Fireworks Down Under

Anthony Watts on the attempted hijacking of his Brisbane lecture by an Australian academic:

The Tuesday night meeting in Brisbane on the WUWT Australian tour had a bit of unexpected fireworks courtesy of Aussie reef scientist Ove Hoegh-Guldberg. The meeting started off with some protestors outsides holding placards with the tired old messages claiming “funding by big oil”.. etc. Ove actually incited this on his blog, saying that “The Climate Shifts crew and other scientists will be there en masse to record and debunk the lies that will be told.”

The “en masse” was about 5, maybe 6 people by my count.

I’ve never met Ove, never corresponded with him, and after watching his behavior firsthand, I’m not sure I would have wanted to. His behavior left me with the impression that he was the antithesis of a professional person. At least the lady from Oxfam and the fellow in the green shirt who came up to me afterwards had manners, even though they disagreed with me, and I thank them for that. Ove never made the effort to say hello. 

The odd thing is, if Dr. Ove Hoegh-Guldberg had simply asked at the start to make a statement (like a professional scientist normally would) Professor Carter (who chaired the meeting) would have gladly done so and I would have given my approval as well, even though he has called both myself and Dr. Carter “liars” in advance. He hadn’t even seen the presentation. His conduct and constant hijacking of the microphone finally irritated me enough to shout out “Hey, go rent your own hall!”.  Ove ignored me and kept on.

Source: wattsupwiththat.com

See also Richard Fernandez on Anthony Watts in Sydney