IPCC Lead Author’s “passion for politics”

/ January 24, 2013

[Please note Updates below -hro]

In my previous post, I had noted that longtime Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Lead Author, Andrew <barrage of intergalactic ballistic missiles> Weaver had become a PR agent for Greenpeace.

However, As Alex Cull had observed in a subsequent comment this is not a new avocation for Weaver:

If you look at the Greenpeace website petropolis-film.com, one of the “webisodes” featured is by Andrew Weaver.The same video is on YouTube and was uploaded on 7th May 2009, described as being part of Greenpeace’s “Stop the Tar Sands” campaign, so it looks like he’s been a de facto spokesman for them for a while now.

As an aside, it’s interesting that just over 2 minutes into the video he repeats the IPCC’s prediction about mass extinctions of species because of global warming […]

I’m not sure what the readership of the Capilano Courier might be, although it appears to be a “student newspaper” that is able to pay its contributors.

Anyway … columnist Max Olesen has now published an interview with Weaver. Some excerpts:

GARDEN CITY OF GOOD AND EVIL [pdf backup here Courtesy of PDFmyURL]
We’re all in this together
By Max Olesen | Published: JANUARY 24, 2013

[…]
In 2013’s field of aspirants to public office, Andrew Weaver is an especially tall poppy. Weaver is the B.C. Green Party’s candidate in the riding of Oak Bay-Gordon Head. He grew up in Victoria, and currently serves as Landsdowne professor and Canada Research chairperson at the University of Victoria. He also won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize as part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, sharing the prize with Al Gore. [emphasis added -hro]

Oh, my … Yet another iteration of the Nobel Peace Prize myth that will not die! Looks as though fact-checking is not part of Olesen’s journalistic ethos. As far as I can tell, Weaver has not bothered to correct Olesen on this matter, but he was triply diligent in alerting his twitter followers to the publication of Olesen’s column:

Pretty difficult to miss this tweet from Weaver!

Pretty difficult to miss this tweet from Weaver! 3 different links all leading to same column

Olesen’s song of praise continues:

So why abandon those lofty heights for the gritty world of provincial politics? This year isn’t the first that Andrew Weaver has waded into politics. In the 2009 B.C. election Weaver endorsed Gordon Campbell and the B.C. Liberals, calling the former premier’s leadership on the environment “visionary and courageous,” and urging “anyone who cares about our planet…to support leaders like Gordon Campbell.”

In 2011, Weaver gave his endorsement to Tom Mulcair at the federal level, appearing with the NDP leader at a Vancouver press conference, and stating, “Canada needs a prime minister who recognizes that a healthy economy does not have to come at the expense of a healthy environment.”

[…]

Weaver, unconcerned about vote splitting, also does not shy away from his past endorsements across party lines. “I have a long history of working with political leaders from across the political spectrum both in Canada and abroad,” he says. “I have always supported good policy and good people; I will not oppose policy simply because another party came up with the idea.”

[…]

Despite his passion for politics, and his commitment to standing for election, Weaver doesn’t see a seat in the B.C. Legislature as the end of the road for him. Crediting [solitary Federal Green MP] Elizabeth May as “an inspiration” Weaver says, “I’m not doing this to make a career out of politics; rather I’m stepping up to make a difference.” [emphasis added -hro]

Too bad that Olesen didn’t ask Weaver (as I had some months ago):

[H]ow can Deputy Leader of BC Greens retain “objectivity” [required] of IPCC Lead Author?

Then again, perhaps Olesen did ask the same question, and received the same response as I did: Sounds of Silence.

Sure looks as though Weaver’s “passion for politics” outweighs any consideration of conflict of interest. Or maybe Weaver (not unlike the IPCC) just doesn’t get it!
=========
UPDATE 01/24/2013 11:40 PM PST:

UPDATE: 02/2/2013 12:31 PM PST:

Please see my comment below for a response I have posted to BC commentator, Vaughn Palmer’s rather uncritical observations of Weaver’s (and/or the BC Greens’) high hopes.

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4 thoughts on “IPCC Lead Author’s “passion for politics””

  1. Here is his twitter bio:

    Andrew Weaver
    @AJWVictoriaBC
    Lansdowne Professor and Canada Research Chair, University of Victoria. BC Green Party Candidate Oak Bay Gordon Head. Deputy Leader, Green Party of BC

    Reply

    • Gee, you’d never know he is an IPCC Lead Author from that, would you?! Nor would you know it from visiting his UVic page [although you’d certainly know about his green heart on his sleeve candidacy for political office]

      Perhaps he thinks if he doesn’t mention IPCC in the same breath as his Greenpeace enviro-advocacy and/or Green Party affiliations, he will avoid the appearance of conflict of interest – about which the IPCC would be so concerned ;-)

      But what can one expect from someone who calls computer modelling simulations “experiments“, eh?!

  2. Pingback: Meet ‘One of the World’s Foremost Climate Scientists’ « NoFrakkingConsensus

  3. Another update:

    Vaughn Palmer: 10 great fights shaping up for May 14

    February 1, 2013

    Oak Bay-Gordon Head. The Greens, in an inspired move, are fielding Andrew Weaver, the internationally respected University of Victoria academic and climatologist in the seat now held by cabinet minister Ida Chong. But fed-up Liberals could get behind Weaver as a keep-them-honest check on an anticipated NDP government, giving the Greens their first presence in the provincial legislature.

    To which I have responded:

    Vaughan Palmer wrote, “But fed-up Liberals could get behind Weaver as a keep-them-honest check”

    Surely one should expect that a candidate one hopes will keep others “honest” will have demonstrated honesty in his/her own interactions. That being the case, I have to ask:

    Where’s the “honesty” in suggesting that “climate change” will be shown to be a “barrage of intergalactic ballistic missiles”?

    Where’s the “honesty” in one who permits a student newspaper reporter to claim, “[Weaver] also won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize as part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [IPCC], sharing the prize with Al Gore” when he and his booking agency now know full well that he has no right to rest on such laurels?

    Where’s the “honesty” in one who chooses to elevate his computer-generated simulations to the status of scientific “experiments”?

    Where’s the “honesty” in one who fails to respond to a question regarding the conflict of interest that derives from his Green Party affiliations and the “objectivity” required of an IPCC Lead Author?

    Where’s the “honesty” in one who fails to acknowledge the further conflict of interest that derives from this same individual choosing to act, in effect, as a PR agent for Greenpeace?

    https://hro001.wordpress.com/2013/01/24/ipcc-lead-authors-passion-for-politics/

    Perhaps, as Palmer noted, it was an “inspired” move on the part of the BC Greens. But the view from here is that, while Weaver may be an “internationally respected … academic and climatologist”, those who hold him in such high esteem may have neglected to perform any due diligence prior to formulating such an opinion.

    Reply

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