“Viscount” “Lord” etc. are words that mean little to Americans.   But “Viscount” “Lord” Monckton is a serious matter and we need to pay attention to what he represents.   He’s a pompous, arrogant,  shady, sneaky man, funded by big fossil fuel companies and think tanks, one of those at the forefront of the world-wide denier movement.   At the moment he’s a bit of a pop-eyed rock star (like BP used to be) to people in the anti-science movement,  like people in Colorado.  In Colorado, some people want to teach the “other side” of climate change — you know, the false side, the point of view that says it’s not happening.  Monckton wants to do the same, and he is quite successful and rich because of it.  Lying is a lucrative business for some people.

Monckton’s  testimony to Congress, partially seen in that video, was quite interesting.    For some reason known only to Republicans, he was chosen as their lone representative to talk about the science of climate change at a recent Congressional hearing, though all he really was there for was to present the politics of his viewpoint.    It’s also a reflection on the pathetic anti-science ideology of the national Republican party.  No actual science supports their denials about climate change, but their politics sure support it.

Now,  a scientist and professor from St. John’s University in Minnesota, (just a couple of miles from here) has completely eviscerated all of “Lord” Monckton’s false anti-science arguments.  Mister Monckton is not a real Lord to begin with, and even if he was, his status would be meaningless  in terms of adding credibility to his claims.  He is not allowed to serve in Parliament or even to sit in on it, he is not a scientist, he has never written a peer-reviewed paper, and he’s not really an expert on anything.  He once worked for the government of Margaret Thatcher, which seems slightly impressive, but it proves nothing about his character.  As another example, Oliver North once worked for the government of Ronald Reagan,  and he’s a liar and a convicted felon who lied to Congress.  So just because someone once worked for someone famous and powerful, it does not mean that person is necessarily honest or particularly intelligent.  People should not get too excited, either, that Mister Monckton puts a pink crown seal-thing on his slides, and correspondence, suggesting that he is something he is not.  It’s just a cute little picture.

The Minnesota professor’s name is John Abraham, an engineering professor at St. Thomas University in St. Paul, MN.   Climate Progress reported that,

“. . . . few people are willing to put in the time and effort that Prof. Abraham has — not merely looking up just about every reference TVMOB uses but actually e-mailing the authors of those scientific papers and asking them if TVMOB has accurately represented their work.”

And “The number of errors Chris Monckton makes is so enormous [...]