Ray Evans

Ray Evans (Deceased)

Credentials

  • M.Eng Sc. (Melb).1Ray Evans, Tom Quirk, Alan Moran. โ€œAustralia under the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (sic) Act 2009โ€ (see PDF โ€œAbout the Authors,โ€ page 4). The Lavoisier Group, September 2009.

Background

Ray Evans passed away on June 17, 2014.2โ€œThe Life and Times of Ray Evans,โ€ Quadrant Online, June 19, 2014. Archived May 28, 2016. WebCite URL: http://www.webcitation.org/6hqv4qhfD Evans is a former office-holder and co-founder of numerous Australian front groups and right wing think-tanks. He is past President of the HR Nicholls Society, past Secretary of the Bennelong Society, past Treasurer of the Samuel Griffith Society, and the past Secretary for the Lavoisier Group where he had โ€œwritten extensively on the global warming issueโ€ at Lavoisier.3Clive Hamilton. Scorcher: The Dirty Politics of Climate Change. Black Inc. Agenda (May 1, 2007). Page 136.

Between 1982 and 2001 Evans worked with the Western Mining Corporation (WMC) as an Executive Officer, during which time he was a close associate of WMC CEO Hugh Morgan. โ€œMy role was to engage in the culture wars and provide him with feedback,โ€ Evans says of his work for Morgan. Together with Morgan, he helped found the HR Nicholls Society in 1985.

Stance on Climate Change

โ€œThe global warming scam has been, arguably, the most extraordinary example of scientific fraud in the post-War period. So many people, and institutions, have been caught up in the web of deceit, master-minded by environmental activists working through NGOs and their manipulation of the IPCC processes, that the integrity of Western science is seriously at risk.โ€4โ€œClimate change is bunk: Ray Evans tells us why,โ€ Crikey, February 28, 2007.

Key Quotes

โ€œIf Kyoto is brought into effect the economic dislocation which must follow its implementation will be unprecedented in modern times. It will be equivalent to the famines of the early 19th Century in its disruptive power (except that the famines were followed by good seasons).โ€5Ray Evans, โ€œThe Kyoto Protocol: Fast Road to Global Governanceโ€ (PDF), The Samuel Griffith Society.

โ€œEnvironmentalism has largely superseded Christianity as the religion of the upper classes in Europe and to a lesser extent in the United States.โ€6โ€œGreenhouse sceptics to congregate.โ€ The Age, February 28, 2007.

Key Deeds

November 2008

Evans was the author of a document titled โ€œThank God For Carbon,โ€ which noted that the Lavoisier Group had โ€œdonated generously to support the publishing costs.7โ€œThank God For Carbonโ€ (PDF), The Lavoisier Group, November, 2008.

In the paper, Evans claims that โ€œThe belief that anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide are responsible for raising the worldโ€™s temperature during the last 30 years or so is shown here to be without any solid foundation.โ€8โ€œThank God For Carbonโ€ (PDF), The Lavoisier Group, November, 2008.

He refers to โ€œthe religious movement we can call the global warming movementโ€ as being โ€œheld tenaciously by only a small proportion of the population.โ€9โ€œThank God For Carbonโ€ (PDF), The Lavoisier Group, November, 2008.

Evans concludes that โ€œThe Emissions Trading Scheme is a much greater threat to our lives and to our nation than any increase in carbon dioxide that man can produce.โ€10โ€œThank God For Carbonโ€ (PDF), The Lavoisier Group, November, 2008.

September 2008

Ray Evans, then-Secretary of the Lavoisier Group, wrote a paper titled โ€œSatanic Gas: The Politics of Carbon Dioxideโ€ where he argued that carbon dioxide has been wrongfully demonised. โ€œSince 1998 [โ€ฆ] global temperatures have either been stationary or, since 2002, in decline, but despite that, CO2 concentrations have continued to increase,โ€ Evans claimed.11โ€œSatanic Gas: The Politics of Carbon Dioxide,โ€ Quadrant, September 2008. Retrieved from Lavoisier.com.

Evans cited non-scientist Christopher Monckton, who claims that positive feedback mechanisms such as water vapour โ€œare not to be found in the real world.โ€ In conclusion, Evans wrote:12โ€œSatanic Gas: The Politics of Carbon Dioxide,โ€ Quadrant, September 2008. Retrieved from Lavoisier.com.

โ€œ[A]bove all, the belief that carbon is a demonic element, and that carbon dioxide is a satanic gas, is a retreat into fantasy of the most primitive and dangerous kind.โ€13โ€œSatanic Gas: The Politics of Carbon Dioxide,โ€ Quadrant, September 2008. Retrieved from Lavoisier.com.

November 2006

Published the book Nine Facts About Climate Change (PDF) through The Lavoisier Group. His book was introduced by former mining executive Arvi Parbo at Parliament House in February, 2007.

Here are some sample quotes taken from the nine โ€œFactsโ€ (Note that Evans’s book has been debunked by RealClimate, and by other sources):

  • โ€œCarbon dioxide is necessary for all life on earth and increasing atmospheric
    concentrations are beneficial to plant growth, particularly in arid conditions.โ€
  • โ€œThe decarbonisation of the worldโ€™s economy would, if attempted, cause huge
    economic dislocationโ€ฆโ€
  • โ€œโ€ฆastro-physicists who study sunspot behaviour predict that the next 25โ€“50 years could be a cool period similar to the Dalton Minimum of the 1790s-1820s.โ€
  • โ€œโ€ฆincreasing atmospheric concentrations beyond current levels
    will have no discernible effect on global temperatures.โ€

In January, 2006, Evans wrote a similar pamphlet titled Nine Lies About Global Warming where he โ€œsought to summarise for the lay reader the state of the debate about increasing
atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide.โ€

Affiliations

In an ABC Radio interview, Clive Hamilton, director of the Australia Institute, described Evans as โ€œresponsible for establishing the Lavoisier Group as well as a number of right-wing organisations, the H.R. Nichols Society, the Benelong Society, the Samuel Griffith Society, all of which he was either President of Treasurer; they often shared the same post office box.โ€

These are some of his known affiliations:14โ€œOn Line Opinion’s Editorial Advisory Board.โ€ On Line Opinion. Retrieved Aug 24, 2011.

Publications

According to his profile at On Line Opinion, Evans has published in fields including environmentalism, Indigenous peoples’ movements, and economic and political issues affecting the mining industry.

According to a search of Google Scholar, Evans has not published any articles in peer reviewed journals on the subject of climate. He has, however, published numerous articles through the Lavoisier Group.

Sample Articles

  • Ray Evans. โ€œNine Facts About Climate Changeโ€ (PDF). The Lavoisier Group, November, 2006.

Other Resources

Resources

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