Photo: Powerbase
Ben Pile
Credentials
- BA in Politics and Philosophy from the University of York.1 “Document UKIP/2/1 Proof of Evidence” (PDF), UK Independence Party, May 22, 2012. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
Background
Ben Pile is a researcher, commentator and blogger. He is the co-founder and main writer of the Climate Resistance blog, which claims to be “challenging the climate orthodoxy.”2 “About,” Climate Resistance. Archived December 27, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/Q8mJ2
Pile also writes for the anti-environmental, libertarian Spiked Online, and contributed to the work of the late Telegraph climate science denial columnist, Christopher Booker.3 Daniel Ben-Ami. “Beware greens in progressive clothing,”Spiked, March 2, 2016. Archived December 27, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/gXmlm 4 “Articles by Ben Pile,” Spiked. Archived December 27, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/UyJiC 5 Christopher Booker. “Gordon Brown shows how green he really is,” The Telegraph, April 11, 2009. Archived December 27, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/OBuiO
Referencing a dispute with Labour MP Barry Gardiner, Breitbart London contributor and former Telegraph columnist James Delingpole described Pile as “daily-more-magnificent-and-admirable.”6 “Wind Industry Big Lies no. 1: Fossil Fuels Are More ‘Subsidised’ Than Renewables,” Delingpole World, September 15, 2012. Archived December 28, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/CT5qp
Pile was previously a paid researcher of former UKIP MEP and climate science denier, Godfrey Bloom. In an email exchange with a Guardian journalist, Pile acknowledged he received around £2,000-a-month for his work for Bloom.7 Leo Hickman. “Ukip’s Godfrey Bloom and the £2,000-a-month climate researcher,” The Guardian, November 6, 2012. Archived December 28, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/KDVnf
In 2012, Pile produced and directed the anti-wind power film, Lost Horizons. Pile has also spoken at UKIP events arguing against the use of wind energy.8 “Lost Horizons,” YouTube video uploaded by user “GoddersVision,” November 11, 2012. Archived ..mp4 on file at DeSmog. 9 “WIND TURBINES AND THE COUNTRYSIDE BLIGHT,” UK Independence Party, September 12, 2011. Archived April 1, 2013. Archive..fo URL: https://archive.fo/o3siK
Stance on Climate Change
April 2007
Ben Pile’s Climate Resistance blog has 16 ‘starting position’ statements, including:10 “About,” Climate Resistance. Archived December 27, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/Q8mJ2
- “The evidence for anthropogenic climate change is neither as strong nor as demanding of action as is widely claimed.”
- “The scientific consensus on climate change as widely reported inaccurately reflects the true state of scientific knowledge.”
- “The IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] is principally a political organisation.”
- “Environmentalism will be worse for the poor than climate change.”
Key Quotes
May 26, 2021
Pile wrote an article for Spiked which criticised the government’s plans to ban the sale of gas boilers after 2025 as part of a strategy to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, a plan which would include installing 600,000 heat pumps in place of gas boilers by 2028. Arguing that the ban would “impose serious costs on ordinary people,” Pile wrote: “A backlash is highly likely.”11 Ben Pile. “The crippling cost of Net Zero,” Spiked, May 26, 2021. Archived June 1, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/Rl6Lw
Characterising the government’s net zero strategy as antidemocratic, Pile stated that in mainstream media outlets such as the BBC: “There is no scepticism about the proposals, no consideration of their consequences or even any questioning of why we should take orders from technocrats about how to live.” Later in the article, he wrote: “Of course, green policy wonks should be free to do what they like with their own boilers. But their agenda has no legitimacy and its advocates have no right to presuppose our agreement to it.”
Praising an article written by Conservative MP Steve Baker for The Sun which had stated: “the cost of Net Zero could deliver a political crisis greater than the Poll Tax,” Pile wrote: ““Baker’s intervention is notable by its rarity.” He added: “It has been a long time since any elected politician has said anything to defend the voters’ interests against the green ideology that has captured the British establishment.”12 Steve Baker. “STEVE BAKER The ‘Net Zero’ boiler ban will leave Britain’s poorest out in the cold,” May 25, 2021. Archived June 1, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/AK8NK
May 12, 2020
In an article for Spiked entitled, “COVID-19 is a frightening dress rehearsal of the climate agenda,” Pile wrote that environmental policies would lead to a permanent lockdown scenario, writing:13 Ben Pile. “COVID-19 is a frightening dress rehearsal of the climate agenda,” Spiked, May 12, 2020. Archived December 15, 2020. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/Z3FAr
“For half a century, greens have been prognosticating the imminent collapse of society. Yet with each new generation, deadlines to stop the destruction of the planet pass without event. In reality, the world’s population has become healthier and wealthier, and we live longer lives than ever before. Panic about the virus achieved in days what greens have been demanding for years: grounded planes, empty roads, and a halt in economic growth.”
