Bishop Hill Another gig
Feb 18, 2011 Climate: HSI Another speaking engagement last night, but again a private one.
I gave a talk to the Scottish Oil Club, which I've mentioned here before. The club has its roots in oil, but brings together people from across the energy industry, including renewables, and also has many members from the academic community and from the service industries - lawyers and accountants and the like.
The audience, perhaps 70 strong, was largely from the academic community, but there was no sense of antagonism and although there were many questions, I had no sense of being "got at". One questioner identified himself as an IPCC author, and although he was disputing a couple of things I had said, his questions were fair and put in a moderate way. Somebody else was concerned with me making money out of selling books. This struck me as a poor argument.
All in all, a good evening. Thanks to Rob Scheider and the SOC board for making this happen.
Reader Comments (36)
"Somebody else was concerned with me making money out of selling books. This struck me as a poor argument."
Well I bought your book, and it was bloody good value for money.
I'm looking forward to the second book.
Now you are in the pay of Big Oil you won't need to write any more books to make money, surely? Enjoyed the last one though.
If you were out to get rich, I'd have thought washing glasses in a pub would have been a faster method than writing the HSI.
"Somebody else was concerned with me making money out of selling books. This struck me as a poor argument."
Did they object to Al Gore making money from AIT? Or the book that followed? Or any other alarmist nonsense? Did they object to the producers of the ghastly "Greenland" play making money from it? If not why not? If (as I suspect may be rather more likely) this play actually required taxpayer funding rather than washing it's face, did they object? if not, why not?
Moron....
Bish,
Maybe your questioner makes money on books? How?
Offer to pay the concerned somebody what you have earned from the book if s/he will pay you this: what s/he earns per hour times the number of hours that you have put into hockey-stick-related matters.
JK Rowling. What?
The Scottish OIL CLUB?? No doubt that will go down badly with somebody on this thread ;-)
But seriously, I am very glad that the audience reception was civil and questions were sensible (bar the 'money from books' thing).
Heartening.
Just finished 'The Hockey Stick Illusion' a couple of days ago - very heavily technical in places but a wonderfully detailed and riveting read overall.
Hope you've got more in the pipeline - unless of course now that the Big Scottish Oil wonga is rolling in - you have no need?
Keep up the good work your grace.
Sounds like the globe is actually cooling as this anthroprogenic phenom has been reported elsewhere as well. (Nothing gets a Scot's attention like the sound of his own money going to waste.)
I remember the first time someone came back to me with the argument "Don't you think these people are only out to make money from this book?" I was eighteen and the person making the accusation was a US foreign policy titan, friend of Henry Kissinger. I was absolutely gobsmacked. It hasn't become more credible in the intervening 35 years.
"Well I bought your book, and it was bloody good value for money"
O and I forgot to add: Which is more than you get from just about anything else these days.
Yes, I loved your book too. I read it on holiday last year, and was completely gripped by it. Thank you - you deserve to make money from it!
Are you working on another?
The person expressing concern about making money on "the book" via a question in Q&A was not, far as I can tell, a member of the club nor had he previously attended our events. We had a number of first-timers, predominately from the local universities, at this event. We welcome that participation.
So the person complaining about you making money from the book may have been an academic? Who get salary to write their words in journals. Whereas an independent author gets no such salary, but has to recoup his costs from sales (or not). H'mmm.
In other news, national treasure (if you're around 40 years old!) Johnny Ball is getting a beating for being a "denier". I seem to remember the same thing happening to fellow national treasure David Bellamy. Hilariously, ZDB is commenting on the article :p.
Scottish Oil Club
An obvious front for big oil :)
Seriously, good show.
It strikes me as a lame argument as well. Your book is good. If people are willing to pay for it, so be it. And if you promote it, big deal. That's how ideas germinate. Sounds like a hint of jealousy in that argument. Apparently some think you are not allowed to be successful based on your hard work and diligence. They are more than free to create something positive and substantial.
Bishop,
Is there a second book in the works?
Rob: thanks for popping by to say hello. If as it seems you provided a forum for Andrew to speak followed by constructive, polite discussion on this thorniest of subjects then the SOC has done something worthy and rare. Congratulations.
Think how many books you could sell if you published a new book in which you renounce your scepticism, blame forced brain washing by the Right, and argue fervently that 2011 is our last chance to save mankind from global warming. Real Climate alone would most likely buy a million copies.
Good time to remind ourselves that even James Hansen believes energy companies and banks are the organisations pushing global warming. Enron of course created carbon trading, the economic basis of the AGW scam.
James Hansen in the Guardian
Governments today, instead, talk of "cap-and-trade with offsets", a system rigged by big banks and fossil fuel interests. Cap-and-trade invites corruption. Worse, it is ineffectual, assuring continued fossil fuel addiction to the last drop and environmental catastrophe.
Here are the companies that are pushing for a global warming deal. They are the reason the entire corporate media supports global warming.
International Emissions Trading Association (IETA)
BP, Conoco Philips, Shell, E.ON, EDF , Gazprom, Barclays, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs.
Every corporation on earth supports global warming, Almost every political promoter of global warming is connected to the oil and gas industry.
Margaret Thatcher, (husband was a director Burmah Oil). Kenneth Lay (Enron), Lord Browne (BP) Al Gore (owned and operated by Occidental Oil, father was a director) , Rajenda Pachauri (Indian Oil Corp. director, even while head of the IPCC).
