http://www.canadafreepress.com/2007/harris010207.htm


David Suzuki Foundation, Nancy Greene Raine, human-caused climate change theory
Expressing doubt about climate catastrophe a risky venture
Without questioning, climate debate reduces to fundamentalism

By Tom Harris, & Dr. Tim BallNatural Resources Stewardship Project

Tuesday, January 2, 2007

In early December, Olympic skiers Thomas Grandi and Sara Renner held a press conference to announce they were joining David Suzuki to fight climate change.  Twice a World Cup gold medal winner, Grandi intends to donate half his circuit winnings this season to the David Suzuki Foundation.   Suzuki hopes his "Play It Cool" campaign will also attract the support of other athletes to "help combat global warming".

When asked about the issue by CBC news, Nancy Greene Raine, a World Cup and Olympic Gold Medal skiing champion herself, expressed reservations about today's global warming fears.  For this, Greene Raine was lambasted by university and government proponents of the human-caused climate change theory.  Some even questioned whether she could remain Chancellor of the new Thompson Rivers University (TRU) in Kamloops, B.C. in light of her statements. 

"What kind of a role model have we put in place when the chancellor herself gives poorly-considered credence to widely discredited extremist opinions such as these?" TRU nursing professor Penny Powers was quoted in The Daily News (Kamloops) as asking.   Also quoted were TRU journalism professor Charles Hays who wrote to colleagues that Greene Raine cannot remain chancellor and make such remarks.  Environment Canada's Eric Taylor joined the fray, chastising Greene Raine for speaking out on an issue he says she does not understand.   A neutral observer might wonder why the same criticism would not be leveled against skiers who speak out in support of the climate catastrophe theory.

Readers can decide for themselves who is siding with extremism by simply comparing what Grandi, Renner and other pro-Suzuki skiers said with what Greene Raine replied.

Grandi told reporters (re –Toronto Star, 08/12/06), "I think all the top scientists agree that if we continue business as usual, we're going to live in a world that doesn't resemble anything the way it is right now."

Greene Raine said she is suspicious when she sees "people make blanket statements because there are two sides to every issue … in science there's almost never black and white".

Renner is quoted in the Star as saying, "It's the air that everyone breathes. It's the water everyone drinks", clearly confusing climate change with pollution.

Having communicated with Greene Raine, we are confident she understands the distinction between these different issues. 

Cross country skier Becky Scott is cited in the Star as saying "I think it's a grave concern for snow-sport athletes the way the trends are going.  … It's scary", a word also used by Grandi in the original CBC article that started this furor.

Greene Raine remarked, "We don't know what next week's weather is going to be. To say in 50 or 100 years, the temperature is going to do this, is a bit of a stretch for me."

It is a bit of stretch for climate scientists as well.  Computer models used to forecast climate decades from now are based on the same fundamentals as models used to predict next week's weather.  No sensible person would bet much on a seven-day weather forecast so why should Canada wager billions on what the models predict for a century from now?  Greene Raine's caution is justified.  

This affair is just another example of how the climate science debate has been ruined by politics and bullying.  When statements as inoffensive and centrist as Greene Raine's results in indignation and attacks, we know the issue is no longer about science.  Instead it has become fundamentalist dogma that is questioned at one's peril - that alone should make any thinking person skeptical.  

Dr. Tim Ball, Chairman of the Natural Resources Stewardship Project (www.nrsp.com), is a Victoria-based environmental consultant and former climatology professor at the University of Winnipeg.   Tom Harris is an Ottawa-based mechanical engineer and Executive Director of NRSP. He can be reached at letters@canadafreepress.com