IEA: 215.000 milliarder kr.

Vi har brug for en bred støtte, at fange folks opmærksomhed. Det betyder, at vi må have masser af mediedækning. Derfor er vi nødt til at lave skræmmebilleder, at komme med forenklede, dramatiske udtalelser og ikke gøre meget ud af den tvivl, vi måtte nære.«

Here is the published quote from that interview with Discover, from which selected lines have been used for over a decade as "proof" that I exaggerate environmental threats:

On the one hand, as scientists we are ethically bound to the scientific method, in effect promising to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but – which means that we must include all doubts, the caveats, the ifs, ands and buts. On the other hand, we are not just scientists but human beings as well. And like most people we'd like to see the world a better place, which in this context translates into our working to reduce the risk of potentially disastrous climate change. To do that we need to get some broad based support, to capture the public's imagination. That, of course, means getting loads of media coverage. So we have to offer up scary scenarios, make simplified, dramatic statements, and make little mention of any doubts we might have. This "double ethical bind" we frequently find ourselves in cannot be solved by any formula. Each of us has to decide what the right balance is between being effective and being honest. I hope that means being both.


The Detroit News selectively quoted this passage, already not in full context, in an attack editorial on 22 November 1989:

On the one hand, as scientists we are ethically bound to the scientific method. On the other hand, we are not just scientists but human beings as well. To do that we need to get some broad based support, to capture the public's imagination. That, of course, means getting loads of media coverage. So we have to offer up scary scenarios, make simplified, dramatic statements, and make little mention of any doubts we might have. Each of us has to decide what the right balance is between being effective and being honest.

The most egregious omission in the Detroit News quotation is of the last line of the Discover quote, the one about being both honest and effective. The Detroit News clearly misquotes me, presumably since including the addendum would have weakened the effectiveness of their character attack. In response, I prepared a rebuttal containing the full quote and the context of my interview, which actually showed that I disapproved of the sound-bite system and the media's polarization of the climate change debate. (See the Detroit News editorial and my rebuttal).

HikerJens skrev:
Skal der gøres noget i Indien, skal Vesten betale det. Og det bliver dyrt...."

Poul Ancher Larsen har i Weekend Avisen den 8.8.2008 citeret Stephen Schneider

Russeren Yuri A. Izrael (IPCC) næstformand har vi ikke hørt meget til siden han erklærede, at der ikke var et eneste videnskabeligt bevis for at mennesket var skyld i den globale opvarmning

Klimapanelets stærke formand, inderen Rajendra Pachauri, er hovedperson i den seneste, meget opsigtsvækkende udvikling. Som IPCC-formand (og nylig modtager af Nobels fredspris) presser han uafladeligt Vesten til at reducere sit CO2 udslip voldsomt samtidigt med, at han som klimarådgiver for den indiske regering er medforfatter til Indiens ny klimapolitik, »National Action Plan for Global Warming«.
Denne plan afviser imidlertid klart det videnskabelige grundlag for global opvarmning (!) og slår fast, at Indien ikke vil påtage sig nogen som helst forpligtelse til at reducere sit CO2 udslip. Indien vil prioritere sin sociale og økonomiske udvikling og vil blandt andet bygge flere hundrede nye kulfyrede kraftværker i de kommende år.

To date governments across the world seem to have caved in to the demands of well-placed environmental lobby groups and the political hysteria they have generated and have introduced a wide range of measures to reduce CO2 emissions in an attempt to stop climate change. These measures are already impacting on our pockets every day through the imposition of so-called green taxes, price increases and regulations.