Meet David Archibald: The Fringe “Scientist” Predicting An Ice Age

Conservative Media Book Tour Turns To The Fringe

Special Programs Climate & Energy

Written by Denise Robbins

Published

Fox & Friends - David Archibald

Fox News promoted predictions of “an impending ice age” from David Archibald, an oil and mining CEO who has said that he wants to be in DeSmogBlog's "Global Warming Disinformation Database." So far, Archibald has not won that dubious distinction -- but if he did, it would look something like this:

Credentials

  • B.S., Geology, Queensland University (1979)
  • (No other credentials yet claims to be a "climate scientist")

Background

Archibald started working in coal and oil shale exploration in 1979, then went on to become a financial analyst and stockbroker before returning to oil companies in the 2000s. In 2003 he led an oil exploration company called Oilex, then joined a Canadian oil exploration company in 2006 at the same time he was CEO of mineral exploration company Westgold Resources. As of 2008, he was operating 8.6 million acres of oil exploration permits in Australia as of 2008. In a phone call with Media Matters, Archibald stated that he currently runs his own company in the oil industry.

When called out for having ties to the coal industry in 2008, Archibald responded that his most recent ties were actually to the oil industry:

You know you are being effective when people complain about you. The letter in the Sept. 8 issue of Oil & Gas Journal, though, followed an established formula, starting with an impugned association with the coal industry (OGJ, Sept. 8, 2008, p. 12).

A point by point refutation would be tedious, but I am compelled to say that neither I nor the Lavoisier Society has any association with or funding from the coal industry. I left the coal industry in 1980 to join the oil industry. Right now I am the very happy operator of oil exploration permits totaling 8.6 million acres of Palaeozoic intracratonic rift sediments in the Canning basin of northwestern Australia.

Stance on Climate Change

From an interview with regular Fox News guest Michelle Fields for the right-wing website PJ Media:

FIELDS: Is global warming a real thing?

ARCHIBALD: Not at all.

FIELDS: But global cooling is, then?

ARCHIBALD: Yes.

[...]

ARCHIBALD: There's nothing you can do and it's a natural solar cycle.

Key Quotes

  • “The more carbon dioxide you put into the atmosphere, the more you are helping all living things on the planet and of course that makes you a better person.” -- 2008
  • “Any politician who has stated a belief in global warming is either a cynical opportunist or an easily deluded fool.” -- 2014
  • “There's a large push towards global warming and regulation, carbon taxes, that's completely unnecessary and wholly destructive of course. There should be some people looking at the potential for global cooling other than people like myself.” -- 2014
  • “The climate models that were supposed to project 'climate change' (global warming) on the basis of manmade carbon dioxide emissions have failed. The Climategate scandal gave us a glimpse of a corrupt scientific establishment scrambling to cover up that failure.” -- 2014
  • "[C]arbon dioxide's heating effect is minuscule and everything would be better with more of it in the atmosphere. But there is still plenty to worry about because we are at the beginning of a severe cold period." --  2013
  • “We have to be thankful to the anthropogenic global warming proponents for one thing. If it weren't for them and their voodoo science, climate science wouldn't have attracted the attention of non-climate scientists, and we would be sleepwalking into the rather disruptive cooling that is coming next decade.” -- 2008

Key Deeds

April 14, 2014

David Archibald was interviewed on Fox News' Fox & Friends by Fox host Eric Bolling to promote his new book and advance his claim of “global cooling.” Bolling omitted Archibald's ties to the fossil fuel industry, and introduced the segment by saying, “remember that harsh, cold winter? Well it could become the norm. Our next guest says the earth is heading into another ice age”:

March 24, 2014

The conservative publishing company Regnery published Archibald's book titled "The Twilight of Abundance: Why Life in the 21st Century Will Be Nasty, Brutish, and Short." In it, he warns of future food shortages and increasing oil prices due to a prolonged global cooling period. Archibald has written that "[t]he main purpose of this book is to prescribe the strategic energy plan that the United States should adopt," such as expanding nuclear energy, and transforming coal into liquid fuels.

January 29, 2012

Climate scientist Dana Nuccitelli of Skeptical Science criticized Archibald's publication in Energy & Environment, which he described as “the controversial journal which publishes 'skeptic' research which is too erroneous to meet the standards in standard peer-reviewed journals.” Another blogger has questioned the integrity of a previous article from Archibald published in Energy & Environment, finding that Archibald wrote the same paragraph twice, along with many other scientific errors.

Nuccitelli noted that Archibald is a proponent of the myth that recent warming has been driven by the sun, when in fact solar activity has trended downward as temperatures have continued to rise.

Skeptical Science

2010

Archibald served as Anthony Watts' "constant companion" during a speaking tour in Australia, where Archibald presented his work on solar cooling at each stop. Watts, the driving force behind the manufactured “Climategate” controversy, currently runs the “skeptic” website WattsUpWithThat.com, where he frequently features misinformation from contrarians such as Fred Singer and Christopher Monckton. Watts posted a note of gratitute to Archibald after the tour.

October 4, 2007

University of Chicago ocean chemist David Archer criticized Archibald for using his web interface for "deception."

2006

Archibald stated that he began researching in climate science in 2006.

2005

Despite no background in medical science, Archibald invented a formula for prostate cancer pills along with two Purdue scientists, made from vegetables such as “broccoli and chilli [sic],” and started testing them in clinical trials. According to his biography, "[t]his drug demonstrated efficacy during in vitro trials at Queensland University in 2009 and will be entering human trials in 2012."

Affiliations

Publications