Worthless credentials

Vincent J. Curtis

7 Dec 23

RE: Heat pumps are an important tool. By Norman W. Park and Heather McDiarmid. Park is a Professor Emeritus of Psychology at York University and Chair of the Education Committee of the Group of Seniors for Climate Action Now.  McDiarmid is the principal at McDiarmid Climate Consulting, and is a research associate that the University of Waterloo. The Hamilton Spectator 7 Dec 23

Economist Thomas Sowell observes that it can be hazardous to be a high IQ, low information writer, and Norman W. Park, Professor Emeritus of Psychology, and Heather McDiarmid, a climate consultant, demonstrate this hazard in their article.

They claim, “Heat pumps…are two to three times more efficient than burning natural gas for heat.”  This is arrant nonsense. The authors couldn’t even be bothered to check the Carrier website for its cautions about heat pumps.  You can burn natural gas in your furnace to heat your home, or you can burn it in an electrical generator which powers the heat pump, which, in turn, rather inefficiently tries to heat your house when its cold outside.  The authors don’t grasp the Second Law of Thermodynamics.

They also claim that heat pumps “move heat and don’t generate it,” as well as, “by using electricity, they generate no greenhouse gases.” Actually, the motors and pumps do generate heat; and greenhouses gases are generated to power the heat pump if natural gas is used to generate the electricity.

The proffered credentials of these alleged experts aren’t relevant to the topic they write about, and even a college student can pick out the flaws in the argument.  Unfortunately, the public is flooded with “credentialled” nonsense like this, while the people really qualified and knowledgeable on the subject, like 2022 Noble Laurate in Physics John Clauser, and Will Happer get cancelled.

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