David King

From Powerbase
Revision as of 13:55, 20 February 2009 by Claire Robinson (talk | contribs) (→‎Pro-GM lobbying)
Jump to: navigation, search


King.jpg
David King

History

Sir David King was the Government's Chief Scientific Adviser and Head of the Office of Science and Technology in October 2000 to December 2007. Born in South Africa in 1939, and after an early career at the University of Witwatersrand, Imperial College and the University of East Anglia, he became the Brunner Professor of Physical Chemistry at the University of Liverpool in 1974.

In 1988, he was appointed 1920 Professor of Physical Chemistry at the University of Cambridge and subsequently became Master of Downing College (1995-2000), and Head of the University Chemistry Department (1993-2000). He retains his position at Cambridge as 1920 Professor of Chemistry.[1]

From sceptic to proponent of nuclear power

King has become a trusted advisor to Tony Blair and one of the key people who has persuaded Blair for the need of a nuclear revival. His enthusiasm for nuclear has led Guardian columnist George Monbiot to write that he fears that "the government's chief scientist is mutating into its chief spin doctor." [2]

Media reports suggest that King's conversion to nuclear power has been made only recently as the evidence on climate change has accumulated. For example, the Guardian reported in October 2005 that "The government's chief scientific adviser has sent his clearest signal that Britain will need to revive its nuclear power industry in the face of a looming energy crisis and the threat of global warming ... Prof King, one of Tony Blair's most trusted advisers, said the public debate on nuclear power needed to focus on the environmental benefits. "It's important we do take the public with us on the environmental debate. That is why I'm trying to sell it - it's precisely because of the emissions."

The media report how King used to oppose nuclear power and has warmed to nuclear power as the science of climate change has solidified. [3]

However, King has been calling for new nuclear power consistently now since 2002. [4] Even before that he was an advocate of nuclear power:

Links to the nuclear industry

Over the last few years, King has spoken consistently in favour of nuclear fusion and fission. In 2001, King was the Chairman of a meeting of Fusion Fast Track Experts that recommended that 'The ITER (an experimental fusion reactor) project is the essential step towards energy production on a fast track'. The subsequent report was known as the King report. [5] King hopes that nuclear fusion will be used in the next thirty-five years in the UK. [6]

Giving evidence before the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee in November 2005 [7], King stated that when the Government published its Energy White Paper in 2003:

I was arguing that we needed every tool in the bag to tackle climate change, including nuclear.

He added:

There are new fission power stations available that are efficient, are relatively much safer and produce less waste per unit of energy produced The pebble-bed I believe is the most attractive of the three and a half to four generation nuclear fission power stations under development I think it is a marvellous project. (The pebble-bed reactor is being developed in South Africa by the South African utility Eskom, the South African Industrial Development Corporation and BNFL.[8])

He has also not been shy of speaking at nuclear conventions:

Sir David spoke at the inaugural conference of the World Nuclear University in September 2003. The aim of the University is the 'safe and increasing use of nuclear power as the one proven technology able to produce clean energy on a large global scale'. Other speakers included James Lovelock; John Ritch, the Director General, World Nuclear Association and Hugh Collum, the Chairman of BNFL. [9]

During his speech King said: "From a young scientist's point of view, the message to get across is that nuclear energy continues to offer exciting and new challenges, with a strong potential to provide a path forward for our future energy problems and for the sustainability of our global low-carbon economies. It is an industry with a vibrant future - that's the message to get across, and let me also say a critically important future." [10]

In May 2005 he was the Guest of Honour and Keynote Speaker at the British Nuclear Energy Society Annual Dinner. [11] A year later, in May 2006, King was due to speak at the Inaugural Nuclear Industry Forum of the right-wing think tank the Adam Smith Institute. The supporting association for the event is the Nuclear Industry Association[2].

40 Per Cent Nuclear

In March 2006, The Financial Times reported how King believes that 40 per cent of Britain's electricity should come from nuclear generation - that is twice its current contribution. [12]

Pro-GM lobbying

King has taken every opportunity to promote genetically modified (GM) crops. Notoriously, during an interview on BBC Radio 4's Today programme in 2007, King cited, as a clear example of a GM suuccess, a so-called 'push-pull' project designed to manage pests and boost crop yields in Kenya. The project was successful, and, as King said, had boosted yield by 40-50 per cent. However, the project used sustainable agriculture techniques involving companion planting and did not involve GM. King's misleading claim was described by a spokesperson for the government's Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills as an "honest mistake".[3] But the editor of The Lancet, Dr Richard Horton, said Sir David took his faith in science into "the realms of totalitarian paranoia" and accused him of "letting off blasts of hot and sometimes rancid air". In his online blog, Horton said:

If he lost the debate on GM, it was because his arguments failed to convince people. King seems biased and even antidemocratic. It seems he would prefer the media not to exist at all. That is a troubling position for the Government's chief scientist to adopt.[4]

King also claimed to a Commons Select Committee that Britain's failure to embrace GM crops had cost the economy up to £4 billion but when subsequently pressed, it emerged that this was mere speculation on King's part, leading Dr Brian John of GM Free Cymru to accuse King of plucking the figure "from the air".[5]

Commenting on King's departure from his post as chief scientific officer, the Daily Mail said:

Critics of Sir David suggest he has become "demob happy" following his decision to stand down. Since the announcement, he has taken a more outspoken line on controversial issues such as GM...[6]

Another example of King employing pro-GM hype was his fronting of BBC Radio 4's Street Science programme on GM crops, broadcast on 3 December 2008, in which he made a series of claims about GM crops which were subsequently shown to be completely false – see transcript here and Peter Melchett's critical commentary.[7]

External links

Articles

Notes

  1. ↑ Members, Council for Science and Technology website, accessed February 2009.
  2. ↑ [1]
  3. ↑ Sean Poulter, "Scientist who claimed GM crops could solve Third World hunger admits he got it wrong", Daily Mail, 18 December 2007, accessed January 2009.
  4. ↑ Cited in Sean Poulter, "Scientist who claimed GM crops could solve Third World hunger admits he got it wrong", Daily Mail, 18 December 2007, accessed January 2009.
  5. ↑ John Vidal,Eco Soundings, The Guardian, 9 January 2008, accessed February 2009.
  6. ↑ Sean Poulter, "Scientist who claimed GM crops could solve Third World hunger admits he got it wrong", Daily Mail, 18 December 2007, accessed January 2009.
  7. ↑ Peter Melchett, Who can we trust on GM crops?, The Guardian, 9 December 2008, accessed February 2009.
Retrieved from "https://powerbase.info/index.php?title=David_King&oldid=77304"