Environmental skepticism

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Environmental skepticism is an umbrella term that describes those that believe certain claims put forward by environmentalists are exaggerated to some degree. Sometimes a view may be labelled as environmental skepticism when the term environmental cynicism may be more accurate. Such individuals are also now slangily refereed to as depletists.[citation needed]

Some skeptics believe that human damage to the environment is either minimal or less important in its likely consequences than the benefits that damaging economic development brings, others believe that any significant future damage will be fixed by yet-to-be invented technology, while yet others believe that major elements of the environment are in fact improving over time. On the other hand, skeptics who believe that human activities have not caused any environmental damage are almost non-existent.

Sometimes environmental skeptics hold opinions that run completely counter to the opinions of most environmentalists, for example their stance on second-hand tobacco smoke, recycling, global warming or nuclear power. However, most of the skeptics arguments are much more nuanced. For example, they may object to recycling of plastic on the ground that resource cost of recycling plastic is greater than resource cost of producing plastic from oil. Some accept the science of global warming but object to the Kyoto protocol on the grounds that it is damaging to the economy.

To illustrate the difference between the environmental cynics and the skeptics, environmental skeptics, like all skeptics use the scientific method to evaluate concerns while environmental cynics would maintain a generally negative attitude to all environmentalism including environmental science especially if it is based on some "soft" science such as meteology.

Historically, a small number of extreme environmental skeptics have been linked to the interests of large, polluting industries, including those have led a backlash to Rachel Carson's Silent Spring ("dilution is the solution to pollution"). It is also pointed out that environmentalists also employ much of "science" which is spinned toward the political purpose of environmental groups.

A particularly controversy is a book published by Bjørn Lomborg called The Skeptical Environmentalist. His book was peer reviewed and published under the category of environmental economics. The book probably presented a middle ground of environmental skepticism. Bjorn gave some grudging acceptance to the general consensus of science about global warming while disagreed on the policy response exemplified by the Kyoto Protocol. Environmental scientists generally were hostile to the book while the responses from economists and political scientists were generally positive.[citation needed]

[edit] Bibliography

  • Bethell, Tom, The Politically Incorrect Guide to Science, Washington, DC, Regnery Publishing, Inc., 2005 ISBN 0-89526-031-X
  • Chase, Alston, In a Dark Wood: The Fight over Forests & the Myths of Nature, New Brunswick, N.J., Transaction Publishers, 2001 ISBN 0-7658-0752-1
  • Driessen, Paul, Eco-Imperialism: Green Power, Black Death, Kenmore, NY, Merrill Press, 2003 ISBN 0-939571-23-4
  • Essex, Cristopher and Ross McKitrick, Taken By Storm: The Troubled Science, Policy and Politics of Global Warming, Toronto, Ont., Key Porter Books, 2003 ISBN 1-55263-212-1
  • Huber, Peter, Hard Green: Saving the Environment from the Environmentalists, New York, Basic Books, 2000 ISBN 0-465-03113-7
  • Lomborg, Bjørn, The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the Real State of the World, Cambridge & New York, Cambridge University Press, 2001 ISBN 0-521-01068-3
  • Lomborg, Bjørn (ed.), Global Crises, Global Solutions, Cambridge & New York, Cambridge University Press, 2004 ISBN 0-521-60614-4
  • Michaels, Patrick J., The Satanic Gases: Clearing the Air about Global Warming, Washington D.C., Cato Institute, 2000 ISBN 1-882577-92-2
  • Ortega Y Gasset, Jose, Meditations on Hunting, Montague, MI, Wilderness Adventures Books, 1995, ISBN 1-885106-18-1
  • Reisman, George, The Toxicity of Environmentalism, Laguna Hills, CA, The Jefferson School of Philosophy, Economics & Psychology, 1990 ISBN 1-931089-01-9
  • Swan, James A., In Defense of Hunting: Yesterday and Today, San Francisco, HarperSanFrancisco, 1995 ISBN 0-06-251237-4
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