Myron Ebell
Encyclopedia
Myron Ebell is an American climate change skeptic. He is the Director of Global Warming and International Environmental Policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute
(CEI), a non-profit public policy organization founded in 1984 by Fred L. Smith, Jr
. Ebell directs and oversees all aspects of energy policy education and advocacy for CEI. He is also the Chairman of the Cooler Heads Coalition
, an informal and ad-hoc policy group that works on the economics, science, and risk analysis associated with global warming.
His main job is to provide material to the media in the form of quotes to newspaper reporters and participation in live interviews on the subject of climate change. His positions at various times are: (a) climate change isn't happening, (b) it is happening, but it's not because of human released , (c) it is happening, and may be human induced, but it will be much cheaper to adapt to the change than to ration the use of fossil fuels, (d) it is happening and the consequences will be good for the environment.
He has been described as a presidential advisor to George W. Bush
in several media outlets. He was associated with presidential advisor Philip Cooney
in an email about plans to take forward litigation against the EPA.
with a B.A. and obtained an M.Sc. from the London School of Economics
. He did some graduate work at the University of California at San Diego and at Peterhouse College, Cambridge University.
In his writings up to until August 2004 he frequently claimed that a known disparity between the computer climate models and a series of balloon and satellite measurements of the atmosphere cast doubt on the theory. After the errors were corrected, he stopped mentioning them.
Myron Ebell's interview in England on BBC radio Today program on the morning after the US re-election of George W. Bush probably led to the biggest response of any media interview. In it, he asserted that global warming was a hoax perpetrated by the EU and the rest of the world to harm America's economy. He justified the allegation with a quote from European Commissioner Margot Wallström
in her response to Bush's withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol. Ebell also called the UK's Chief Scientist David King
"an alarmist with ridiculous views who knows nothing about climate change", and then added that since all scientists in Europe and in other countries outside the USA were funded by governments, none of them could be seen as independent.
As well as the drawing criticism from many corners, 66 MPs
signed an Early Day Motion
deploring "in the strongest possible terms [his] unfounded and insulting criticism of Sir David King..." King himself has accused Ebell of posing as an adviser to President Bush, and of appearing at talks solely to ask "a question that wasn't ever really a question," accusing King of bias and of ignoring the work of other scientists.
In a live interview on the same program on 19 May 2005, George Monbiot
challenged him to a £5000 bet that the global average temperature over the next ten years would be higher than the global average temperature of the past ten years, but he declined, saying, "I have four children to put through university. I don't take risks."
A year later on 20 September 2006 he appeared on the BBC TV Newsnight program and described how the Competitive Enterprise Institute
worked: "We develop our policies, and then we try to find funding for them. Some we find some funding, other's we find very little."
In this same program, Ebell admits to having no scientific training.
Ebell has been part of the delegation of observers from the Competitive Enterprise Institute
to the annual Congress of Parties
negotiating the Kyoto Protocol
.
is not known. He has written various published op-ed pieces for newspapers, magazines and webpages. In a piece in Forbes Magazine December 2006 he wrote:
, President Bill Clinton
, and the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
. In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs asserted that the National Assessment on Climate Change
report—which details likely state-by-state consequences of anthropogenic climate change—violated several federal open-meeting, appropriations and research statutes.
In June 2002 he wrote a memo to Philip Cooney
, which Greenpeace
later obtained, outlining their strategy for dealing with what Ebell saw as problems caused by the Climate Action Report 2002, which the US government had submitted to the UN. The crucial paragraph of this memo reads:
When two state attorneys general obtained this email they wrote to John Ashcroft
, the US attorney general:
, a national conservative weekly since 2003 on issues of oil drilling and of the fight for the re-election of the republican representative Richard Pombo
. For these articles, his list of credentials excludes his work for the Competitive Enterprise Institute, which is often described in the news as a "non-profit, non-partisan public policy group."
He has been a harsh critic of the Environmental Protection Agency, saying that it unfairly infringes on land owner's property rights, as well as going against the protection of rare species by encouraging land-owners to make their property uninhabitable for such species to escape regulation.
Frontiers of Freedom Institute at least between 1996 and 1999 when he took up his post at the CEI.
Competitive Enterprise Institute
The Competitive Enterprise Institute is a non-profit think tank founded on March 9, 1984 in Washington, D.C. by lobbyist Fred L. Smith, Jr to advance economic liberty and fight over-regulation by big government...
(CEI), a non-profit public policy organization founded in 1984 by Fred L. Smith, Jr
Fred L. Smith
Fred L. Smith, Jr. is the President and Founder of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit libertarian think tank. He has written on topics as antitrust law, environmental regulation, and the economic impacts of global warming....
