The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the Real State of the World

by Bjørn Lomborg

Overview

The Skeptical Environmentalist challenges widely held beliefs that the environmental situation is getting worse and worse. The author, himself a former member of Greenpeace, is critical of the way in which many environmental organisations make selective and misleading use of the scientific evidence. Using the best available statistical information from internationally recognised research institutes, Bjørn Lomborg systematically examines a range of major environmental problems that feature prominently in headline news across the world. His arguments are presented in non-technical, accessible language and are carefully backed up by over 2500 footnotes allowing readers to check sources for themselves. Concluding that there are more reasons for optimism than pessimism, Bjørn Lomborg stresses the need for clear-headed prioritisation of resources to tackle real, not imagined problems. The Skeptical Environmentalist offers readers a non-partisan stocktaking exercise that serves as a useful corrective to the more alarmist accounts favoured by campaign groups and the media.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781139636889
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	08/30/2001
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

Bjørn Lomborg is an Associate Professor of Statistics in the Department of Political Science, University of Aarhus, Denmark. He has published in international journals in the fields of game theory and computer simulations. He has given invited lectures on the subjects discussed in The Skeptical Environmentalist in leading universities in North America and Europe following the success of the original Danish edition which has had a significant impact on the terms of the environmental debate within Scandinavia.

Table of Contents

Introduction; Part I. The Litany: 1. Things are getting better; 2. Why do we hear so much bad news?; Part II. Human Welfare: 3. Measuring human welfare; 4. Life expectancy and health; 5. Food and hunger; 6. Prosperity; 7. Conclusion; Part III. Can Human Prosperity Continue?: 8. Are we living on borrowed time?; 9. Will we have enough food; 10. Forests - are we losing them?; 11. Energy; 12. Non-energy resources; 13. Water; 14. Conclusion; Part IV. Pollution: 15. Air pollution; 16. Acid rain and forest death; 17. Indoor air pollution; 18. Allergies and asthma; 19. Water pollution; 20. Waste: running out of space?; 21. Conclusion; Part V. Tomorrow's Problems: 22. Our chemical fears; 23. Biodiversity; 24. Global warming; Part VI. The Real State of the World: 25. Predicament or progress?; Notes; Bibliography.

What People are Saying About This

Lewis Wolpert

At last a book that gives the environment the scientific analysis it deserves, and provides understanding of the problem, the risks and the solutions. Essential reading.
— Professor Lewis Wolpert, Department of Anatomy and Biology, University College London

Lars Kristoferson

When Lomborg concludes that'...the loss of the world's rainforests, of fertile agricultural land, the ozone layer and of the climate balance are terrible..'I agree. But we also need debate, and this book provides us with that in generous amounts, including 2,428 footnotes. If you, like I do, belong to the people who dare to think the world is making some progress, but always with mistakes to be corrected, this book makes important reading.
— Professor Lars Kristoferson, Secretary Genral, WWF Sweden

Jack Hirshleifer

Bjorn Lomborg is an outstanding representative of the new breed of political scientists-mathematically-skilled and computer-adept. In this book he shows himself also to be a hard-headed, empirically-oriented analyst. Surveying a vast amount of data and taking account of a wide range of more and less informed opinion about environmental threats facing the planet, he comes to a balanced assessment of which ones are real and which over-hyped.
— Professor Jack Hirshleifer, Department of Economics, University of California, Los Angeles

Mark Ridley

The Skeptical Environmentalist should be read by every environmentalist so that the appaling errors of fact the environmental movement as made in the past are not repeated. A brilliant and powerful book.
— Matt Ridley, author of Genome

Editorial Reviews

...he has put his conclusions in a remarkable book, probably the most important book on the environment ever written. Its importance lies partly in its relentless statistics. With 173 charts, nine tables and a staggering 2,930 footnotes, The Skeptical Environmentalist will be a source of reference for years to come. But it is also a readable, accessible and simple account of the state of the world, told as much in the illuminating charts as in the text itself. And it is a fascinating polemic, too.
—The Daily Telegraph (London)

Matt Ridley

This is one of the most valuable books on public policy not merely on environmental policy to have been written for the intelligent general reader in the past ten years.

Economist

"This is one of the most valuable books on public policy - not merely on environmental policy - to have been written for the intelligent general reader in the past ten years. The Skeptical Environmentalist is a triumph."
The Economist

"… a superbly documented and readable book."
The Wall Street Journal

"… it is a surprise to meet someone who calls himself an environmentalist but who asserts that things are getting better … Strange to say, the author of this happy thesis is not a steely-eyed economist at a conservative Washington think tank but a vegetarian, backpack-toting academic who was a member of Greenpeace for four years … The primary target of the books, a substantial work of analysis with almost 3000 footnotes, are statements made by environemtal organizations like the Worldwatch Institute, the World Wildlife Fund and Greenpeace. He refers to the persistently gloomy fate from these groups as the Litany, a collection of statements that he argues are exaggerations or outright myths."
The New York Times

"The Skeptical Environmentalist should be read by every environmentalist, so that the appalling errors of fact the environmental movement has made in the past are not repeated. A brilliant and powerful book."
Matt Ridley, author of Genome

"Lomborg pulls off the remarkable feat of welding the techno-optimism of the Internet age with a lefty's concern for the fate of the planet."
Rolling Stone

"Bjørn Lomborg is an outstanding representative of the 'new breed' of political scientists - mathematically-skilled and computer-adept. In this book he shows himself also to be a hardheaded, empirically oriented analyst. Surveying a vast amount of data and taking account of a wide range of more and less informed opinion about environmental threats facing the planet, he comes to a balanced assessment of which ones are real and which are over-hyped. In vigorous and what needs not to be done about those turning out to be pseudo-problems."
Jack Hirshleifer, University of California, Los Angeles

"Bjørn Lomborg raises the important question whether the costs of remedying the damage caused by environmental pollution are higher than the costs of the pollution itself. The answer is by no means straightforward. He has written a pioneering book."
Richard Rosecrance, University of California, Los Angeles

"When Lomborg concludes that 'the loss of the world's rainforests, of fertile agricultural land, the ozone layer and of the climate balance are terrible' I agree. But we also need debate, and this book provides us with that in generous amounts, incl 2428 footnotes. If you, like I do, belong to the people who dare to think the world is making some progress, but always with mistakes to be corrected, this book makes important reading."
Lars Kristoferson, Secretary General, WWF Sweden

"… probably the most important book on the environment ever written."
booksonline

"Lomborg is right on his points, that his critique of much green activism and its reporting in the media is just, and, above all, that where there is room for disagreement, Mr Lomborg invites and facilitates discussion, rather than seeking to silence it."
The Economist

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