What a waste! He didn’t have to go anywhere to learn that the sun is in charge of our climate. If he had any sense at all, he’d have known that scientific fact while he was still in Orono.
Regardless of whether or not the sun is in charge, there is an awful lot “we” do not understand about glaciology. Such knowledge is valuable, regardless of how politicized the subject matter may turn out to be.
Whether or not we need a lot of late middle age academics riding snowmobiles around Antarctica to acquire such knowledge is a different question.