Pile also disputed the efficacy of renewable energy, writing that wind turbines and solar panels produced a “dangerous surplus” of energy that “threatened to destabilise the energy grid”.
November 17, 2018
Pile appeared to call for violence to be used against climate change activists from the “Extinction Rebellion” movement during protests in London. He tweeted: “Please, God, let there be violence. Please, God, help the @metpoliceuk find their batons.” and “Anyone who thinks this is how you start a revolution surely needs a truncheon to the head?”14 “Please, God, let there be violence. Please, God, help the @metpoliceuk find their batons.” Tweet by @clim8resistance, November 17, 2018. Retrieved from Twitter.com. Archived .png on file at DeSmog. 15 “Anyone who thinks this is how you start a revolution surely needs a truncheon to the head?” Tweet by @clim8resistance, November 17, 2018. Retrieved from Twitter.com. Archived .png on file at DeSmog.
September 2017
Pile criticised climate scientists for linking Hurricane Harvey, which ravaged Texas, to climate change. In an article for Spiked, he wrote:16 “Beware greens’ scaremongering,” Spiked, Sep 12, 2017. Archived December 27, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/fMdw2
“Central to greens’ fetish for hurricanes is the scientific theory that warmer sea-surface temperatures caused by global warming can increase hurricanes’ energy and destructive power. It may well be true. But theory easily becomes dogma, and climate pundits have rushed ahead of their science.”
December 2015
Pile described the Paris Agreement as “a triumph of meaninglessness,” and “a triumph of mediocrity” in an article for Spiked. He wrote:17 “Paris talks: agreeing to dodge democracy,” Spiked, December 17, 2015. Archived December 28, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/YrIEq
“In many respects, a Humpty Dumpty fudge gives more licence to climate champions than a precisely worded document ever could. Just as the fact of the scientific consensus on climate change allows environmentalists to ad-lib about its substance, so too the pretence that an agreement on climate change exists will free the mediocracy assembled under its protection from being held to account. That is the main function of this so-called agreement.”
April 2015
In a guest post for the Institute of Ideas, a leading ‘Living Marxism’ website, which aims to “challenge contemporary knee-jerk orthodoxies,” Pile called the UK’s 2008 Climate Change Act “the worst example of how politicians have distanced government from democracy.” He wrote:18 “Scrap the Climate Change Act,” Academy of Ideas, April 13, 2015. Archived December 27, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/K1Bi2
“[…] the main reason to object to the CCA [Climate Change Act] is that it reflects the growing tendency to hide from criticism behind the comforting certainty of scientific objectivity. The CCA has been an expensive failure, but its critics were dismissed as climate-change deniers. The real objective of the CCA was not to save mankind from the weather, but to save an exhausted political establishment from the public, and from democracy.”
July 2013
In a guest post for the University of Nottingham’s ‘Making Science Public’ blog, Pile praised BBC presenter Andrew Neil – who has a history courting controversy on climate issues – for daring to take on the scientific consensus on climate change on his Daily Politics show. Pile wrote:19 “What’s behind the battle of received wisdoms?” University of Nottingham, July 23, 2013. Archived December 28, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/j2SOD 20 Tom Bawden. “MPs accuse BBC of creating ‘false balance’ on climate change with unqualified sceptics,” Independent, April 2, 2014. Archived December 28, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/Wb9mj
“[…] in just one show, [Neil] has done more to promote an active understanding of climate science and its controversies than has been done by the Carbon Brief blog, academics at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism and elsewhere, Bad Science warriors, and a legion of Tweeters who claim to speak for science have done in their entire existences. Along the way, it is possible that Neil made some inconsequential technical mistakes. But by contrast, the uncritical reproduction of scientific orthodoxy is a far more egregious error: it denies that error can be observed from without the consensus. So much for ‘science’.”
Comments Surrounding 2021 Capitol Insurrection
On Jan. 6, 2021, as the Capitol insurrection was ongoing in the US, Pile posted messages on social media suggesting that “a little more terror of the population might be a good thing for democratic politics.” Some of Pile’s other social media posts about the US Capitol insurrection, posted under the Twitter handle @clim8resistance, are also collected here.
Pile also retweeted the following claim, from a since-suspended account, which asserts that a laptop stolen during the insurrection was in the possession of “white hats (good guys, part of special forces)”:
Key Actions
May 4, 2021
Pile wrote an article for Spiked which criticised the Ministry of Defence’s ‘Climate Change and Sustainability Strategic Approach,’ a document outlining a strategy for the armed forces to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.21 Ben Pile. “Do we really want to go to war for the climate?” Spiked, May 4, 2021. Archived May 4, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/cLByj
Describing the strategy as a “plan to make killing people and blowing things up more easy on Mother Nature,” Pile argued that environmentalism could provide a rationale for adopting a bellicose foreign policy, writing: “Perhaps some smaller, oil-producing or deforesting nation will once again prove a convenient impediment to the green ethics now championed by Britain’s degenerate establishment.”
