Rex Murphy, Moore claimed ocean acidification was “total fabrication”:32Dr. Patrick Moore, co-founder of Greenpeace, speaks his mind.” YouTube video uploaded by user “RexTV,” January 26, 2020. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

“This is a total fabrication. There’s no possibility that increased CO2 could cause any problem with the alkalinity or acidity of the oceans,”

Later in the program, he claimed increased CO2 concentrations are greening the Earth:

“The greening of the earth is a known fact, it’s being caused by CO2 fertilization. And not only does high CO2 increase the growth rate of all the plants on Earth, but it also improves their efficiency with water. It is. It makes them more drought tolerant,” he claimed, adding: “there is actually no concrete evidence that CO2 is causing any harmful warming whatsoever. If it causes a little bit of warming, we will be very lucky.”

“We may need warming. We could really use some warming. And it would be nice if doubling and doubling again CO2 would cause some. But there is no evidence in the historical record that that will happen,” Moore said.

March 2, 2019

In a Tweet, Moore described Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who has proposed a plan to transition the US to renewables titled the Green New Deal, as a “Pompous little twit.”33@AOC Pompous little twit. You don’t have a plan to grow food for 8 billion people without fossil fuels, or get food into the cities. Horses? If fossil fuels were banned every tree in the world would be cut down for fuel for cooking and heating. You would bring about mass death,” Twitter post by user “@EcoSenseNow” on March 2, 2019. Archived .png on file at DeSmog.

June 12, 2018

Speaking at an event ”Conversations on Climate Change” hosted by the law firm Spilman Thomas & Battle, Moore said:

“The fact is fossil fuels are 100 percent organic as in the scientific definition of organic. Organic chemistry is the chemistry of carbon. Organic used in food is a marketing term. Nothing to do with science. Produced with solar energy, 100%, they are a product of life fossil fuels. They are not some evil demon sent here from hell. They produce the two most important foods for life when they’re burnt: CO2 and water and they are the largest storage battery of energy on this planet. 

So I say celebrate CO2. It is the most life-giving substance along with water on this planet and it’s doing the world a lot of good.”34Conversations on Climate Change,” retrieved from ConstantContact.com event page. Archived March 14, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/Tq9d8

[…]

“The word consensus, when used in a sentence with science, is false because consensus is a political and social work and that is a different arena than science.”35Conversations on Climate Change,” retrieved from ConstantContact.com event page. Archived March 14, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/Tq9d8

June 2016

The following is an excerpt from Patrick Moore’s report for the Frontier Center for Public Policy, “The Positive Impact of Human CO2 Emissions on the Survival of Life on Earth”:

“The combustion of fossil fuels for energy to power human civilization has reversed the downward trend in CO2 and promises to bring it back to levels that are likely to foster a considerable increase in the growth rate and biomass of plants, including food crops and trees.

“Human emissions of CO2 have restored a balance to the global carbon cycle, thereby ensuring the long-term continuation of life on Earth.

“This extremely positive aspect of human CO2 emissions must be weighed against the unproven hypothesis that human CO2 emissions will cause a catastrophic warming of the climate in coming years.

The one-sided political treatment of CO2 as a pollutant that should be radically reduced must be corrected in light of the indisputable scientific evidence that it is essential to life on Earth.”36Patrick Moore. “THE POSITIVE IMPACT OF HUMAN CO2 EMISSIONS ON THE SURVIVAL OF LIFE ON EARTH” (PDF), Frontier Center for Public Policy, June, 2016. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

October 2015

In the 2015 annual lecture for the Global Warming Policy Foundation, Moore suggested that we should “celebrate carbon dioxide”:37PATRICK MOORE: SHOULD WE CELEBRATE CARBON DIOXIDE?The Global Warming Policy Foundation, October 15, 2015. Archived July 12, 2016. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmogBlog. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/F6Ytl

“[H]uman emissions of CO2 have already saved life on our planet from a very untimely end. That in the absence of our emitting some of the carbon back into the atmosphere from whence it came in the first place, most or perhaps all life on Earth would begin to die less than two million years from today.”38PATRICK MOORE: SHOULD WE CELEBRATE CARBON DIOXIDE?The Global Warming Policy Foundation, October 15, 2015. Archived July 12, 2016. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmogBlog. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/F6Ytl

“To conclude, carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels is the stuff of life, the staff of life, the currency of life, indeed the backbone of life on Earth.”39PATRICK MOORE: SHOULD WE CELEBRATE CARBON DIOXIDE?The Global Warming Policy Foundation, October 15, 2015. Archived July 12, 2016. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmogBlog. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/F6Ytl

March 31, 2015

“If there were no CO2 in the atmosphere there would be no life on this planet. Surely that should be enough to permit questioning the certainty of those who demonize this key molecule,” Moore wrote in the opinion section of The Province.  “We should celebrate CO2 as the giver of life it is.”40Patrick Moore: Carbon is not ‘pollution,’ whether in oceans or the air,” The Province, March 31, 2015. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/kW1a7

October 2014

Quoted in the Daily Mail, Moore characterized Greenpeace as an “evil organisation”:41Greenpeace condemned by its original founder as ‘evil’ and being guilty of ‘losing its humanitarian roots’,” Daily Mail, October 15, 2014. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/oN82M

“When we started Greenpeace it was to stop nuclear war and the destruction of human civilisation, that of course is the ‘peace’ in Greenpeace.

“The ‘green’ is the environment and that’s good as well, but they lost the concerns for humans… They have turned, basically, into an evil organisation,” Moore said.

July 2014

Patrick Moore was a speaker at the Heartland Institute’s Ninth International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC9) in Las Vegas, Nevada. His speech, titled “Confessions of a Greenpeace Dropout” can be viewed below.42Return of Climate Denial-a-Palooza: Heartland Institute Hitches Anti-Science Wagon to Vegas FreedomFest,” DeSmog, July 7, 2014. Archived July 14, 2014.

“Why did I leave Greenpeace after 15 years? When I began with Greenpeace, they had a strong humanitarian orientation to stop all-out nuclear war, to save civilization from destruction. By the time I left 15 years later—that’s the ‘peace’ in Greenpeace of course—by the time I left 15 years later, Greenpeace had drifted into a position along with the rest of the movement as characterizing humans as the enemies of the Earth,” Moore said in his presentation, later highlighted by the Heartland Institute in 2018.43Patrick Moore, ICCC9 (Keynote),” International Conferenes on Climate Change. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

Confessions of a Greenpeace Dropout

DeSmog has done in-depth research on the other speakers and sponsors from Heartland’s ICCC9, which can be found here.

Moore was the recipient of the Heartland Institute‘s Speaks Truth to Power Award, also given at ICCC9. Footage of his acceptance speech can be viewed below. 

June 13, 2012

Moore’s Greenspirit Strategies Ltd. offered the following description on its page “Who are the Founders of Greenpeace”:44Patrick Moore. ”Who are the Founders of Greenpeace?” Greenspirit Strategies. June, 2012. Archived March 16, 2016. Archived .pdf on file at Desmog. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/hO182

“I support sustainable forestry, which is sometimes best done by making clearings where new trees can grow in the sun. I have given my reasons for supporting nuclear power, vinyl and genetic engineering in my books, all of which stem from a concern for the environment and human welfare. And is Greenpeace suggesting environmentalists should be against “mining”? Have these people stopped riding bicycles, texting on cell phones, typing on laptops, and riding mass transit? How could they say anything more ridiculous?”

November 21, 2009

Moore gave a talk at TEDx Vancouver. Some excerpts below:

[3:08-3:48] “You see people should, sort of, wake up to the fact that the climate stopped warming more than 10 years ago. Nineteen ninety-eight was the warmest year we’ve had in the last 100 years. Since then there’s been a slight cooling trend. Yes, the Arctic ice was lowest in 2007 in any summer since we started measuring it, only in 1979, so we don’t really have a very long dataset here, but for the last two years it has been rebuilding. Antarctica never did get warm, it has remained cold and the sea ice around Antarctica has not shrunk in the slightest, and you can find this easily on the Internet.”45Patrick Moore. “TEDxVancouver – Patrick Moore 11/21/09,” TEDx Talks, January 28, 2010.

[7:35-8:13] “I think it is crazy for Al Gore to suggest that in 10 years from now, we will not be using any fossil fuels. That is apparently his goal, and politicians of the world over are clambering over each other to make more wildly ridiculous promises about 80% reduction in fossil fuels or a carbon neutral world. Personally, I do not think a carbon neutral world is feasible: Not with this many people, and not if people are going to bring themselves out of poverty in the developing countries. It’s just not going to happen, and maybe it isn’t necessary to have a carbon neutral world.”46Patrick Moore. “TEDxVancouver – Patrick Moore 11/21/09,” TEDx Talks, January 28, 2010.

