Climate Emergency

• He questioned the fact that 97% of scientists knew and believed the science shows that climate change is exacerbated by man (wrong)
• He specifically claimed that 35% of abstracts had been misclassified (wrong); 
• He said that "More renewable energy will not mean cheaper bills" and described it as a “Great Green Lie” that renewables mean cheaper energy. (The Grantham Institute pointed to the UK government's own electricity-market analysis, which said that renewables are generally cheaper than fossil-fuel generation and that increasing renewable generation is expected to reduce average wholesale prices); 
• He claimed Labour's offshore-wind auction was offering investors a £44/MWh strike price in 2014 prices (he wrote that the strike price was quoted in 2014 prices. It was actually quoted in 2012 prices); 
• He claimed in an article there was “still no rush of fresh investment” even though the relevant auction window had not yet opened when he wrote the article; 
• He wrote that approximately 60,000 oil-and-gas jobs could disappear while renewables would create only 80,000 jobs. (The underlying Robert Gordon University research actually projected that the offshore-renewables workforce could reach approximately 138,000 by 2030, while the oil-and-gas workforce could fall to about 60,000); he claimed that Ed Miliband might have cancelled oil and gas licences that were already progressing through the approval process. The chair of the North Sea Transition Authority subsequently described the underlying allegation as "a complete fabrication". Neil then repeated the claim; 
• He claimed that the Climate Change Committee admitted that fossil fuels would provide approximately 25% of UK energy in 2050. The CCC had not actually published such an estimate; he wrote that Denmark had half its electricity generated by wind and that it had "the most costly [electricity] in Europe". IPSO accepted that this particular claim was wrong. Eurostat data showed that Denmark's electricity price was lower than prices in Belgium, Germany and Ireland at the relevant time, and the Daily Mail subsequently issued a correction

Chizz said:

Andrew Neil used to promote interesting ideas about HIV and AIDS.  He said "heterosexual AIDS" was a myth; HIV was not the cause of AIDS; HIV tests were invalid; AIDS wasn't spreading significantly in Africa; heterosexual AIDS was essentially a myth; AZT was dangerous; and the medical establishment had exaggerated the epidemic. 

In 2014, he said that Murdoch would support Scottish independence.  He didn't.  

He said that when he met Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in 2015, he told him he had no chance of winning the presidency. 

Regarding Brexit, at the National Manufacturing Conference in February 2019, with Brexit only weeks away, Neil made an optimistic prediction that a deal would be achieved, followed by an economic bounce as businesses gained confidence and resumed investment. What happened? The UK did leave the EU in January 2020, but: the Withdrawal Agreement was followed by a lengthy transition; the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement wasn't concluded until December 2020; business investment did not subsequently produce the kind of obvious Brexit-related “bounce” Neil was anticipating. To put it mildly. 

In March 2020, he initially questioned whether international comparisons of COVID-19 death rates were valid because countries might be recording deaths differently. He then investigated the methodology and explicitly reversed himself: "I have investigated further how Germany records Covid-19 deaths and concluded its methodology does NOT explain lower level of German Covid-19 fatalities". 

With that kind of record, it would be interesting to see what he has had to say about climate change. 

• He questioned the fact that 97% of scientists knew and believed the science shows that climate change is exacerbated by man (wrong)
• He specifically claimed that 35% of abstracts had been misclassified (wrong); 
• He said that "More renewable energy will not mean cheaper bills" and described it as a “Great Green Lie” that renewables mean cheaper energy. (The Grantham Institute pointed to the UK government's own electricity-market analysis, which said that renewables are generally cheaper than fossil-fuel generation and that increasing renewable generation is expected to reduce average wholesale prices); 
• He claimed Labour's offshore-wind auction was offering investors a £44/MWh strike price in 2014 prices (he wrote that the strike price was quoted in 2014 prices. It was actually quoted in 2012 prices); 
• He claimed in an article there was “still no rush of fresh investment” even though the relevant auction window had not yet opened when he wrote the article; 
• He wrote that approximately 60,000 oil-and-gas jobs could disappear while renewables would create only 80,000 jobs. (The underlying Robert Gordon University research actually projected that the offshore-renewables workforce could reach approximately 138,000 by 2030, while the oil-and-gas workforce could fall to about 60,000); he claimed that Ed Miliband might have cancelled oil and gas licences that were already progressing through the approval process. The chair of the North Sea Transition Authority subsequently described the underlying allegation as "a complete fabrication". Neil then repeated the claim; 
• He claimed that the Climate Change Committee admitted that fossil fuels would provide approximately 25% of UK energy in 2050. The CCC had not actually published such an estimate; he wrote that Denmark had half its electricity generated by wind and that it had "the most costly [electricity] in Europe". IPSO accepted that this particular claim was wrong. Eurostat data showed that Denmark's electricity price was lower than prices in Belgium, Germany and Ireland at the relevant time, and the Daily Mail subsequently issued a correction

So, it's interesting to see what his prediction was this Spring about the Summer ahead... 

R0TW said:

Think he would tie most of you in knots.
Done well for himself being an idiot

clive said:

ME14addick said:

The Met Office is warning that El Nino will have a much bigger effect this year and next, because of the extra warmth created by climate change. 

They are warning that November and December are likely to bring bad storms and that Summer 2027 will be even hotter.

El Nino is likely to cause severe droughts elsewhere in the world, leading to food shortages. 

Is climate change making El Niño worse?

The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) says there is "no evidence" that climate change increases the frequency or strength of El Niño events.

However, this is an ongoing area of research and debate for scientists.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/articles/c3ekg93vjz9o

Hex said:

Here's an interesting comparison of the 8 warmest summers including 2026.  The key figure is column 3 - Value which is the mean CET temperature, averaging maximums and minimums, giving a comparison figure representing England as a whole.

Stig said:

A key bit of information there, is that this data set starts in 1659. That's 367 years worth of data. Viewing the chart with this context in mind makes it even more astonishing that four of the eight hottest years have been in the last decade.

Hex said:

Here's an interesting comparison of the 8 warmest summers including 2026.  The key figure is column 3 - Value which is the mean CET temperature, averaging maximums and minimums, giving a comparison figure representing England as a whole.

CET is explain by the Met Office, with misinformation rebuttals, here - https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/climate/maps-and-data/cet-series

Stig said:

We're rapidly approaching the arse end of September. I'm on Canvey seafront. I've got my factor 50 on, but it still feels like I'm burning. Lovely weather for July, but now? It's just so wrong.