“Who killed Cock Robin?

I, said the Sceptic,

with my mouse and blogic,

I killed Cock Robin.”

One finds it hard to take to Robin McKie, Science Editor of The Observer, whose arrogant review (April 20) of Nigel Lawson’s elegant new book [side bar, ‘Home Page’] was little more than bigoted, ageist “piffle” (why such ageism appears in a liberal, left-leaning paper like The Observer is concerning). Nevertheless, today, Our Robin writes an excellent piece pointing out how UK and European environmentalists have been dangerously wrong on key issues [‘As the world begins to starve it’s time to take GM seriously’, The Observer, April 27, p.27]:

“With the Earth’s population continuing to soar, it will be the poor who go hungry, not the eco-warriors destroying modified crops.”

Just so. Thus, Our Robin analyses their wrongheadedness over GM crops:

“Crop trials are dug up and funding is blocked by governments embarrassed to be seen backing such work. The effects are rarely beneficial. Consider the example of potato blight. Its prevalence rose rapidly last year, threatening a crop that is a staple foodstuff for many people round the world.

Yet scientists insist it would be relatively easy to introduce a basic gene construct into potatoes that would make them resistant to blight. Europe has the expertise but is thwarted by gangs of men and women who trash GM crop fields. As Sir Robert May, the government’s former chief scientific adviser, once remarked, these individuals display ‘the attitude of a privileged elite who think there will be no problem feeding tomorrow's growing population.’”

Our Robin then spells out the consequences, quoting a leading and well-respected veterinarian and agriculturalist:

“‘Britain and Europe have isolated themselves from the rest of the world over transgenic crops,’ says Bill McKelvey, principal of the Scottish Agricultural College, in Edinburgh. ‘We have decided the technology, for no good reason, is dangerous. The rest of the world doesn’t thinks so and has got on with using it. For example, GM soya is grown throughout America and Asia. It doesn’t worry people there for the simple reason that no one has ever died of eating GM food. On the other hand, a lot of people could soon die because they have no food of any kind.’”

In addition, Our Robin goes on to acknowledge environmentalist wrongheadedness, as believers in ‘global warming’, over nuclear energy:

“Environmental campaigners ... can often display remarkable intransigence. For example, they remain committed to the idea that nuclear energy has no role to play in helping to combat global warming.”

Long List

To such wrongheadedness, we could, of course, add a mighty list, including the deadly banning of DDT and the unthinking rush into biofuels, the unintended consequences of which are now causing environmental campaigners considerable pain, a self-inflicted wound not easily treated by a dose of palm oil from the South East Asian rain forest.

Yet, Our Robin is realistic enough to acknowledge that environmentalists may be slow to change their bad habits, as quoted above: “environmental campaigners can often display remarkable intransigence.” Quite! Bill McKelvey, however, is a tad more confident:

“‘I think we are approaching a tipping point when society will start looking at this as a science that is not going to damage the planet but actually help it,’ says McKelvey.”

We do hope so.

Wrong, Wrong, Wrong, And Wrong Again

Thus: wrong over GM; wrong over nuclear power; wrong over biofuels; wrong over DDT; dangerously wrong over so, so much ...

And, in the end, inevitably for a Whig like me, they will be wrong over ‘global warming’, over the mad idea that we can manage climate change predictably by fiddling at the margins with one politically-selected variable.

I eagerly await the day when Our ‘Mr. Global Warming’ Robin is forced to twitter from The Observer hedgerow:

“Environmental campaigners can often display remarkable intransigence. For example, they remain committed to the idea of ‘global warming’, while all we can do is adapt to constant climate change.”

How we “Grumpy Old Deniers” [he just can’t resist ageist remarks] will crack open an old malt and toast his saga of discovery, singing riotously as we do:

“Who killed Cock Robin?

I, said the Sceptic,

with my mouse and blogic,

I killed Cock Robin.”

“Slàinte!”