Letter to the press ref: R. Helmer

Last week on Radio Lincolnshire Roger Helmer UKIP MEP declared that it was a “downright lie” to bring to public attention the growing scientific consensus that global temperatures will rise beyond “safe” limits unless we make drastic reductions in CO2 emissions.

Mr Helmer is UKIP’s spokesman on industry and energy. The following statements are from UKIP energy policy

Under the heading “Climate change” is so last century” Mr Helmer and colleagues make these statements ; “ We do not however regard CO2 as a pollutant. It is a natural trace gas in the atmosphere which is essential to plant growth and life on earth” followed by “Higher CO2 levels increase agricultural crop yields and “green” the planet”

These statements display a total disregard for the unequivocal science that supports the “greenhouse effect “ i.e. increasing emissions of greenhouse gases, of which CO2 is one, will warm up our planet.

For a more reputable global perspective comes this from the World Bank, a co-operative of senior government ministers from 188 nations around the world.

“Despite the global community’s best intentions to keep global warming below a 2°C increase above pre-industrial climate, higher levels of warming are increasingly likely. Scientists agree that countries’ current United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change emission pledges and commitments would most likely result in 3.5 to 4°C warming. And the longer those pledges remain unmet, the more likely a 4°C world becomes.”

Dr. Jim Yong Kim

President, World Bank Group November 2012     Why a 4 degree world must be avoided

The views of UKIP and Roger Helmer should be treated with the contempt they deserve for not only are they anti-wind they are anti-science too.