Ben McNeil is a senior research fellow at the Climate Change Research Centre at the University of New South Wales. Dr McNeil holds a Master of Economics and a PhD in climate science and is on the executive of the prestigious Federation of Australasian Scientific and Technological Societies (FASTS). In 2007, he was chosen as an expert reviewer for the United Nations Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change, and was invited to present his research to the Prime Minister and Cabinet. He speaks regularly at corporate and scientific events and to media. Ben lives in Sydney.
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Tracy Bowden at the 7:30 Report did another piece on the eternal entertainment of the eccentric Lord Monckton who claims that climate scientists are part of a grand conspiracy to dupe the world. I was interviewed as part of the story and can be viewed here.
Penny Sackett, the chief scientist was interviewed and was spot on when she talked about the politicisation of science and the dangers of this in our society - listen in to what she has to say.
An example of this politicisation of science can be viewed at Andrew Bolts comments on my interview - this guy just cant accept any evidence beyond himself. Take a look at how Bolt tries to say I’m somehow a spokesperson for the ‘left’ in my quote about Monckton.Here is my quote from the interview:
Lord Monckton is a former political adviser for a UK Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. I think it’s very dangerous for us to take scientific advice from someone like that.
Then Bolt says this in his blog:
But check instead the truly pathetic kind of arguments - mere political sloganeering from the Left - advanced by McNeil, who calls himself a scientist
Andrew, I know you cant help yourself in politicising science when it doesn’t suit your world view, but the point I was trying to make was that taking ANY advice from ANY political advisor (left or right) on scientific development is immensely dangerous, just as it is for Bin Laden to take advice on the evils of western liberal democracies from his own ideological cave. Are you going to accept Lord Monckton to do brain surgery aswell? He must be an expert in that too right? It may be an ideological decision and make you feel good before the surgery but just slightly on the stupid side. Thats why the politicsation of science from the likes of Bolt, Lord M et al is so dangerous in growing the worlds future all-round prosperity.