Disputing the efficacy of decarbonisation targets, Pile stated: “The reduction of living standards and the removal of freedoms demanded by the Net Zero agenda establishes an antagonistic relationship between the government and the public.”
April 22, 2021
Pile wrote an article for Spiked which commented on a pledge made by Prime Minister Boris Johnson to cut carbon emissions by 78% by 2035 during a climate conference attended by representatives of 40 nations at the White House on April 22, 2021. He stated: “But what this on-the-hoof policymaking really reveals is a chaotic government that is struggling to cope with a climate agenda that is out of control, has no chance of success, and will create hardship for millions.”22 Ben Pile. “The vanity of the global climate talks,” Spiked, April 22, 2021. Archived April 26, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/VpNB1
Pile asserted that Johnson was “sacrificing our material interests for the sake of his own vanity,” contending that the UK’s decarbonisation pledge would “impose the most stringent emissions-reduction targets – and by extension, the greatest constraints on economic activity – in the world.”
Arguing that the adoption of environmental policies was inadvisable, Pile wrote: “Mass protests, high energy prices, economic decline and deindustrialisation… these are the fruits of the climate agenda in the richest countries. Why would poorer countries want to follow suit?”
April 8, 2021
Pile wrote an article for Spiked criticising the establishment of ‘The Daily Climate Show’ a programme on Sky News dedicated to reporting on climate change. He argued that the programme represented: “the collapse of journalism into obvious propaganda,” and resembled “a half-baked execution of a poorly conceived instruction from upstairs – like those reports of tractor production in the USSR exceeding quotas, and produced for similar ends, too.”23 Ben Pile. “The main casualty of the ‘climate crisis’? Journalism,” Spiked, April 8, 2021. Archived April 12, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/wuG3P
Pile compared Sky News to a “supranational political body,” stating: “One thing is for sure… it is no longer a news broadcaster.” He stated that Sky News had “shown itself unwilling and unable to reflect critically on a domestic and global political agenda.”
Disputing the severity of climate change, Pile cited an article written by climate science sceptic and deputy Director of the Global Warming Policy Foundation Andrew Montford, who claimed that “The British public has been subject to a consistent diet of climate alarmism for years.”24 Andrew Montford. “Climate alarmism is misleading the public,” Spiked, April 1, 2021. Archived April 12, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/iONJZ
March 10, 2021
Pile wrote an article for Spiked which criticised the government’s plan for a ‘Green Industrial Revolution’ to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, stating: “It is big on hyperbole, setting bizarre, unrealistic goals, while short on detail of how to reach them.”25 Ben Pile. “Come clean about the costs of Net Zero,” Spiked, March 10, 2021. Archived March 15, 2021. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.ph/94Rq7
Characterising net zero decarbonisation as undemocratic and expensive, Pile wrote: “The UK climate agenda, despite being three decades old and having faced zero political opposition, lacks anything resembling popular support or democratic legitimacy,” adding: “It is dependent on technology that does not yet exist or is not yet proven to be economically viable.” He also claimed it was “inevitable” that net zero policy would result in “a reduction in most people’s living standards and quality of life”.
February 24, 2021
Pile wrote an article for Spiked, on the power outages that had taken place in Texas following an ice storm, claiming that: “Texas’s misfortune has rightly put a huge question mark over the American climate agenda.”26 Ben Pile. “Texas: a crisis caused by policy, not climate,” Spiked, February 24, 2021. Archived March 1, 2021. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/EoddL
Criticising comments made by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who had tweeted: “The infrastructure failures in Texas are quite literally what happens when you don’t pursue a Green New Deal,” Pile questioned the effectiveness of renewable energy, stating: “Solar panels and wind turbines cannot work if the sun doesn’t shine or the wind doesn’t blow.”27 “The infrastructure failures in Texas are quite literally what happens when you *don’t* pursue a Green New Deal,” tweet by @AOC, February 17, 2021. Retrieved from twitter.com. Archived.png on file at DeSmog
Pile also disputed that climate change had contributed to such instances of extreme weather, writing: “No evidence yet exists that America (or the world) is becoming any more vulnerable to extreme weather.”
