Friday
May172013
by 
Bishop Hill
Bishop Hill Defra slashes climate change staff
May 17, 2013 Climate: Parliament Hoorah for Owen Paterson, who seems to be taking the lead in getting rid of some of the waste in his department:
The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is preparing to cut the number of civil servants working on climate adaptation from over 30 officials to just six, prompting outrage from green groups who have today accused the government of failing to take adequate steps to protect the UK from worsening climate impacts.
One can't help but wonder if Mr Hague is getting rid of all the FCO's network of climate change advisers too. I'm not sure that showing An Inconvenient Truth to the natives (which as far as I can tell is all they do) quite cuts the mustard as a priority for public spending.
Reader Comments (33)
These 'worsening climate impacts...'
Could someone of a green persuasion point these out to me..?
(And PLEASE don't wave your arms about and cite 'hurricanes; tsunamis; floods; tornadoes' and the like - we know about these simply because we have 24-hour rolling news now. I remember quite clearly as recently as the 1960s, aerial footage of 'floods in the Phillippines two weeks ago' - because that's all we had back then..)
So - back to my question - these 'worsening climate impacts'..? Hmmm...? Did you perhaps mean that because we've built more on flood plains and along hurricane-risk shorelines, the insurance/replacement costs are higher..?
Just want to be clear about the terms of reference...
If all government/civil service/council jobs related to "climate change" were removed think of the cost savings - not just direct salary costs, but indirect costs too like reducing unnecessary rules becuase of "climate change".
From over 30 to 6?
This means just enough to cover existing commitments/tasks, plus handle incoming communications.
New tasks? Proactive initiation? Nothing.
He has basically killed it dead.
Good riddance to bad rubbish!
That has really made my day :-)
6!!
Outrageous.
Paterson is a wimp.
What would be wrong with a big fat zeroaroonie?
But good news that the green teatsuckers will have to find a new mug to ponce off.
So three of the six can work on adapting to a warming climate and the other three can work on adapting to a cooling climate. It would be better if all six worked on how we can adapt to a cooling climate. How will people be able to adapt to higher bills as food and fuel prices increase as it gets colder and we rely more on useless, expensive renewables?
Readers of this blog should take Green criticisms much more seriously than they tend to do. We should ask them "who would make a good climate change officer?" King Canute would not because, apart from the minor point that he is dead, he did not believe he could control natural forces like the tides, despite what his green advisers told him.
Can we measure the effects of climate change officers? If so then we should be able to calculate how many we need to be able to bring global warming to an abrupt halt. (I will ignore that fact that our present ones already seem to have achieved that). The recruitment process should be rigorous. I would suggest that we apply the Canute test in a location with very high tides, e.g. the coast on the Welsh or English sides of the Bristol Channel. Those who are still alive when the tide recedes deserve the job.
I'll know things are really improving when reports such as this do not always have the obligatory opinion of green groups following immediately afterwards and when it says instead "sceptic groups are delighted that taxpayers' money is no longer being wasted on such fruitless pursuits. "
The 6 that are left should be put to work dismantling the AGW inspired policy edifice. That should keep them busy for a few years.
Roy
On the well-established principles for witchcraft trials, those who are still alive when the tide goes out are deemed to be unsuited for the posts.
Those who do not would have been ideal. Unfortunately ...
Win win, I think.
THIRTY down to SIX?
My trusty Lew-culator tells me that's "very close to the usual 97%".
Astonishing, this climate stuff.
Defra and 6 green shills remaining? Shame, it is still 6 too many.
What of the Department of energy and climate advocacy?
Fervently do I anticipate, that, George at the Treasury has presented Ed Davey with a very large pair of pruning shears - and better than that, a buzz saw.
Lest we forget, 1.75% is the UK contribution to the world output of CO2. A 20% target reduction in that contribution would be 0.35% which in turn is only 0.15% of China's output which is rising by 9% per year.
So for 1 year of Chinese increase the UK would have to suffer 60 years of pain for no (supposed) climate effect whatsoever. Then there is India, Brazil...
At least the sacked 24 are no longer wasting their time and our money.
"These 'worsening climate impacts...'"
Of course they're getting worse. At least 25 climate activists have just lost their jobs! This is really bad!
/sarc
They should name the remaining 6 'weather adapters'. Flood defence palnning etc is actually a useful activity and the sort of thing DEFRA should be doing.
Its the mitigators that need culling.
Is the tide slowly turning? I will know for sure when DECC becomes the Department of Energy again and begins to actually address the brief.
The risk is that the reduction means the department will do even less for themselves and the intention is simply to let the green groups do all the work for them, which they will be delighted to do.
