Cliff Ollier
Credentials
- Ph.D.1“MEDIA RELEASE – CLIMATE REALIST DECLARATION TOPS 1,100 ENDORSERS,” International Climate Science Coalition. Accessed February, 2012.
- Professor Emeritus (Geology).2“MEDIA RELEASE – CLIMATE REALIST DECLARATION TOPS 1,100 ENDORSERS,” International Climate Science Coalition. Accessed February, 2012.
Background
According to the International Climate Science Coalition, Cliff Ollier is a geologist, geomorphologist, soil scientist, emeritus professor, and honorary research fellow of the School of Earth and Geographical Sciences University of Western Australia.3“UWA Staff Profile: Professor Cliff Ollier,” University of Wester Australia. Accessed February, 2012.
Ollier has written articles for the Lavoisier Group, an organization with close to the Australian mining industry. He is also on a scientific advisory panel to the Australian Climate Science Coalition (ACSC).
Stance on Climate Change
“Paul Johnson (2008) wrote that the greenhouse bandwagon is like Marxist or Freudian science. A better parallel might be with Lysenko pseudo-science.”4“Lysenkoism and Global Warming” (PDF) Energy & Environment Vol. 20, No. 1 (2009).
Key Quotes
“The global warming doomsday writers claim the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets are melting catastrophically, and will cause a sudden rise in sea level of 5 or more metres. This ignores the mechanism of glacier flow which is by creep.”5“The Greenland-Antarctica Melting Problem Does Not Exist” (PDF), The Lavoisier Group, 2007.
Key Deeds
February 4, 2018
In January 2018, more than 200 scientists endorsed an open letter calling on the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) to remove climate change denier Rebekah Mercer from its board and to “end ties to anti-science propagandists and funders of climate science misinformation.” The New York Times reported that those among the AMNH letter calling for Mercer to step down were Michael E. Mann, director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University, and Katharine Hayhoe, director of the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University.6Robin Pogrebin and Somini Sengupta. “A Science Denier at the Natural History Museum? Scientists Rebel,” The New York Times, January 25, 2018. Archived February 13, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/tAIv4
Ollier was among a group of climate change deniers who responded with their own open letter, calling for the AMNH “not to cave in to this pressure.” The letter was signed by numerous individuals with ties to groups funded by the Mercer Family Foundation such as Will Happer of the CO2 CoalitionRichard Lindzen, a fellow at the Cato InstituteCraig Idso, the chairman of the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change. There are a number of signatories affiliated with the Heartland Institute, which has received over $5.78 million from the Mercer Family Foundation since 2008.7Graham Readfearn. “Climate Science Deniers Defend New York’s American Museum of Natural History From Calls to Drop Trustee Rebekah Mercer,” DeSmog, February 6, 2018.
The letter reads:8mnh18-feb4-petitionletter (PDF – Untitled). Retrieved from Watts Up With That.
“The Earth has supported abundant life many times in the geological past when there were much higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. It is quite likely that future generations will benefit from the enrichment of Earth’s atmosphere with more carbon dioxide.
“Make no mistake, the agitators are not defending science from quackery — quite the contrary!”
February 23, 2017
Cliff Ollier was a signatory of a petition (PDF) organized by Richard Lindzen of the Cato Institute urging President Donald Trump to pull the United States out of the United Nations international convention on climate change (UNFCCC).9“PETITION” (PDF), February 23, 2017. Richard Lindzen. PDF Archived at DeSmog.
“In just a few weeks, more than 300 eminent scientists and other qualified individuals from around the world have signed the petition below,” Lindzen wrote in the letter.10“PETITION” (PDF), February 23, 2017. Richard Lindzen. PDF Archived at DeSmog.
DeSmog investigated the list, and found that only a small handful of the signatories could be considered “even remotely ‘qualified’ or ‘eminent’ — but not in the field of climate science.” The list included individuals “interested in climate,” and one signatory who only identified as an “emailer who wished to sign the petition” while some signers provided no affiliation or address whatsoever.11Graham Readfearn. “Climate Science Denier Richard Lindzen’s List of 300 “Scientists” Sent to Trump Is the Usual Parade of Non-Experts,” DeSmog, February 27, 2017.