February 16, 2021
Pile wrote an article for Spiked voicing support for the development of a new coking coal mine in Cumbria. He wrote: “Despite local support for the coal mine and the opportunities it will create, it looks likely that Cumbria County Council’s decision will be made for them by the sheer weight of the billionaire-backed green blob,” adding: “If it was not for that powerful, unaccountable and self-serving lobby, and its influence over the UK government, the routine decision-making of a humble local council would be of no consequence to even the next county, let alone the international community.”28 Ben Pile. “The Cumbria coal mine must go ahead,” Spiked, February 16, 2021. Archived February 16, 2021. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/X0Aut
February 15, 2021
Pile released a video on his YouTube Channel ‘Climate Resistance,’ which disputed the methodologies used by climate scientists. Referring to environmental science as “a fantasy produced by a computer with no test in reality,” Pile concluded the video by saying: “Climate science has departed from reality, and climate scientists are now lost in their own simulation, and eco-hyperreality from which they are unable to escape.”29 “Ecohyperreality – how climate pseudoscience is taking scientists away from reality,” YouTube video uploaded by user climate resistance, February 15, 2021. Archived .mp4 on file at Desmog
February 8, 2021
Pile wrote a report for The Global Warming Policy Foundation asserting that the UK’s climate assembly, a group assembled from UK citizens to discuss responses to climate change, was an antidemocratic imposition by green policymakers lacking a democratic mandate. He stated: “the Assembly was convened by political campaigning and lobbying groups, funded by special interests. Its composition did not reflect that of the broader public.”30 Ben Pile. “The UK Climate Assembly: Manufacturing Mandates,” The Global Warming Policy Foundation. Archived February 8, 2021. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/vyN4F
He cited the report in an article for The Conservative Woman characterising the government’s efforts to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050 as undemocratic, stating: “The Net Zero agenda has been shown to the world for what it is: a power and wealth grab, at the public expense, which has been so poorly conceived that none of its advocates bothered to ask themselves ‘What if the public object to it?’”31 Ben Pile. “Democracy wakes up on the road to Net Zero,” The Conservative Woman, February 8, 2021. Archived February 9, 2021. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/pCFzV
The article also cited a talkRADIO interview featuring climate “lukewarmer” Matt Ridley and host Julia Hartley-Brewer, in which Ridley criticised the government’s proposals for higher carbon taxes, stating: “It was always going to be clear that the cost was going to land on ordinary people because there’s no way you can change people’s behaviour without putting up their gas bills.”32 “As the Government plans tax rises on meat and heating to hit zero emissions target, science writer Lord Ridley says ‘the argument that meat is a cause of emissions is very misleading,’” tweet by @talkRADIO, February 5, 2021. Retrieved from twitter.com. Archived.png on file at Desmog
February 5, 2021
Pile wrote an article for Spiked which argued that environmentalists intended to use the COVID-19 lockdown to impose longer, harsher restrictions to reduce consumption.
He wrote: “Society has failed to grasp the extent to which green imperatives are ideological fantasies. Green claims are routinely taken at face value, rather than interrogated, to see what kind of world greens really want,” adding: “One thing we can be sure of now, however, is that as soon as the climate lockdowners get what they want, they will simply move the goalposts.” Pile also stated: “It seems clear that green thinking is first and foremost driven by authoritarian impulses.”33 Ben Pile. “Why greens love lockdown,” Spiked, February 5, 2021. Archived February 9, 2021. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/uQV
January 22, 2021
Pile wrote an article for Spiked criticising President Joe Biden’s decision to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement, claiming that it would “saddle the public with tens or even hundreds of trillions in debt, skyrocketing costs of living, immobility and terminal industrial decline,” which Pile described as “the conditions for civil war, in other words.”34 Ben Pile. “Paris Agreement: a commitment to terminal decline,” Spiked, January 22, 2021. Archived January 26, 2021. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.is/GNSwb
Pile cited an article by climate science policy writer Roger Pielke Jr, which argued that reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 was a near-impossible target.35 Roger Pielke Jr. “Net-Zero Carbon Dioxide Emissions By 2050 Requires A New Nuclear Power Plant Every Day,” Forbes, September 30, 2019. Archived January 26, 2021. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/qZH43
December 31, 2020
In an article for The Conservative Woman entitled “2020: The year of climate craziness,” Pile criticised Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s plans to ban new gas boilers and the sale of new petrol and diesel cars.36 Ben Pile. “2020: The year of climate craziness,” The Conservative Woman, December 31, 2020. Archived January 4, 2020. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/zTRfN
Pile also criticised the UK’s Climate Assembly, a representative body of 108 randomly-selected citizens tasked with strategising a net-zero approach to carbon emissions, stating that it was controlled by “technocrats and green activists,” and “solved the problem of the public’s lack of interest in the climate agenda”. Pile added: “And this is how abstract targets will be turned into an agenda for very real changes in society. 2020 marked the beginning of a new phase of environmental politics.”
December 10, 2020
Pile appeared in a debate with Extinction Rebellion founder Roger Hallam, hosted on the YouTube channel Reasoned with Darren Grimes, which says it works to challenge “the pervasive left wing bias in online content.”37 “DEBATE: Climate Alarmist VS Climate Sceptic,” YouTube video uploaded by user Reasoned on December 10, 2020. Archived.mp4 on file a Desmog.