. Ebell directs and oversees all aspects of energy policy education and advocacy for CEI. He is also the Chairman of the Cooler Heads Coalition
Cooler Heads Coalition
The Cooler Heads Coalition was originally a project of the National Consumer Coalition in the United States, a project of the nonprofit organization Consumer Alert. The Cooler Heads Coalition is now financed and operated by the Competitive Enterprise Institute. Its objective is described as...
, an informal and ad-hoc policy group that works on the economics, science, and risk analysis associated with global warming.
His main job is to provide material to the media in the form of quotes to newspaper reporters and participation in live interviews on the subject of climate change. His positions at various times are: (a) climate change isn't happening, (b) it is happening, but it's not because of human released , (c) it is happening, and may be human induced, but it will be much cheaper to adapt to the change than to ration the use of fossil fuels, (d) it is happening and the consequences will be good for the environment.
He has been described as a presidential advisor to George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
in several media outlets. He was associated with presidential advisor Philip Cooney
Philip Cooney
Philip A. Cooney is a former member of the administration of United States President George W. Bush. Before serving in the federal government, he was a lawyer and lobbyist for the American Petroleum Institute.-Personal:...
in an email about plans to take forward litigation against the EPA.
Education and scholarly work
Ebell graduated from Colorado CollegeColorado College
The Colorado College is a private liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States, in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. It was founded in 1874 by Thomas Nelson Haskell...
with a B.A. and obtained an M.Sc. from the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
. He did some graduate work at the University of California at San Diego and at Peterhouse College, Cambridge University.
Media appearances
For a period of years up until 2005, Ebell published a fortnightly "Cooler Heads Project" Newsletter detailing what he claimed were controversies in the climate science field, as well as reports on the political and legislative failures by the environmentalists he opposes.In his writings up to until August 2004 he frequently claimed that a known disparity between the computer climate models and a series of balloon and satellite measurements of the atmosphere cast doubt on the theory. After the errors were corrected, he stopped mentioning them.
Myron Ebell's interview in England on BBC radio Today program on the morning after the US re-election of George W. Bush probably led to the biggest response of any media interview. In it, he asserted that global warming was a hoax perpetrated by the EU and the rest of the world to harm America's economy. He justified the allegation with a quote from European Commissioner Margot Wallström
Margot Wallström
Margot Elisabeth Wallström is a Swedish social democratic, currently holding the job as . Prior to this post, she served as European Commissioner for Institutional Relations and Communication Strategy...
in her response to Bush's withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol. Ebell also called the UK's Chief Scientist David King
David King (scientist)
Sir David Anthony King FRS is the Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford, Director of Research in Physical Chemistry at the University of Cambridge, Director of the Collegio Carlo Alberto, Chancellor of the University of Liverpool and a senior...
"an alarmist with ridiculous views who knows nothing about climate change", and then added that since all scientists in Europe and in other countries outside the USA were funded by governments, none of them could be seen as independent.
As well as the drawing criticism from many corners, 66 MPs
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
signed an Early Day Motion
Early day motion
An Early Day Motion , in the Westminster system, is a motion, expressed as a single sentence, tabled by Members of Parliament for debate "on an early day" . Controversial EDMs are not signed by Government Ministers, PPS or the Speaker of the House of Commons and very few are debated on the floor...
deploring "in the strongest possible terms [his] unfounded and insulting criticism of Sir David King..." King himself has accused Ebell of posing as an adviser to President Bush, and of appearing at talks solely to ask "a question that wasn't ever really a question," accusing King of bias and of ignoring the work of other scientists.
In a live interview on the same program on 19 May 2005, George Monbiot
George Monbiot
George Joshua Richard Monbiot is an English writer, known for his environmental and political activism. He lives in Machynlleth, Wales, writes a weekly column for The Guardian, and is the author of a number of books, including Captive State: The Corporate Takeover of Britain and Bring on the...
challenged him to a £5000 bet that the global average temperature over the next ten years would be higher than the global average temperature of the past ten years, but he declined, saying, "I have four children to put through university. I don't take risks."
A year later on 20 September 2006 he appeared on the BBC TV Newsnight program and described how the Competitive Enterprise Institute
Competitive Enterprise Institute
The Competitive Enterprise Institute is a non-profit think tank founded on March 9, 1984 in Washington, D.C. by lobbyist Fred L. Smith, Jr to advance economic liberty and fight over-regulation by big government...
worked: "We develop our policies, and then we try to find funding for them. Some we find some funding, other's we find very little."
