Mandatory climate change classes plan for Scottish leaders
https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/18404742.mandatory-climate-change-classes-plan-scottish-leaders/ (hat-tip: https://www.samizdata.net/2020/04/the-return-of-the-test-acts/)
The joys of controlling everyone's behaviour during the virus lockdown has gone to their heads:
' The man behind the idea, RSGS chief executive Mike Robinson, said a number of business leaders have already committed to undertake the course along with the Scottish Government, with further discussions to ensure new university students and MSPs can take part well-underway.'
What is the 'idea'? Well, nothing less than a mandatory course on climate panic propaganda for every university student who wishes to graduate, and for other people too:
'MSPs, busineess leaders and newly enrolled university students may be asked to take mandatory climate change studies if plans currently under consideration are adopted.
The studies would help arm them with facts and knowledge to make urgent changes to society as it emerges from COVID-19 lockdown. The Scottish Government has already committed to enrolling at least 100 senior officials to the Climate Solutions course.'
The RSGS is the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, and its leader Mike Robinson seems to be a a kind of grown-up version of Greta Thurnberg. Here he is in 2019:
'We will need to waste less, drive less, fly less, use renewable electricity and heat, use electric cars and trains, buy less tat, eat differently and repair and restore materials more than we do. We will need to remind ourselves of the value of community, society, environment, nature and place, and record more than just GDP. And we will urgently need to start building the future we want – properly creating houses, businesses, infrastructure that we need for a net zero carbon life, and not settling for the cheapest, least imaginative versions which are out of date before they are built and will look ridiculous in 10, 20, or 30 years’ time. In short, we need to start treating this Climate Emergency like an emergency. And having these targets now in place is a welcome and significant first step.'
In other words, a radical who wants to wreck our society. And based on what? The flimsy conjecture that our CO2 emissions are doing what CO2 has never done before and dominating the climate system. Not a plausible claim, and nor is it being supported by observations. The climate system is behaving just as it might if our actions are of minor importance on the global scale.
It is some consolation that the comments below the Herald article are almost all hostile to the proposal. So far. The legions of the faithful will no doubt be being mobilised to change that.
It is also a consolation that genuine science research continues to undermine the case for such alarm over our emissions. Readers are urged to check our these recent posts:
And on the third-rate advice that is so easily cobbled together on climate, and so easily refuted:
Sadly, it seems likely that the Scottish government will continue to support this shameful proposal to undermine what tertiary education should stand for, and furthermore that this kind of authoritarianism will in due course serve to make climate teaching in high schools even worse.
Parents can not rely on schools to give a balanced perspective on climate variation, and to avoid needlessly scaring children and undermining their future. Parents will have to look elsewhere.