March 4, 2008

Claiming that the winter of 2007-2008 was the coldest in years, Moore dismissed scientific analysis of Arctic ice loss due to man-made climate change:

There’s so much ice the polar bears can’t get at the seals.”47David Carte. “It’s incredibly safe, cheap and it doesn’t stink,” Money Web, March 4, 2008. Archived January 25, 2019. Archive.is URL: http://archive.fo/sARC1

March 4, 2005

In an op-ed for the Toronto Sun, Moore expressed doubt about human activity as a contributing factor in climate change:

The world’s climate has always been changing; it is impossible to tell if our activities are responsible for global warming.”48Patrick Moore. Untitled EditorialToronto Sun, March 4, 2005. Archived January 22, 2019. Archive.is URL: http://archive.is/QrA5l

Key Actions

September 16, 2022

While promoting his book, Fake Invisible Catastrophes and Threats of Doom” on Fox News, Moore called Greenpeace a “racket pedaling junk science.” He claimed that Greenpeace tells “fake” stories about CO2, radiation, and GMOs because they are “invisible” dangers. He claimed environmentalists were lying about threats posed to polar bear populations and coral reefs, given recent reports that he said demonstrated their recovery and imperviousness to climate change.49‘Fighting climate change’ a ‘stupid expression’: Greenpeace co-founder,” YouTube video uploaded by user “Fox Business,” September 16, 2022. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

Organizations tracking polar bear populations have sought to debunk similar claims. For example, Polar Bears International has clarified:50Status,” Polar Bears International. Archived January 31, 2023. Archive URL:https://archive.ph/feoMq

“The number of polar bears worldwide is not increasing. Some populations are recovering after their numbers were vastly reduced by uncontrolled hunting in the 1960s, but that potential for growth is running head first into declining carrying capacity in some regions due to loss of sea ice habitat.”

The Great Barrier Reef research reported by the Australian Institute of Marine Science, rather than suggesting the reef was bouncing back, found that the annual heat-driven bleaching events threatening coral were less severe than previous years. They found that the “2020 and 2022 bleaching events, while extensive, didn’t reach the intensity of the 2016 and 2017 events and, as a result, we have seen less mortality.” The bleaching events were expected to worsen given the “increasingly frequent and longer-lasting marine heatwaves” caused by climate change.51(Press Release). “Highest coral cover in central, northern Reef in 36 years,Australian Institute of Marine Science, August 4, 2022. Archived January 31, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/O1JOC

February 8, 2022

Moore’s scheduled appearance to speak at a conference was canceled after organizers claim that they were provided misleading credentials.52Michelle Gamage. “Climate Skeptic Patrick Moore Axed from BC Conference,” The Tyee, February 8, 2022. Archived April 11, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/RMi6I

The event, a joint conference of the British Columbia Institute of Agrologists and the Applied Science Technologists and Technicians of British Columbia, originally scheduled Moore to provide “both sides” of the climate science debate. Moore’s credentials as provided to the conference organizers highlight his past with Greenpeace and describe him as a “leader of the international environmental movement for over 50 years.” The conference schedule referred to him as “Environmental Movement Leader, Co-founder of Greenpeace.”53Michelle Gamage. “Climate Skeptic Patrick Moore Axed from BC Conference,” The Tyee, February 8, 2022. Archived April 11, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/RMi6I

After organizers learned more, they said the “material shown to us by his agency didn’t provide the whole story. … When we got the full story we said it’s not accurate,” said John-Paul Ellson, CEO and registrar of the BC Institute of Agrologists. Moore claimed that the cancelation was proof that “[c]ancel culture is alive and well.”54Michelle Gamage. “Climate Skeptic Patrick Moore Axed from BC Conference,” The Tyee, February 8, 2022. Archived April 11, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/RMi6I

September 14, 2021

Following Moore’s claims he was “deplatformed” from a speech in Regina, Canada, Ezra Levant booked the Conexus Art Center to feature Moore for his cancelled talk.55Rebel News presents: Dr. Patrick Moore’s de-platformed speech in Regina,” Rebel News, August 12, 2021. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

Speaking of the event Moore was originally set to speak at, Levant commented:56Rebel News presents: Dr. Patrick Moore’s de-platformed speech in Regina,” Rebel News, August 12, 2021. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

“He would have been definitely the star speaker at the conference, but then a cancel culture mob, including city officials and frankly, the local left wing media, they whipped up a fake frenzy and the city absolutely disgraced themselves by reneging on their invitation to him.”

In addition to basic event tickets, Levant also said they were selling an “exclusive VIP wine and cheese reception” as well as a “private dinner with Dr. Moore after the speech.”

January 20, 2021

Moore released a new book titled Fake Invisible Catastrophes and Threats of Doom published by his company, EcoSense Environmental.   Moore had organized a fundraiser for the book where he raised just over $26,000 of a $30,000 goal as of February 2021.57Fake Invisible Catastrophes & Threats of Doom,” gofundme organized by Patrick Moore. Accessed February 18, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/N1unz    

“We must call out the fake news and fake science that is being peddled, especially to the urban masses who don’t get much good science education and don’t get out in the woods much.” Moore wrote in the fundraiser description. He noted the book was based on a June 2019 essay, “Fake Invisible Catastrophes and Threats of Doom.”58Patrick Moore. “Fake Invisible Catastrophes and Threats of Doom (Essay),” retrieved via DropBox (Publisher not listed). Document on file at DeSmog.   

In that essay, Moore asserted warming oceans were not a danger to coral reefs:

“It is well known that the world’s warmest oceans are in the region of Indonesia, the Philippines, and the Solomon Islands,” Moore wrote in the essay. “This area is called the Coral Triangle and it harbors the world’s largest number of coral species and the largest number of reef fish and other reef dwellers. Surely this puts to rest the assertion that the seas are ‘too hot’ for corals due to climate change.”  

He added: “How is the average person in Europe or North America supposed to “see for themselves” what is really occurring? Not only is the reef thousands of miles away from most people and far offshore, it is below the surface of the sea. Hundreds of millions of people were told the reef was doomed when we now know much of the bleached coral has already recovered. But that fact was barely reported in major media outlets. Fake news flies, the real story dies.”

On polar bears, citing Susan Crockford in a Global Warming Policy Foundation report, he wrote:

“The truth is the polar bear population has increased from about 6,000 – 8,000 in the 1960s to 25,000 – 28,000 today. […] We know polar bears survived the last interglacial period, the Eemian, 110,000 years ago, which was warmer than the current Holocene interglacial period. But photos of old starving bears, bears supposedly “trapped” on ice floes, and bears that are thin after a long hibernation, are effectively employed to perpetuate the myth that they are threatened with extinction.”

On CO2 and climate change, Moore wrote:

“During the past 150 million years CO2 had steadily declined to such a low level that plants were seriously threatened with starvation during the peak of the last glacial cycle. Thankfully, our emissions have inadvertently reversed that trend, bringing a balance back to the global carbon cycle. All of this can be verified yet the narrative of “climate catastrophe”, which has no basis in science, is hollered from the rooftops around the world.”

September 16, 2020

Moore was featured on Alex Epstein’s Power Hour where he blamed California’s recent wildfires on “Green” forest mismanagement.59Patrick Moore on How ‘Green’ Forest Mismanagement Caused the California Wildfire Disaster,” Power Hour with Alex Epstein, September 16, 2020. Archived .mp3 on file at DeSmog.

“I think it’s coming out in the news more now that the problem is too much fuel, not the climate. The climate doesn’t start fires. Lightning starts fires and people start fires,” Moore said in the interview.

“The problem in these forests is they are suppressing fire. They’re trying to stop fire from happening,” Moore said. “You need to have regular controlled burns or thinning. You can do it with a chainsaw. You can do it with fire. There’s a lot less risk of the fire getting away if you do it with a chainsaw. But for some reason, people think they’re evil or something. They don’t like people cutting trees with chainsaws.”60Patrick Moore on How ‘Green’ Forest Mismanagement Caused the California Wildfire Disaster,” Power Hour with Alex Epstein, September 16, 2020. Archived .mp3 on file at DeSmog.

“[T]he problem with the public forests is they are being managed by an urban green public instead of by professional foresters,” Morano said.  “Whereas the private forest land … The people who own those do not want them to burn because they’re very valuable, because that’s how they make their living.”61Patrick Moore on How ‘Green’ Forest Mismanagement Caused the California Wildfire Disaster,” Power Hour with Alex Epstein, September 16, 2020. Archived .mp3 on file at DeSmog.

Moore went on to suggest climate change was not to blame:62Patrick Moore on How ‘Green’ Forest Mismanagement Caused the California Wildfire Disaster,” Power Hour with Alex Epstein, September 16, 2020. Archived .mp3 on file at DeSmog.

“I think it’s coming out in the news more now that the problem is too much fuel, not the climate. The climate doesn’t start fires. Lightning starts fires and people start fires.”63Patrick Moore on How ‘Green’ Forest Mismanagement Caused the California Wildfire Disaster,” Power Hour with Alex Epstein, September 16, 2020. Archived .mp3 on file at DeSmog.

