Customer Reviews

Global Warming and Other Eco Myths: How the Environmental Movement Uses False Science to Scare Us to Death

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(20)

 

 

I have an open mind about all the subjects dealt with in this book and therefore found reading it very worthwile. Yes, the authors are from what one could call the 'other side' as they make no bones about directly attacking what the authors call 'ideological environmentalism'. However, the book is well written given the number of authors involved and clearly presents their arguments and information.

The book covers such topics as global warming, sustainable development, biotechnology, chemicals/pollutants and the environment, population, et. al. that should be of interest to everyone.

The strength of the book is the attempt to bring scientific research and data to bear on these important and sensitive issues and the policies that exist or that have been promoted to deal with them. This approach is very much needed and the authors should be commended for their work, regardless of where you might stand on any of the issues. We need reasoned debate.

The authors do engage in some of their own political poking at those they don't agree with and do resort to the straw man approach using 40 year old books and articles as the straw man and they do also use statistics in ways ranging from acceptable to somewhat dubious that present their case in the strongest possible light. They do ignore certain issues such as biodiversity where positive data (their obvious preference) is not available to support their strong optimism that markets and science have and will benefit humanity and solve all its problems. However, this political and economic perspective is to be expected from the American Enterprise Institute and is not presented in a too polemical tone.

Overall this book is comprehensive in its coverage, informative, well referenced and thought provoking, and therefore I can highly recommend it for those seriously and dispassionately interested in understanding these issues better.

I do not agree with certain of their analyses or use of statistics or all of their underlying philosophy but I commend them again for providing a sane and reasoned book that gives me the opportunity to study, analyse, raise questions, search references and become better informed.

Lets not shoot all the messengers or we can't discuss anything serious anymore.

Having actually read the book, unlike most of the reviewers in this list that have not cracked its covers or turned a single page, I think that my review should carry some weight.

First, global warming is almost certainly due to macroenvironmental factors that are not due to human activity. This is widely documented from everything from studies of glacial gase entrapment to ocean sediments.

Second, wide variations in climatic conditions are the NORM. Thus the current period of global warming, that has continued since the Little Ice Age several hundreds years ago (and centuries before CO2 emissions from human activity were a factor) can not be thought of as a radical departure from normal climatic change.

Third, Carl Sagan wrote of a "baloney detector" that we should use when evaluating science. One of the surest signs of baloney is the "reducto ad hominum" argument. True, "only" two PHDs were involved in this book (there are countless books by a SINGLE PHD that are not attacked in this manner) but that is not the fault of the book. Also true, the book is sponsored by a pro-development group, but there are countless books by environmental groups that are not debased solely by that connection. Finally, most of the science is fully footnoted and you are able to check their conclusions. This is not true of most of the environmental movements polemics.

On the whole the book is readable and does not insult a laymans intelligence. The sources and bibliography are valuable for those that wish to take an honest inquiry further.

I read this book with an open mind. Like most people I have been brainwashed over the years about global warming and the environmental crisis. This book was quite the eye opener.
I wish I coujld have given it 5 stars to combat all the negative reviews by those who have never even seen a copy, but I thought "The Satanic Gasses" gave a better perspective on the psuedoscience surrounding the issue.
This is better if you are looking for some good talking points on the issue.
The book is well referenced and no one should have any trouble checking out the sources. I felt the book let enough to your own imagination where the reader could form their own opinions.
It is an easy read without too many deep technical discussions to spare those poor unfortunate victims of public education from having to think too hard. But then most of them would never be caught dead reading a book like his.

and it's becoming easier to search for truth with the emergence of a brave group of people who are not afraid to go against the status quo and ask us to look beyond the sensational headlines and political correctness of the so called "green movement".

From global warming to biotech food to chemicals, Ronald Bailey and the Competitive Enterprise Institute risk a lot by going against "conventional wisdom" and asking us to re-examine some of the hottest topics in the headlines today. Well researched and written so even a lay person like myself can understand it, this is a don't miss book for anyone who wants to stop being scared all the time because some "green" group or bureaucracy needs to keep the public in a state of anxiety in order to survive financially. The greatest payoff from reading the book? I find that I feel much better about the state of the planet and things do not seem so hopeless. Thanks CEI and Ronald Bailey.

I love the entire Global Warming "Hoax" movement. It only shows the arrogance of those bankroling it and the ignorance the people who swallow it. The science behind human induced climate change is well documented. This is simple more trash to support a political and business ideology to kill the truth.

The good part about anthologies is that they tend to cover more ground than an author normally would on his/her own. Such serves the reader well. "Global Warming and Other Eco-myths" does cover much ground in the realm of "fierce ecological advocacy," handling topics on population, natural resources, water, industrial products, and of course, global warming. There are three chapters on general policy-philosophy which go along with topic-specific chapters.

The themes which run through all parts of the book may roughly be summarized as: 1. Strident environmentalism needs to be braked with logical thinking and a truthful look at actual data; 2. Too many "hot" environmental topics of the past have been misunderstood at best, intentionally misleading at worst; 3. Human beings are not Earth's pests; and 4. Human brains are the most powerful force for solving these largely technological problems discussed in the book. No reader will agree with everything in this work. In fact Ron Bailey, the editor, has since this book's publication changed much of his mind on the global warming part! [http://www.reason.com/news/show/126851.html]

For sure it is worth your picking up this book. This reviewer purchased a copy for reference. Who know? In a decade and one-half, let's see how much of this pans out -- results are always the best judge!

This book provides information and facts that fill in gaping holes in the Carbon Dioxide = Global Warming arguments. It truly debunks the notion that the KYOTO TREATY would be good for the world, and in fact provides irrefutable evidence to the contrary.
This is a must read to those who wish to read both sides of the argument.

CHEERS!

Flat out, this book provides more evidence for the other side of the environmental coin that one can imagine. As an avid reader of the science magazines (you know, the few periodicals that have no politial bias) I can tell you that this book is firmly backed by their data as well. If you like information steeped in evidence and research this book is for you. If you prefer to base your decisions on emotion, this will be a deep disappointment. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to cut through the tripe handed out by the press who loves to sell papers and cares little about reality.

Since I cannot respond to all the reviewers pretending to be "climatologists" or engineers using the same tired intimidation techniques of anyone who questions global warming is a shill for the oil co.s or desperate and trasparent arguments from authority, I will respond here.

Shell and BP (rechristened "Beyond Petroleum") are among the biggest contributors to global warming activism! It gives them an edge over unrepentent companies like Exxon for one! Environmentalism is now a huge industry itself, $4 biliion a year in the US and $8 billion yearly world wide. Moreover this industrial Gorilla is not beholden to things that "evil corporations" are, like accountability and tranparency.

It's refreshing to see gifted and thoughtful folks calmly responding to the blather of postmodern eco-nonsense. The earth is incredibly resilient and it will be here (healthy and vibrant) long after the scare-mongers depart the scene in their earth-friendly hybrid vehicle deathtraps.