The People Speak, January 26, 2016
The People Speak with Steve Johnson and guest Professor Ian Plimer
Guest, Ian Plimer
IAN PLIMER is Professor Emeritus of Earth Science at The University of Melbourne. He was formerly Professor at the Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich and at the University of Newcastle. He won the Leopold von Buch Medal for Science and has thrice won the Eureka Prize, the latest of which was for his book A Short History of Planet Earth. Professor Plimer has published over 120 scientific papers and books and 6 books for the lay person on topics raging from religious fundamentalism to mining history. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, a Fellow of the Geological Society of London, member of numerous professional organisations and serves on many national and international scientific commissions. He is currently edits the Academic Press Encyclopaedia of Geology, is filming a BBC natural science program and continues his weekly ABC regional radio broadcasts. He is a director of a UK and Australian listed public companies.
BOOKS BY IAN PLIMER...
HEAVEN AND HELL: The Pope condemns the poor to eternal poverty by Ian Plimer
The Encylical Letter of Pope Francis Laudato Si "care for our common home" was influenced by atheists, communists and green activists. The Pope advocates burdening the Third World with inefficient unreliable high cost renewable energy and agriculture thereby keeping the poor in eternal poverty. Only when Third World children can do homework at night using cheap coal-fired electricity can they escape from poverty. Looking purely at the science rather than the theology, Ian Plimer shows the failure of the current Pope in his understanding of the real issues affecting poverty, especially in Third World countries.
Not for Greens: He Who Sups with the Devil Should Have a Long Spoon by Ian Plimer
The processes required to make a humble stainless steel teaspoon are remarkably complicated and every stage involves risk, coal, energy, capital, international trade and finance. Stainless steel cutlery has taken thousands of years of experimentation and knowledge to evolve and the end result is that we can eat without killing ourselves with bacteria. We are in the best times to have ever lived on planet Earth and the future will only be better. All this we take for granted. Greens may have started as genuine environmentalists. Much of the green movement has now morphed into an unelected extremist political pressure group accountable to no one. Greens create problems, many of which are concocted, and provide no solutions because of a lack of basic knowledge. This book examines green policies in the light of established knowledge and shows that they are unrealistic. Policies by greens adopted by supine governments have resulted in rising costs, increased taxes, political instability, energy poverty, decreased longevity and environmental degradation and they don't achieve their ideological aims. Wind, solar and biomass energy emit more carbon dioxide than they save and reduction of carbon dioxide emissions does nothing to change climate and only empties the pocket. No stainless steel teaspoon could be made using green "alternative energy". This book argues that unless the greens live sustainably in caves in the forest and use no trappings of the modern world, then they should be regarded as hypocrites and treated with the disdain they deserve.
Heaven and Earth: Global Warming, the Missing Science by Ian Plimer
Climate, sea level, and ice sheets have always changed, and the changes observed today are less than those of the past. Climate changes are cyclical and are driven by the Earth's position in the galaxy, the sun, wobbles in the Earth's orbit, ocean currents, and plate tectonics. In previous times, atmospheric carbon dioxide was far higher than at present but did not drive climate change. No runaway greenhouse effect or acid oceans occurred during times of excessively high carbon dioxide. During past glaciations, carbon dioxide was higher than it is today. The non-scientific popular political view is that humans change climate. Do we have reason for concern about possible human-induced climate change?
This book's 504 pages and over 2,300 references to peer-reviewed scientific literature and other authoritative sources engagingly synthesize what we know about the sun, earth, ice, water, and air. Importantly, in a parallel to his 1994 book challenging “creation science,” Telling Lies for God, Ian Plimer describes Al Gore's book and movie An Inconvenient Truth as long on scientific “misrepresentations.” “Trying to deal with these misrepresentations is somewhat like trying to argue with creationists,” he writes, “who misquote, concoct evidence, quote out of context, ignore contrary evidence, and create evidence ex nihilo.”
Telling Lies for God: Reason vs Creationism by Ian Plimer
This controversial analysis of creationism examines the arguments put forward to support the acceptance of a literal interpretation of the Biblical account of creation, and presents counterarguments from a scientific viewpoint. Also critically examines the material that many creationists use to support their beliefs. Includes a bibliography. The author is professor of geology at the University of Melbourne.
The People Speak
The People Speak has evolved over the years with many great guests who have been interviewed by some very fine hosts.
We are a 55 minute show airing every other Sunday between 5-6pm Pacific/8-9pm Eastern. The show features a guest interview from any number of realms of interest (entertainment, science, philosophy, healing, spirituality, activism, politics, literature, etc.).
The guests share their stories, lives, strategies, books, philosophy, films, music, or whatever it is they use as a vehicle for making a difference for the better.
The radio show name, The People Speak, is based on the idea of allowing our audience - the People - a chance to interact with the guests during the hour, and we take phone or text questions from them during the interview.
Past guests include such notables as Nobel Peace Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the late Howard Zinn, Nobel Laureates Mairead Maguire, Shirin Ebadi, Kathryn Najimy, Oliver Stone, Jesse Ventura, Richard Belzer, Cynthia McKinney, Cindy Sheehan, Scott Horton, Joan Jett, Willie Nelson, George Galloway, Roseanne Barr, Ed Asner, Chevy Chase, as well as various reps from Amnesty International, UN World Food Programme, and many others.