Dr. David Legates is a University of Delaware researcher and professor of climatology. He was recently hired at NOAA, the organization which carries out almost all of the country’s government-funded climate research, as deputy assistant secretary of commerce for observation and prediction. This position only reports to the head of the agency. Dr. Legates received his Ph.D. in climatology from the University of Delaware, and he was formerly the Delaware state climatologist before being removed for his views on climate change.
David Legates on Climate Change
Dr. Legates has consistently dedicated his research to try to deny the effect of humans on the climate. In 2019, before a House Healthy Oceans and Healthy Economies Subcommittee hearing, he stated, “Climate has always changed and weather is always variable, due to complex, powerful natural forces. No efforts to stabilize the climate can possibly be successful. […] The current emphasis on climate change abatement will do far more harm than good.”
In 2016 he also claimed that “Students are increasingly being fed climate change advocacy as a surrogate for becoming climate science literate. This makes them easy targets for the climate alarmism that pervades America today.”
Dr. Legates is a signatory of the Oregon Petition, a petition that argues that there is no evidence that shows that humans are responsible for climate change. It even goes so far as to argue that “there is substantial scientific evidence that increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide produce many beneficial effects upon the natural plant and animal environments of the Earth.”
David Legates and Friends
Dr. Legates is a member of a conservative think tank that contributes to research attempting to disprove climate change known as The Heartland Institute. The Heartland Institute has received at least $676,500 in funding from the oil company ExxonMobil.
Dr. Legates is also a member of a similar organization named the George C. Michael Institute. The institute is also dedicated to supporting climate change denial research and has received over $865,000 from ExxonMobil.
See also:
Climate of Denial