|  | Author: Bjorn Lomborg
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
List Price: $29.99
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Seller: shapingup
Rating:  333 reviews
Sales Rank: 41319
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1st
Pages: 540
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.3
Dimensions (in): 10.2 x 6.9 x 1.3
ISBN: 0521010683
Dewey Decimal Number: 363.7
EAN: 9780521010689
ASIN: 0521010683
Publication Date: September 10, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Book has no markings on pages, has some corner and edge wear.
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Showing reviews 21-25 of 333
 An Essential Read April 2, 2007
Joel Saxton (Venice, CA)
21 out of 27 found this review helpful
When (pseudo)Scientific American goes to such absurd lengths to bash a scientist, you can rest assured that that scientist has a valid point. The Skeptical Environmentalist is indeed excellent. In fact, Scientific American has unwittingly succeeded in exposing themselves as politically motivated stooges in their rabid attacks on Bjorn Lomborg. It is quite sad that science has come to this.
Needless to say, I recommend this book to anyone who has an open mind. Regardless of where you stand on the environment, it is essential to have an empirical understanding of the real human impact on the planet so that we can make pragmatic decisions on how to deal with the real issues. Although there are too many environmental topics to cover in a single book, Lomborg's comprehensive analysis of the most prominent topics is a much needed antidote to the common doomsaying and shrill emotionalism we have been exposed to for much too long. Although I am sure many of you will reflexively dismiss Lomborg's thesis, I hope that the open-minded among you will at least entertain the notion that things are getting better in most areas of the environment. That does not mean that improvement isn't needed - there are many areas in which we could be doing a much better job. But we absolutely need to be scientific about how we tackle these problems, and a climate of fear does not lend itself to prudent environmental decisions. I applaud Lomborg's efforts, and although I don't agree with all of his points, I think his overall thesis is quite sound. It is certainly supported by a large amount of data, and that is what 21st Century environmentalism so desperately needs: facts, not feelings.
"Scientific American is behaving in a manner that is both unscientific and un-American. They should be promoting the free exchange of ideas but instead they are threatening scientists with lawsuits for daring to question their opinions. This reflects the unbridled conceit that permeates the extreme environmental movement today. They are convinced the world is coming to an end and no amount of facts or statistics will sway them from their self-righteous dogmatism."
- Patrick Moore, co-founder, Greenpeace
 An Irresponsible Book by an Unqualified Author March 30, 2007
Edmund J. Madaj (Manchester, MI USA)
15 out of 60 found this review helpful
I confess I was initially fooled by the title and some randomly selected pages. But I quickly learned that "The Skeptical Environmentalist" is just one more in a long line of books that claim to be a "fair," "balanced," "objective," "rational" etc. treatment of some controversial subject, and are nothing of the kind. What it is is a series of brief vignettes on a multitude of environmental issues, with the apparent conclusion that past efforts at environmental action were good and wholesome, and were rightfully undertaken, and that we are now in an ideal world and should make no further attempt to change it. Future environmental efforts are expensive, evil, and should be rejected, even if the issues are real (for example, he doesn't claim global warming isn't happening, or that humans aren't causing it, just that we shouldn't do anything about it).
One should question how one person could have the necessary knowledge to make the claims Lomborg makes on so many different issues. If anyone does, Lomborg is surely not one of them. His natural science background appears minimal. This would be fine if he were only compiling and reporting the work of other, qualified, individuals. But he is attempting his own "research" in areas where he has no qualifications. His only "scientific" ability seems to be the use of a computer graphing program. He will graph production of some commodity, and if the graph slopes upward, seems to imply that this is evidence that reserves of that substance are going to last forever. I guess he's expecting a biblical loaves and fishes trick.
Bjorn Lomborg may well be good at political science, but that is not what this book is about. In writing it he was unconscionably irresponsible, making statements and implicitly claiming expertise in all too many areas where he has, at best, only a rudimentary understanding, if he has any at all.
 Dumps Al Gore into the waste tip of science March 22, 2007
Sutton (London, England)
20 out of 33 found this review helpful
Every time I dirty my hands sorting my rubbish into cardboard, plastic, glass etc, or hear a politician tell me that "we are running out of waste sites" I think of this book. Lomborg destroys the sacred cows of the environmental movement using those old-fashioned tools called fact and logic. Amongst other things, he shows that global warming is not necessarily man's fault, and sometimes it is better for the environment to bury waste rather than recycle!
Of course, it won't make any difference. Environmentalism is a religion and religious faith is impervious to reason.
Data, objective analysis, careful thought -- a great book March 13, 2007
Andrew Kent (Westborough, MA)
24 out of 29 found this review helpful
"The Skeptical Environmentalist" is a great book, carefully written, well-researched, logical, fair, well-documented, and even-handed. The book resonated with me immediately upon reading a few paragraphs, and I had to own it. I have found it hard to put down. It is a tonic to media hype and distortion, ego-driven arguments, and knee-jerk thinking. After reading about half the book, I came across new pronouncements about the environment, and read them much more skeptically, and was able to see much of the slant and spin put on them. You will be surprised to learn how much of what you know about the environment is the product of artfully crafted sentences that shade the truth, don't tell the full story, or hype and amplify single data points that wouldn't stand scrutiny if sourced and understood. Fascinating to think about how much of what we "know" is manufactured to support an industry that is no less self-interested than the ones it purports to assail.
In a word; Comprehensive. March 10, 2007
Kevin N. Persson
11 out of 13 found this review helpful
Mr. Lomborg has produced what is probably the most detailed and even-handed
study on the environment. In a nutshell; he states that there is more that we can do, but pokes holes in the arguments of the doomsayers. A word to the wise. This is no light read. The book is filled with facts and figures that are illustrated with graphs on almost every page. Think of it as a textbook. If you are serious about wanting to learn about the problems of the earth and the challanges they present, without the hyperbole, this is the one book you should read.
Showing reviews 21-25 of 333
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