December 7, 2020
In a video on his YouTube channel “Climate Resistance,” Pile characterised Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s 10-point plan for a ‘Green Industrial Revolution’ as “the most expensive political project in history,” stating “it will cost the public many trillions of pounds. Domestic gas boilers will be abolished, and homes will need to be retrofitted to make them compliant with new legislation, costing each household tens or possibly hundreds of thousands of pounds over the coming decades.”38 “How Green Politicians and ‘Civil Society’ Sold Britain’s Democracy,” YouTube video uploaded by user Climate Resistance on December 7, 2020. Archived.mp4 on file at DeSmog.
Pile disputed the cost implications of Johnson’s plan, stating: “It [the plan] will increase the cost of energy and other utilities, increase the cost of living and increase the prices of other goods and services.”
Pile continued: “If this radical agenda, which is highly dependent on expensive, uncosted and unproven technology, goes wrong, it could plunge Britain into an endless economic depression.”
Pile also characterised the Green Alliance and other civil society organisations as corrupt ideologues attempting to subvert democracy, stating: “Civil society is a lie. It is a fig-leaf for the wholesale dismantling of democracy, the removal of political power from the public. In reality, organisations like the Green Alliance are the voice of powerful private and financial interests. They claim to be saving the planet, and they may even believe it. But that doesn’t mean they’re not corrupt and dangerous ideologues.”
July 1, 2020
Pile wrote an article for Spiked characterising environmentalists as Malthusian eugenicists motivated by a desire to control population growth and limit the consumption levels and material wealth of people in poorer countries. He stated:39 Ben Pile. “Environmentalism: a racist ideology,” Spiked, July 1, 2020. Archived February 1, 2021. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/LSN2m
“The green ideology is racist. It presupposes that others’ poverty and others’ futures are determined by weather rather than by the changes that can be brought by man-made technological, economic and political development. The disparity between the wealthiest and poorest people in the world allows this presupposition to become an imposition.”
The article also stated: “Green neo-Malthusianism is the last redoubt of racist eugenics in mainstream society.”
May 12, 2020
In an article for Spiked entitled: ‘COVID-19 is a frightening dress rehearsal of the climate agenda’, Pile wrote that technocratic control of the economy established during the COVID-19 lockdown could lead to authoritarian solutions to climate change.
Pile stated that, “from the outset, there has been a palpable sense of green jealousy of the virus, as it stole attention from the climate fearmongers. For half a century, greens have been prognosticating the imminent collapse of society.”
Pile continued: “in reality, the world’s population has become healthier and wealthier, and we live longer lives than ever before”, concluding that “there will be no chance of an economic recovery if Britain, the EU and the rest of the world follow their existing climate-change agendas – there will only be a lockdown, or something like it, forever.”40 Ben Pile, ‘COVID-19 is a frightening dress rehearsal of the climate agenda’, Spiked, May 12, 2020. Archived October 5, 2020, Archive URL: https://archive.vn/Z3FAr
March 17, 2020
In an article for Spiked entitled: ‘The myth of climate-change refugees’, Pile argued that, “climate campaigners have long sought climate victims. But this desire for puppets to act out a green morality play means that problems which require public debate are removed from their wider context, or are framed so as to preclude any solution.”41 Ben Pile, ‘The myth of climate change refugees’, Spiked, March 17, 2020. Archived October 5, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/UfEvX
May 22, 2012
Pile prepared a “proof of evidence” document on behalf of UKIP MEPs Godfrey Bloom and Paul Nuttall. According to document, Pyle was contracted to provide research for the Europe of Freedom and Democracy Group in the European Parliament on climate and energy matters.”42 “Document UKIP/2/1 Proof of Evidence” (PDF), UK Independence Party, May 22, 2012. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
In the document, Pile argues against renewable energy initiatives, citing analyses by Roger Pielke Jr. to push against climate policies. Pile argues in the report that it is not urgent to reduce CO2 emissions:43 “Document UKIP/2/1 Proof of Evidence” (PDF), UK Independence Party, May 22, 2012. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
“[T]he IPCC is itself not yet a perfect check on such misconceptions about how quickly CO2 could cause climate change, and thus how urgent the need to remedy it,” the document claimed. “There is a growing recognition that unfounded urgency is dangerous, likely to undermine confidence in science, and make it harder to find a solution to the real problem of climate change. “
It concluded:
“Whatever the true extent of climate change, it seems clear that an atmosphere of urgency has not created the best conditions for dealing with the problem. In particular, a rush towards renewable energy – ‘a dash for wind’ – has lacked a firm basis and a consensus is emerging that it seems to have been incautious.”44 “Document UKIP/2/1 Proof of Evidence” (PDF), UK Independence Party, May 22, 2012. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
January 2012
In a Spiked article, Pile defended the right of climate science denial campaign group, the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF), to keep its donors hidden. He argued that the £50,000 donation at the heart of an investigation by journalist Brendan Montague (later DeSmog UK’s first editor) “fades into insignificance” when compared to funding for environmental groups. He concludes the article: “there should be more GWPFs.”45 “Greens to sceptics: show us the money!” Spiked, January 25, 2012. Archived December 28, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/NZk4o
Efforts to get the GWPF to reveal its funders eventually went to tribunal, with leading scientists including NASA’s James Hansen submitting evidence that the GWPF “routinely misrepresents and casts doubt on the work of climate scientists,” the Guardian reported.46 Leo Hickman. “Climate scientists back call for sceptic thinktank to reveal backers,” The Guardian, January 23, 2012. Archived December 28, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/rbgCL
November 2012
Pile produced and directed an anti-wind power campaign video called Lost Horizons, with the subtitle: “How the EU’s obsession with wind energy is destroying Britain’s coastlines and communities.”47 “Lost Horizons,” YouTube video uploaded by user “GoddersVision,” November 11, 2012. Archived ..mp4 on file at DeSmog.
