Philip Stott

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'''Philip Stott''' {{lived|1945}} is professor emeritus of biogeography at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London and a former editor (1987–2004) of the Journal of Biogeography.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lobbywatch.org/profile1.asp?PrId=126 |title=Philip Stott |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date= |website=www.lobbywatch.org |publisher=Lobbywatch.org |accessdate=September 30, 2013}}</ref>  Since retiring from academia he has become a high-profile British [[Global warming denialism|climate change denier]]. Like [[Bjørn Lomborg]] - whose work he supports - Stott describes himself as a left of centre environmental "sceptic". "I am a mildly left-wing global warming sceptic."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg17924133.300-you-cant-control-the-climate.html |title=You can't control the climate |last1=Stott |first1=Philip |date=20 September 2003  |website=newscientist.com |publisher=New Scientist |accessdate=30 September 2013}}</ref>

In a ''New Statesman'' article Stott was labelled as "Britain's leading climate-change denier and has built a career on criticising environmentalists. Professor emeritus of biogeography at the University of London, he has no climate-science qualifications".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newstatesman.com/node/146820 |title=Why we don't give a damn |last1=Marshall |first1=George |last2=Lynas |first2=Mark |date=01 December 2003 |website=www.newstatesman.com |publisher=Mew Staresman |accessdate=30 September 2013}}</ref> He is a regular contributor to ''The Times'' and is on the Academic Advisory Council of [[Global Warming Policy Foundation | The Global Warming Policy Foundation]], a UK denialist [[think tank]], founded by [[Nigel Lawson]], whose stated aims are to challenge "extremely damaging and harmful policies put forward to deal with global warming,"<ref> {{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8398103.stm | title=Ed Miliband clashes with Lord Lawson on global warming | date=6 December 2009 | work=BBC News | publisher=news.bbc.co.uk | accessdate=30 September 2013 }}</ref> which in reality is probably less damaging than living through the effects of uncontrolled climate change.

He also appeared in [[The Great Global Warming Swindle]] and presented himself as "an expert debunker of environmental myths".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://word.world-citizenship.org/wp-archive/1898 |title=Philip Stott |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date= |website=world-citizenship.org|publisher=World-Citizenship.org |accessdate=September 30, 2013}}</ref>  

Stott calls [[global warming]] "a politico-(pseudo)scientific construct."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/letters/article2063846.ece |title=Climate change |last1=Stott |first1=Philip |date=September 4 2004  |website=http://www.thetimes.co.uk |publisher=The Times |accessdate=30 September 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.odlt.org/dcd/docs/stott_A%20Parliament%20of%20Things%20provided%20by%20Bravenet.pdf |title=Phillip Stott on Climate Change |author=Philip Stott |date= |website=www.odlt.org |accessdate=September 30, 2013}}</ref> His  dominant theme is that environmentalism is a "hegemonic myth" promulgated in the media by reporters who are subconsciously controlled by the dominant language ("words of magic"). He asserts that the: "Tropical rain forest' does not exist as an object; it is a human construct and is thus subject to myth making on a grand scale,"<ref>{{cite book |last1=Stott |first1=Philip |authorlink1=Philip Stott | |title=Tropical Rain Forest: A Political Ecology of Hegemonic Mythmaking (Iea Studies on the Environment, 15)|publisher=Inst of Economic Affairs |year=1999  |isbn=9780255364850}}</ref> and says, "forests are never 'developed' or simply 'used'; they can only be 'exploited".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://greenspin.blogspot.com/2004_03_28_greenspin_archive.html#108047164690702363 |title=Back to Derrida and the deconstruction of environmental reporting |last1=Stott |first1=Philip   |date=28 March 2004 |website=EnviroSpin Watch |publisher=Philip Stott |accessdate=30 September 2013}}</ref> How this is supposed to be translated into anything useful, such as governing policy, is unclear.

==Quotes==
"In Europe, the story of human-made global warming has become almost as unassailable as the Genesis creation story in parts of the American Bible Belt. It has morphed into a hegemonic myth." <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg17924133.300-you-cant-control-the-climate.html |title=You can't control the climate |last1=Stott |first1=Philip |date=20 September 2003  |website=newscientist.com |publisher=New Scientist |accessdate=30 September 2013}}</ref>

"Global warming ‘has become the grand political narrative of the age, replacing Marxism as a dominant force for controlling liberty and human choices’" (Global Warming Politics, May 18, 2009)

"In terms of world systems, the rainforests are basically irrelevant. World weather is governed by the oceans - that great system of ocean atmospherics. Most things that happen on land are mere blips to the system, basically insignificant." <ref> {{cite book |title=Tropical Rain Forest: A Political Ecology of Hegemonic Mythmaking |last1=Stott |first1=Philip |year=1999 ||isbn=9780255364850}}</ref>

==External links==

* [http://www.lobbywatch.org/profile1.asp?PrId=126 Philip Stott - profile] 
* [http://word.world-citizenship.org/wp-archive/1898  Philip Stott]
* [http://sppiblog.org/news/global-warming-as-myth Global Warming as a Myth] - Philip Stott from ''A Parliament of Things''
* [http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=2938762&page=1 Global Warming Is Not a Crisis] - Opinion article on ABC News by Philip Stott
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZBP-JYzQKg SOAS Professor: 'Global warming is a myth'] 
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qwK2EYODJOk#t=15 Major reductions in carbon emissions are not worth the money]
* [http://greenspin.blogspot.com/ EnviroSpin Watch] one of Philip Stott's blogs
* [http://www.thegwpf.org/philip-stott-global-warming-a-mammoth-insult-to-our-ancestors/ Global Warming – A Mammoth Insult To Our Ancestors] - Opinion article by Philip Stott

==References==
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[[Category:Pseudoscience promoters]]
[[Category:Global warming denialists]]
[[Category:Denialism-related stubs]]
[[Category:United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Living people]]

Categories: Pseudoscience promoters, Global warming denialists, Denialism-related stubs, United Kingdom, Living people