September 9, 2014
Cliff Ollier, Madhav Khandekar, and Arthur Middleton Hughes publish a book titled About Face!: Why the World Needs More Carbon Dioxide; The Failed Science of Global Warming. The book’s trio of authors encourage ramping up CO2 levels, by way of increased fossil fuel use, “to allow more plants to grow and combat rising levels of malnutrition.”12“ABOUT FACE! NEW BOOK CLAIMS WORLD NEEDS MORE CARBON DIOXIDEEXPOSING ‘FAILED SCIENCE’ OF GLOBAL WARMING,” Pieceofcakepr.com. Archived September 18, 2014.
The authors write if the “EPA and IPCC are successful in reducing carbon dioxide in the air, more millions will die annually of starvation—people that could be fed from bigger harvests generated by more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere,” and that, “CO2 is good. We need more of it, not less. DDT is good. We need to use it to eradicate malaria. Energy Independence is impossible and wrong-headed. We should stop subsidizing ethanol, wind power and solar. Coal plants are urgently needed to produce electricity and increase CO2 in the atmosphere. We need to stop programs that are causing millions of deaths worldwide, and spending billions of dollars wastefully at home … There is no global warming caused by CO2, nor are there deaths to wild birds or people due to DDT.”13Arthur Middleton Hughes, Madhav Khandekar, and Cliff Ollier. ”About Face!: Why the World Needs More Carbon Dioxide; The Failed Science of Global Warming,” Two Harbors Press, Minneapolis, MN, 2014.
The central message of the book asserted by Ollier, Khandekar, and Hughes is “people have to be ever vigilant to make sure that doomsayers are not allowed to dictate public policy.”14Arthur Middleton Hughes, Madhav Khandekar, and Cliff Ollier. ”About Face!: Why the World Needs More Carbon Dioxide; The Failed Science of Global Warming,” Two Harbors Press, Minneapolis, MN, 2014.
July 11, 2008
Attended the Lavoisier Group’s 2008 Forum on “The Solar System and Earth’s Climate” where he spoke on “Memories of Rhodes Fairbridge,” an Australian Climate Skeptic who had proposed a theory that the alignment of the planets controls climate on Earth. Fairbridge passed away in 2006.15“The Lavoisier Group 2008 Forum and AGM: The Solar System and Earth’s Climate,” The Lavoisier Group. Archived July 20, 2008. 16Cliff Ollier. “Memories of Rhodes Fairbridge,” The Lavoisier Group 2008 Forum: The Solar System and Earth’s Climate. Archived with WebCite, February 4, 2012.
March 4, 2008
Listed as “Climate Expert” signatory to the Manhattan declaration on climate change which asserts that “human-caused climate change is not a global crisis” and that CO2 “is not a pollutant but rather a necessity for all life.”17“CLIMATE EXPERTS WHO SIGNED MANHATTAN DECLARATION,” International Climate Science Coalition. Accessed February, 2012.
The Declaration was created by the ICSC and introduced at the Heartland Institute‘s 2008 International Conference on Climate Change.
December 20, 2007
Ollier’s name appeared on a Submission from the Lavoisier Group to the Garnaut Climate Change Review (PDF) as one of “400 prominent scientists” who “voiced significant objections to major aspects of the so-called ‘consensus’ on man-made global warming.”
The list was released by Senator James Inhofe’s U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
December 13, 2007
Ollier signed an open letter to secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon of the United Nations. The letter claims that “in stark contrast to the often repeated assertion that the science of climate change is ‘settled,’ significant new peer-reviewed research has cast even more doubt on the hypothesis of dangerous human-caused global warming.”18“Open Letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations,” December 13, 2007. Reprinted by the Science and Public Policy Institute.
This list of signatories was reprinted and extended by the Lavoisier Group (see above) and submitted to the Garnaut Climate Change Review as a further attempt to stall policy on global warming.
Affiliations
- Lavoisier Group — Author (see list of publications), and past speaker at a Lavoisier Group event.
- Australian Climate Science Coalition (ACSC) — Member, “Scientific Advisory Panel.”19“About Us,” Australian Climate Science Coalition. Accessed February, 2012. Archived February 4, 2012, with WebCite.
Publications
A full list of Ollier’s publications is provided by the University of Western Australia. Most of his peer-reviewed publications are in the field of geology, but include one article on the subject of climate:
- Yim, W.W.S., Ollier Cliff D. “Managing planet Earth to make future development more sustainable: climate change and Hong Kong,” Quaternary Sciences 29, no. 2 (2009), 190–198.
