Earth Hour comes at 8:30 this evening wherever you are. And it's easy to make fun of this self-described "movement" as an emptily sanctimonious piece of "slacktivism" where we turn off a few lamps briefly and feel virtuous. But it is important to protect the environment from all sorts of things including the "light pollution" that means too many urban kids have never really seen the stars. We can have the comforts, conveniences and wonders of modern technology and production without cutting ourselves off from nature... if we use our hearts and our heads. So during Earth Hour take a few minutes to reflect on where we'd be if we had no artificial light, or heat, not even fire that we had learned to control. But also reflect on where we'd be if we had no green spaces, no habitats, no wild companions on the planet. And then resolve to protect both the environment and the economy with intelligent compassion.

Including making a pledge to The Environment: A True Story if you haven't already, and spreading the word if you have, so we can stop pouring money, time, effort and concern into bad policy driven by bad science, and devote them instead to the things that really need doing.

In my latest National Post column I warn of a massive breach of trust if reputable opinion doesn't stop shaming and shouting down people pointing to serious defects in climate change alarmist orthodoxy.

The ludicrous claim that 97% of scientists support the alarmist position on man-made climate change was dissected in another excellent talk at the 2017 EEA "Essentials of Freedom" conference, by Michelle Stirling of "Friends of Science". For a disquieting examination of how this much-trumpeted but entirely inaccurate figure was arrived at, download the Friends of Science publication here.

Just heard an excellent, very energetic and entertaining speech by Marc Morano of Climate Depot here at our Economic Education Association of Alberta annual "Essentials of Freedom" conference. (It's on tomorrow as well if you're in Calgary and can join us.) Marc showed some clips from his film Climate Hustle and highlighted some of the absurd contradictions in the predictions of climate change alarmists, where falling or rising temperatures both cause drought and floods at the same time, as well as higher and lower crime, terrorism and probably a cracked kitchen sink as well.

Great stuff.

It’s time to set the record straight on "man-made" climate change. And that’s what I’m going to do with my new documentary project looking at what we really know about the Earth’s climate, not just cherry-picking from the last ten years or a hundred, but looking back thousands, millions and hundreds of millions of years. It’s going to expose a lot of hype, bad science and unjustified shouting on the part of the alarmists and lay out what we really know.

The climate has always been variable. And yes, sometimes it changes in ways that can spell trouble. But hysteria, misinformation and name-calling won’t help us deal with anything that might be coming our way. Virtually everything the conventional wisdom maintains on climate, about what we know and about what’s probably happening, is demonstrably false and it’s time to cut through the scaremongering and tell the real story.

I’m really excited about this project. I’m convinced the time is right to push back against the exaggeration, alarmism and intellectual bullying. But to make it I need your help. We’re crowdfunding it, as we have our last four documentaries. So it will only happen if you and people like you contribute, large amounts or small, and crucially share it with friends, family and associates in person, on Facebook and Twitter, by email and any other way you can.

I’ve set a minimum goal of $50,000 because for that I can make a documentary on this vital topic. But I want to be completely frank that to make a truly polished film, to get the gear we need, to travel to important locations and to help sustain us in our work, we need to get well past that minimum, to a "stretch" goal of at least $100,000.

So if you’re ready for some sound information and straight talk on "man-made climate change", click on the Kickstarter link to back the project, and share it as widely as you can.

To support the documentary, click here.

"Doubt comes at the window, when inquiry is denied at the door." Benjamin Jowett

On March 17 and 18 I'll be helping host the Economic Education Association of Alberta annual conference on "Meeting the Climate Change Challenge." We'll be gathering in Calgary to talk about the science, the policy choices and the rhetoric surrounding the alarmist vision of disastrous man-made global warming, not because the environment isn't important but because thinking sensibly is. We've got a great lineup of speakers and panelists, which you can see here, including my talk on "The Environment: A True Story".

So register now and join us in March for a compelling discussion that dispels myths and cuts through shrill rhetoric to make sense of this crucial issue.