The ozone backlash

Journal Article · Fri Jun 11 04:00:00 UTC 1993 · Science (Washington, D.C.); (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1126/science.260.5114.1580· OSTI ID:6480041

Taubes, G

While evidence for the role of chlorofluorocarbons in ozone depletion grows stronger, researchers have recently been subjected to vocal public criticism of their theories-and their motives. Their understanding of the mechanisms of ozone destruction-especially the annual ozone hole that appears in the Antarctic-has grown stronger, yet everywhere they go these days, they seem to be confronted by critics attacking their theories as baseless. For instance, Rush Limbaugh, the conservative political talk-show host and now-best-selling author of The Way Things Ought to Be, regularly insists that the theory of ozone depletion by CFCs is a hoax: bladerdash and poppycock. Zoologist Dixy Lee Ray, former governor of the state of Washington and former head of the Atomic Energy Commission, makes the same argument in her book, Trashing the Planet. The Wall Street Journal and National Review have run commentaries by S. Fred Singer, a former chief scientists for the Department of Transportation, purporting to shoot holes in the theory of ozone depletion. Even the June issue of Omni, a magazine with a circulation of more than 1 million that publishes a mixture of science and science fiction, printed a feature article claiming to expose ozone research as a politically motivated scam.

• OSTI ID: 6480041
• Journal Information: Science (Washington, D.C.); (United States), Journal Name: Science (Washington, D.C.); (United States) Vol. 260:5114; ISSN SCIEAS; ISSN 0036-8075
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290200* -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Economics & Sociology
290300 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Environment
Health
& Safety
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540120 -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
ANTARCTIC REGIONS
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CHEMISTRY
CHLOROFLUOROCARBONS
CRYOSPHERE
INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS
LAYERS
ORGANIC CHLORINE COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC FLUORINE COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
OZONE LAYER
POLAR REGIONS
POLITICAL ASPECTS
PUBLIC OPINION
SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS