Well here's some good news ... in a rare moment of intellectual honesty from a government department, The Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation has repudiated findings by the Danish Committees on Scientific Dishonesty (DSCD) that Bjorn Lomborg's book The Skeptical Environmentalist was "objectively dishonest" or "clearly contrary to the standards of good scientific practice."
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Lomborg Decision Overturned by Danish Ministry of Science
Press release from The Environmental Assessment Institute
The Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation has today repudiated findings by the Danish Committees on Scientific Dishonesty (DSCD) that Bjørn Lomborg's book The Skeptical Environmentalist was "objectively dishonest" or "clearly contrary to the standards of good scientific practice".
The Ministry, which is responsible for the DSCD, has today released a critical assessment of the Committee's January 6 ruling. The Ministry finds that the DCSD judgment was not backed up by documentation, and was "completely void of argumentation" for the claims of dishonesty and lack of good scientific practice.
The Ministry characterises the DCSD's treatment of the case as "dissatisfactory", "deserving criticism" and "emotional" and points out a number of significant errors. The DSCD's verdict has consequently been remitted.
Bjorn Lomborg, director of the Denmark's Environmental Assessment Institute (EAI), today expressed his satisfaction with the ruling. "It has been almost two years since the beginning of the DCSD case against my book," Bjørn Lomborg said.
"It has been hard, but I am happy that we now have confirmation that freedom of speech extends to environmental debate. Now that this distraction is behind us, we can concentrate our efforts on matters of importance – namely, how to prioritise our efforts for the environment.
"The DCSD judgment lacked substance and, even in January 2003, it was clear that it could not withstand scrutiny. The case was infected from the beginning. This was pointed out by commentators from leading Danish and international media. Almost 300 scientists signed a protest against the ruling.
"The DCSD ruling came at a convenient time for many people who wanted to criticize my work, and that of the EAI. The complaints about my book were not based on science, but on a desire to stop me being appointed Director of the EAI. The DCSD case has had a great impact on the working environment at the EAI.
"With today's scathing assessment of the DCSD ruling, it has now been established that if someone wants to criticise the Institute or my book – and anyone is welcome to do so – mudslinging is not enough. You have to use solid arguments", Bjørn Lomborg said.
Appendices to this press release:
Overview of the Ministry's criticism (PDF)
Overview of the course of the DCSD case against Bjørn Lomborg's book (PDF)
A summary in English of the Ministry's assessment (PDF)
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Phaedrus
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>
Lomborg Decision Overturned by Danish Ministry of Science
Press release from The Environmental Assessment Institute
The Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation has today repudiated findings by the Danish Committees on Scientific Dishonesty (DSCD) that Bjørn Lomborg's book The Skeptical Environmentalist was "objectively dishonest" or "clearly contrary to the standards of good scientific practice".
The Ministry, which is responsible for the DSCD, has today released a critical assessment of the Committee's January 6 ruling. The Ministry finds that the DCSD judgment was not backed up by documentation, and was "completely void of argumentation" for the claims of dishonesty and lack of good scientific practice.
The Ministry characterises the DCSD's treatment of the case as "dissatisfactory", "deserving criticism" and "emotional" and points out a number of significant errors. The DSCD's verdict has consequently been remitted.
Bjorn Lomborg, director of the Denmark's Environmental Assessment Institute (EAI), today expressed his satisfaction with the ruling. "It has been almost two years since the beginning of the DCSD case against my book," Bjørn Lomborg said.
"It has been hard, but I am happy that we now have confirmation that freedom of speech extends to environmental debate. Now that this distraction is behind us, we can concentrate our efforts on matters of importance – namely, how to prioritise our efforts for the environment.
"The DCSD judgment lacked substance and, even in January 2003, it was clear that it could not withstand scrutiny. The case was infected from the beginning. This was pointed out by commentators from leading Danish and international media. Almost 300 scientists signed a protest against the ruling.
"The DCSD ruling came at a convenient time for many people who wanted to criticize my work, and that of the EAI. The complaints about my book were not based on science, but on a desire to stop me being appointed Director of the EAI. The DCSD case has had a great impact on the working environment at the EAI.
"With today's scathing assessment of the DCSD ruling, it has now been established that if someone wants to criticise the Institute or my book – and anyone is welcome to do so – mudslinging is not enough. You have to use solid arguments", Bjørn Lomborg said.
Appendices to this press release:
Overview of the Ministry's criticism (PDF)
Overview of the course of the DCSD case against Bjørn Lomborg's book (PDF)
A summary in English of the Ministry's assessment (PDF)
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Phaedrus
