Ronald Bailey | |
|---|---|
 Ronald Bailey in 2015 | |
| Born | 23 November 1953 San Antonio, Texas, U.S. |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Language | English |
| Education | University of Virginia (BA) |
| Subject | Climate Change, Global Warming, Economics, Ecology, Biotechnology |
| Notable works | Eco-scam: The False Prophets of Ecological Apocalypse. |
Ronald Bailey (born November 23, 1953) is an American libertarian writer. He has written or edited several books on economics, ecology, and biotechnology. [1]
Bailey was born in San Antonio, Texas, and raised in Washington County, Virginia. He lives in Washington, D.C., and Charlottesville, Virginia, with his wife Pamela. [1]
Bailey attended the University of Virginia, where he earned a B.A. in philosophy and economics in 1976. [2] He worked briefly as an economist for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. From 1987 to 1990 he contributed articles to Forbes. [1] Bailey worked as a reporter for The Tico Times in San José, Costa Rica during 1990 and 1991. [3] His articles and reviews have appeared in national newspapers and magazines and have been selected for inclusion in The Best American Science Writing anthology series. [1] [4] Bailey was the founding producer of the PBS series Think Tank and has produced or co-produced several series and documentaries for PBS television and ABC News. [3] [5] Since 1997 he has been a science correspondent for Reason magazine. [6] Bailey was the 1993 Warren T. Brookes Fellow in Environmental Journalism at the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI). [7]
He has lectured at Harvard University, Rutgers University, McGill University, University of Alaska, Université du Québec, the Cato Institute, the Instituto de Libertad y Desarrollo (Chile), and the American Enterprise Institute. A column he wrote in 2004, "The battle for your brain" received a Southern California Journalism award from the Los Angeles Press Club and was included in the book, The Best of American Science and Nature Writing 2004. [4] [8] Bailey testified before a congressional sub-committee in 2004 on, "The Impact of Science on Public Policy." [9] In 2006 he was on the shortlist of nominees of "personalities who have made the most significant contributions to biotech in the last ten years" compiled by the editors of Nature Biotechnology. [10]
In 1989, in an article [11] in Forbes, Bailey wrote a "...sneering attack ..." on Jay Forrester, the father of system dynamics. In the article he described the book, The Limits to Growth (LTG) as "as wrong-headed as it is possible to be." Bailey said that, "Limits to Growth predicted that at 1972 rates of growth the world would run out of gold by 1981, mercury by 1985, tin by 1987, zinc by 1990, petroleum by 1992, copper, lead and natural gas by 1993." [11] : 45 According to physical chemist and energy expert, Ugo Bardi, "...Bailey's accusations are just plain wrong." In 1993 Bailey repeated his accusations in his book, Ecoscam. In it, he claimed that none of the projections of the 1972 LTG study turned out to be correct. [12]
In his 1993 book, Ecoscam, Bailey wrote, "Despite a great deal of continuing scientific uncertainty, it appears that CFCs do contribute to the creation of the Antarctic ozone hole and perhaps a tiny amount of global ozone depletion. ... [I]t makes sense to phase out the use of CFCs." When Science reported in July 2016 that the ozone layer was restoring itself after CFCs were banned, Bailey wrote, "Since atmospheric pollution presents significant barriers to assigning property rights, I concluded that the international treaty banning CFCs was the appropriate response." [13]
The position taken in his 1995 book The True State of the Planet has been described as "growth forever" or "Promethean" arguing for unrestrained exploitation based on assumptions of unending nature, value derived exclusively from man's changes to material, and exceptional human resourcefulness. [14] His follow-up book Earth Report 2000 was recognized for being among the works of established authors "who have argued that past and present widely accepted visions of environmental deterioration and disaster ... have little or no basis in fact." [15] Citing these two books, Holt, Pressman and Spash describe the CEI as believing, "technology will solve all environmental problems and that present environmental dilemmas are simply a necessary outcome of much needed economic growth." [16]
Bailey has described himself as a "libertarian transhumanist". He explains this in his book Liberation Biology. [17]
In 2005, Bailey said that new data convinced him that the earth is definitely warming and that the likely cause is human activity. He has endorsed a carbon tax as one possible solution. [18] He has stated in the article "Global Warming — Not Worse Than We Thought, But Bad Enough":
Details like sea level rise will continue to be debated by researchers, but if the debate over whether or not humanity is contributing to global warming wasn't over before, it is now ... as the new IPCC Summary makes clear, climate change Pollyannaism is no longer looking very tenable. [19]
Bailey is critical of Al Gore and his film about global warming, writing, "On balance Gore gets it more right than wrong on the science (we'll leave the policy stuff to another time), but he undercuts his message by becoming the opposite of a global warming denier. He's a global warming exaggerator." [20]
Bailey voted for George W. Bush in both 2000 and 2004, a fact which he later wrote made him "disheartened and ashamed." [21] In 2008, he voted for Barack Obama because he felt that "[t]he Republicans must be punished and punished hard." [21]
DeSmog documented Bailey's climate change denial on behalf of the Reason Foundation think tank, which is tied to the Koch network. As late as 2014, DesSmog noted that Bailey was still arguing that "doing nothing to prevent climate change would result in the same cost as climate action". [22]
Siegfried Fred Singer was an Austrian-born American physicist and emeritus professor of environmental science at the University of Virginia, trained as an atmospheric physicist. He was known for rejecting the scientific consensus on several issues, including climate change, the connection between UV-B exposure and melanoma rates, stratospheric ozone loss being caused by chlorofluoro compounds, often used as refrigerants, and the health risks of passive smoking.