Speaking of the issue of the management of public lands and wildfire prevention, Moore said:64Patrick Moore on How ‘Green’ Forest Mismanagement Caused the California Wildfire Disaster,” Power Hour with Alex Epstein, September 16, 2020. Archived .mp3 on file at DeSmog.

“[T]hese bureaucracies have been taken over by people with a green orientation, as they like to call it. But it doesn’t end up being very green when the whole thing burns up.” Moore said: “It seems that the more extreme environmental groups have had held held sway here in terms of a hands off approach.”

“The problem with much of the environmental movement is that they really do believe that everything humans do is bad, like humans are the enemies of the planet. Right. And all interventions are the destruction of nature. And there’s nothing could be further from the truth.” 

[…]

“You know what? When a hot wildfire goes up a mountainside, it does a lot more damage than the logging does because it burns the soil off the rocks and that sets it back about two or three hundred years.  Whereas loggers don’t rip the soil off the rocks, they leave the roots in the stumps there. And gradually a new forest will grow back by itself, or usually these days, especially in private forest lands. They’re always planted with the species that they want to be there for the next harvest.”

Moore also commented on climate and CO2 levels, claiming we are at “starvation levels” of CO2 for plants and that climate has been warmer in the past (see these arguments discussed at SkepticalScience):

“Most people don’t realize that even in this interglacial period, we’re in a colder period of the Earth’s climate than it has been in through almost its entire history. This is the first ice age in two hundred and fifty million years. From two hundred and fifty million years ago to about five million years ago, the Earth was always warmer than it is now, today. People are saying it’s too hot. People are saying there’s not enough CO2, when it went down to its lowest level in the history of the Earth twenty thousand years ago, at the peak of the last glaciation, because when the oceans cooled, they suck CO2 out of the atmosphere when they warm like they have done since it came back up a little higher again.

But still starvation levels for plants. And even today, the level of CO2 in the global atmosphere is only about one quarter to one third or so of what the plants would really like to have. What they evolved to live in. Up to eight hundred parts, which is twice today’s level, up to two thousand parts, which is five times today’s level. That’s where plants are happiest.”
[…]

Now, maybe people after seeing this. Hopefully it will just be a fringe that still thinks that this is caused by climate change. And it gets a lot of news, I know, but it isn’t being caused by climate change in any way, shape or form.

June 2020

Moore wrote a CO2 Coalition white paper on ocean acidification where he claimed the term was “misleading” because “Ocean ‘acidification’ from carbon dioxide emissions would require a virtually impossible ten-fold decrease in the alkalinity of surface waters.” View SkepticalScience‘s related discussion on myths surrounding ocean acidification.65Ocean Health – Is there an ‘Acidification’ problem?” CO2 Coalition, June 2020. Archived October 5, 2020. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog. 

“Shells and marine species thrive in widely varying pH levels, making the so-called acidification crisis yet another cynical example of propaganda masquerading as science. As with fears of polar bear extinction, frequencies of hurricanes, length of droughts, and ‘accelerating’ sea-level rise, the specter of ‘ocean acidification’ has no basis in the scientific data,” Moore claimed in the paper.66Ocean Health – Is there an ‘Acidification’ problem?” CO2 Coalition, June 2020. Archived October 5, 2020. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog. 

May 7, 2020

Moore co-wrote an article with Caleb Rossiter at Marc Morano‘s Climate Depot where they “rebut” a Washington Post article. In their piece, Moore and Rossiter claim “Climate Change Actually NOT the Cause of Coastal Flooding.”67Patrick Moore and Caleb Rossiter. “Dr. Patrick Moore & Dr. Caleb Rossiter Rebut Wash Post: Oops! Climate Change Actually NOT the Cause of Coastal Flooding,” Climate Depot, May 7, 2020. Archived October 5, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/Ff6yd

February 2020

Moore was scheduled to speak at the city of Regina’s sustainability conference, however claimed he was “deplatformed” for his views on climate.68Patrick Moore: I was banned from speaking in Regina over this alternative CO2 point of view,” Financial Post, February 13, 2020. Archived September 24, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/DdD1p

“’In its announcement regarding my banishment, the city said it did not want “to spark a debate on climate change.’ It said the stated goal of the conference is ‘to make the city’s facilities and operations 100 per cent renewable by 2050.’ In other words, municipal officials wanted me to say what they wanted me to say and not what I wanted to say to them. That’s just not how I operate,” Moore wrote in an article at Financial Post

He concluded: “Regina is one of at least 54 cities and towns in Canada that have declared a state of ‘climate emergency.’ This is political virtue-signalling at its disingenuous best: the only people fleeing any emergency from these cities are doing so to escape the frigid winter by flying to a warmer country further south. Not a lot of Canadians from our southern regions are heading to Yellowknife or Inuvik, N.W.T, to escape global warming. The climate emergency is at best a bad joke. It might even be amusing were it not threatening to ban the primary energy sources — natural gas, oil and coal — that provide 85 per cent of global energy and make our civilization possible.”

Following the cancellation, Moore was given a new platform by conservative commentator and Rebel Media founder Ezra Levant.69Patrick Moore finds new platform in Regina after city cancels him from conference,” Regina Leader-Post, February 13, 2020. Archived September 24, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/0LEpn

“Media bullies, environmental extremists and political scolds thought they could deplatform Dr. Moore. We’re re-platforming him — and it looks like he’ll have a far larger audience than before,” Levant said in an email.70Patrick Moore finds new platform in Regina after city cancels him from conference,” Regina Leader-Post, February 13, 2020. Archived September 24, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/0LEpn

The incredible response by Reginans shows that Canadians won’t accept political elites telling them who they can or can’t hear from, especially on global warming and related matters. People want to come and judge for themselves.”71Patrick Moore finds new platform in Regina after city cancels him from conference,” Regina Leader-Post, February 13, 2020. Archived September 24, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/0LEpn

January 26, 2020

Moore was interviewed by Rex Murphy where he talked about “why he became disillusioned with Greenpeace’s mission, and the rampant untruths and myths surrounding global warming,” among other issues.72Dr. Patrick Moore, co-founder of Greenpeace, speaks his mind.” YouTube video uploaded by user “RexTV,” January 26, 2020. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

During the interview, Moore claimed the term ocean acidification was “totally bogus.”

“It is absolutely a fabrication of when the temperature stopped rising around year 2000 and the so-called hiatus or pause came along, they had to come up with something to keep the ball rolling on the climate change thing,” Moore claimed. “And they invented this idea of ocean acidification where increased CO2 would increase the acidity of the ocean.”

Moore then went on to repeat a common climate change myth that high levels of CO2 in the past somehow negates the current effects of man-made emissions. “CO2 is still at extremely low levels, even with what we’ve put in compared to the history of CO2 […]. We have actually restored a balance to the global carbon cycle to a small extent, but we haven’t brought it back up anywhere near. It was when the massive forest carboniferous forests were flourishing in high CO2 environment and going up from the very beginning.”

Commenting on Greta Thunberg, Moore said: “she’s a tool and she’s a tool of Al Gore and Arnold Schwarzenegger and George Soros and a whole cabal, including her own parents who write most of her tweets.”

August 2019

Moore was interviewed by Friends of Science in a segment titled “Green Trade War and Climate Emergency Empty Virtue Signalling.”73Green Trade War and Climate Emergency Empty Virtue Signalling,” YouTube video uploaded by user “Friends of Science,” August 8, 2019. Archived .mp4 on file at Desmog.

During the interview, Moore claimed the Green Movement was “only picking on Canada” with regards to fossil fuel extraction and pipelines.

“They’re not trying to stop the United States from building pipelines or or drilling for oil,” Moore claimed. 

“The US has 100 times more pipelines than Canada does. And we need a couple more and they’re successful in stopping it. And and, of course, most of the funding for that is coming from U.S. activists and foundations. So we’re in we’re in a very bad, unique position in that they’re actually picking on us from all quarters and trying to eliminate us from the competition for providing oil to all the people who want it every day and needed every day to get from one place to another in particular.”

The idea that there’s a conspiracy of foreign-funded groups funding the anti-pipeline movement has been repeated by Alberta’s premier Jason Kenney, and is a central argument put out by Canadian blogger Vivian Krause.74Sandy Garossino. “A data-based dismantling of Jason Kenney’s foreign-funding conspiracy theory,” National Observer, October 3, 2019.

