Environment minister attacks climate critics
Friday 11 December 2009
Environment minister Jacqueline Cramer quoted Charles Darwin at climate change sceptics in parliament on Thursday evening, by using his famous phrase 'ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge'.
The Volkskrant says Cramer, a former university professor, gave a short lecture about radioactive isotopes, tree rings and chemical composition in the hope of winning over the sceptics.
There are always uncertainties in science, the paper quoted her as saying. 'But at the moment we are 95% sure that humans have a role in the warming up of the earth.'
PVV MP Richard de Mos referred to the leaked emails from British scientists which claim climate change data has been manipulated. The discussion on climate change is a trick to scare people, he said.
The emails are from just a few people, Cramer said and thousands of experts have reached a consensus. 'The earth is warming up and humans are guilty,' she said.
© DutchNews.nl
Readers' comments
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I do believe in climate change and global warming, but I think a better tactic would be to impress upon people just how filthy our environments become; the air is filled with fine dust that gets into our lungs, the buildings turn black,forests die from acid rain, our water is polluted, our kids are more and more asthmatic ...these sorts of problems are more tangible for people to really understand than rings on trees or radio-isotopes. Let it hit home.
By AW | December 11, 2009 11:02 AM