James Ephraim Lovelock was an English independent scientist, environmentalist and futurist. He is best known for proposing the Gaia hypothesis, which postulates that the Earth functions as a self-regulating system.
The Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer is an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of numerous substances that are responsible for ozone depletion. It was agreed on 16 September 1987, and entered into force on 1 January 1989. Since then, it has undergone several amendments and adjustments, with revisions agreed to in 1990 (London), 1992 (Copenhagen), 1995 (Vienna), 1997 (Montreal), 1999 (Beijing), 2007 (Montreal), 2016 (Kigali) and 2018 (Quito). As a result of the international agreement, the ozone hole in Antarctica is slowly recovering. Climate projections indicate that the ozone layer will return to 1980 levels between 2040 and 2066. Due to its widespread adoption and implementation, it has been hailed as an example of successful international co-operation. Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan stated that "perhaps the single most successful international agreement to date has been the Montreal Protocol". In comparison, effective burden-sharing and solution proposals mitigating regional conflicts of interest have been among the success factors for the ozone depletion challenge, where global regulation based on the Kyoto Protocol has failed to do so. In this case of the ozone depletion challenge, there was global regulation already being installed before a scientific consensus was established. Also, overall public opinion was convinced of possible imminent risks.
The ozone layer or ozone shield is a region of Earth's stratosphere that absorbs most of the Sun's ultraviolet radiation. It contains a high concentration of ozone (O3) in relation to other parts of the atmosphere, although still small in relation to other gases in the stratosphere. The ozone layer contains less than 10 parts per million of ozone, while the average ozone concentration in Earth's atmosphere as a whole is about 0.3 parts per million. The ozone layer is mainly found in the lower portion of the stratosphere, from approximately 15 to 35 kilometers (9 to 22 mi) above Earth, although its thickness varies seasonally and geographically.
The Science & Environmental Policy Project (SEPP) is an advocacy group financed by private contributions based in Arlington County, Virginia. It was founded in 1990 by atmospheric physicist S. Fred Singer.
Ozone depletion consists of two related events observed since the late 1970s: a steady lowering of about four percent in the total amount of ozone in Earth's atmosphere, and a much larger springtime decrease in stratospheric ozone around Earth's polar regions. The latter phenomenon is referred to as the ozone hole. There are also springtime polar tropospheric ozone depletion events in addition to these stratospheric events.
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) are fully or partly halogenated hydrocarbons that contain carbon (C), hydrogen (H), chlorine (Cl), and fluorine (F), produced as volatile derivatives of methane, ethane, and propane.
The Limits to Growth (LTG) is a 1972 report that discussed the possibility of exponential economic and population growth with finite supply of resources, studied by computer simulation. The study used the World3 computer model to simulate the consequence of interactions between the Earth and human systems. The model was based on the work of Jay Forrester of MIT, as described in his book World Dynamics.
Ground-level ozone (O3), also known as surface-level ozone and tropospheric ozone, is a trace gas in the troposphere (the lowest level of the Earth's atmosphere), with an average concentration of 20–30 parts per billion by volume (ppbv), with close to 100 ppbv in polluted areas. Ozone is also an important constituent of the stratosphere, where the ozone layer (2 to 8 parts per million ozone) exists which is located between 10 and 50 kilometers above the Earth's surface. The troposphere extends from the ground up to a variable height of approximately 14 kilometers above sea level. Ozone is least concentrated in the ground layer (or planetary boundary layer) of the troposphere. Ground-level or tropospheric ozone is created by chemical reactions between NOx gases (oxides of nitrogen produced by combustion) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The combination of these chemicals in the presence of sunlight form ozone. Its concentration increases as height above sea level increases, with a maximum concentration at the tropopause. About 90% of total ozone in the atmosphere is in the stratosphere, and 10% is in the troposphere. Although tropospheric ozone is less concentrated than stratospheric ozone, it is of concern because of its health effects. Ozone in the troposphere is considered a greenhouse gas, and as such contribute to global warming. as reported in IPCC reports. Actually, tropospheric ozone is considered the third most important greenhouse gas after CO2 and CH4, as indicated by estimates of its radiative forcing.
