'Nothing off-limits' in climate debate
Rajendra K. Pachauri (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
THE UN's climate change chief, Rajendra Pachauri, has acknowledged a 17-year pause in global temperature rises, confirmed recently by Britain's Met Office, but said it would need to last "30 to 40 years at least" to break the long-term global warming trend.
Dr Pachauri, the chairman of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said that open discussion about controversial science and politically incorrect views was an essential part of tackling climate change.
In a wide-ranging interview on topics that included this year's record northern summer Arctic ice growth, the US shale-gas revolution, the collapse of renewable energy subsidies across Europe and the faltering European carbon market, Dr Pachauri said no issues should be off-limits for public discussion.
In Melbourne for a 24-hour visit to deliver a lecture for Deakin University, Dr Pachauri said that people had the right to question the science, whatever their motivations.
"People have to question these things and science only thrives on the basis of questioning," Dr Pachauri said.
He said there was "no doubt about it" that it was good for controversial issues to be "thrashed out in the public arena".
Dr Pachauri's views contrast with arguments in Australia that views outside the orthodox position of approved climate scientists should be left unreported.

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by his own
express / implied / tacit
admissions / ommissions
he is a liar
Gee, I wonder who will be long retired, rich, and untouchable.
And he encourages 'politically incorrect' views?
Yeah. He KNOWS there's another 20-30 years of cooling in the works, just as many skeptics have long been pointing out, was in the works.
Now, he's trying to back out as best can.
Pull funding from the IPCC as they are no better than a boiler room operation.
He needs to find out why the temperature rise has leveled out. My guess is natural causes, just like the preceding temperature rise.
Um......did I just read that?
We have the right to question the science, but it must be in the right way and grovelling at the same time.
And if we question their CONCLUSIONS based on their iffy science - then you get attacked....
HAR HAR !!!!!!
Now crisis is growing and they need use cheap energy.