Scientist muses whether Alberta Wildrose leader believes in flat Earth

EDMONTON, ALBERTA, CANADA, – One of Alberta’s top researchers says remarks by Alberta Wildrose party Leader Danielle Smith on climate change suggest the province’s political leaders need to brush up on their scientific literacy.

“I wonder if she thinks the flat Earth debate is settled?” asked University of Alberta ecologist David Schindler. “It’s very discouraging in an era when sound policy requires scientific literacy in its leaders.”

Smith said Monday in an online election forum that the science around climate change is not settled and the appropriate response from the Alberta government would be to monitor the debate. Her position has long been Wildrose policy.

Smith stood by those comments Tuesday.

“I have said for years the same things I said yesterday,” she said in Calgary.

But scientists say while debate remains about how fast global warming will take place and what its consequences will be, there is no longer any real doubt that greenhouse gas emissions are the main cause of climate change.

“I get very frustrated,” Schindler said.

“I spend a lot of time reading that stuff and there’s a 97 per cent consensus. You do not get higher levels of consensus, ever. You’d probably get 98 per on the flat Earth.”

Andrew Weaver, a University of Victoria climatologist and one of the globe’s top climate modellers, backed the view that climate change is no longer questioned.

“It’s overwhelming. It’s as overwhelming as gravity,” Weaver said from Morocco, where he is helping draft the latest UN report on climate change.

“There are thousands of scientists working on this problem and if there was an Achilles heel to it they would find it.”

A 2010 study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences surveyed 1,372 papers on climate and found at least 97 per cent of the most active climate researchers supported the standard model.

Schindler said the Wildrose — among other Alberta parties — has to start getting serious scientific advice.

“You’ve got to have people to rely on for advice who are not hacks. It’s true of some of the other parties as well, most notably the PCs.

“For a party leader to say, ‘Oh, we’ve got to procrastinate more until the science is settled is just disgusting. We have to expect more command of science in our leader than this, for crying out loud.”

Progressive Conservative Leader and Premier Alison Redford said Tuesday she does believe the debate is over and it’s time Alberta recognized its reputation is at stake.

“I believe the science has been settled. What the premier of Alberta needs to be talking about is that we understand what’s going on on the international stage,” she said.

Calgary political scientist Duane Bratt suggested Smith has little choice on the issue.

“Her statement reflects the views of Wildrose supporters — the people within the party, the people funding the party, not necessarily the people voting for the party. I’m talking about the candidates, the people closely associated with the campaign, their highest donors.”

Wildrose has inherited from the old Ralph Klein Conservatives the sort of right-wingers most likely to question climate change, Bratt suggested.

“There were an awful lot of skeptics in that government. I think those people are the people who left for Wildrose.”

Klein himself appeared to dismiss climate change in a 2002 speech when he said it was just as likely that “dinosaur farts” caused the Ice Age.

Smith repeated Tuesday that a Wildrose government would fight climate change by encouraging energy-efficient housing and research and development.

“We are monitoring the science and will continue to monitor the science — and in the meantime, we’re going to actually do something about the issue.”

NDP Leader Brian Mason said Albertans can forget about reining in greenhouse gas emissions if the Wildrose form government after Monday’s election.

If Smith and her Wildrose party don’t believe that human activity is causing global warming, she would be unlikely to impose sanctions on polluters, Mason said.