November 2012
The Guardian revealed Pile received around £2,000 for research work for climate science denialist and former UKIP MEP Godfrey Bloom.48 Leo Hickman. “Ukip’s Godfrey Bloom and the £2,000-a-month climate researcher,” The Guardian, November 6, 2012. Archived December 28, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/KDVnf
April 2009
Pile was quoted by climate science denialist and Telegraph columnist Christopher Booker in an article criticising former prime minister Gordon Brown’s “£100 billion green energy package.”49 Christopher Booker. “Gordon Brown shows how green he really is,” The Telegraph, April 11, 2009. Archived December 27, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/OBuiO
Affiliations
- Climate Resistance — Co-founder and writer.50 “About,” Climate Resistance. Archived December 27, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/Q8mJ2
- Spiked — Contributor.51 “Articles by Ben Pile,” Spiked. Archived December 27, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/UyJiC
Social Media
Publications
Sample publications of Pile’s articles at Spiked Online below:52 “Articles by Ben Pile,” Spiked. Archived December 27, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/UyJiC
- “The Green New Deal: eco pastiche,” Dec 14, 2018.
- “The sad spectacle of climate activism,” Nov 28, 2018.
- “Apocalypse Delayed,” Oct 18, 2018.
- “Drowning in Plastic: a load of rubbish,” Oct 11, 2018.
- “The myth of a climate crisis,” Sep 26, 2018.
- “Maybe this heatwave is just a heatwave,” Jul 31, 2018.
- “The real problem is plastic politicians,” Jan 15, 2018.
- “2017: turning the tide on green crap?,” Dec 27, 2017.
- “It’s greens, not Lord Lawson,” Oct 26, 2017.
- “Beware greens’ scaremongering,” Sep 12, 2017.
- “Diesel charges: pushing poor drivers off the road,” Apr 06, 2017.
- “How the pollution panic hurts the poor,” Feb 27, 2017.
- “London is not bound in toxic smog,” Jan 17, 2017.
- “Paris talks: agreeing to dodge democracy,” Dec 17, 2015.
- “The world needs more energy, not green BS,” Nov 20, 2015.
- “Science can’t tell us how to live the Good Life,” Sep 04, 2014.
- “There is no ‘dash for gas’,” Jul 31, 2014.
- “Don’t blame Russia for the anti-fracking panic,” Jun 23, 2014.
- “Using NASA to scare the masses into action,” Mar 25, 2014.
- “The global warming pause: the dangers of politicising science,” Feb 12, 2014.
- “Scientific adviser or court jester?,” Jan 31, 2014.
- “The ‘green crap’ hits its biggest fan,” Nov 25, 2013.
- “Greenpeace: talking out of a polar bear’s arse,” Sep 23, 2013.
- “The pathologising of climate scepticism,” Jun 18, 2013.
- “Welcome to the politics of pastiche,” Oct 16, 2012.
- “Why facts cut no ice,” Aug 13, 2012.
- “Rio+20: a tyranny,” Jul 03, 2012.
- “The real enemy is humanity itself’,” May 17, 2012.
- “Greens, face it: we’re just not that into you,” Feb 28, 2012.
- “Climate-change alarmism: fuelled by fantasy,” Feb 14, 2012.
- “Greens to sceptics: show us the money!” Jan 25, 2012.
- “The delusions of the climate technocrats,” Dec 14, 2011.
- “Not the BEST way to debate climate,” Nov 21, 2011.
- “Time to put this morality tale on ice,” Sep 28, 2011.
