AN Appeal to Reason: A Cool Look at Global Warming

By Nigel Lawson

"Clear, analytical and compelling." -The Economist

In this well-informed and hard-hitting response to the scaremongering of the climate alarmists, Nigel Lawson, former Secretary of State for Energy under Margaret Thatcher, argues that it is time for us to take a cool look at global warming. Lawson carefully and succinctly examines all aspects of the global warming issue: the science, the economics, the politics, and the ethics. He concludes that the conventional wisdom on the subject is suspect on a number of grounds, that global warming is not the devastating threat to the planet it is widely alleged to be, and that the remedy that is currently being proposed, which is in any event politically unattainable, would be worse that the threat it is supposed to avert. Argued with logic, common sense, and even wit, and thoroughly sourced and referenced, Lawson has written a long overdue corrective to the barrage of spin and hype to which the politicians and media have been subjecting the public on this important issue.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Release date: Dec 29, 2009
• ISBN: 9781590205266

Reviews for AN Appeal to Reason

[the7ken7petersen · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I should have realised that any book entitled, 'An Appeal to Reason', was going to be the opposite but, I was recommended to read what I was informed was the most cogent denial of global warming.Mr Lawson seems to argue that, far from being a bad thing, if we could only pump a few more pollutants into the atmosphere, all the World's problems would be solved. Whether this is solving problems in the same way as the man who fits a pipe to the exhaust of his car, is not specified.Ironically, the only time that I had any sympathy with this specious argument, was upon the topic of press coverage. I must confess that, whenever we have a sunny day and the press scream - "This is an effect of Global Warming!" I turn into Nigel Lawson: otherwise, we all know this to be tosh. Mr Lawson, either through ignorance, or as I suspect, wilfullness, misunderstands the scientific term, 'theory'. He treats this to mean a wild guess, a baseless assumption. In a statement that reeks of paranoia, he seriously suggests that global warming is a government scare story. We need a big bad wolf and, after nuclear destruction in the sixties and World population in the nineties, this is the latest red herring. Not bad, in little more than a sentence, the author has denied three of the greatest threats to human kind. Is he really saying that the proliferation of nuclear weapons, particularly in the Middle East, is not a concern? The recent birth of the 7 billionth living human with projections of 10 billion by 2050, are a propaganda ploy? Apparently, yes! What is this man on, and may I have some?This book is only just over 100 pages long but I had real difficulty in completing it because, in a situation that is very rare, I could discern no value whatsoever from this work. On reflection, perhaps a copy should be given to every sceptic - reading this will convince them that something is awry.

[oataker-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Admitting that change is happening but gleefully noting that the earth has failed to heat up any further in the past few years, his main argument is political. There is no chance the Chinese and Indians are going to stop producing CO2, so any changes we can make will make no difference, they will only impoverish us. In fact any reduction we in the West achieve is only by getting them -the Chinese- to do our heavy manufacturing. Furthermore he is confident that we will learn to mitigate or adapt to increased temperature, and that as we all get more prosperous the disadvantages will not be significant. He rather blithely reassures us that there are no tipping points we cannot cope with... I hope so.