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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/17/dr-adi-paterson-nuclear-for-australia-climate-change>
"The chair of a leading Australian nuclear advocacy group has called concerns
that carbon dioxide emissions are driving a climate crisis an “irrational fear
of a trace gas which is plant food” and has rejected links between worsening
extreme weather and global heating.
Several statements from Dr Adi Paterson, reviewed by the
Guardian, appear at
odds with statements from the group he chairs, Nuclear for Australia, which is
hosting a petition saying nuclear is needed to tackle an “energy and climate
crisis”.
Nuclear for Australia was founded by 18-year-old Queensland nuclear advocate
Will Shackel, who has said repeatedly he believes reactors are needed to fight
“the climate crisis”.
Two climate science experts told the
Guardian that Paterson’s statements were
misguided and typical of climate science denial.
Paterson defended his statements, telling the
Guardian he was “not a climate
denier”. He described himself as “a climate realist” and an “expert on climate
science”.
In May, Paterson, who resigned in 2020 as the chief executive of the
government’s Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, suggested
on LinkedIn that concerns about climate change were “an irrational fear of a
trace gas which is plant food”. He has been a regular guest on right-wing media
outlets since the Coalition earlier this year said it wanted to lift the ban on
nuclear and build reactors in seven locations.
On his Facebook page, Paterson has said that “cold is more dangerous than warm”
and described a leading scientist as a “climate creep”.
On LinkedIn, he said US space agency Nasa was “deliberately confusing public
understanding by publishing ground surface temperatures”, saying the agency’s
climate work “should be given to a credible independent group. Defund NASA!”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
