Skeptical Environmentalism

Skeptical environmentalism is an umbrella term used, sometimes pejoratively, to describe dissent from mainstream views on environmental problems. Skeptical environmentalists tend to dispute the authenticity of specific environmental problems, especially anthropogenic climate change, but also the more general idea that the human enterprise is in a dangerous state of ecological overshoot. Historically, skeptical environmentalists have been known to take an antiregulatory stance, arguing that the environmental movement intentionally distorts scientific data to support its own political agenda, that environmental threats are exaggerated in the public debate, and that most environmental protection policies are based on “junk science.” Despite this alleged concern with scientific standards, it is striking to note that almost no work by skeptical environmentalists has been published in refereed academic journals or by ...