these climate defenders cough

POLITICS – CNRS gold medal in 1994, and yet… By paying tribute, in a tweet, to the former Minister of National Education Claude Allègre, who died this Saturday, January 4, Prime Minister François Bayrou did not expect probably not to such a backlash. However, the words used by the new tenant of Matignon have caused reactions in recent hours.

« Honor to Claude Allègre, original spirit, great scientist, man of combat, who did not fear “alone against all””begins François Bayrou in his message published on the X platform to salute the memory of his successor at the Ministry of National Education in 1997.

But with these few words, he had the gift of annoying environmental defenders, who wanted to remind the Prime Minister of the other side of the geochemist who became Lionel Jospin's minister.

It must be said that Claude Allègre stood out several times, after his time in government, for his positions going against the grain of major scientific work on the causes of global warming of human origin. What several specialists did not fail to point out. Like Iris researcher Charles Thibout, doctor in political science, who directly responded to the mayor of Pau by emphasizing his astonishment to see such a tribute paid to a “ climate skeptic ».

A word that comes up very often in the mouths of Claude Allègre's detractors. “ Indeed, in terms of climate denialism he was “alone against everyone”, and in particular against all climate scientists. This tribute is unworthy of a Prime Minister. Sometimes silence is better than automatic praise… », also replied to François Bayroul, engineer Maxence Cordiez on X.

Same story for Greg De Temmerman, doctor in experimental physics and researcher, who was also moved by this large gap between reality and the Prime Minister's words. “ Pay tribute to a notorious climate skeptic who did great harm to science in this area in France… and qualify this man as a great scientist “, he quipped.

“Leader of climate skepticism”

Others preferred to directly quote Claude Allègre on the climate to illustrate François Bayrou's biased homage. According to Lucas Demuelenaere, climate policy expert, Claude Allègre was even the “ leading figure of French climate skepticism “. With statements like those referring to climate change as a “false alarm” and a “imaginary danger which was invented by lobbies”.

Even the director of the children's animated series Miraculous wanted to speak on the subject. Thomas Astruc denounces on « fierce climate skeptic who damaged public schoolse ».

Last criticism and not the least, that of the environmentalist media Good Bringwhich presents – in an article updated on Saturday – Claude Allègre as “ the best-known climate skeptic in France ”, whose words “ will have done a lot of harm to awareness of the climate emergency “. Proof in support, since the media cites for example a book written by the former minister, subtly named: “The climate imposture, or false ecology. »

Other evidence developed in this article, that of his television appearance in 2010, in the show The object of the scandal. Program in which Claude Allègre and Valérie Masson-Delmotte, paleoclimatologist and former co-president of group nᵒ 1 of the IPCC between 2015 and 2023, confronted each other on the subject of Claude Allègre's book mentioned earlier. “ I hesitated between laughing and crying » by reading the former minister's essay, introduced the scientist into the show. A sequence of around twenty minutes shared by Good Bring, which above all has the merit of illustrating a typical climate skeptic discourse, used to twist the scientific word and discredit the work of climate researchers.

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