Recorded on December 1, 2023
Hosts: Kim Monson and Dave O’Rourke
Guests: Dr. Patrick Moore, Pro-Human Scientist and Sensible Environmentalist
Walter E. Johnson, Geophysicist and Executive Producer of the documentary A Climate Conversation
A Climate Conversation Podcast
This is the first in a series of podcasts in support of A Climate Conversation, a documentary that seeks to foster an honest dialogue on the subject of climate change—its causes, its impact, and a science-based cost/benefit analysis of its potential solutions.
Patrick Moore earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Forest Biology at the University of British Columbia and a PhD in ecology on the administration of environmental law relating to the mining industry. He was an early member of Greenpeace and past president of Greenpeace Canada. He is the author of Fake Invisible Catastrophes and Threats of Doom and Confessions of a Greenpeace Dropout. Dr. Moore is known as a “pro-human scientist” and “the sensible environmentalist.”
Walter E. Johnson is a respected geophysicist, certified geologist and registered professional engineer who earned his degree from the Colorado School of Mines. Walt has written and published more than 20 papers and publications on his areas of expertise, including high-resolution and shear wave seismology, inversion, and direct detection techniques. In 2022, he personally funded, wrote and produced A Climate Conversation, a documentary film that seeks to foster a transparent and inclusive approach to the topic of climate change.
The podcast will cover a number of topics, including:
The early years of Greenpeace and activism in atomic testing and whaling
Dr Moore’s break with Greenpeace
The Universal Theory of Scare Stories
Historical analysis of temperatures and CO2 concentration
Debunking false narratives regarding polar bears, coral reefs, and the great Pacific garbage patch
The dishonesty of the alarmist industry
The impossibility of Net Zero
The enormous cost to replace fossil fuels
The attractiveness and safety of nuclear energy
The inadvertent but critical impact of humans on plant life
The Universal Theory of Scare Stories
“Action hero” and scientist aren’t a common combination we hear about outside of the Marvel comics enterprise, but Dr Patrick Moore’s early career demonstrates a willingness to take death-defying risks to back up his convictions. Dr Moore braved 30-foot seas in the Bay of Alaska to stop atomic bomb testing, stared down Russian whaling ships armed with harpoon guns, and stood up to baby seal hunters in the Arctic. These are uncommon activities for a mild mannered doctor of ecology from Canada.
Since his break with Greenpeace, where he was an early member, Director and President of Greenpeace Canada, Dr Moore has continued to fight for causes he believes in, which has earned him the epithet “pro-human scientist.”
In his book Fake Catastrophes and Threats of Doom, Dr Moore challenges a host of popular, but false, narratives about so-called catastrophes, from the death of coral reefs to the extinction of polar bears to the biggest topic of all, human-caused global warming. In this podcast, we’ll hear Dr Moore expound on his theory, which he calls The Universal Theory of Scare Stories.
“Nearly all the scare stories that we’re hearing through the media today are based on things that are either invisible, remote, or both. In other words, it’s impossible for the average member of the public to verify them by themselves with their observation. Observation being the basis of science, the beginning of scientific discovery is to observe something. And so, as a result of this, the general public depends on environmentalists, activists, on the media, on politicians, and on scientists, all of whom have skin in the game, to tell them the truth. When in fact, in most cases they are making up so-called narratives that are fake”, says Dr Moore.
A key ingredient in these scare stories is that they are already happening, or will very soon. These include the death of the coral reefs, which is entirely untrue, and the forecast that half the species on earth is going extinct due to an increase in carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere. There are more, including the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, said to be twice the size of Texas, for which there is no evidence.
Walter E. Johnson, a geophysicist and professional engineer with a 50 year career, is also the executive producer, co-writer and co-star of the documentary A Climate Conversation. This podcast provides an opportunity for the public to listen in on a conversation between two scientists who have actually made scientific observations about today’s controversial topics. Listeners can expect a lively, thoughtful, and inspiring examination of facts, likely to lead to renewed optimism about the future of our planet.