July 20, 2019

Moore gave a presentation at the Doctors for Disaster Preparedness conference in Tucson, Arizona on “12 Fake Invisible Catastrophes and Threats of Doom.”75Dr. Patrick Moore: 12 Fake Invisible Catastrophes and Threats of Doom,” YouTube video uploaded by user “Friends of Science,” March 17, 2020. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

May 22, 2019

Testifying before the House Committee on Natural Resources, Moore objected to the findings of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) on global extinction rates.76John R. Platt. “Rise of the Extinction Deniers,” Scientific American, June 22, 2019. Archived July 1, 2019. Archive.is URL: http://archive.is/eGVDi The IPBES Global Assessment Report predicted that up to one million species would become extinct as a direct consequence of human activity.77Media Release: Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES),” IPBES.net, May 6, 2019. Archived July 1, 2019. Archive.is URL: http://archive.is/Gk0jM. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

Moore’s prepared testimony dismissed the IBPES report as alarmist propaganda:

As with the manufactured ‘climate crisis’ they are using the specter of mass extinction as a fear tactic to scare the public into compliance,” Moore told the committee. “The IBPES itself is an existential threat to sensible policy on biodiversity conservation.”78Statement of Patrick Moore, Ph.D. Before the House Committee on Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans and Wildlife,” NaturalResources.House.gov, May 22, 2019. Archived July 1, 2019. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

Also testifying was former IPBES chair Sir Robert Watson, who summarized the report’s findings:

The evidence is unequivocal – biodiversity, which is important in its own right and essential for human well-being is being destroyed by human activities at a rate unprecedented in human history.”79Key Findings from the Global Assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, Robert T. Watson, Former chair of IPBES,” NaturalResources.House.gov, May 22, 2019. Archived July 1, 2019. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

May 6, 2019

Moore became Chairman of the Board for the CO2 Coalition. In a press release, the organization announced Moore’s new role by stating:80Press Release. “Former Greenpeace Leader Dr. Patrick Moore to Chair CO2 Coalition,” StreetInsider.com, May 6, 2019. Archived May 10, 2019. Archive.is URL: http://archive.is/vAb7s. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

The new leadership will educate the public about the benefits of carbon dioxide, the main building block of life on Earth. They will explain how the increase in CO2 in the atmosphere from human emissions is spurring increased growth of crops, forests and plants. They will also focus on discussing how CO2 is also a very weak greenhouse gas that may have the added benefit of slight warming of the climate.They will highlight the U.S. government data showing that the modest warming, even if caused in part by industrial CO2 has resulted in no increase in extreme weather such as hurricanes and droughts or changes in the rate of sea-level rise.”81Press Release. “Former Greenpeace Leader Dr. Patrick Moore to Chair CO2 Coalition,” StreetInsider.com, May 6, 2019. Archived May 10, 2019. Archive.is URL: http://archive.is/vAb7s. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

Commenting on his new leadership role, Moore said:82Press Release. “Former Greenpeace Leader Dr. Patrick Moore to Chair CO2 Coalition,” StreetInsider.com, May 6, 2019. Archived May 10, 2019. Archive.is URL: http://archive.is/vAb7s. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

“We aim to position the CO2 Coalition as the go-to source for information on the benefits of CO2 for the environment and civilization. Human CO2 emissions are causing a greening of the Earth, which will increase agricultural and forestry production, as well as increasing the fertility and abundance of global ecosystems.”83Press Release. “Former Greenpeace Leader Dr. Patrick Moore to Chair CO2 Coalition,” StreetInsider.com, May 6, 2019. Archived May 10, 2019. Archive.is URL: http://archive.is/vAb7s. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

March 12, 2019

Patrick Moore appeared on an episode of Fox and Friends in which he said “The whole climate crisis … is not only fake news, it’s fake science,” Media Matters reported. Moore also criticized the Green New Deal and continued to defend comments he had made about Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez:84Fox & Friends guest: ‘The whole climate crisis … is not only fake news, it’s fake science’,” Media Matters for America, March 12, 2019. Archived March 12, 2019. Archive.fo URL:  https://archive.fo/kqmDu

Moore said:

“Well, it’s a silly plan. That’s why I suggested [Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez] was a pompous little twit. ‘Twit,’ meaning, ‘silly’ in the British lexicon and, ‘pompous,’ meaning, ‘arrogant.’ She really rubbed me the wrong way when she said she’s ‘the boss,’ because she can make up a proposal that’s completely ridiculous and no one else did. And that is what’s wrong about this. 

“In fact, the whole climate crisis, as they call it, is not only fake news, it’s fake science. There is no climate crisis. There is weather and climate all around the world. And, in fact, carbon dioxide is the main building block of all life. That’s where the carbon comes from in carbon-based life, which is all life on land and in the sea. And, not only that, a little bit of warming would not be a bad thing for myself, being a Canadian, and the people in Russia wouldn’t mind a little couple of degrees warmer either.”

In the video, Moore is incorrectly introduced as a “founder of Greenpeace.” In a later tweet, President Donald Trump quoted Moore on climate change and repeated the false title. Greenpeace responded on Twitter — see the interchange below:

As numerous news sources have noted, this isn’t the first time Greenpeace has released a statement on Moore. See DeSmog‘s recent reporting here.85Phil Dzikiy. “Trump quotes climate change denier and Green New Deal critic Patrick Moore,” Electrek, March 12, 2019. Archived March 12, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/0UaWO

For example, below is an excerpt from Greenpeace’s 2010 statement:86Greenpeace Statement On Patrick Moore,” Greenpeace, July 6, 2010. Archived July 16, 2016. Archive URL: https://archive.is/synkk

“Patrick Moore has been a paid spokesman for a variety of polluting industries for more than 30 years, including the timber, mining, chemical and the aquaculture industries. Most of these industries hired Mr. Moore only after becoming the focus of a Greenpeace campaign to improve their environmental performance. Mr. Moore has now worked for polluters for far longer than he ever worked for Greenpeace. Greenpeace opposes the use of nuclear energy because it is a dangerous and expensive distraction from real solutions to climate change.”

Moore later thanked Trump for his message in another Tweet, noting he would be in an upcoming meeting of the CO2 Coalition:

March 6, 2019

Moore appeared on a Breitbart News Tonight to discuss the supposed “cynical and corrupt machinations fueling the narrative of anthropocentric global warming and ‘climate change’.”87Greenpeace Founder: Global Warming Hoax Pushed by Corrupt Scientists ‘Hooked on Government Grants’,” Breitbart, March 7, 2019. Archived March 8, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/oj0Xk

“Fear has been used all through history to gain control of people’s minds and wallets and all else, and the climate catastrophe is strictly a fear campaign — well, fear and guilt — you’re afraid you’re killing your children because you’re driving them in your SUV and emitting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and you feel guilty for doing that. There’s no stronger motivation than those two,” Moore said.88Greenpeace Founder: Global Warming Hoax Pushed by Corrupt Scientists ‘Hooked on Government Grants’,” Breitbart, March 7, 2019. Archived March 8, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/oj0Xk

During the interview, Moore discussed his post on Twitter that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, behind the Green New Deal, was a “Pompous little twit.” During the interview, Moore described Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as a “bully.”89Greenpeace Founder: Global Warming Hoax Pushed by Corrupt Scientists ‘Hooked on Government Grants’,” Breitbart, March 7, 2019. Archived March 8, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/oj0Xk

“I saw a bully, and I don’t like bullies. And I don’t like people who are bullies that don’t even know what they’re talking about,” Moore said.90Greenpeace Founder: Global Warming Hoax Pushed by Corrupt Scientists ‘Hooked on Government Grants’,” Breitbart, March 7, 2019. Archived March 8, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/oj0Xk

December 14, 2018

The Heartland Institute released a report written by Willie Soon and Patrick Moore among others criticizing Greenpeace, claiming the group promotes “socialist and anti-capitalist ideals.” According to the authors, “Greenpeace are not actually helping to protect the environment, or exposing real problems.”91“Analysis of Greenpeace’s business model & philosophy” (PDF), Heartland Institute, December 2018. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

February 4, 2018

In January 2018, more than 200 scientists endorsed an open letter calling on the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) to remove climate change denier Rebekah Mercer from its board and to “end ties to anti-science propagandists and funders of climate science misinformation.” The New York Times reported that those among the AMNH letter calling for Mercer to step down were Michael E. Mann, director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University, and Katharine Hayhoe, director of the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University.92Robin Pogrebin and Somini Sengupta. “A Science Denier at the Natural History Museum? Scientists Rebel,” The New York Times, January 25, 2018. Archived February 13, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/tAIv4

Moore was among a group of climate change deniers who responded with their own open letter, calling for the AMNH “not to cave in to this pressure.” The letter was signed by numerous individuals with ties to groups funded by the Mercer Family Foundation such as Will Happer of the CO2 CoalitionRichard Lindzen, a fellow at the Cato InstituteCraig Idso, the chairman of the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change. There are a number of signatories affiliated with the Heartland Institute, which has received over $5.78 million from the Mercer Family Foundation since 2008.93Graham Readfearn. “Climate Science Deniers Defend New York’s American Museum of Natural History From Calls to Drop Trustee Rebekah Mercer,” DeSmog, February 6, 2018.

The letter read:94mnh18-feb4-petitionletter (PDF – Untitled). Retrieved from Watts Up With That.

The Earth has supported abundant life many times in the geological past when there were much higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. It is quite likely that future generations will benefit from the enrichment of Earth’s atmosphere with more carbon dioxide.