I am happy that there are some people working on adaptation as this is exactly what we need to do - adapt. Of course, since this is what human beings have been doing very successfully for a few hundred thousand years you might ask why we need civil servants for this, but we have to give some of the PPE graduates a job somewhere - every now and then one of them turns out to be quite bright after they have been working for 20-30 years....
Unfortunately the cancer has already spread, Beddington has been busy, and now all major departments are infected -
"When Civil Service World last caught up Professor Beddington, in 2009, he had nearly succeeded in his mission of persuading every department to appoint a chief scientific adviser (CSA) – something that could, he said, much improve departments’ policymaking and operations. Three and a half years on, he expresses satisfaction with the “excellent cadre” which has been assembled across Whitehall....in future, all CSA roles will be advertised externally and will be at director level as a minimum"
Director level as a minimum!!! No possible justification in these times of austerity when front line services are being cut. Absolute disgrace.
Whoops, forgot the link -
http://www.civilserviceworld.com/interview-sir-john-beddington/
I think the UKIP has given the Conservatives a nasty fright. They have heard Nigel Farage say how the UKIP will get rid of climate change officers etc so now they are hoping to steal the UKIP's thunder.
I'm sure that's right Martin. A little effect of what is sometimes called democracy.
Owen should be congratulated for reducing the departments carbon footprint.
@Latimer Alder
The greens didn't put up much of a fight when responding to you, did they? I thought I'd add my two-pennies worth as well. You never know, it might make the odd one sit up and ask if they are being conned.
___________________________
One problem is that the cAGW acolytes fail to look outside their limited and highly biased sources. For example, Andy Atkins states;
"After a year that has already brought flooding and other extreme weather to the UK, it's shocking that the department responsible for protecting us against the effects of climate change is to pare its staff to the bone," he said.
A quick look at the Met Office's own website gives the lie to the 'extreme weather' meme.
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/extremes/
The article did say that the climate change civil servants have not been made redundant, but have been re-deployed to other areas within defra. It makes you wonder what qualifications are needed for any civil service jobs, not that I ever expected climate change staff to be specialists in anything much. However, I hope Owen Patterson makes sure that they will concentrate on more useful projects, like culling a few badgers and assisting our food production.
I drove past a couple of fields of miscanthus yesterday where it has all be cut down and baled up alongside the rotting bales of last year's harvest. What is the point if it is not being used for anything?
@grumpy
'The greens didn't put up much of a fight when responding to you, did they?'
Nope, They didn't.
There are few real hardcore greenists left on the blogs. I guess they are tired of losing every argument. When even the readers of Business Green can't be bothered to stand their corner, then the jig is up.
And their arguments are getting feebler by the minute. Here's all they seem to have:
97% must be right
It is still warming over 40 years
The heat is hiding in the deep ocean.
2010 was hot
You are A Denier/A Big Oil Shill
Will Nobody Think of the Children?
But I Want to Save the Planet!
I can't be bothered to do your research for you
I'll thcream and thcream and thcream until I'm thick.
And that's about it.
Pretty weak stuff all round...lots of emotion, lots of wishful thinking. But few facts and little science.
@Chairman Al
'They should name the remaining 6 'weather adapters'.
I think it would be better if they were called 'Abaters' not 'Adapters'
Then the senior ones could 'be 'Master Abaters'.
Which sounds sort of right to me........
@Latime Alder
' Then the senior ones could 'be 'Master Abaters'.'
On the DECC of the Green Pig with captain GreenWash.
All at sea.
http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/1/23473000/ngbbs4ebedfced312f.jpg
@Latimer Alder
We have an annoying little oik, over on James Delingpole's blogs, whose only tactic is to spam-post the Marcott nonsense and then ask
'got better data? No? I win, then'.
Looks like I started my blog just as the battle is nearly over. Not that I'm taking the credit of course ;-).
I believe this is the leading edge of a phenomenon that will play out over the next decade, and it probably will get increasingly bitter. The simple reality is that as the body public stops believing in the possibility/probability of massive and destructive warming, they are not going to be willing to pay the salaries of people like this, whether in policy or research positions. It will play out very messily, through all sorts of intermediaries, and with lots of backroom deals, but the pie will very likely shrink to a fraction of its present size.
I think this will result (and probably is already resulting) in increasingly strident cries from those in the climate-industrial complex who are now in fear of losing their jobs, and facing the prospect of finding work in the real world.
@Chairman Al
Decency prevents from asking which positions you see taken up by 'Roger the Cabin Boy' and 'Seaman Staines'
I'm sure 30 extra civil servants would save us all from Climageddon!
Sadly, in today's Guardian job news:
Foreign Secretary’s Special Representative for Climate Change
Location: London Based | Salary: Up to £120k | Employer: FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE
As a senior government official you will speak on behalf of the Foreign Secretary at home, but particularly abroad, focussing on building political and economic support for action based on a shared understanding of the threat climate change
Apply now