The BBC, Environmental Information Regulations and a very convenient loophole

Posted by TonyN on 24/11/2008 at 9:12 pm BBC and Freedom of Information, The Climate 30 Responses »
Nov 242008

When I asked the BBC for the names of what they described as ‘the best scientific experts’ who attended their 2006 seminar on climate change (here), I made the request under both the Freedom of Information Act and the Environmental Information Regulations. Although these two pieces of legislation are similar in intent, to promote transparency in public life, there are some subtle differences in the ways that they apply;

FOI Act: Refers to information held by a wide range of government agencies and other organisations that are publicly funded. These are identified in schedules to the act and include both the BBC and universities. There are common sense exceptions that allow certain information not to be divulged; national security, the police, courts of law and some kinds of personal data among others. There is also a clause that overrides some of the exceptions if releasing the information is considered to be in the public interest.

In the case of the BBC and ITN, these bodies are only subject to the FOI Act where information is not held for the purposes other than ‘journalism, art or literature’. Providing a degree of confidentiality to journalists is understandable. Who would speak off the record to a reporter if they thought that what they said might be brought into the public domain as a result of an FOI Act application? On the other hand, the act does not define ‘journalism, art and literature’, a shortcoming that the BBC seems only too willing to exploit.

The FOI Act came into effect in 2000 and is UK legislation, as opposed to EU law.

EIR: The type of information that must be disclosed is obviously more specific here, but the regulations apply not only to all the bodies specified in the FOI Act, but to many that are not. For instance even contractors used by publicly funded bodies are subject to the regulations, as are utility companies and major contractors used by such bodies. There are also fewer exceptions than in the FOI Act.

The EIR is not British legislation, but European Union legislation that the UK has signed up to.

When I applied to the BBC for information about the climate change seminar, I was under the impression that they must be subject to the EIR, as were many others, including the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which oversees compliance with both the FOI Act and the EIR. In a letter to the BBC about my appeal against their decision not to provide me with the information I wanted, dated 28th July 2008, the ICO said: Continue reading »

The Anthropogenic Global Warming Debate

Posted by Peter Martin on 17/11/2008 at 10:28 am The Climate, Uncategorized 61 Responses »
Nov 172008
(For nearly a year now, Peter Martin has been a regular contributor to a remarkable thread which started at the New Statesman and is now, nearly 6000 comments later, hosted at Harmless Sky. By energetically representing a point of view that most of the other contributors disagree with, he makes sure that none of us get complacent. Thanks Peter!)

There are many thousands of posts on numerous websites, both arguing for and against the scientific consensus position on global warming, or climate change if you prefer. There is probably no precedent for such a scientific controversy. Previous disputes about smoking and health, or evolutionary theory seem relatively tame by comparison. There have been other scientific controversies over the years, which have been settled, as they should in the way that science should settle them, by a process of discussion and acceptance. Famously, Einstein had conceptual problems with the ideas of quantum mechanics that were emerging in the 1920s and 30’s. Schrodinger, himself a pioneer of quantum mechanical theory, was uncomfortable with some of the philosophical implications, expressed doubts, asked difficult questions and was happy to test his own theories against the general scepticism of many physicists at the time. Continue reading »

Can global warming survive a global recession? Part 2

Posted by TonyN on 11/11/2008 at 12:40 pm The Climate, Uncategorized 2 Responses »
Nov 112008

In the first part of this post, I suggested that the global banking crisis, and an economic downturn that may lead to years of recession, will bring about a change in the general public’s attitude to global warming.

Concerns about climate change are hardly likely to compete for our attention with real day-to-day fears about employment, the cost of living, pensions, and even the security of our savings and our homes. Exhortations to have blind faith in a ‘scientific consensus’ are likely to fall on deaf ears, and appeals for self-sacrificing compliance with costly schemes to save the planet will prompt question about what these measures are likely to deliver.

Of course, this applies mainly to the domestic sector of the economy, but what will be the reaction in the commercial world and in the public sector? Will the currently fashionable acceptance of the doctrine of climate alarmism continue to be the norm, or will there be a growing scepticism here too?

When a recession bites, plans for long-term capital expenditure come under scrutiny; uncertainties are likely to be reassessed and particularly the credibility of predictions that underlie plans for the future. Here are some examples of how predictions about the future climate influence decision makers who need sound guidance if they are to avoid making very expensive mistakes.

In the wake of the West Country floods last summer, the Environment Agency launched a campaign to publicise the need for a new Thames Barrier to protect London from flooding.

The BBC reported the story in these apocalyptic terms: Continue reading »

BP's record profits and the Climate Change Bill

Posted by TonyN on 03/11/2008 at 11:34 am The Climate 1 Response »
Nov 032008

The oil giant BP has reported a record profit of £6.4bn, and among the gloom and carnage of the stock markets the company’s share price has soared dramatically.

In the face of renewed calls for a windfall tax on oil companies, a pundit on Radio 4’s World at One news programme patiently explained that the markets were not just reacting to the size of the profit; when oil prices are volatile, such companies will inevitably make large profits or losses. What made BP’s financial results special was that they showed that managers had controlled costs more effectively than any of their competitors. During a recession, it is this ability to operate efficiently that particularly distinguishes the winners from the losers.

Contrast this piece of good news with a potentially far more important story that received hardly any media coverage at all. Continue reading »

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