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James Lovelock Quotes

Powerful James Lovelock for Daily Growth

Sadly, it's much easier to create a desert than a forest.

- James Lovelock

Forest, Than, Sadly, Environmental

What I like about sceptics is that in good science you need critics that make you think: 'Crumbs, have I made a mistake here?' If you don't have that continuously, you really are up the creek. The good sceptics have done a good service, but some of the mad ones I think have not done anyone any favours.

- James Lovelock

Here, Some, I Think, Crumbs

The tropical rain forests are a telling example. Once cut down, they rarely recover. Rainfall drops, deserts spread, the climate warms.

- James Lovelock

Rain, Cut, Telling, Deserts

If a power station were to be built down the road, I'd prefer a nuclear plant over an oil burner, and definitely over a coal burner. We simply have to lessen our consumption of fossil fuels.

- James Lovelock

Over, Prefer, Built, Consumption

China will soon emit more greenhouse gases than America, but its regime knows if it caps aspirations there will be a revolution.

- James Lovelock

Environmental, Will, Regime, Aspirations

Climatologists are all agreed that we'd be lucky to see the end of this century without the world being a totally different place, and being 8 or 9 degrees hotter on average.

- James Lovelock

Lucky, Average, Being, Different Place

Gas is almost a give-away in the U.S. at the moment. They've gone for fracking in a big way. This is what makes me very cross with the greens for trying to knock it... Let's be pragmatic and sensible and get Britain to switch everything to methane. We should be going mad on it.

- James Lovelock

Big, Knock, Very, Greens

It just so happens that the green religion is now taking over from the Christian religion. I don't think people have noticed that, but it's got all the sort of terms that religions use... The greens use guilt. That just shows how religious greens are. You can't win people round by saying they are guilty for putting (carbon dioxide) in the air.

- James Lovelock

Use, Christian Religion, Greens

I suspect any worries about genetic engineering may be unnecessary. Genetic mutations have always happened naturally, anyway.

- James Lovelock

Always, May, Genetic, Mutations

Life clearly does more than adapt to the Earth. It changes the Earth to its own purposes. Evolution is a tightly coupled dance, with life and the material environment as partners. From the dance emerges the entity Gaia.

- James Lovelock

Adapt, Own, More, Tightly

Evolution is a tightly coupled dance, with life and the material environment as partners. From the dance emerges the entity Gaia.

- James Lovelock

Environment, Material, Tightly

The climate is doing its usual tricks. There's nothing much really happening yet. We were supposed to be halfway toward a frying world now.

- James Lovelock

Doing, Nothing, Usual, Frying

Nature favors those organisms which leave the environment in better shape for their progeny to survive.

- James Lovelock

Survive, Shape, Which, To Survive

Geological change usually takes thousands of years to happen but we are seeing the climate changing not just in our lifetimes but also year by year.

- James Lovelock

Change, Year, Happen, Thousands Of Years

If we gave up eating beef we would have roughly 20 to 30 times more land for food than we have now.

- James Lovelock

Environmental, More, Beef, Roughly

I don't think we're yet evolved to the point where we're clever enough to handle a complex a situation as climate change. The inertia of humans is so huge that you can't really do anything meaningful.

- James Lovelock

Anything, Point, Evolved, Inertia

Fudging the data in any way whatsoever is quite literally a sin against the holy ghost of science. I'm not religious, but I put it that way because I feel so strongly. It's the one thing you do not ever do. You've got to have standards.

- James Lovelock

Data, Against, Religious, Holy Ghost

This programme to stop nuclear by 2020 is just crazy. If there were a nuclear war, and humanity were wiped out, the Earth would breathe a sigh of relief.

- James Lovelock

War, Sigh, Wiped, Relief

If it hadn't been for the Cold War, neither Russia nor America would have been sending people into space.

- James Lovelock

War, Cold, Been, Cold War

You never know with politicians what they are really saying. And I don't say that in a negative way-they have an appalling job.

- James Lovelock

Say, Politicians, Really, Appalling

NASA will send up a big sun shade that will be in orbit between the earth and sun and deflect 2 or 3 percent of the sunshine back into space. It would be cheaper than the international space station.

- James Lovelock

Sunshine, Big, Cheaper, International

One pound of uranium is worth about 3 million pounds worth of coal or oil.

- James Lovelock

Oil, Million, Pounds, Pound

So-called 'sustainable development'... is meaningless drivel.

- James Lovelock

Development, Sustainable, So-Called

I'm a scientist, not a theologian. I don't know if there is a God or not. Religion requires certainty.

- James Lovelock

Know, Certainty, Scientist, Theologian

I'm a scientist, not a theologian. I don't know if there is a God or not. Religion requires certainty. Revere and respect Gaia. Have trust in Gaia. But not faith.

- James Lovelock

Trust, Certainty, Scientist, Theologian

There aren't just bad people that commit genocide; we are all capable of it. It's our evolutionary history.

- James Lovelock

Bad, Genocide, Commit, Bad People

Nowadays if you're dependent on a grant - and 99% of them are - you can't make mistakes as you won't get another one if you do.

- James Lovelock

Mistakes, Another, Nowadays, Dependent

We rushed into renewable energy without any thought. The schemes are largely hopelessly inefficient and unpleasant. I personally can't stand windmills at any price.

- James Lovelock

Thought, Unpleasant, Schemes, Hopelessly

Let's make hay while it lasts.

- James Lovelock

Lasts, While, Make, Hay

The oil companies regard nuclear power as their rival, who will reduce their profits, so they put out a lot of disinformation about nuclear power.

- James Lovelock

Will, Reduce, Profits, Rival

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