By NOEL MURPHY
CLIMATE change friction is heating up in Geelong as opponents clash over free speech and the right to publically express their views.
Man-made climate change proponent Ray Black, former sustainability head at Gordon Institute of TAFE, and others have called for the Independent to ban letters from sceptics, particularly prominent local campaigner Alan Barron.
Sceptics have responded with a flood of letters arguing their right to question climate change theory.
But Dr Black said they were hijacking free speech by campaigners whose claims of scientific facts were demonstrably wrong.
Publishing their claims put the environment and people at risk from the impacts of climate change, he said.
Dr Black called for the mainstream media to enforce tougher standards on purported scientific evidence they reported.
He said the media must improve its vetting of inaccurate claims about climate change and accused Mr Barron of “hijacking” the public’s “inalienable right to free speech” with dangerous misinformation.
“Freedom of speech shouldn’t be allowed to be a vehicle for the perpetuation of incorrect misinformatioin – that’s propaganda,” he said.
Dr Black said the science on the carbon dioxide greenhouse threat was settled and backed by 97 per cent of scientists with peer-reviewed support.
“It’s a really important subject and an issue that needs to be clarified in people’s minds. There’s far too much uncertainty that shouldn’t be.
“We have to cut emissions really quickly – it’s getting really late.”
Dr Black cited a line seven metres high in the cliff-line along Western Beach showing where the sea level would rise, over time, with even a 2C average temperature increase.
Mr Barron likened attempts to shut him down to Nazi Germany.
“We’re going back to the days of Dr Goebbels – don’t print anything except what comes out of the party,” he told the Independent.
“Free speech is paramount to any democracy. The moment you start to compromise that you’re on a slippery slope.
“If you have truth on your side there shouldn’t be any problem debating climate change in public. It’s only when you’re scared of being exposed to some degree that you resort to those tactics.”
Mr Barron rejected any climate change denier tag against him, saying the real issue was the significance of CO2 in causing warming.
“The Bureau of Meteorology homogenises figures, climate modelling all depends on the parameters you use and data can be manipulated. There’s been no heating in the stratosphere recently and the idea we should panic about CO2 is complete and utter nonsense.”
Free speech has come under extensive scrutiny recently after Islamic jihadist killings in Paris and Sydney and amid debate over Australia’s Racial Discrimination Act’s controversial 18C and venues pulling out anti-vaccination campaigner Sherri Tenpenny’s tour of Australia.
