The Skeptical Environmentalist
Also known as The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the Real State of the World, Verdens sande tilstand
Bjørn Lomborg's 1998 book arguing that many environmental fears are overstated.
At a glance
Key ideas
Against "the Litany", Long-term trends, Problems track poverty …
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- Lomborg argues that concerns over pollution, resource decline and climate change are overstated.
- He holds that prosperity, life expectancy and food supply have improved in most of the world.
- Using cost–benefit analysis, he opposes the Kyoto Protocol and argues for spending on poverty and disease instead.
- Scientists criticised its methods and use of sources, and a Danish committee found it scientifically dishonest.
Why it matters
- The book that made Lomborg a public figure and a prominent critic of the scientific consensus on climate change; the dispute over it is part of its story.
Key facts
- Author
- Bjørn Lomborg1
- Published
- 22 Sep 1998, in Danish, by Centrum1
- English edition
- 2001, Cambridge University Press; global warming sections expanded1
- Origins
- Four articles in Politiken in 1998, after an interview with Julian Simon in Wired1
- DCSD ruling
- 6 Jan 2003: "systematic one-sidedness", scientifically dishonest, but Lomborg innocent of wrongdoing for lack of expertise1
- Ministry review
- December 2003: found procedural errors; the committee decided on 12 March 2004 not to act further1
- Follow-up
- Cool It, 20071
Key ideas
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Against "the Litany"1
Challenges the story of an ever-deteriorating environment, using about 3,000 mostly secondary sources.
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Long-term trends1
Criticises predicting disaster from short-term trends that long-term trends do not support.
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Problems track poverty1
Most environmental problems are local and correlated with poverty, and development solves them.
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Cost–benefit first1
Policy responses such as Kyoto cost more than they deliver.
Connections
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