NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact: Candace Crandall Tel: (703) 503-5064 e-mail: crandall@sepp.org

FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA, JULY 28, 1997---At a White House press briefing last week, President Clinton announced that "it is no longer a theory but now a fact that global warming is real," a contention he supports by citing the "2,500 scientists" who supposedly worked on and endorsed the UN's latest Climate Change Report. While large numbers sound convincing -- and this figure has been referred to repeatedly over the last few months -- the problem is that these 2,500 scientists don't exist. In a July 25th Wall Street Journal commentary piece, atmospheric physicist S. Fred Singer, president of The Science & Environmental Policy Project, explodes the scientific consensus hoax and calls global warming "mostly a phantom problem.''

Mr. Clinton and Vice President Gore harp on "scientific consensus" because it sounds so impressive to non-scientists, says Singer. But satellite temperature readings, independently backed by data from balloon-borne sensors, show no evidence of a warming -- and, in any case, "science doesn't operate by vote."

In his article, "A Treaty Built on Hot Air, Not Scientific Consensus," Singer challenges the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to explain how it arrived at the 2,500 figure. "Add up all of the contributors and reviewers listed in the three IPCC reports published in 1996, and you get about 2,100. The great majority of these are not conversant with the intricacies of atmospheric physics, although some may know a lot about forestry, fisheries, or agriculture. Most are social scientists -- or just policy experts and government functionaries. Every country in the world seems to be represented -- from Albania to Zimbabwe -- though many are not exactly at the forefront of research. The IPCC list even includes known skeptics of global warming -- much to their personal and professional chagrin."

"The climate warming of the past 100 years occurred mainly before 1940, and in no way supports the results of computer models that predict a drastic future warming," says Singer. "Even IPCC Chairman Bert Bolin has admitted that the pre-1940 warming is likely a natural recovery from a previous natural cooling."

In conclusion, Singer cites complaints from the activist Environmental Defense Fund that the "skepticism and constant questioning that lie at the heart of science" sometimes "cloud the debate." "Perhaps so," he counters, "but more often they advance the science."

SEPP UNVEILS NEW WEB SITE

On Monday, July 28th, The Science & Environmental Policy Project unveils its newly revamped Web site on the Internet, a month-long effort that has finally borne fruit.

"We've created a completely new design with features that more fully explain the work we do here at SEPP," says Executive Assistant Doug Houts, who will be updating the site on a weekly basis. "We've added pages on our conferences and seminars, expanded the section on Key Issues, and included a new page -- The Week That Was -- for discussing important events as they happen."

Also new is a forum for exposing the frequent attacks on scientists who take positions unpopular with environmental pressure groups. Tagged "Controversies," the first item addressed, not surprisingly, is Pulitzer Prize impostor Ross Gelbspan and his new book Me Heat is On.

"This new design and format," says Houts, "will make information on the Project much more accessible to those searching the Internet, and it makes it easier for us to add new material as it becomes available."