David Lewis commented on November 18 about RussGeorge and the Haida Salmon Ocean Iron Fertilization Project. David said "Just because a snake oilsalesman happened to find out along with the rest of us that there areinteresting indications that, for once, his bottles may actually have containedsomething efficacious doesn't mean his critics on this OIF project were"persecuting" him."
It is not fair or correct to describe Russ Georgeas a snake oil salesman, despite the problems that David describes in George'swork dating from 1999 on another topic. Indiscussing Ocean Iron Fertilization, the relevant issues are what authoritativeresearchers have to say “Dr. Tim Parsons, an oceanographer and professoremeritus at the University of British Columbia said “iron dumping from thevolcano in 2008 produced a diatom bloom which coincided with the migration ofyoung sockeye from the Fraser into the ocean. The Haida dump may have simulatedthis effect.” http://www.lionsbay.net/index.php/ocean-fertilization-insights.html The evidence indicates record salmon yields due to Russ George's OIF experiment. Anarticle in National Review states “In the Fraser River, which only once beforein history had a salmon run greater than 25 million fish …, the number ofsalmon increased to 72 million.” That is nearly triple. Russ George himself put itclearly: “… a yearfollowing our 2012 ocean pasture restoration, …salmon came back in tremendousnumbers, more than in all of recorded history. In many regions such as SEAlaska nearest to our ocean restoration project location… baby salmon … weretreated to a feast…The SE Alaska Pink catch in the fall of 2013 wasa stunning 226.3 million fish. This when a high number of 50million fish were expected.” Saying we should not fertilize the ocean toincrease fish stocks is comparable to saying all farmers should be banned fromusing fertilizer. The fishing industry should take up iron fertilizationat scale, to help reverse the plunder of the oceans and make fisheries moresustainable. The likely climate impact is a bonus. Here is an example of the unjustifiedpersecution of Russ George. L. JimThomas, Research Director, ETC Group, wrote an article in2013 in Huffington Post headlined Don'tDump Iron -- Dump Rogue Climate Schemes. Thomas called it a “pretense that dumpingiron in the ocean to stimulate a plankton bloom would … maybe even bring backsalmon stocks.” Thomascalls the event a “rogue ‘oceanfertilization’ scheme” and claims “the global chorus of concern was after all legitimate.” Thomasexplains his campaign: “Mostworryingly … HSRC haven't yet dumped … their support for geoengineering. Theirbusiness plan is still to seed the ocean with iron.” Given theapparent success of the experiment to increase salmon yields, and the simplecoherence of the theory of change, that feeding baby fish helps more of them tosurvive, the language about a rogue snake oil salesman is unjustified. Thomas has no basis to say the “global choruswas legitimate”. The ‘global chorus’ whichThomas helped to orchestrate does indeed appear to be an example of unjust persecution. In theworld according to Thomas and his ETC Group, “losing the rogue geoengineer maybe good for optics.” Such statements appear to advocate the priority ofspin over science, of politics over evidence, of ideology over economics. Of greatest concern here is the stultifyingeffect of such campaigns to prevent important scientific research with highpotential to contribute to climate stabilisation and protection of biodiversity. The misuse by UN bodies of the London convention on the dumping ofwastes at sea to persecute a legitimate, effective and valuable scientificand commercial experiment is the real scandal in this story. RobertTulip Disclaimer: Personal Views Only. From: DavidLewis <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Cc: [email protected]; [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, 18 November 2014, 3:14 Subject: Re: [geo] GEOENGINEERING: Are record salmon runs in theNorthwest the result of a controversial CO2 reduction scheme? Just because a snake oil salesman happened to findout along with the rest of us that there are interesting indications that, foronce, his bottles may actually have contained something efficacious doesn'tmean his critics on this OIF project were "persecuting" him. Eg: This is the same Russ George who claimed his company was about tobring to market room heaters powered by coldfusion. See: "Unveiling the mystery ofcold nuclear fusion... an interview with scientist Russ George". A typical Russ Georgism of that time: "Dr. Fleischmann's geniusinspired a generation of audacious researchers, and there are now thousands ofscientific reports confirming the reality, safety and stunning promise ofsolid-state fusion energy. Aided by his insight and most recent discoveries, webelieve it is time to start delivering that potential to the world." He had photos of cold fusion devices working in his lab - I've even seen aphoto I can't find now of the prototype room heater. It was supposed tobe on the market by 2007. A cold fusion and Russ George debunker in 2008 pubished this: "Highlights of RussGeorge's Business and Science Activities" On Friday, November 14, 2014 3:12:21 PM UTC-8, Robert Tulip wrote: What a great vindication for Russ George. Thisarticle raises issues that all concerned with the politics, economics andscience of climate change should consider. The environmentalists and UNagencies who have persecuted Russ George should apologize and hang their headsin shame. The science on iron fertilization is not settled, but theindications are very positive. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups"geoengineering" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an emailto [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering. 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