Nigel Farage has once again sparked a climate row, claiming it’s “absolutely nuts” to call carbon dioxide a pollutant. Apparently, the United Nations, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the entire scientific community are just being dramatic.
Speaking at the right-wing Ark conference with Jordan Peterson, the Reform UK leader dismissed the idea that CO₂ is a problem, saying the claim drives him “absolutely potty”.
Farage’s hot take on carbon dioxide
Farage, who readily admits he isn’t a scientist, still felt confident enough to challenge climate experts.
“That’s the one thing that drives me absolutely potty: when I hear that carbon dioxide is a pollutant. That’s what they tell us. That clearly is absolutely nuts. Now, there are times in our past when CO₂ in the atmosphere has been much, much higher than it is today.”
His solution? A bit of perspective, apparently.
“I’m not a scientist. I can’t tell you whether CO₂ is leading to warming or not. But there are so many other massive factors. And I sometimes think that the carbon dioxide hysteria has blinded us to other environmental disasters—like the rape of our oceans and many other things.”
So, to summarise: he doesn’t know if CO₂ is causing climate change, but he’s pretty sure it’s not that big of a deal.
Scientists: ‘That’s not how any of this works’
Of course, actual climate experts were quick to step in and correct him.
Bob Ward, policy director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change, gave Farage a much-needed reality check:
“We have known for more than 150 years that carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas because its effect has been measured in the laboratory. We know from ice cores that CO₂ levels today are about 50% higher than before we started burning fossil fuels.”
In other words: yes, Nigel, it’s a pollutant, and yes, we’re the ones making it worse.
The United Nations backed this up, stating:
“Fossil fuels—coal, oil, and gas—are by far the largest contributor to global climate change, accounting for over 75% of global greenhouse gas emissions and nearly 90% of all carbon dioxide emissions.”
Reform UK’s climate denial tour continues
Farage isn’t the only one at Reform UK making bold claims about climate science. Just days earlier, his deputy leader, Richard Tice, told Sky News that it’s “absolute garbage” to say human activity is the main cause of climate change.
Tice even insisted there are “thousands of experts” who secretly agree with him but are “too terrified to speak” because they’d lose their research funding.
Dr George Adamson, a climate scientist from King’s College London, wasn’t impressed:
“The idea that Tice has discovered something that climate scientists don’t know about is, of course, preposterous.”
And Professor Sheila Rowan, vice president of the Royal Society of Independent Scientists, made it clear:
“The evidence is clear. Burning fossil fuels has resulted in fundamental changes to our planet.”
Science vs. politics: round 2947
Once again, we find ourselves in a familiar battle—scientists pointing to cold, hard facts while politicians make sweeping statements with little basis in reality.
Farage may think it’s “nuts” to call CO₂ a pollutant, but the data says otherwise. The only question is: who are you going to believe—scientists or a man who admits he doesn’t understand the issue?
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