One of the world’s leading global warming gurus says renewable energy simply doesn’t work and should be abandoned.

Michael Shellenberger once helped lobby for the US government to spend more than $150 billion on renewable energy, but now he’s fighting against it.

He tells Alan Jones Germany’s failure to power their country with renewables is the best example of why nuclear and coal-fired power can’t be abandoned.

“I think we’re at the beginning of the end of the big renewable subsidy push that began about 20 years ago.

“I do think that as the German renewables experiment comes to a spectacular failure, which is what’s happening, that people will start to see nuclear for what it truly is.”

He says it’s quite remarkable that renewables are put on a pedestal by climate activists when they actually have a largely negative environmental impact.

“Nuclear plants, natural gas plants, they don’t kill large birds… we would never let nuclear plants or natural gas or coal have that impact.

“The only reason we do for renewables is because we’ve all been bought onto this idea that renewables are more natural.”

Mr Shellenberger also took aim at those who campaign for clean energy when they use more power than anyone else.

“The funny thing is that environmentalists like Al Gore, they love to fly around the world in jet planes and stay at luxury hotels and luxury resorts.

“They consume more energy than anybody else. Environmentalism is sort of a religion of rich people.”

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