The Skeptical Environmentalist

The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the Real State of the World (TSE) (Danish: Verdens Sande Tilstand) is a controversial book by political scientist Bjørn Lomborg, which argues that claims made about global warming, overpopulation, declining energy resources, deforestation, species loss, water shortages, and a variety of other global environmental issues are exaggerations and unsupported by a proper analysis of the relevant data. It was first published in Danish in 1998, and the English edition was published as a peer-reviewed work in environmental economics by Cambridge University Press in 2001.

Methodology

TSE examines a wide range of issues in the general area of environmental science, and comes to an equally comprehensive set of conclusions and suggestions (suggestions that in many instances could also be called recommendations). In arriving at the final work, Lomborg has used a similar approach in each of the main areas and subtopics. He works from the general to the specific, starting with a broad concern, such as pollution or energy, dividing it into subtopics (e.g. air pollution; fossil fuel depletion), then identifying one or more widely held fears and their source (e.g. our air is growing increasingly toxic, by X measure, according to Y). From there, he gathers a variety of data, which he considers to be the most reliable and reasonable available. He then analyzes that data to prove or disprove Y's proposition. In every case, he finds that Y's proposition is not substantiated by his calculations, and in fact is either significantly not as bad as represented, or in many cases the reverse (e.g. what is portrayed as a worsening situation is actually an apparently improving one). Having established what he calls "the true state of the world", for each topic and subtopic, Lomborg examines a variety of theories, technologies, implementation strategies and costs, and suggests alternative ways to improve not-so-dire situations, or to improve other similar areas that are currently not considered as pressing.

Related Topics:
Pollution - Energy - Air pollution - Fossil fuel depletion

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Due to the sheer scope of the project, comprising the range of topics addressed, the volume and diversity of data and sources employed, and the many types of conclusions and comments advanced, the methodology of TSE is rather a unique case when it comes to classifying and examining it from a conventional, rigorous scientific perspective. While published by the social sciences division of a highly respected academic publisher (Cambridge University Press), where it is categorized as environmental economics, TSE in fact does not fit easily into a particular scientific discipline or methodology. Much of the examination of the Litany is based on statistical data analysis, therefore it may be considered by some a work of statistical science. Because it examines the costs and benefits of its many topics, it could be considered an work in economics (as it is categorized by its publisher). However, TSE is far more methodically eclectic on cross-disciplinary, variously combining interpretation of data with assessments of the media and human behavior, evaluations of scientific theories, and many other approaches, to arrive at his various conclusions. Adding to the difficulty of categorizing the methodology, Lomborg is not a trained statistician (he has statistics training, but not at a level that would qualify him as a "statistician", e.g. no university degrees in statistics) and he is not a trained economist. He also has no training or professional experience in any of the environmental sciences or in any of the specific topics he covers. Therefore, while the content of TSE may be accurate, even groundbreaking, it does not fit conform to the existing academic framework of contemporary science. It is at least as easily classifiable as science-based investigative journalism (in-depth research and reporting on very specific, often technically complex, multifaceted topics by one not necessarily possessing direct experience in the subject being covered) as it is the product of a particular branch of science.

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