- “Wishing Greenpeace an unhappy birthday,” Sep 12, 2011.
- “Admit it: environmentalism was an ugly experiment,” Jul 29, 2011.
- “Admit it: environmentalism was an ugly experiment,” Jul 22, 2011.
- “Putting humanity in a kangaroo court,” May 26, 2011.
- “Fukushima: why greens turned on each other,” Apr 04, 2011.
- “Making mountains out of meltdowns,” Mar 14, 2011.
- “Scepticism is not an ‘attack on science’,” Feb 01, 2011.
- “A tedious dollop of eco–propaganda,” Jan 18, 2011.
- “Cancun: scavenging around for scientific fact,” Dec 08, 2010.
- “What the greens really got wrong,” Nov 08, 2010.
- “A sideways step from climate panic to Malthus,” Oct 27, 2010.
- “Political prejudices dressed up as science,” Apr 08, 2010.
- “Let’s pick apart this politics of doom,” Feb 09, 2010.
- “Why Copenhagen was bound to fail,” Jan 06, 2010.
- “Greenpeace: putting trees before people,” Jun 09, 2009.
- “We have an extremely selfish population’,” Feb 25, 2009.
- “Going over the top in the ‘climate war’,” Sep 24, 2008.
- “Environmentalism or death: that’s the choice?,” Sep 10, 2008.
- “Debunking the debunkers,” Oct 13, 2006.
Other Resources
- “Ben Pile,” PowerBase.
- “An accurately informed public is necessary for climate policy,” Skeptical Science, July 29, 2013.
Resources
- 1“Document UKIP/2/1 Proof of Evidence” (PDF), UK Independence Party, May 22, 2012. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
- 2“About,” Climate Resistance. Archived December 27, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/Q8mJ2
- 3Daniel Ben-Ami. “Beware greens in progressive clothing,”Spiked, March 2, 2016. Archived December 27, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/gXmlm
- 4“Articles by Ben Pile,” Spiked. Archived December 27, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/UyJiC
- 5Christopher Booker. “Gordon Brown shows how green he really is,” The Telegraph, April 11, 2009. Archived December 27, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/OBuiO
- 6“Wind Industry Big Lies no. 1: Fossil Fuels Are More ‘Subsidised’ Than Renewables,” Delingpole World, September 15, 2012. Archived December 28, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/CT5qp
- 7Leo Hickman. “Ukip’s Godfrey Bloom and the £2,000-a-month climate researcher,” The Guardian, November 6, 2012. Archived December 28, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/KDVnf
- 8“Lost Horizons,” YouTube video uploaded by user “GoddersVision,” November 11, 2012. Archived ..mp4 on file at DeSmog.
- 9“WIND TURBINES AND THE COUNTRYSIDE BLIGHT,” UK Independence Party, September 12, 2011. Archived April 1, 2013. Archive..fo URL: https://archive.fo/o3siK
- 10“About,” Climate Resistance. Archived December 27, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/Q8mJ2
- 11Ben Pile. “The crippling cost of Net Zero,” Spiked, May 26, 2021. Archived June 1, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/Rl6Lw
- 12Steve Baker. “STEVE BAKER The ‘Net Zero’ boiler ban will leave Britain’s poorest out in the cold,” May 25, 2021. Archived June 1, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/AK8NK
- 13Ben Pile. “COVID-19 is a frightening dress rehearsal of the climate agenda,” Spiked, May 12, 2020. Archived December 15, 2020. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/Z3FAr
- 14“Please, God, let there be violence. Please, God, help the @metpoliceuk find their batons.” Tweet by @clim8resistance, November 17, 2018. Retrieved from Twitter.com. Archived .png on file at DeSmog.
- 15“Anyone who thinks this is how you start a revolution surely needs a truncheon to the head?” Tweet by @clim8resistance, November 17, 2018. Retrieved from Twitter.com. Archived .png on file at DeSmog.
