The Need for Carbon Sense

For some time we have been sending you information about our crusade to restore some sense to the debate about the role of carbon dioxide in the carbon cycle, in the atmosphere, and its possible effect on global temperature. This leads into discussions of carbon taxes and energy policies.

I am conscious that you may or may not approve of these communications, but we take some comfort from the fact that you have not taken the opportunity to “Unsubscribe”. This note is my explanation of why I became involved in this crusade and an invitation for feedback from you. As you probably know, Judy and I live on a farm and breed sheep and cattle. We should be retired but have no intention of doing so. At our age it probably does not matter personally or financially what stupidities that politicians inflict on us, but we will not sit silent while they do things that will greatly injure the prosperity and decrease the security of generations of future Australians, including our children and grandchildren. We have spent our lives in productive tax-paying endeavours, mainly in activities related to farming and mining. We were both reared on farms, me a dairy farm near Warwick, and Judy a cattle grazing property near Mackay. We have overseen the operations of large beef properties, and owned two farms ourselves – one a hobby farm, one a real cattle and sheep operation where we have lived for the last 23 years.

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I have also spent a lot of my life in exploration, financial analysis, consulting and management involving base metals, oil/gas and coal, mainly in northern Australia. Those who would like to silence me will accuse me of being an apologist for the coal industry. It is true that I am a non-executive director of a small coal exploration company and we hold shares in it. But this company does not produce coal and is largely unaffected by what the politicians are doing now. My experience in the coal business does mean that I understand the science and politics of coal. Six years ago I entered the battle for Carbon Sense and initiated the formation of the Carbon Sense Coalition. No one asked me or paid me to do it. I was motivated by the absolute stupidity of hearing politicians calling carbon dioxide a “pollutant”. I was also concerned by the increasingly anti-human, anti-industry ethos of green extremists. Since then I have fought quietly and persistently to explain and popularise the fallacies underlying the mania of our times. I have not been diverted to other causes, believing this the biggest political stupidity I have seen in a life-time of watching politicians. And the more I look, the more convinced I am of the waste and stupidity of the whole climate industry scam. Our main problem is politics and public opinion, not science. Politicians persevere in their energy stupidities even though the science and the evidence no longer support them. They will only change when voters demand a change. Therefore our main focus is putting all aspects of the climate stupidity into short simple articles and spreading them into all media outlets and web sites available to us via letters, opinion pieces, media statements and newsletters. We also make submissions to public enquiries, and appear in person when invited. We need help to continually spread our reports to media, politicians and the public. You can be part of our distribution channel. If you sent every newsletter to ten different people each time we would soon change public opinion from the bottom up. And public opinion is changing whether or not we have played a big part in changing it. We try to send one media piece per week, and most of them get published somewhere. Even if they are not published, opinion-makers in the media do read them, and the ideas hang around in their minds. We try to make sure everything we distribute is factual, simply written, interesting and motivating. One by one we are generating open minds or even supporters among media opinion makers. Much of this has been done by Judy and I with very little outside physical or financial support. We have one very good computer man who maintains our web site, and gets paid sparingly occasionally, and another who supplies and repairs our printer for free. We have 5 part-time unpaid editors who help edit letters and articles, and there are a handful of people who provide irregular financial support. Compare this to the hundreds of millions being paid to the Climate Commission, the various Climate Change Departments, CSIRO and the big green lobbies to maintain this baseless climate scare and to promote their war on the harmless, non-polluting gas supporting all life on earth. We are continually being slandered as being in the pay of Big Coal, but in fact our most consistent financial supporter is a widowed grazier’s wife in Central Queensland. We could probably keep going in this fashion indefinitely. However, I have never subscribed to the philosophy of political altruism. Because of time spent on this campaign, we find we have to pay for casual farm help, as well as bear increased costs for phone bills, subscriptions, computing hardware, travel and internet bills etc. We also support selected functions. This is all on a campaign that will probably not benefit us personally. I am happy to put in effort, but I think any worthwhile cause should be able to pay its way. Thus we are inviting your feedback and hopefully your support. Are you happy to continue on our mail list? Can you help us? Help can be subscriptions/donations, or spreading the word, or helping us edit things, or recruiting others who may subscribe. There is undoubtedly a need for what we do and only a small handful of individuals in Australia are doing it. Our industry associations are largely useless in this fight. Every day brings evidence of the green mania surrounding us. We are opposed by several NGO and government-paid bodies with multi-millions in income and assistance from taxpayers by way of tax exemptions and direct government grants. We do not pose as a charity. We operate all subscriptions via an ordinary tax-paying private company, Carbon Sense Pty Ltd, whose sole business is maintaining our data base, hardware and web site, supporting other worthwhile activities, and providing research and reports on Energy, Carbon and Climate. You can post a cheque or do an electronic transfer using the details below. (We appreciate those who add GST to their subscription.) Finally, we are aware that we have many supporters who just cannot contribute financially. We welcome your support in other ways – do NOT feel guilty. We will keep you on our mail lists until you request otherwise. We also need people who can spread our ideas around, or help in other ways. Viv Forbes