Make no mistake, the agitators are not defending science from quackery — quite the contrary!”

June 12, 2018

Moore was a speaker at an event titled “Conversations on Climate Change” hosted by the law firm Spilman Thomas & Battle. According to the event description: “Climate change is undeniable. But is human activity causing it, and if so, to what degree? How are current public policies helping or hurting the situation? All these questions and more will be addressed at Spilman Thomas & Battle’s Environmental Forum: Conversations on Climate Change.” Speakers included Michael E. Mann, David W. Titley, Patrick Moore, and Judith Curry.95Conversations on Climate Change,” retrieved from ConstantContact.com event page. Archived March 14, 2019. Archive URL: https://archive.fo/Tq9d8

February 23, 2017

Patrick Moore was a signatory of a petition (PDF) organized by Richard Lindzen of the Cato Institute urging President Donald Trump to pull the United States out of the United Nations international convention on climate change (UNFCCC).96“PETITION” (PDF), February 23, 2017. Richard Lindzen. PDF Archived at DeSmog.

In just a few weeks, more than 300 eminent scientists and other qualified individuals from around the world have signed the petition below,” Lindzen wrote in the letter.97“PETITION” (PDF), February 23, 2017. Richard Lindzen. PDF Archived at DeSmog.

DeSmog investigated the list and found that only a small handful of the signatories could be considered “even remotely ‘qualified’ or ‘eminent’ — but not in the field of climate science.” The list included individuals “interested in climate,” and one signatory who only identified as an “emailer who wished to sign the petition” while some signers provided no affiliation or address whatsoever.98Graham Readfearn. “Climate Science Denier Richard Lindzen’s List of 300 “Scientists” Sent to Trump Is the Usual Parade of Non-Experts,” DeSmog, February 27, 2017.

August 2016

Moore was a “Founding Member“ Climate Exit (Clexit),99The Clexit Committee comprises” (PDF), Clexit.net. Archived.pdf on file at Desmog. a group 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.”100“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.101Graham Readfearn. “After Brexit, Climate Science Denialists Form New Group to Call for a Clexit,” DeSmog, August 3, 2016. 102Hugh Morgan AO,” Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Archived February 22, 2002. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/1ObOB

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 […]”103“After Brexit, Clexit” (PDF), Clexit.net. Archived .pdf on file at Desmog.

July 29, 2016

Moore was a guest on “Conversations That Matter” at the Vancouver Sun where he discussed his views on a variety of topics including GMOs, global warming, and nuclear energy. On ocean acidification, Moore said “It’s a meme. It’s fabricated.”104Video: Dr. Patrick Moore – Controversial activist, environmentalist, agitator speaks out,” Vancouver Sun, July 29, 2016. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

He also claimed that global temperatures have been flat for twenty years: “The temperature of the Earth is not going up on an exponential curve. It’s basically been flat for twenty years, except for this last El Niño which spiked like it did in 98,” Moore said.105Video: Dr. Patrick Moore – Controversial activist, environmentalist, agitator speaks out,” Vancouver Sun, July 29, 2016. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

June 7, 2016

Moore released a new report at the Frontier Center for Public Policy titled “The Positive Impact Of Human CO2 Emissions On The Survival Of Life On Earth.” According to the press release, the report “highlights scientific literature that is often ignored in mainstream discussions about climate change policies.” That is, it is humanity’s role to emit as much carbon dioxide as possible to ensure the continued survival of the planet:106(Press Release). “Earth-protecting, positive environmental effects of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions? Necessary for the survival of the planet?” CNW, June 7, 2016. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmogBlog. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/gtD3Z

“This paper serves as a discussion about the role of atmospheric CO2 in the maintenance of life on Earth and the positive role of human civilization in preventing CO2 from trending downward to levels that threaten the very existence of life.”107(Press Release). “Earth-protecting, positive environmental effects of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions? Necessary for the survival of the planet?” CNW, June 7, 2016. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmogBlog. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/gtD3Z

According to the FCPP‘s report description and executive summary, “life on Earth would begin to die as soon as two million years from now” without man-made CO2 emissions:108The Positive Impact of Human CO₂ Emissions on the Survival of Life on Earth,” Frontier Center for Public Policy. Archived June 27, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/3EYRj

“It is calculated that if the decline in CO2 levels were to continue at the same rate as it has over the past 140 million years, life on Earth would begin to die as soon as two million years from now and would slowly perish almost entirely as carbon continued to be lost to the deep ocean sediments.

The combustion of fossil fuels for energy to power human civilization has reversed the downward trend in CO2 and promises to bring it back to levels that are likely to foster a considerable increase in the growth rate and biomass of plants, including food crops and trees.

Human emissions of CO2 have restored a balance to the global carbon cycle, thereby ensuring the long-term continuation of life on Earth.”109The Positive Impact of Human CO₂ Emissions on the Survival of Life on Earth,” Frontier Center for Public Policy. Archived June 27, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/3EYRj

His full report (PDF) is available online. The following is excerpted from the report’s conclusion:110Patrick Moore. “THE POSITIVE IMPACT OF HUMAN CO2 EMISSIONS ON THE SURVIVAL OF LIFE ON EARTH” (PDF), Frontier Center for Public Policy, June, 2016. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

“[H]uman emissions are restoring a balance to the global carbon cycle by returning some of the CO2 back to the atmosphere that was drawn down by photosynthesis and CaCO3 production and subsequently lost to deep sediments. This extremely positive aspect of human CO2 emissions must surely be weighed against the unproven hypothesis that human CO2 emissions are mainly responsible for the slight warming of the climate in recent years and will cause catastrophic warming over the coming decades.”111Patrick Moore. “THE POSITIVE IMPACT OF HUMAN CO2 EMISSIONS ON THE SURVIVAL OF LIFE ON EARTH” (PDF), Frontier Center for Public Policy, June, 2016. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

May 2, 2016

Moore was listed among “Key Scientists” appearing in Marc Morano‘s movie, Climate Hustle. The full list included the following:112“Background on Key Scientists Appearing in Climate Hustle” (PDF), ClimateHustle.org. Archived .pdf on file at Desmog.

Marc Morano’s Climate Hustle was released in U.S. theatres on May 2, 2016. Bill Nye described it as “not in our national interest and the world’s interest.”113‘Climate Hustle’ debuts as skeptics take on global-warming ‘consensus’,” The Washington Times, May 1, 2016. Archived August 26, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/XtLXp

The film was produced by the Committee for Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT) and CDRCommunications.114Background on Climate Hustle Host and Producers,” ClimateHustle.org. Archived .pdf on file at Desmog. As noted at DeSmog‘s project, ClimateHustler.org, CFACT has received funding from ExxonMobil, Chevron, as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars from foundations associated with Richard Mellon ScaifeCFACT has also received at least $7.8 million in “dark money” through DonorsTrust and Donors Capital Fund.115Homepage, climatehustler.org. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/NB9qn

CDR Communications was behind the 2010 video by the Cornwall Alliance titled Resisting the Green Dragon, which claimed environmentalism was a “false religion” and a “global government” power grab. Chris Rogers of CDR Communications is also chairman of The James Partnership, the umbrella arm that includes the Cornwall Alliance as one of its projects and pays the salary of Calvin Beisner, Cornwall’s founder and spokesperson.116Graham Readfearn. “The Evangelical Christian Climate Deniers Behind Marc Morano’s Climate Hustle Documentary,” Desmog, November 19, 2015.

Climate Hustle initially premiered on December 7, 2015 in Paris, France during the COP21 United Nations summit on climate change.117Matthew Kasper, “Climate Hustle, Latest Global Warming Denial Documentary, Set For World Premiere In Paris During COP21,” Republic Report, November 13, 2015. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/s7OHs 118Climate Hustle,” SourceWatch, accessed November 14, 2015. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/bOG35

We are putting together what I think is the most comprehensive, unique, entertaining and humorous climate documentary that has ever been done or attempted,” Morano had said before the film was released.119Graham Readfearn. “Marc Morano’s Climate Hustle Film Set For Paris Premiere With Same Old Denial Myths,” Desmog, November 12, 2015.

The reason that this is a unique film,” Morano has said, “is that we are going for a pop culture-friendly… sarcastic approach and we actually give both sides in this movie.” 

In an interview with Ezra Levant, Morano said:

I am not interviewing a lot of the main climate sceptical scientists because I feel like they have been interviewed by many other people and their stories have been told. I am trying to find another layer of scientist whose stories have not been out there yet. You will see a lot of new names in this.”120Graham Readfearn. “Marc Morano’s Climate Hustle Film Set For Paris Premiere With Same Old Denial Myths,” Desmog, November 12, 2015.

See a preview of the film below:

At the Paris premier of the film, reporters from DeSmog and the Irish Times were denied entrance after having their RSVPs accepted days earlier.121Graham Readfearn. “The Fakery of the Paris ‘Red Carpet’ Premiere of Marc Morano’s Climate Hustle Film,” DeSmog, December 30, 2015.