- 16“Beware greens’ scaremongering,” Spiked, Sep 12, 2017. Archived December 27, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/fMdw2
- 17“Paris talks: agreeing to dodge democracy,” Spiked, December 17, 2015. Archived December 28, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/YrIEq
- 18“Scrap the Climate Change Act,” Academy of Ideas, April 13, 2015. Archived December 27, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/K1Bi2
- 19“What’s behind the battle of received wisdoms?” University of Nottingham, July 23, 2013. Archived December 28, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/j2SOD
- 20Tom Bawden. “MPs accuse BBC of creating ‘false balance’ on climate change with unqualified sceptics,” Independent, April 2, 2014. Archived December 28, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/Wb9mj
- 21Ben Pile. “Do we really want to go to war for the climate?” Spiked, May 4, 2021. Archived May 4, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/cLByj
- 22Ben Pile. “The vanity of the global climate talks,” Spiked, April 22, 2021. Archived April 26, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/VpNB1
- 23Ben Pile. “The main casualty of the ‘climate crisis’? Journalism,” Spiked, April 8, 2021. Archived April 12, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/wuG3P
- 24Andrew Montford. “Climate alarmism is misleading the public,” Spiked, April 1, 2021. Archived April 12, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/iONJZ
- 25Ben Pile. “Come clean about the costs of Net Zero,” Spiked, March 10, 2021. Archived March 15, 2021. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.ph/94Rq7
- 26Ben Pile. “Texas: a crisis caused by policy, not climate,” Spiked, February 24, 2021. Archived March 1, 2021. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/EoddL
- 27“The infrastructure failures in Texas are quite literally what happens when you *don’t* pursue a Green New Deal,” tweet by @AOC, February 17, 2021. Retrieved from twitter.com. Archived.png on file at DeSmog
- 28Ben Pile. “The Cumbria coal mine must go ahead,” Spiked, February 16, 2021. Archived February 16, 2021. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/X0Aut
- 29“Ecohyperreality – how climate pseudoscience is taking scientists away from reality,” YouTube video uploaded by user climate resistance, February 15, 2021. Archived .mp4 on file at Desmog
- 30Ben Pile. “The UK Climate Assembly: Manufacturing Mandates,” The Global Warming Policy Foundation. Archived February 8, 2021. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/vyN4F
- 31Ben Pile. “Democracy wakes up on the road to Net Zero,” The Conservative Woman, February 8, 2021. Archived February 9, 2021. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/pCFzV
- 32“As the Government plans tax rises on meat and heating to hit zero emissions target, science writer Lord Ridley says ‘the argument that meat is a cause of emissions is very misleading,’” tweet by @talkRADIO, February 5, 2021. Retrieved from twitter.com. Archived.png on file at Desmog
- 33Ben Pile. “Why greens love lockdown,” Spiked, February 5, 2021. Archived February 9, 2021. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/uQV
- 34Ben Pile. “Paris Agreement: a commitment to terminal decline,” Spiked, January 22, 2021. Archived January 26, 2021. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.is/GNSwb
- 35Roger Pielke Jr. “Net-Zero Carbon Dioxide Emissions By 2050 Requires A New Nuclear Power Plant Every Day,” Forbes, September 30, 2019. Archived January 26, 2021. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/qZH43
- 36Ben Pile. “2020: The year of climate craziness,” The Conservative Woman, December 31, 2020. Archived January 4, 2020. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/zTRfN
- 37“DEBATE: Climate Alarmist VS Climate Sceptic,” YouTube video uploaded by user Reasoned on December 10, 2020. Archived.mp4 on file a Desmog.
- 38“How Green Politicians and ‘Civil Society’ Sold Britain’s Democracy,” YouTube video uploaded by user Climate Resistance on December 7, 2020. Archived.mp4 on file at DeSmog.
- 39Ben Pile. “Environmentalism: a racist ideology,” Spiked, July 1, 2020. Archived February 1, 2021. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/LSN2m
- 40Ben Pile, ‘COVID-19 is a frightening dress rehearsal of the climate agenda’, Spiked, May 12, 2020. Archived October 5, 2020, Archive URL: https://archive.vn/Z3FAr
- 41Ben Pile, ‘The myth of climate change refugees’, Spiked, March 17, 2020. Archived October 5, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/UfEvX
- 42“Document UKIP/2/1 Proof of Evidence” (PDF), UK Independence Party, May 22, 2012. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
- 43“Document UKIP/2/1 Proof of Evidence” (PDF), UK Independence Party, May 22, 2012. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
- 44“Document UKIP/2/1 Proof of Evidence” (PDF), UK Independence Party, May 22, 2012. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
- 45“Greens to sceptics: show us the money!” Spiked, January 25, 2012. Archived December 28, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/NZk4o
- 46Leo Hickman. “Climate scientists back call for sceptic thinktank to reveal backers,” The Guardian, January 23, 2012. Archived December 28, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/rbgCL
- 47“Lost Horizons,” YouTube video uploaded by user “GoddersVision,” November 11, 2012. Archived ..mp4 on file at DeSmog.
- 48Leo Hickman. “Ukip’s Godfrey Bloom and the £2,000-a-month climate researcher,” The Guardian, November 6, 2012. Archived December 28, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/KDVnf
- 49Christopher Booker. “Gordon Brown shows how green he really is,” The Telegraph, April 11, 2009. Archived December 27, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/OBuiO
- 50“About,” Climate Resistance. Archived December 27, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/Q8mJ2
- 51“Articles by Ben Pile,” Spiked. Archived December 27, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/UyJiC
- 52“Articles by Ben Pile,” Spiked. Archived December 27, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/UyJiC