Senior Russian scientist accuses the UK of sabotaging the Nord Stream

Valentin Parmon, head of the Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, accused the “Englishmen” of sabotage on the Nord Stream gas pipeline and claimed that climate change is a political issue, not a scientific one.

During a meeting with students of local schools, the scientist gave a lecture on catalysts. After the talk, one of the schoolgirls asked Parmon why methane is a fuel for buses, although it is a greenhouse gas. In response, Valentin Parmon broke into a five-minute tirade in which he voiced several scientific misconceptions and conspiracy theories:

“You see, guys, when they make noise about green energy, about the need to remove greenhouse gases, I’m not sure that this is a scientific issue; this is more of a political issue,” 74-years old scientist said. “How can we live without methane? Now the Englishmen have destroyed our Nord Stream, and the whole of Europe is biting its elbows, and they lived mainly on methane. We are seeing climate change, but no one can say what is causing this warming.”

In fact, Valentin Parmon got this answer wrong several times. Firstly, the investigation into the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline accident, which occurred at the end of September, is still ongoing. The accusation against the UK was voiced by the Russian Foreign Ministry and Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, but it is based on a tweet by a wanted fraudster and conspiracy theorist.

Secondly, there has been no discussion in the scientific community about the causes of climate change for a long time. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change unambiguously names the cause of global warming: “since the 1800s, human activities have been the main driver of climate change, primarily due to burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas”.

Thus, Parmon’s amateurish statements continue to destroy the already low authority of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Elia Kabanov is a science writer covering the past, present and future of technology (@metkere)

Illustration: Elia Kabanov feat. MidJourney.