A RECENT statement by a South African independent energy consultant, dubbing man-made global warming a sham, received a torrent of backlash from reputable environmentalists.
In the latest SA Institute of Race Relations policy bulletin @Liberty, Andrew Kenny wrote the belief that mankind is changing the climate in a dangerous way is an ideology to provide ‘enormous amounts of money for an army of scientists, activists, journalists and politicians around the world’ with ‘no basis in science’.
But non-profit environmental justice service GroundWork as well as the Unizul Science Centre and energy solutions consultancy Ensight all refuted the statement.
GroundWork associate researcher and editor of Slow Poison, David Hallowes did not mince his words in response to the piece.
He asserted carbon dioxide (CO2) and sulphur dioxide (SO2), which is particularly prevalent in Richards Bay’s industrial area, remains a ‘very real’ issue.
‘We do not agree with Andrew Kenny.
‘He has been peddling this guff for many years.
‘Even Richard Muller, who was a climate ‘skeptic’, was converted to oppose denialists (like Kenny) through intensive research.
‘SO2 is dangerous for people’s health and whereas climate change is a slow moving catastrophe, SO2 has immediate impacts so it remains a big issue for people in Richards Bay.
‘That does not mean that climate change is not a big issue.
‘In time (the next couple of decades) it will become the overwhelming problem here as it already is in other places, like the Philippines that has been hit by ever growing typhoons leaving small islands disappearing beneath the waves – several islands have already been abandoned.’
Unizul Science Centre Director Derek Fish and Ensight CEO Rod Welford (who is the former Australian Minister of Environment and Heritage) echoed Hallowes’ stance on the matter.
Both emphasised that extensive scientific research has repeatedly substantiated the reality and dangers of climate change.
‘Kenny is famous for going against the current, but this alarmist statement denies immense scientific thinking,’ said Fish.
