Michael Shellenberger, Time magazine "Hero of the Environment," apologized on behalf of environmentalists for the climate alarmism they had propagated over the past three decades.
Shellenberger, president at Environmental Progress and an expert reviewer for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), wrote in an article that the climate apocalypse alarmism had misled the public about the imminent existential threat of climate change.
"On behalf of environmentalists everywhere, I would like to formally apologize for the climate scare we created over the last 30 years. Climate change is happening. It's just not the end of the world. It's not even our most serious environmental problem," Shellenberger wrote in an article first published on Forbes, which was later removed for "not following editorial guidelines," as National Post journalist John Robson commented.
Shellenberger has been an environmentalist since he was 16 years old, but he now apologized for the climate scare with several facts from scientific studies, including those conducted by or accepted by the IPCC, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Humans are not causing a "sixth mass extinction," he wrote, adding that "habitat loss and the direct killing of wild animals are bigger threats to species than climate change."
"But until last year, I mostly avoided speaking out against the climate scare. Partly that's because I was embarrassed. After all, I am as guilty of alarmism as any other environmentalist. For years, I referred to climate change as an "existential" threat to human civilization, and called it a "crisis," Shellenberger wrote.
"But mostly I was scared. I remained quiet about the climate disinformation campaign because I was afraid of losing friends and funding. The few times I summoned the courage to defend climate science from those who misrepresent it I suffered harsh consequences. And so I mostly stood by and did next to nothing as my fellow environmentalists terrified the public," said Shellenberger, who has just published a new book, 'Apocalypse Never' that is currently Amazon's #1 Bestseller in Environmental Science.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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Comments
It is really a breath of fresh air for a prominent climate activist like Shellenger who was nicknamed by Time magazine as ‘Hero of the Environment’ to apologize on behalf of the environmentalists for the climate alarmism they had propagated over the past three decades and also for misleading the public about the imminent existential threat of climate change.
While admitting that climate change is happening, he said it’s just not the end of the world. It’s not even our most serious environmental problem. He also said that he mostly avoided speaking out against the climate scare, partly because he was embarrassed but mostly because he was scared of losing friends and funding so he stood by and did next to nothing as his fellow environmentalists terrified the public.
Let us hope that other environmental activists and the oil and gas asset divestment campaigners will learn a lesson from Michael Shellenberger and stop pressurizing the global oil industry to divest of its oil and gas assets when this would ruin the global economy.
Take for instance the case of London Heathrow airport. This international airport directly employs 75,000 people, supports another 230,000 jobs and also contributes 10% to the United Kingdom’s GDP. It is one of the most important contributors to the British economy. It badly needs a third runway so as to expand its aviation activities which promise to enhance its contribution to the British economy. And yet, pressure from environmental activists has so far thwarted every attempt by the government to add a third runway. This is a case when militancy and dogmatism prevail.
There were also many instances where environmental scientists and University professors have massaged facts and stretched them to breaking point just to justify their research or their political leanings.
May be environmental scientists and doomsday seers could temper their doom and gloom projections and let humanity cope with daily life chores rather than worry about a climate apocalypse.
Dr Mamdouh G Salameh
International Oil Economist
Visiting Professor of Energy Economics at ESCP Europe Business School, London