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| March 6, 2002 |
| MEDIA RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
| SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN THREATENS GREENSPIRIT FOR PUBLISHING BJORN LOMBORG'S RESPONSE TO THEIR ATTACK ON HIM |
| Scientific American has threatened Dr. Patrick Moore, President of Greenspirit and former International Director of Greenpeace, for publishing Danish scholar and author Bjorn Lomborg's detailed response to their 11-page editorial attack on him on the Greenspirit website (). Scientific American had previously threatened to sue Lomborg and he felt compelled to remove the text of the editorial from his website () thus effectively gutting his ability to defend himself.
Lomborg is the author of "The Skeptcal Environmentalist", a 540-page treatise on the state of the Earth's environment. Lomborg concludes that many environmental trends are positive and that the environmental movement's "doom-and-gloom" predictions are misleading and exaggerated. Scientific American published the attack on Lomborg in their January 2002 edition under the presumptuous title "Science Defends itself Against the Skeptical Environmentalist". They refused to give Lomborg any space to respond in that issue and have agreed to give him one page in a future publication.
Scientific American has claimed in an email to Dr. Moore that the publication of the text from their editorial "interferes with our business of selling the article."
"It is not possible to reply to an 11-page attack in one page," stated Dr. Patrick Moore. "And it is completely ridiculous for Scientific American to claim that publishing the text of their editorial as part of a response interferes with selling the article. The January edition has been off the newsstands for over a month. It is obvious that their motivation is political, to stifle debate and to prevent the public from reading Lomborg's brilliant defense of his position."
"Scientific American is behaving in a manner that is both unscientific and un-American," continued Dr. Moore. "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."
"Once again I call on all scientists, organizations and citizens to publish Bjorn Lomborg's response and to distribute it far and wide," said Dr. Moore. "Let the bright light of day shine on Scientific American's attempt to repress open debate on the future of our environment."
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| FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Patrick Moore, Ph.D. ("The Optimistic Environmentalist")
604-221-1990
Dr. Patrick Moore was a co-founder of Greenpeace in 1971 and served as a Director for 15 years. In 1990 he founded Greenspirit, an environmental consultancy focusing on global environmental issues including climate change, forests, biodiversity, and energy. He lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
To contact Scientific American:
John Rennie, Editor in Chief, or
Mariette DiChristina, Executive Editor
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