The Chicago Tribune reports:
Environmental researcher Steve Goreham had no one to debate on the stage Friday night, but several audience members challenged his claims that climate change is natural, not man made.
Goreham, author of “Mad, Mad, Mad World of Climatism,” spoke Friday night at the Gail Borden Public Library in Elgin, invited at the request of School District U-46 board member Jeanette Ward for a discussion on alternative theories on climate change.
Goreham’s theory is water vapor, not carbon dioxide, is causing global warming and that it’s part of the Earth’s normal cycle. He would like to see more debate and dialogue on the subject, but scientists do not want to give attention to the idea of natural climate change.
“The scientific community wants to teach it and they do not want to be challenged by it,” he said. “There is no empirical evidence increased greenhouse gases are the primary cause of global warming.”
Glaciers are melting, which is evidence of warming, but it does not tell you what is causing the warming, he said. Worldwide computer climate model projections are wrong and CO2 is not the cause of climate change, he said.
“Climate change is real,” Goreham said. “That is a true statement but it is meaningless. Climate change in not only real, it is continuing.”
The Earth had a “little ice age” and has been warming ever since, he said. The Thames River in London used to freeze between 1300 and 1850 AD and temperature change had nothing to do with it, he said. It was part of a regular cycle where the Earth cooled, warmed, cooled and warmed, he said.
Nature’s most abundant greenhouse gas is not methane or carbon dioxide, but water vapor, Goreham said. Most scientists agree that 75 percent of the greenhouse effect is due to water vapor and clouds, not CO2, he said.
CO2 is a trace gas and can’t cause dangerous warming, Goreham said. It is odorless, harmless and invisible, he said. It helps plants grow and is making the Earth greener, he said.
Former President Barack Obama quoted a statistic in 2013 that 97 percent of scientists accept the concept of man-made global warming, which is misleading and based on an online study using opinions of 75 scientists, Goreham said. A document signed by 31,478 American scientists says there is no convincing evidence showing that the release of CO2 or methane has caused or will cause the catastrophic heating, he said.
“So don’t let anyone tell you about this 97 percent. It’s nonsense. Very, very inaccurate,” Goreham said.
“Fake news,” Ward shouted out.
“Money now drives climatism,” Goreham said. The U.S. government budgets $10 million for climate research and renewable energy efforts, he said.
He estimated $250 billion was spent in 2015 to stop global warming. There are other issues, like providing clean drinking water to some parts of the world, which are more important than global warming, he said.
“This is a vast misdirection of resources,” Goreham said.
