Sir William: Climate change a rort based on lies

After making a splash with his views on the Treaty of Waitangi, Sir William Gallagher has had a go at climate change.

He labelled it a ‘‘rort’’ of an industry based on ‘‘lies’’.

In an interview at his Hamilton lakeside home on Sunday, Sir William, head of international security and animal management systems company the

Gallagher Group, which employs 1000 staff worldwide, said the causes of climate change are uncertain.

‘‘It [the climate] is changing, but it has nothing to do with the activities of man.’’

Research collated by Nasa concludes that 97 peer-reviewed scientific papers published on climate change conclude that human activity is to blame.

Sir William said it was ‘‘microsolids’’ – not carbon dioxide – that was contributing to climate change, he said.

Previous announcements on changes to the climate had come to nothing, he said.

‘‘In 1975, there was a big scare where we were about to go into another ice age.

‘‘This whole palaver about carbon credits and taxing carbon – that’s a rort in my opinion.’’

There were many people profiting from climate change ‘‘lies’’, but Sir William said he did not want to be among their number because ‘‘I don’t want to be a crook.’’

‘‘There is a whole industry feeding off it . . . They say it was the hottest year ever last year, but it only went up by 0.1 of a per cent. That’s considerably less than the margin of error.’’

Sir William said some of his views were informed by the International Conference on Climate Change, a series of gatherings organised and sponsored by The Heartland Institute.

The institute is an American free-market think tank. Before it ceased releasing donor records, the group received funding from right-wing groups and the oil and tobacco industries. The selfstated aim of the institute’s climate conference was to bring together global-warming sceptics who ‘‘dispute that the science is settled on the causes, consequences and policy implications of climate change’’.

Sir William agreed with the institute’s stance.

‘‘[The mainstream scientists] make proud statements, but the evidence is unavailable. It’s quack science, not real science. These climate crooks don’t have their sources available.’’

Sir William said he firmly believed that carbon dioxide was not a pollutant, and should not be thought of as such.

‘‘If you are going to grow more grass and vegetation, you need a whole lot more carbon dioxide.’’

The two massive chimneys at the Huntly Power Station produced no pollutants at all ‘‘under my definition’’ of carbon dioxide.

Many microsolids – the real danger, according to Sir William – were produced under natural circumstances.

‘‘One week of a volcano erupting will do exactly what man has done for the last 50 years.’’