Ollier has also published an article in Energy & Environment*.
- “Lysenkoism and Global Warming” (PDF), Energy & Environment 20 no. 1 (2009): pp. 197–209.
* Energy & Environment journal received criticism for publishing a controversial article by Sallie Baliunas and Willie Soon. The editor of Energy and Environment, Sonja Boehmer-Christiansen has stated that “it’s only we climate skeptics who have to look for little journals and little publishers like mine to even get published.”
He has also published opinion papers and reviews on the Lavoisier Group Website such as:
- “Tuvalu—the touchstone of global warming and rising sea level.” Online Opinion, November 26, 2010. Republished by the Lavoisier Group.
- “Review of Nils-Axel Mörner’s The Greatest Lie Ever Told” (PDF), New Concepts in Global Tectonics Newsletter, no. 44, September, 2007, 55–57. Republished by the Lavoisier Group.
- “Glaciers—Science and Nonsense” (PDF), Geoscientist 20, no. 3 (March 2010). Republished by the Lavoisier Group.
- “The Greenland-Antarctica Melting Problem Does Not Exist” (PDF), The Lavoisier Group. Also republished by ICECAP.
Other Resources
Resources
- 1“MEDIA RELEASE – CLIMATE REALIST DECLARATION TOPS 1,100 ENDORSERS,” International Climate Science Coalition. Accessed February, 2012.
- 2“MEDIA RELEASE – CLIMATE REALIST DECLARATION TOPS 1,100 ENDORSERS,” International Climate Science Coalition. Accessed February, 2012.
- 3“UWA Staff Profile: Professor Cliff Ollier,” University of Wester Australia. Accessed February, 2012.
- 4“Lysenkoism and Global Warming” (PDF) Energy & Environment Vol. 20, No. 1 (2009).
- 5“The Greenland-Antarctica Melting Problem Does Not Exist” (PDF), The Lavoisier Group, 2007.
- 6Robin Pogrebin and Somini Sengupta. “A Science Denier at the Natural History Museum? Scientists Rebel,” The New York Times, January 25, 2018. Archived February 13, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/tAIv4
- 7Graham Readfearn. “Climate Science Deniers Defend New York’s American Museum of Natural History From Calls to Drop Trustee Rebekah Mercer,” DeSmog, February 6, 2018.
- 8mnh18-feb4-petitionletter (PDF – Untitled). Retrieved from Watts Up With That.
- 9“PETITION” (PDF), February 23, 2017. Richard Lindzen. PDF Archived at DeSmog.
- 10“PETITION” (PDF), February 23, 2017. Richard Lindzen. PDF Archived at DeSmog.
- 11Graham Readfearn. “Climate Science Denier Richard Lindzen’s List of 300 “Scientists” Sent to Trump Is the Usual Parade of Non-Experts,” DeSmog, February 27, 2017.
- 12“ABOUT FACE! NEW BOOK CLAIMS WORLD NEEDS MORE CARBON DIOXIDEEXPOSING ‘FAILED SCIENCE’ OF GLOBAL WARMING,” Pieceofcakepr.com. Archived September 18, 2014.
- 13Arthur Middleton Hughes, Madhav Khandekar, and Cliff Ollier. ”About Face!: Why the World Needs More Carbon Dioxide; The Failed Science of Global Warming,” Two Harbors Press, Minneapolis, MN, 2014.
- 14Arthur Middleton Hughes, Madhav Khandekar, and Cliff Ollier. ”About Face!: Why the World Needs More Carbon Dioxide; The Failed Science of Global Warming,” Two Harbors Press, Minneapolis, MN, 2014.
- 15“The Lavoisier Group 2008 Forum and AGM: The Solar System and Earth’s Climate,” The Lavoisier Group. Archived July 20, 2008.
- 16Cliff Ollier. “Memories of Rhodes Fairbridge,” The Lavoisier Group 2008 Forum: The Solar System and Earth’s Climate. Archived with WebCite, February 4, 2012.
- 17“CLIMATE EXPERTS WHO SIGNED MANHATTAN DECLARATION,” International Climate Science Coalition. Accessed February, 2012.
- 18“Open Letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations,” December 13, 2007. Reprinted by the Science and Public Policy Institute.
- 19“About Us,” Australian Climate Science Coalition. Accessed February, 2012. Archived February 4, 2012, with WebCite.
