August 2002

Green With Ideology

I am very disappointed by the content and slant of arguments presented in Ronald Bailey’s "Green With Ideology" (May). While there may be a smear campaign against Lomborg, he should have expected it: His stance required him to find the right numbers and the perfect quotes, and to manipulate data to reach his predetermined conclusion. Many scientific experts have come to conclusions about the environment that are opposite Lomborg’s.

While I understand Bailey’s comments on the role of "doomsday" environmentalists, he doesn’t provide effective arguments to downplay their theories. Most reliable data show that global warming is happening, weather patterns are changing, ice caps are melting, coral reefs are dying, and species are going extinct. Do we need more doom? The environmental movement, like most, has used negative tactics to get its message across -- sometimes that is the only way to make people listen. But one should not confuse dramatic urgency with untruth. The health of systems is just as important to the earth as it is to our individual bodies.

Bailey writes: "The environmental canon is built on doom. In 1962 Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring predicted that modern synthetic chemicals, especially pesticides, would cause epidemics of cancer and kill off massive quantities of wildlife." OK, maybe the cancer epidemic wasn’t caused by chemicals, pesticides, and their byproducts, but if not, then what did cause it? Bailey doesn’t even argue his case. At this point it is nearly impossible to quantify how many species are affected by synthetic chemicals. What we do know is that many species are devastated by habitat destruction, which is directly linked to population growth.

Another point Bailey makes is that the world isn’t running out of "non-renewable" fuels or mineral resources. Generally speaking, the availability of oil or other nonrenewables is not a concern to modern environmentalists. Their concern is the availability of clean fuels and other alternatives.

Mother Nature is resilient. I think that is obvious. If she weren’t we’d have much larger problems. But the fact remains that man does affect the environment negatively and his population continues to grow. Changes must occur.

Scott Ryan