A refrigerant is a working fluid used in cooling, heating or reverse cooling and heating of air conditioning systems and heat pumps where they undergo a repeated phase transition from a liquid to a gas and back again. Refrigerants are heavily regulated because of their toxicity and flammability and the contribution of CFC and HCFC refrigerants to ozone depletion and that of HFC refrigerants to climate change.
Atmospheric chemistry is a branch of atmospheric science that studies the chemistry of the Earth's atmosphere and that of other planets. This multidisciplinary approach of research draws on environmental chemistry, physics, meteorology, computer modeling, oceanography, geology and volcanology, climatology and other disciplines to understand both natural and human-induced changes in atmospheric composition. Key areas of research include the behavior of trace gasses, the formation of pollutants, and the role of aerosols and greenhouse gasses. Through a combination of observations, laboratory experiments, and computer modeling, atmospheric chemists investigate the causes and consequences of atmospheric changes.
The George C. Marshall Institute (GMI) was a nonprofit conservative think tank in the United States. It was established in 1984 with a focus on science and public policy issues and had an initial focus in defense policy. Starting in the late 1980s, the institute advocated for views in line with environmental skepticism, most notably climate change denial. The think tank received extensive financial support from the fossil fuel industry.
State of Fear is a 2004 techno-thriller novel by Michael Crichton, his fourteenth under his own name and twenty-fourth overall, in which eco-terrorists plot mass murder to publicize the danger of global warming.
Environmental journalism is the collection, verification, production, distribution and exhibition of information regarding current events, trends, and issues associated with the non-human world. To be an environmental journalist, one must have an understanding of scientific language. The individual needs to put to use their knowledge of historical environmental events. One must have the ability to follow environmental policy decisions and environmental organizations. An environmental journalist should have a general understanding of current environmental concerns, and the ability to communicate information to the public in a way that is easily understood.
Christopher Cole Mooney is an American journalist and author of four books including The Republican War on Science (2005). Mooney's writing focuses on subjects such as climate change denialism and creationism in public schools, and he has been described as "one of the few journalists in the country who specialize in the now dangerous intersection of science and politics." In 2020 he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for a series of articles on global warming published in The Washington Post.
Chlorotrifluoromethane, R-13, CFC-13, or Freon 13, is a non-flammable, non-corrosive, nontoxic chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) and also a mixed halomethane. It is a man-made substance used primarily as a refrigerant. When released into the environment, CFC-13 has a high ozone depletion potential, and long atmospheric lifetime. Only a few other greenhouse gases surpass CFC-13 in global warming potential (GWP). The IPCC AR5 reported that CFC-13's atmospheric lifetime was 640 years.
DeSmog, founded in January 2006, is an international journalism organization that focuses on topics related to climate change. DeSmog's emphasis is investigating and reporting on misinformation campaigns and organizations opposing climate science and action. The site was founded, originally in blog format, by James Hoggan, president of a public relations firm based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. DeSmog is a partner in the Covering Climate Now project which organizes and assists news organizations cover climate change worldwide. DeSmog also maintains several databases of persons and organizations engaged in misinformation and lobbying against addressing climate change.
Stephen Oliver Andersen is the Director of Research at the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development (IGSD) and former co-chair (1989–2012) of the Montreal Protocol Technology and Economic Assessment Panel (TEAP) where he also chaired and co-chaired Technical Options Committees, Task Forces and Special Reports. He is one of the founders and leading figures in the success of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer that has phased out the chemicals that deplete the stratospheric ozone that protects the Earth against the harmful effects of ultraviolet radiation that causes skin cancer, cataracts, and suppression of the human immune system, destroys agricultural crops and natural ecosystems and deteriorates the built environment. Because ozone-depleting chemicals are also powerful greenhouse gases the Montreal Protocol also protected climate. Dr. Andersen was instrumental in the 2016 Kigali Amendment that will phase down hydrofluorocarbons once necessary to phase out chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) fast enough to avoid ozone tipping points, but no longer necessary now that environmentally superior replacements are available or soon to be available. For his ambitious campaign saving the ozone layer, Dr. Andersen earned the 2021 Future of Life Award along with Joe Farman and Susan Solomon.
Ozone depletion and climate change are environmental challenges whose connections have been explored and which have been compared and contrasted, for example in terms of global regulation, in various studies and books.
Clive L. Spash is an ecological economist. He currently holds the Chair of Public Policy and Governance at Vienna University of Economics and Business, appointed in 2010. He is also Editor-in-Chief of the academic journal Environmental Values.
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