UK: Tim Yeo steps down amid corruption claims

11 June, 2013 by

source: Cartoons by Josh

source: Cartoons by Josh

Conflict of Interest Alert as Tim Yeo, who is alleged to have £1,000,000 (AU$1.65m) in Green interests, and who chairs the UK parliament’s Energy and Climate Select Committee, was caught in a Sunday Times sting, offering to lobby government figures in exchange for payment (allegedly).

The Telegraph reports:

The Conservative MP who scrutinises energy policy has been filmed boasting that he can be paid to introduce businessman to members of the Government.

Tim Yeo, the chairman of the Commons Energy and Climate Change Committee, also said he had coached John Smith, managing director of GB Railfreight, before the executive gave evidence to the committee last month. Yeo is a paid director and shareholder of Eurotunnel — the firm’s parent company.

Mr Yeo was filmed by undercover reporters working for The Sunday Times saying: “I told him [Mr Smith] in advance what to say. Ha-ha.”

When asked if he would be interested in a £7,000-a-day consultancy contract with a solar company, the MP said: “If you want to meet the right people, I can facilitate all those introductions and I use the knowledge I get from what is quite an active network of connections.”

The reporters queried if this included Government figures. Mr Yeo replied “Yes”.

The House of Commons’ code of conduct forbids MPs from acting as paid advocates, including by lobbying ministers. (source)

For those with their snouts in the trough (allegedly), the green economy is a nice little earner.

See also James Delingpole here, and plenty on Guido here.

Filed Under: Climate Tagged With: , ,

Eco-extremists have nothing left but abuse

26 January, 2012 by

Lord Lawson

Lord Lawson, of the Global Warming Policy Foundation, was interviewed on the BBC yesterday. The “environmentalists” were furious:

LORD LAWSON had barely removed his microphone when the vitriolic attacks began.

The veteran politician had just taken part in a calm debate about the merits of extracting gas from shale. During the discussion on the BBC’s Today programme he stated his firmly held view that there has been no global warming so far this century.

It was the catalyst for an outpouring of venom on message boards and social networking sites. In a selection of the printable insults Lord Lawson was described as “a rabid climate change denier”, “a liar” and “a lone nutcase”. One listener even posted: “Why isn’t he dead yet?” (source)

The “environmentalists” have lied, spun, and misrepresented the global warming debate for their own ends for so long that people are switching off in droves. And now, when faced with some inconvenient truths that challenge their sacred belief, they attack like wounded dogs. Click the image below to see some Twitter responses to Lawson’s interview. Hardly any address substantive issues, but plenty talk about Lawson being a “shill” for Big Oil:

Twitter rage (click to enlarge)

As if that wasn’t enough, the green juggernaut is desperately trying to establish who “funds” the GWPF – three men in a shed somewhere, with a computer. Funny how no-one asks who funds the greens, because the greens have the moral high ground, and therefore are above grubby concerns like that.

The reality is that sceptical organisations like the GWPF survive on the tiniest fraction of the massive funding streams that green groups like FOE, Greenpeace or WWF receive.

Big Green = Good, Tiny Oil = Bad. So don’t even think of mentioning sceptics funding…

P.S. I put “environmentalists” in quotes, because that term is too nice for them, makes them sound like harmless tree-huggers, instead of the anti-human totalitarians that they really are.

Filed Under: Climate Tagged With: , , , ,

Big Green at work

18 October, 2011 by

Where's my Big Oil cheque?

Which puts Big Oil in the shade. It’s a nice cosy arrangement isn’t it? The Labor government hands out millions of dollars to environmental activist groups so they can spread misinformation and propaganda about Labor’s climate change and carbon tax policies. All the usual suspects are represented, the Climate Institute, the Australian Conservation Foundation, the Australian Youth Climate Coalition, all paid for by your taxes.

LABOR has handed $3 million in grants to supporters of climate change action to promote efforts to cut global warming and support the government’s clean energy package as it seeks to head off Tony Abbott’s anti-carbon tax campaign.

A Senate estimates committee hearing has also been told the Gillard government’s multi-million dollar carbon tax advertising campaign has reached almost $24 million, after a $4 million blow-out.

The almost $24 million in advertising includes $16 million on carbon tax advertising – up from $12 million – $3.9 million on developing the ad campaign and $4 million on household leaflets. Details also emerged about a series of ad-hoc grants to green groups.

The groups benefiting from grants included the Climate Institute, the Australian Conservation Foundation and Climate Works Australia. Some of the groups have been part of the “say yes” coalition and have backed Labor’s package to fight off the Opposition’s campaign against the policy.

In evidence to Senate estimates today, it emerged that:

The Australian Conservation Foundation received $398,000 to fund a series of [misre-]presentations on climate change from people trained by the movement started by former US vice president Al Gore;

The Australian Youth Climate Coalition received $271,000 for two forums in Brisbane and Perth on combating climate change;

The Climate Institute received $250,000 to produce an independent assessment of the impacts of the carbon price on the cost of living. It is working with ACOSS and Choice on the study;

Climate Works is negotiating with the Climate Change Department for a $460,000 grant aimed at raising community awareness to cut carbon emissions and;

The CSIRO has received $500,000 as part of a program aimed at cutting energy consumption in low-income households. (source)

It’s always the sceptics that are accused of being the highly organised, well-funded denial machine, paid for by Big Oil, when in reality the pay cheques of Big Green are far, far larger.

And with so much taxpayer money being wasted on distorting the message, no wonder Julia and Greg believe the debate’s over!

 

Filed Under: Climate Tagged With: ,
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