March 30, 2016

Moore labelled research by scientist Ken Caldeira as “fake” on Twitter, as reported in a blog post by Ben Heard, who had met Caldeira at COP321 in Paris and discussed the research that Moore took issue with.122Friends like Moore: Pro-nuclear environmentalism demands higher standards,” DeCarboniseSA., March 30, 2016. Archived March 19, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/ZkcTY

Moore was “suggesting the measurement methodology for calcification of coral was flawed to the degree this constituted ‘fakery’.” Heard added: “That’s quite a claim. Albright et al (2016) was published in one of the world’s most competitive peer-reviewed journals (Nature). That does not make a serious flaw constituting fakery impossible, however it’s improbable. Caldeira himself has over 200 published papers, over 11,000 citations, an h-index of 51 and an especially solid record of publication since 2005 including a focus in coral reefs.”123Friends like Moore: Pro-nuclear environmentalism demands higher standards,” DeCarboniseSA., March 30, 2016. Archived March 19, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/ZkcTY

Heard encouraged Moore to write to him to discuss what evidence he had to counter the research by Caldeira. Moore responded with an article he claimed was “double-blind, peer-reviewed.” However, the report Moore linked to was “ not a journal article but a report from a think-tank” — namely the Frontier Center for Public Policy (FCPP).124Friends like Moore: Pro-nuclear environmentalism demands higher standards,” DeCarboniseSA., March 30, 2016. Archived March 19, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/ZkcTY

Little is known about FCCP‘s funding sources, although the Conservative Transparency database has one transaction on file for the Frontier Centre: A donation of $25,000 from the notorious climate change denial thinktank the Heartland Institute in 2007. Moore himself is listed as Chair of the Energy, Ecology and Prosperity Program at FCPP.125Frontier Centre for Public Policy,” Conservative Transparency. Accessed March 19, 2019.

“So this report was scoped, commissioned, funded and published through the organisation at which the author holds a senior position. That does not constitute “the highest ethical and academic standards” in any sense comparable to actual journal publication,” Heard noted. “Furthermore a Scopus check of Dr Moore reveals five publications, two citations, none on this topic, none since 2006 and an h-index of 1. Even assuming Scopus is not capturing some of Dr. Moore’s work, even acknowledging his long and interesting career, it is abundantly clear he is no expert in mechanisms and impacts of ocean acidification let alone among ‘the most credible experts in their field’.”126Friends like Moore: Pro-nuclear environmentalism demands higher standards,” DeCarboniseSA., March 30, 2016. Archived March 19, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/ZkcTY

Heard voiced some of his concerns about the peer review of the FCPP paper on Twitter, to which Moore responded “GFY”:127Friends like Moore: Pro-nuclear environmentalism demands higher standards,” DeCarboniseSA., March 30, 2016. Archived March 19, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/ZkcTY

“I’m not against non-journal publications: they can be invaluable and serve a different purpose to journal articles. However there is a difference between think-tank publications and peer-reviewed journals. Suggesting equivalence is wrong,” Heard wrote in his blog commentary.128Friends like Moore: Pro-nuclear environmentalism demands higher standards,” DeCarboniseSA., March 30, 2016. Archived March 19, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/ZkcTY

March 29, 2016

Patrick Moore was a featured speaker at a conference titled “The Climate Surprise: Why CO2 Is Good for the Earth” hosted by the CO2 Coalition and The New Criterion in New York City.129The Climate Surprise: Why CO2 is Good for the Earth,” CO2 Coalition, April 25, 2016. Archived May 7, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/BWkqz

According to the event description, “Members of the CO2 Coalition and many other experts argue that carbon dioxide enrichment of the atmosphere provides manifold benefits for humanity. And observed surface warmings are much smaller than predicted by climate models. Economic models that fail to include the benefits of CO2 and the serious exaggerations of climate models and are being used to advocate “cures” that are much worse than the non-existent disease.”130The Climate Surprise: Why CO2 is Good for the Earth,” CO2 Coalition, April 25, 2016. Archived May 7, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/BWkqz

Videos of the conference are available at The New Criterion’s YouTube page. Featured speakers listed at the event included the following:131The Climate Surprise: Why CO2 is Good for the Earth,” CO2 Coalition, April 25, 2016. Archived May 7, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/BWkqz

February 2, 2016

DeSmog UK revealed that Moore had been paid by the European coal lobby association EURACOAL to speak to members of the European Parliament and EU officials at a dinner debate. An EEF press officer confirmed to DeSmog UK that coal lobbyists EURACOAL invited Moore to speak.132Kyla Mandel. “Climate Science Denier Patrick Moore Paid by Coal Lobbyists EURACOAL To Speak To EU Officials and Members of Parliament,” DeSmog UK, March 14, 2016.

When asked whether EURACOAL paid for Moore to present that evening, Brian Ricketts, secretary-general of EURACOAL, told DeSmog UK: “Yes, you are correct.  EURACOAL did cover Dr. Moore’s travel expenses from Canada and the time he devoted to preparing and giving his presentation to a small group in the European Parliament.”133Kyla Mandel. “Climate Science Denier Patrick Moore Paid by Coal Lobbyists EURACOAL To Speak To EU Officials and Members of Parliament,” DeSmog UK, March 14, 2016.

“Unfortunately, I cannot disclose exactly what was paid [to] Dr. Moore as that would not be very professional,” he wrote via email. “However, it reflected c.5 days’ work for preparation time and long-haul travel.”134Kyla Mandel. “Climate Science Denier Patrick Moore Paid by Coal Lobbyists EURACOAL To Speak To EU Officials and Members of Parliament,” DeSmog UK, March 14, 2016.

The European Energy Forum offered this in the event description, which lists Moore as the main speaker:135Climate Demons or Climate Gods: the coal industry stakes its future,” European Energy Forum, Feburary 2, 2016. Archived February 26, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/F5O21

“With COP21 concluded, the EU must make an important decision:  to continue its high-ambition climate change agenda or to moderate its ambition. This decision will have a profound impact on the future of coal in Europe.”136Climate Demons or Climate Gods: the coal industry stakes its future,” European Energy Forum, February 2, 2016. Archived February 26, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/F5O21

EEF’s account of the dinner stated that Moore told MEPs “there is no definitive scientific proof that human emissions are the dominant influence on climate” and that carbon dioxide in fact benefits the planet by increasing plant growth.137Kyla Mandel. “Climate Science Denier Patrick Moore Paid by Coal Lobbyists EURACOAL To Speak To EU Officials and Members of Parliament,” DeSmog UK, March 14, 2016.

When asked to comment on the story, Moore said: “I consider DeSmog to be a hate site. So bugger off.” 

December 9, 2015

Patrick Moore reported Greenpeace to the FBI shortly after a Greenpeace Investigation (“Academics for Hire”) found several academics were willing to accept funding from fossil fuel interests to write articles promoting carbon dioxide.138Lawrence Carter and Maeve McClenaghan. “Exposed: Academics-for-hire agree not to disclose fossil fuel funding,” Greenpeace EnergyDesk, December 8, 2015. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/EirtF

According to Moore, “[Greenpeace] is now an enemy of the State, an enemy of humanity and, indeed, an enemy of all species on Earth.”139Happer days,” Bishop Hill, December 8, 2015. Archived January 25, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/o7FdT

December 7, 2015

Patrick Moore appeared at the United Nation’s Conference on Climate Change, COP21, in Paris, France with the Heartland Institute, the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), and the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) to “hold a ‘counter-conference’ … called the Day of Examining the Data.”140PARIS COP-21: Day of Examining the Data with The Heartland Institute, CFACT, and CEI,” Heartland Institute, December 7, 2015.

Other notable individuals in attendance at the “counter-conference” included: Robert CarterS. Fred Singer, Christopher Essex, James Taylor, Christopher MoncktonWolfgang Müller, James Inhofe, and Willie Soon.141Bringing Climate Realism to Paris at COP-21,” Heartland Institute, December 7, 2015. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/NIkCy

Watch Patrick Moore’s “counter-conference” presentation with the Heartland Institute, below (Patrick Moore’s presentation begins at 4:02:30):

December 1–3 2015

Patrick Moore was a speaker at the “Paris Climate Challenge” (PCC) an event organized by the newly created Independent Committee on Geoethics (ICG) with the goal of “Challenging the groupthink of COP21.” Moore’s paper, published by the Frontier Center for Public Policy (FCPP) was titled “Ocean ‘acidification’ Alarmism in Perspective.” 142About PCC15,” PCCC15.org. Archived November 25, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/iyGdB

November 19, 2015

Patrick Moore, Richard Lindzen, and William Happer headlined a “climate summit” arranged by the Texas Public Policy Foundation preceding the UN climate summit in Paris (COP21).143Marc Morano. “Prominent Scientists Declare Climate Claims Ahead of UN Summit ‘Irrational’ – ‘Based On Nonsense’ – ‘Leading us down a false path’,” Climate Depot, November 19, 2015. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/MFFBR

Let’s celebrate CO2!” Moore declared at the event. 