Theo Goodwin
Appalling cynicism. Go to the top of the class ;-)
Well done Bish. It is all good practice for what lies ahead.
BBD
I am truly honored, sir. The word 'appalling' is worth far more than its weight in gold.
“‘We are doing our bit, not just for Cumbria but for the entire United Kingdom. And yet they will still come to west Cumbria and say; ‘we want to put three turbines in a field, generating enough electricity to boil a kettle on a good day’
Labour MP for Workington
On the tenuous pretext that a gig has nautical connotations, here is a link to a newspaper article from 1849 that describes an horrendous weather related incident when many Scottish fishing boats were overwhelmed by a wind shift. Were such an incident to occur now, the alarmists would be on their high horses castigating all & sundry in a similar fashion to the green pond scum in Australia over Yasi.
It was such a disaster that it was reported in NZ.
http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=DSC18490113.2.9.2
H/T to http://stevengoddard.wordpress.com/
Rob Schneider Feb 18, 2011 at 2:06 PM
Glad to see my legacy pension provider in there as corporate level 3. Do I count as a member? Just joking. PS Pls read the book.
@Pharos,
Re are you a member?, please get in touch via our web site ... (yes, read the book, more than once).
@j ferguson
"Maybe your questioner makes money on books? How?"
"JK Rowling. What?"
You gotta know how to write fiction. That's the problem with non-fiction. Nobody buys them. No money in it.
Hockey Stick Illusion could have been Steve McIntyre and the Forest of Lies.
"It was a dark and stormy night. It was the worst of times. 'Call me Steve', the young-at-heart statistics wizard wrote to his diary as the clocks struck thirteen.
...
Steve woke up and ran down to his study and booted up his computer in a blink. There was nothing from Captain Mann in the inbox. Not even a twit. There was however a new post in Surreal Realm. 'All wizards are equal, but some wizards are more equal than others', it screeched ominously.
...
'Deus ex machina!', Steve marveled laudably as the Gates of the Realm opened to the howls of shock and disbelief to the Barbarians manning the rams. 'It is a miracle, my dear McKitrick! We won this battle, but there will be many more ahead. Let's go home.'
Next book:
Ryan O'Donnell and the Snowflakes of Fortune.
I'm sure that if you wrote a book proving CAGW you'd make more money. It would probably even be bought by schools and otherwise funded by government.
@sHx
I love it, get pounding those keys as I am sure you will have a huge audience!
@Robinson
Thanks for that link Robbo. Bloody shocking that good old Johnny has been on the receiving end of the propaganda machine. I loved his shows when I was a kid and they peaked my interest in Science, real Science, not this Political shit been fed via IV drip into society.
Don Pablo@2:43pm.... "Scottish Oil Club... An obvious front for big oil :)" - a tad harsh...
This from the website: www.scottishoilclub.org.uk You should try it before you knock it.
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The Scottish Oil Club is a national forum for the presentation and discussion of views on the economic, industrial, technological and political aspects of petroleum and other energy resources.
The programme of regular meetings gives members of the club the chance to hear briefings by specialists of international standing. Members enjoy opportunities for lively and informed debate in informal surroundings, and benefit from networking with others from a range of energy-related enterprises.
The Club’s origins date back to 1975 when it was founded as The Edinburgh and Leith Petroleum Club. In the autumn of 1998, the Club merged with the Glasgow-based Oil Club and changed its name to The Scottish Oil Club. Regular monthly meetings are held over the Autumn, Winter and Spring.
The Scottish Oil Club is a key non-profit energy NGO and a highly credible energy discussion forum with significant membership across Scotland, Europe, and the world.
The diverse membership is drawn from the energy industry and its supporting service companies. The membership includes decision/policy makers, financial sector analysts, trade, academics and consulting--a true breadth of experience and knowledge.
The Club values all opinions and aims to facilitate discussion and debate of topical issues, research, and projects across the full energy spectrum for all those keen to deliver their views to our members, or wishing to challenge our collective experience. The Club also enables invaluable networking at the industry level, and across peer groups.
All are welcome to hear the presentations, debate the discussion and learn more about the energy sector than they probably knew before.
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J
@J Kenney
With respect, Don Pablo said that in jest, as he is known to do that often. It it wasn't him it'd probably be me or somebody else making a similar joke. It's quite inevitable actually, considering the fact that our host, a leading skeptical author and blogger, attended an "oil club" event. Elsewhere (especially in CAGW blogosphere) this would raise many eyebrows, but not here. Here people will joke about it.
We have a fairly intelligent community that can figure out our host, the proud author of an influential climate science-related book, was at the event to lecture and to inform the audience, not to take instructions. I can only hope, and I'm sure most people would agree with me saying this, that the Scottish Oil Club remunerated him adequately for his contribution to the event because firstly he's not making much out of Hockey Stick Illusion, and secondly, he is truly a rising star in the climate debate.
@calvi36
I'm glad you liked it. Unfortunately, I am suffering from writers' block at the moment. No writer wants me to write anything ever again. :D
sHx,
No worries. I know the "scene" around here and understand the issue (and comment by Don Pablo) by "others in the world" about "Big Oil". The SOC, as J Kenney noted is a very tolerant discussion/conversation/debate organisation. It's the absolutely best such organisation I've ever been involved with and am proud that not only did we invite Andrew but it also was a terrific event for both our members and guests.
As one member said to me later, "I found the small group of people in the audience interesting. It was obvious that they were very keen to let loose on him, but were left somewhat stunned by the facts which are pretty unassailable."