Owen McShane (1941-2012)
Credentials
- B. Architecture, University of Auckland (1963).1“About Owen McShane,” Straight Thinking. Accessed January, 2012.
Background
Owen McShane ran a website called “Straight Thinking” which originally launched in 1995 in a a magazine format. According to his bio on the site, McShane’s background was in architecture and town planning. He died on March 6, 2012, according to his profile on the Heartland Institute‘s website.2“OWEN MCSHANE (1941-2012),” Heartland Institute. Archived March 31, 2020. Archive URL:https://archive.vn/wip/1mgVK
He is the director of the Centre for Resource Management Studies in New Zealand. The objective of the Centre, according to their website, is “the promotion of a heightened awareness and understanding of, and knowledge about, the environment and environmental issues within the community in New Zealand.”3“About Us,” The Center for Resource Management Studies. Archived April 16, 2004.
While this is the stated objective of the center it appears that the main purpose is to criticize the New Zealand government’s Resource Management Act, which was established to balance commercial development with environmental protection.
Stance on Climate Change
“It must be coming evident that the science connecting Greenhouse gases to damaging climate change grows more tenuous by the day and the costs of using these theories to justify central planning of everything are causing Governments everywhere – but especially in Europe – to suddenly loose interest. They have real problems to deal with – not mythical conceptions of disaster in a hundred years’ time.”4“Owen McShane: Unwinding the Sustainable Development Mindset,” BreakingViews.co.nz, November 18, 2011.
Key Quotes
“We are about to incur a host of taxes, levies and incentives, all driven by T-shirt slogans, which are, in turn, driven by junk science and junk economics. Any technologies we develop will address the needs of only those markets suffering similar distortions. We are unlikely to develop anything of use to Europe’s nuclear sector or their waste-to-energy plants. We have already rejected both responses to the [Kyoto] protocol.”
“The real costs of Kyoto will be our loss of freedoms as we travel down this second road to serfdom.”5“Owen McShane: Dancing to Kyoto tune turns us into an Apec dummy,” the New Zealand Herald.
Key Deeds
March 2008
McShane was a speaker at the Heartland Institute‘s First International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC1) where he gave a speech titled “Climate Change: The Last Gasp of Smart Growth.”6ExxonSecrets Factsheet: Owen McShane. Video can be viewed below.
The conference was titled “Global Warming: Truth or Swindle,” and described as a “gathering of skeptics.” Heartland contends that this group lacks a “platform from which they can be heard,” as “Their voices have been drowned out by publicity built upon the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, an entity with an agenda to build support for the theory of man-made catastrophic global warming.”
December 2007
McShane was part of a group referred to as “Team Bali,” made up of numerous climate change skeptics including Christopher Monckton who attended the U.N.’s 13th Annual Conference of the Parties (COP) in Bali.
Part of the groups purpose was to “present information to the international media critical of the current state of climate science,” which was accomplished through a press conference arranged by the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT).
CFACT reported that “Team members Owen McShane from New Zealand and Dave Evans from Australia, among others, began carrying copies of the Global Warming Swindle directly into the media center and handing them out to anyone with a press badge.”7“Special report from UN climate conference in Bali,” CFACT, December 27, 2007.
Affiliations
- New Zealand Climate Science Coalition — “Convener of Coalition’s Establishment Committee.”8“About Us & Contact,” The New Zealand Climate Science Coalition. Accessed January, 2012.
- International Climate Science Coalition (ICSC) — Member, ICSC Policy Advisory Board.9“WHO WE ARE,” International Climate Science Coalition. Accessed January, 2012.
- Heartland Institute — Profile listed on the Heartland website under “who we are.”10“OWEN MCSHANE (1941-2012),” Heartland Institute. Archived March 31, 2020. Archive URL:https://archive.vn/wip/1mgVK
Publications
According to a search of Google Scholar, Owen McShane has not published any articles in peer-reviewed journals on the subject of climate change.
Other Resources
Resources
- 1
- 2“OWEN MCSHANE (1941-2012),” Heartland Institute. Archived March 31, 2020. Archive URL:https://archive.vn/wip/1mgVK
- 3“About Us,” The Center for Resource Management Studies. Archived April 16, 2004.
- 4“Owen McShane: Unwinding the Sustainable Development Mindset,” BreakingViews.co.nz, November 18, 2011.
- 5“Owen McShane: Dancing to Kyoto tune turns us into an Apec dummy,” the New Zealand Herald.
- 6
- 7“Special report from UN climate conference in Bali,” CFACT, December 27, 2007.
- 8“About Us & Contact,” The New Zealand Climate Science Coalition. Accessed January, 2012.
- 9“WHO WE ARE,” International Climate Science Coalition. Accessed January, 2012.
- 10“OWEN MCSHANE (1941-2012),” Heartland Institute. Archived March 31, 2020. Archive URL:https://archive.vn/wip/1mgVK
