Category Archives: Sceptics
Thirty years closer to the End of Nature
Below, my review of ‘Falter’, the new book by veteran environmental writer, Bill McKibben, as it appeared in the Irish Times in May. UNLESS you’re an economics graduate or a billionaire, chances are you may have never heard of Ayn … Continue reading
Duck, dither, dodge, delay: the new, improved climate denial
Below, my report as it ran on DeSmog UK on the latest climate denier get-together, involving our old friends at the ICSF, in what is their 10th sort-of-public meeting. For an organisation with no known membership list and no apparent … Continue reading
Incoherent, inconsistent – and not really funny at all
Below, my article as it appeared on DeSmog UK earlier this month. This is my 13th piece to appear on DeSmog since May 2017, when I reported on the inaugural ICSF meeting in Dublin, featuring big-name US denier, Richard Lindzen. … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Media, Sceptics
Tagged DeSmog UK, Gavin Schmidt, GWPF, ICSF, Peter Thorne, Ray Bates
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A very British coup: rise and fall of the climate contrarians
In recent months, I’ve been involved as one of a number of authors in an international project for a forthcoming academic publication looking at the state of environmental journalism around the world (my brief covered the UK and Ireland). One of … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Media, Sceptics
Tagged GWPF, Irish Times, Nigel Lawson, Richard Black
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Organised denial targets Dáil climate committee
The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action (JOCCA) has been in session over the last couple of weeks. It is tasked with reviewing the recommendations of last November’s Citizens’ Assembly section entitled: ‘Making Ireland a leader in tackling climate change’ … Continue reading
Mainstreaming doubt and nurturing climate denial
Fake news has, since January 2017, received a whole new lease of life, with peddlers of misinformation greatly emboldened by the installation of the Liar-In-Chief at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. However, climate science denial has been in full swing for decades; … Continue reading
Tall tales trump Varadkar’s Washington debut
Below, my piece published on DeSmog.uk from March detailing our Taoiseach’s travails when attempting to cosy up to the US president during the traditional St. Patrick’s Day visit. IRISH prime minister, Leo Varadkar dropped a major climate clanger in Washington this … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Sceptics
Tagged Donald Trump, Doonbeg, Leo Varadkar, wind farms
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Sinking ever deeper into ecological debt and climate denial
Eschatology, or the study of the end of times, is at least as old as the written word. The concept spans many of the world’s major religions, usually referring to some future day of judgement or reckoning. Beyond the realms … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, Global Warming, Sceptics, Sustainability
Tagged climate denial, Doomsday Clock, ICSF, WWF
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Pushing back against the tide of junk science
I published two articles over the summer in Village magazine on the subject of the new Irish climate denier group, the self-styled Irish Climate Science Forum (ICSF), founded by retired UCD meteorologist, Ray Bates. The first of these, in the … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Media, Sceptics
Tagged ICSF, Press Ombudsman, Ray Bates, Richard Lindzen, Village Magazine, William Happer
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Climate denial and the ‘white male effect’
In recent months I’ve found myself in a bit of a running battle with some of Ireland’s leading (I use the word advisedly) climate contrarians. It stems back to the inaugural meeting of the so-called Irish Climate Science Forum in … Continue reading
An Inconvenient Truth – then and now
Below, my article as it appeared in the Irish Times on August 19th last. I had been, along with my family and some friends, to the preview screening of ‘An Inconvenient Sequel – Truth To Power’ in the Lighthouse Cinema … Continue reading
A goose wrapped in tinfoil, pushed further into oven each year
Earlier in July, New York magazine ran a thumping article titled ‘The Uninhabitable Earth‘, by writer David Wallace-Wells. It was a meticulously researched piece of long-form journalism, based on an extensive review of the scientific literature as well as interviews with leading … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Media, Psychology, Sceptics
Tagged David Wallace-Wells, New York Magazine
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Irish Farmers Journal: fearlessly on the side of fake news
Back in the 1970s, there was striking advertising poster in Kilkenny Mart featuring a powerfully built bull with a ring through its nose. The unsubtle slogan: ‘No bull in the Irish Farmers Journal’. The old Kilkenny Mart building is long … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Media, Sceptics
Tagged ICSF, Irish Farmers Journal, Junk science, Matt Dempsey, Ray Bates
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Doubling down on climate denial: ICSF hosts Happer
Below, my latest article on Desmog.uk, covering the recent ultra low-key visit of well known climate contrarian, William Happer to Dublin. Publication was delayed by around a week as Desmog turned its editorial focus to the UK elections – including … Continue reading
Posted in Irish Focus, Media, Sceptics
Tagged Gerald Fleming, ICSF, Met Eireann, methane, Ray Bates, William Happer
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Ulster says hoax: a short history of the DUP and climate denial
Below, my article as it appeared on DeSmog.uk over the weekend, in the light of the extraordinary decision by the Tories to throw in their lot with Ulster’s not-particularly-Democratic Unionist Party. ============================ Theresa May’s general election gamble has seen a … Continue reading
Posted in Energy, Global Warming, Irish Focus, Sceptics
Tagged cash-for-ash, DUP, RHI, Sammy Wilson
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