“We know for absolute certain that carbon dioxide is the stuff of life, the foundation for life on earth,” Moore said.

“We are dealing with pure political propaganda that has nothing to do with science,” he continued.

“The deserts are greening from rising CO2,” he added.

“Co2 has provided the basis of life for at least 3.5 billion years,” Moore said.144Marc Morano. “Prominent Scientists Declare Climate Claims Ahead of UN Summit ‘Irrational’ – ‘Based On Nonsense’ – ‘Leading us down a false path’,” Climate Depot, November 19, 2015. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/MFFBR

Critics have suggested the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) is influenced by donations from a relatively small group of corporations. For example, the director of Texans for Public Justice has said that TPPF’s donors are a Who’s Who of Texas polluters, giant utilities and big insurance companies. TPPF is thinking the way its donors want it to think.”145Forrest Wilder. “Revealed: The Corporations and Billionaires that Fund the Texas Public Policy Foundation,” Texas Observer, August 24, 2012. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/PvZNh

October 2015

Patrick Moore spoke at the Global Warming Policy Foundation’s (GWPF) 2015 Annual Lecture titled “Should We Celebrate Carbon Dioxide.”146PATRICK MOORE: SHOULD WE CELEBRATE CARBON DIOXIDE?The Global Warming Policy Foundation, October 15, 2015. Archived July 12, 2016. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmogBlog. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/F6Ytl

“The contention that human emissions are now the dominant influence on climate is simply a hypothesis, rather than a universally accepted scientific theory. It is therefore correct, indeed verging on compulsory in the scientific tradition, to be skeptical of those who express certainty that ‘the science is settled’ and ‘the debate is over’,” Moore said.

According to Moore, returning CO2 to the atmosphere is necessary to maintain life on Earth: 

“[H]uman emissions of CO2 have already saved life on our planet from a very untimely end. That in the absence of our emitting some of the carbon back into the atmosphere from whence it came in the first place, most or perhaps all life on Earth would begin to die less than two million years from today.”147PATRICK MOORE: SHOULD WE CELEBRATE CARBON DIOXIDE?The Global Warming Policy Foundation, October 15, 2015. Archived July 12, 2016. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmogBlog. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/F6Ytl

He concludes that “carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels is the stuff of life, the staff of life, the currency of life, indeed the backbone of life on Earth.”

September 3, 2015

Patrick Moore, listing himself as a director of the CO2 Coalition in his signature, wrote an article in the Opinion Pages of Wall Street Journal titled “Obama’s Half-Baked Alaska” where he suggests that there is no need to be worried about glacial ice receding because it has happened in the past.148Patrick Moore. “Obama’s Half-Baked Alaska,” Wall Street Journal, September 3, 2015. Archived September 9, 2015. 

“All of this happened long before human emissions of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, could have had any impact,” Moore writes. “There is no reason to believe that those factors have suddenly disappeared and now humans are the all-powerful shapers of global climate destiny. Yet this entirely unproven hypothesis of catastrophe is compelling to those who would control our beliefs.”149Patrick Moore. “Obama’s Half-Baked Alaska,” Wall Street Journal, September 3, 2015. Archived September 9, 2015. 

Moore added, “carbon dioxide is essential for all life on Earth, that plants could use a lot more of it, and that the real threat is a cooling of the climate, not the slight warming that has occurred over the past 300 years.”150Patrick Moore. “Obama’s Half-Baked Alaska,” Wall Street Journal, September 3, 2015. Archived September 9, 2015. 

According to SkepticalScience, the argument that arctic icemelt is a natural cycle is a climate myth, just as is the idea that CO2 is “plant food.”

July 2015

Patrick Moore has been in a number of videos featured by the conservative group PragerU including the following:151Courses,” PragerU. Archived May 31, 2016.

According to their website, PragerU’s mission is to “spread what we call ‘Americanism’ through the power of the Internet. Our five-minute videos are conservative sound bites that clarify profoundly significant and uniquely American concepts for more than 100 million people each year.” They focus on “Judeo-Christian” values including “freedom of speech, a free press, free markets and a strong military to protect and project those values.”152What We Do,” PragerU.com. Archived May 31, 2016.

According to Conservative Transparency, PragerU has received $215,000 from the conservative Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation.153Prager U,” Conservative Transparency. Search Performed May 31, 2016.

Sample video and transcript below for ”What They Haven’t Told You About Climate Change”:154What They Haven’t Told You About Climate Change,” PragerU, July 26, 2015. Archived May 31, 2016.

Transcript:

The only constant… is change.

That’s true about life. And it’s true about the climate. The climate has been constantly changing since the earth was formed 4.6 billion years ago.

For example, in just the past 2000 years, we have seen the Roman Warm Period, when it was warmer than today…Then came the cooler Dark Ages… Followed by the Medieval Warm period, when it was at least as warm as today… Then we had the Little Ice Age – that drove the Vikings out of Greenland. And, most recently, a gradual 300-year warming to the present day. That’s a lot of changes. And, of course, not one of them was caused by humans.

During the past 400,000 years there have been four major periods of glaciation – meaning that vast sheets of ice covered a good part of the globe – interrupted by brief interglacial periods. We are in one of those periods right now. This is all part of the Pleistocene Ice Age which began in earnest two and a half million years ago. It’s still going on, which means that we are still living in an ice age. That’s the reason there’s so much ice at the poles. Thirty million years ago the earth had no ice on it at all. 

So, then, what about carbon dioxide, the great villain of the Global Warming alarmists? Where does that fit in to this picture? Not as neatly as you might think.

Temperatures and carbon dioxide levels do not show a strong correlation. In fact, over very long time spans – periods of hundreds of millions of years – they are often completely out of sync with each other. 

Over and over again, within virtually any time frame, we find the climate changing – for reasons we do not fully understand. But we do know there are many more factors in play than simply the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere – factors such as the shape and size of the earth’s elliptical orbit around the sun, activity from the sun, and the amount of wobble or tilt in the earth’s axis, among many others. Even the relatively short 300-year period from the peak of the Little Ice Age to the present has not been steady. The latest trend has been a warming one, but it began nearly a century before there were significant carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels. And, there has been no significant warming trend in the 21st century. Contrary to media headlines, the trend over the past couple of decades has been essentially flat. 

Meanwhile human-caused CO2 emissions are higher than ever. About 25 percent of all the CO2 emissions from human sources have occurred during this period of no net warming.

So, what are we in for next? Will the temperature resume an upward trend? Will it remain flat for a lengthy period? Or, will it begin to drop? No one knows. Not even the biggest, fastest computers. 

All the information I’ve presented – the increases, decreases and plateaus in temperature over the ages and into the last centuries – is available to anyone who wants to seek it out. Yet to state these simple facts is to risk being called a “climate change denier.” Not only is that absurd, it’s mean-spirited. It’s absurd because no one, not even the most fervent skeptic, denies that the climate is changing. And it’s mean-spirited because to call someone a climate change denier is to intentionally link them to people who deny the Holocaust. So, maybe it’s time to stop the name-calling. 

Predicting the climate, one of the most complex systems on earth with thousands of inputs, many of which we don’t understand, isn’t an exact science, or anything close to it. Maybe it’s just a tad arrogant to suggest that we can predict the weather or the climate or just about anything 60 years from now. 

The science is not “settled.” The debate is not over. The climate is always changing. It always has. And it always will. 

I’m Patrick Moore, Co-Founder of Greenpeace, for Prager University.

Here’s a video response and debunking of Moore’s PragerU video:

Moore’s video was featured as an example in a 2020 report by global NGO Avaaz titled “Why is YouTube Broadcasting Climate Misinformation to Millions?” The report notes that the video was viewed more than 2.6 million times since it was published in 2015 to the time of the report.155“Why is YouTube Broadcasting Climate Misinformation to Millions?” (PDF)AVAAZ, January 15, 2020. Archived June 30, 2020.  Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

YouTube is the largest broadcasting channel in the world, and it is driving millions of people to climate misinformation videos,” said Julie Deruy, senior campaigner at Avaaz. “This is not about free speech, this is about the free advertising YouTube is giving to factually inaccurate videos that risk confusing people about one of the biggest crises of our time. The bottom line is that YouTube should not feature, suggest, promote, advertise, or lead users to misinformation.” See DeSmog’s reporting here.156Dana Drugmand. “YouTube Still Monetizing, Promoting Climate Science Denial, Report Finds,” DeSmog, January 16, 2020.

March 2015

Patrick Moore published an opinion/blog piece in The Province where he says that carbon is not pollution, and that instead “We should celebrate CO2 as the giver of life it is.”

According to Moore, global warming has paused since 2000. Moore also mentions a common talking point by climate change skeptics that “Contrary to popular belief, at 400 parts per million (0.04 per cent), CO2 is lower now in the atmosphere than it has been during most of the 550 million years since modern life forms emerged during the Cambrian period.”