In this same program, Ebell admits to having no scientific training.
Ebell has been part of the delegation of observers from the Competitive Enterprise Institute
Competitive Enterprise Institute
The Competitive Enterprise Institute is a non-profit think tank founded on March 9, 1984 in Washington, D.C. by lobbyist Fred L. Smith, Jr to advance economic liberty and fight over-regulation by big government...
to the annual Congress of Parties
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is an international environmental treaty produced at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development , informally known as the Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro from June 3 to 14, 1992...
negotiating the Kyoto Protocol
Kyoto Protocol
The Kyoto Protocol is a protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change , aimed at fighting global warming...
.
Writings
Ebell's support work within the Competitive Enterprise InstituteCompetitive Enterprise Institute
The Competitive Enterprise Institute is a non-profit think tank founded on March 9, 1984 in Washington, D.C. by lobbyist Fred L. Smith, Jr to advance economic liberty and fight over-regulation by big government...
is not known. He has written various published op-ed pieces for newspapers, magazines and webpages. In a piece in Forbes Magazine December 2006 he wrote:
Litigation
In 2000, Ebell was a plaintiff, along with several members of Congress, including Sen. James Inhofe (R, OK), who sued the National Science and Technology CouncilNational Science and Technology Council
The National Science and Technology Council was established in the US by Executive Order 12881 on November 23, 1993.-History:The National Science and Technology Council was established in the US by Executive Order on November 23, 1993...
, President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
, and the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
Office of Science and Technology Policy
The Office of Science and Technology Policy is an office in the Executive Office of the President , established by Congress on May 11, 1976, with a broad mandate to advise the President on the effects of science and technology on domestic and international affairs.The director of this office is...
. In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs asserted that the National Assessment on Climate Change
National Assessment on Climate Change
The National Climate Assessment is a large-scale national project that is conducted under the auspices of the Global Change Research Act of 1990, and is one of the many activities of the US Global Change Research Program , a program which coordinates and integrates federal research on changes in...
report—which details likely state-by-state consequences of anthropogenic climate change—violated several federal open-meeting, appropriations and research statutes.
In June 2002 he wrote a memo to Philip Cooney
Philip Cooney
Philip A. Cooney is a former member of the administration of United States President George W. Bush. Before serving in the federal government, he was a lawyer and lobbyist for the American Petroleum Institute.-Personal:...
, which Greenpeace
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
later obtained, outlining their strategy for dealing with what Ebell saw as problems caused by the Climate Action Report 2002, which the US government had submitted to the UN. The crucial paragraph of this memo reads:
When two state attorneys general obtained this email they wrote to John Ashcroft
John Ashcroft
John David Ashcroft is a United States politician who served as the 79th United States Attorney General, from 2001 until 2005, appointed by President George W. Bush. Ashcroft previously served as the 50th Governor of Missouri and a U.S...
, the US attorney general:
Other writings
Myron Ebell has written a number of articles for a Human EventsHuman Events
Human Events is a weekly American conservative magazine. It takes its name from the first sentence of the United States Declaration of Independence...
, a national conservative weekly since 2003 on issues of oil drilling and of the fight for the re-election of the republican representative Richard Pombo
Richard Pombo
Richard William Pombo is a former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, having represented California's 11th congressional district from 1993 to 2007...
. For these articles, his list of credentials excludes his work for the Competitive Enterprise Institute, which is often described in the news as a "non-profit, non-partisan public policy group."
He has been a harsh critic of the Environmental Protection Agency, saying that it unfairly infringes on land owner's property rights, as well as going against the protection of rare species by encouraging land-owners to make their property uninhabitable for such species to escape regulation.
Previous work
Myron Ebell was an early staff member of Senator Malcolm Wallop'sMalcolm Wallop
Malcolm Wallop was a Republican politician and former three-term United States Senator from Wyoming.-Early years:...
Frontiers of Freedom Institute at least between 1996 and 1999 when he took up his post at the CEI.
External links
- globalwarming.org
- Myron Ebell Climate - a blog tracking everything Myron Ebell does and says
- Myron Ebell Timeline at History Commons
- Official CEI bio
- List of publications
- 'Some Like It Hot' Article
- Video clips of key moments on the last session of the Climate Change Conference in Bali, December 2007 and interviews with Hilary BennHilary BennHilary James Wedgwood Benn is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Leeds Central since 1999. He served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for International Development from 2003 to 2007 and as the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs...
and Myron Ebell on Channel4 News: "Bali: a deal of sorts".