Here’s a breakdown of Moore’s main arguments, discussed at Skeptical Science:

  1. CO2 isn’t a pollutant.
  2. CO2 is “plant food.”
  3. Global warming has stopped.
  4. High levels of CO2 in the past contradict the warming effect of CO2.

October–November, 2014

Patrick Moore conducted a speaking tour across Australia financed by the Galileo Movement, which described Patrick Moore as “a co-founder of Greenpeace,” despite Greenpeace itself contesting that “Patrick Moore did not found Greenpeace.”157Patrick Moore background information,” Greenpeace, December 7, 2010. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/BO6Eu

Rex Weyler, a former colleague of Moore’s and co-founder of Greenpeace International, stated: “Moore has served as a corporate public relations consultant far longer than he ever worked for Greenpeace, and he has never worked as a scientist.”158Deep Green: Science and Rhetoric, Patrick Moore’s Confessions,” Greenpeace, April 7, 2011. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/VjGLL

Moore’s speaking tour includes “one-on-one meetings with news organisations, politicians and business leaders with a mix of public lectures and town hall meetings for the general public throughout Australia,” and it hopes to “have a substantial influence on decision makers in Australia promoting sensible environmental policies.159Lecture Tour Patrick Moore – Greenpeace Co-Founder,” Galileo Movement (IndieGoGo Campaign), August 5, 2014. Archived October 28, 2014. 

October 9, 2014

Patrick Moore attended Amherst College to deliver a presentation titled “Confessions of a Greenpeace Dropout,” which was put on and paid for by the Amherst College Republicans.160Green Amherst Project Walks Out of Talk by Patrick Moore,” The Amherst Student, October 22, 2014. Archived October 27, 2014. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/jUmaq

Moore argued that “current climate change trends are not particularly dangerous, even if they continue until no permanent ice remains at the North and South poles,” according to The Amherst Student, Amherst College’s Independent Newspaper.161Green Amherst Project Walks Out of Talk by Patrick Moore,” The Amherst Student, October 22, 2014. Archived October 27, 2014. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/jUmaq

Roughly 20 minutes into Moore’s presentation, nearly half of the audience, made up of the Green Amherst Project’s members, exited the room in protest of Moore’s claims regarding anthropogenic global warming. Moore responded to the protest in a question-and-answer session following his presentation by saying, “fifty people walk out, and I say that’s a pretty Taliban thing to do,” and described the protestors as “the real deniers,” and “as having a ‘Taliban mindset.’”162Green Amherst Project Walks Out of Talk by Patrick Moore,” The Amherst Student, October 22, 2014. Archived October 27, 2014. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/jUmaq

July 7–9, 2014

Patrick Moore was a speaker at the Heartland Institute’s Ninth International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC9) in Las Vegas, Nevada.163Return of Climate Denial-a-Palooza: Heartland Institute Hitches Anti-Science Wagon to Vegas FreedomFest,” DeSmog, July 7, 2014. Archived July 14, 2014.

See Moore’s keynote presentation, “Confessions of a Greenpeace Dropout” below:164Patrick Moore, ICCC9 (Keynote),” International Conferenes on Climate Change. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

DeSmogBlog has done in-depth research on the other speakers and sponsors from Heartland’s ICCC9, which can be found here.

February 25, 2014

Moore testified before the U.S. Senate Environment & Public Works Committee in a hearing entitled “Natural Resource Adaptation: Protecting Ecosystems and Economies.”165UPDATED TIME: Subcommittee on Oversight hearing entitled, ‘Natural Resource Adaptation: Protecting Ecosystems and Economies’,“ U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, February 24, 2014. Archived March 13, 2019. Archived .mp4 on file at Desmog. Archive URL:  https://archive.fo/88fMS

“Today, we live in an unusually cold period in the history of life on Earth and there is no reason to believe that a warmer climate would be anything but beneficial for humans and the majority of other species…It is “extremely likely” that a warmer temperature than today’s would be far better than a cooler one.”166UPDATED TIME: Subcommittee on Oversight hearing entitled, ‘Natural Resource Adaptation: Protecting Ecosystems and Economies’,“ U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, February 24, 2014. Archived March 13, 2019. Archived .mp4 on file at Desmog. Archive URL:  https://archive.fo/88fMS

December 30, 2012

In a blog post, Moore appeared to acknowledge that fossil fuels were contributing to rising CO2 levels, but disputed the scientific consensus that it plays any role in global temperature increases:

Global climate change is another area where extreme statements are made, in this case on both sides of the debate, when there is little in science to defend them. Some things are quite certain. Carbon dioxide levels are rising and our consumption of fossil fuels and deforestation in the tropics are probably the main causes. There is a lot of evidence that the earth’s climate is warming: the glaciers in Alaska are retreating and great egrets are visiting northern Lake Huron. But here the consensus ends.”167Patrick Moore. Untitled blog postThe Sensible Environmentalist, December 30, 2012. Archived May 15, 2018. Archive.is URL: http://archive.fo/HkBAm

September 29, 2011

In an interview with The Energy Report, Moore elaborated on his skepticism about man-made climate change:

I am a skeptic on climate change. I know the climate is changing, and it always has been. I’ve studied this intensively over many years. I started what I call the Carbon Project here in British Columbia back in 1989 in order to bring everybody together to discuss this subject and figure out the facts behind it. Since then, I have watched as hysteria has grown, as if the whole world is going to come to an end and civilization is going to die because of humans causing this climate change. I don’t buy that, and I certainly know we don’t have any proof of it. I’m not denying that we might be playing some role, but the natural factors that have always caused climate change have not suddenly disappeared. I’m very skeptical of the alarmist nature of climate campaigning.”168George Mack. “Patrick Moore: From Greenpeace Dove to Nuclear Power Phoenix,” The Energy Report, September 29, 2011. Archived October 21, 2018. Archive.is URL: http://archive.fo/hf4i1

November 21, 2009

Patrick Moore was a presenter at a TEDx Talk in Vancouver, British Columbia, where he argues against adopting climate polices that will “put hundreds of millions of people into energy poverty,” and recommends “waiting to see what happens,” in terms of climate, because he thinks we don’t know what will happen. A video of his presentation can be viewed below:169Patrick Moore. “TEDxVancouver – Patrick Moore 11/21/09,” TEDx Talks, January 28, 2010.

June 5, 2008

Moore was quoted in a Columbia Basin Herald editorial claiming that:

We don’t have scientific proof we are the cause of global warming. If you do (have proof) please write it down on a piece of paper.”170Editorial Board. “Either you’re green or you’re against us,” Columbia Basin Herald, June 5, 2008. Archived January 25, 2019. Archive.is URL: http://archive.fo/MH9Uy

March 2007

Patrick Moore participated in “The Great Global Warming Swindle” documentary.171Patrick Moore,” IMDb. Archived .pdf on file at Desmog. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/40mWm

The Great Global Warming Swindle stars prominent skeptics including Tim Ball, Roy Spencer, Fred Singer, Patrick Michaels, Nir Shaviv, Nigel Lawson, Ian Clark, Piers Corbyn, Philip Stott, Paul Reiter, Richard Lindzen, Syun-Ichi Akasofu, Paul Driessen, and others.

September 2006

Patrick Moore wrote a letter to the UK‘s Royal Society, where he stated that “there is no scientific proof of causation between the human-induced increase in atmospheric CO2 and the recent global warming trend, a trend that has been evident for about 500 years, long before the human-induced increase in CO2 was evident.”172Royal Society Release,” Greenspirit Strategies Ltd. September 21, 2006. Archived March 23, 2016. Archived .pdf on file at Desmog. 

2005–2009

SourceWatch has a full list of Moore’s speaking appearances for the period 2005-2009, and includes many in which he promotes nuclear power.

2003 & 2005

Appeared on Penn & Teller: Bullshit! in episodes Environmental Hysteria (2003) and Endangered Species (2005). Note that the videos are no longer available on YouTube due to a copyright complaint from CBS.173“Penn & Teller Bullshit – Environmental Hysteria Part 1,” [Video]. (Dec 29, 2009). Retrieved August 25, 2011. (Video no longer available.) 174“Penn & Teller Bullshit – Endangered Species Part 1,” [Video]. (Jan 9, 2010). Retrieved August 25, 2011. (Video no longer available).

March 1971

Patrick Moore applied for a berth to join Greenpeace‘s Phyllis Cormack, one year after Greenpeace had already been in existence.175Patrick Moore background information,” Greenpeace, December 7, 2010. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/BO6Eu

Affiliations

Patrick Moore’s “Past Clients” include:

Social Media

Publications

Note that Greenpeace mentioned this article as having provided inaccurate information on Nuclear Power.198Patrick Moore Background Information,” Greenpeace. Archived August 27, 2011. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/Q82IZ

Books:

Other Resources

Resources

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