Editing Gregg Easterbrook (section)

===''A Moment on the Earth''===
Easterbrook wrote the book ''A Moment on the Earth'' (1995), subtitled "the coming age of environmental optimism," which presaged [[Bjørn Lomborg]]'s book ''[[The Skeptical Environmentalist]]'', first published in Danish three years later; Easterbrook argued that many environmental indicators, with the notable exception of [[greenhouse gas]] production, are positive.<ref>Doyle, Timothy and McEachern, Doug.  ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=jpR-AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA5 Environment and Politics]'', p. 5 (Routledge, 2007).</ref> He called the [[environmental movement]] "among the most welcome social developments of the twentieth century," but criticized environmentalists who promoted what he saw as overly pessimistic views that did not accept signs of improvement and progress.<ref>Samuelson, Robert.  ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=lPXAmsjmxUIC&pg=PT283 The Good Life and Its Discontents: The American Dream in the Age of Entitlement]'', p. 283 (Random House, 2011).</ref>

''A Moment on the Earth'' proved to be very controversial, especially among environmentalists. Easterbrook was accused of mischaracterizing data concerning environmental health, using faulty logic, and being overly optimistic.<ref name=watkins>Watkins, T. H. "In the company of scolds", ''[[Issues in Science and Technology]]'' (Summer 1995).</ref><ref>Hertsgaard, Mark.  ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=eHOJMEbcm8MC&pg=PA293 Earth Odyssey: Around the World in Search of Our Environmental Future]'', p. 293 (Random House 2009).</ref> Other reviewers, like [[Michael Specter]] in ''[[The New York Times]]'', had praise for the book's efforts to raise positive points in the debate over environmental policy.<ref name=specter>Specter, Michael (April 23, 1995). "[http://www.michaelspecter.com/times/1995/1995_04_23_rev_easterbrook.html Earth Day '95; not that hard being green] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080416120915/http://www.michaelspecter.com/times/1995/1995_04_23_rev_easterbrook.html |date=April 16, 2008 }}". ''New York Times''.</ref>

[[Norman Borlaug]], one of the most important figures in the [[Green Revolution]], was the subject of an admiring Easterbrook article in 1997,<ref>Easterbrook, Gregg. [https://www.theatlantic.com/issues/97jan/borlaug/borlaug.htm "Forgotten Benefactor of Humanity – 97.01"]. ''The Atlantic''. January 1, 1997. Retrieved 2011-11-12.</ref> and again in 2009 marking Borlaug's passing.<ref name=Borlaug>Easterbrook, Gregg.  [https://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052970203917304574411382676924044 "The Man Who Defused the 'Population Bomb'"], ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' (September 16, 2009).</ref>  Both articles said that Borlaug had disproved the earlier dire predictions of [[Paul R. Ehrlich]], author of the 1968 book ''[[The Population Bomb]]''.<ref name=Borlaug />  Ehrlich has severely criticized Easterbrook's 1995 book ''A Moment on the Earth''.<ref>Ehrlich, Paul and Ehrlich, Anne.  ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=1vkYnktbFK4C&dq=%22Gregg+Easterbrook%22&pg=PA217 Betrayal of Science and Reason: How Anti-Environmental Rhetoric Threatens Our Future]'', pp. 74, 110, 111, 136, 146, 147, 198, 217, 223, 227, 315  (Island Press, 1998).</ref>

Until 2006, Easterbrook was skeptical about whether [[global warming]] was a serious manmade problem, pointing out several times that even the [[United States National Academy of Sciences|National Academy of Sciences]] had expressed doubt about whether global warming was caused by humans.<ref name=change>Easterbrook, Gregg. "[https://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/24/opinion/24easterbrook.html Finally Feeling the Heat]". ''New York Times''. May 24, 2006.</ref>  He publicly modified his position in 2006 as a result of scientific developments.<ref name=change /><ref>Rolston, Holmes.  ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=pmSpAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA6 A New Environmental Ethics: The Next Millennium for Life on Earth]'', p. 6 (Routledge, 2012).</ref><ref>Milloy, Steven.  [https://web.archive.org/web/20140324100405/http://www.foxnews.com/story/2006/05/25/global-warming-skeptic-claims-environmental-conversion/ "Global Warming Skeptic Claims Environmental Conversion"], [[Fox News]] (May 25, 2006).</ref><ref>Brush, Denise.  [http://rusa.metapress.com/content/r7l8144101631p28/fulltext.pdf "Global Warming: Resources to Sustain a Collection"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140605061137/http://rusa.metapress.com/content/r7l8144101631p28/fulltext.pdf |date=June 5, 2014 }}, ''[[Reference and User Services Quarterly]]'', Vol. 48, p. 334 (2009).</ref><ref>Horner, Christopher. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=8HzBjbAaOVcC&pg=PA48 The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming: And Environmentalism]'', p. 48 (Regnery Publishing 2007).</ref>  Easterbrook wrote:

<blockquote>[T]he science has changed from ambiguous to near-unanimous. As an environmental commentator, I have a long record of opposing alarmism. But based on the data I'm now switching sides regarding global warming, from skeptic to convert. Once global-warming science was too uncertain to form the basis of policy decisions — and this was hardly just the contention of oil executives. ...  Clearly, the question called for more research.  That research is now in, and it shows a strong scientific consensus that an artificially warming world is a real phenomenon posing real danger. ...<ref name=change /></blockquote>

He says that greenhouse gas emissions must be curbed in order to win the fight against [[climate change]].<ref name=change/><ref name=case>Easterbrook, Gregg. "[http://www.brookings.edu/papers/2006/06energy_easterbrook.aspx Case Closed: The Debate about Global Warming Is Over] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080606031943/http://www.brookings.edu/papers/2006/06energy_easterbrook.aspx |date=June 6, 2008 }}", Brookings Institution (June 2006): "The United States needs to start now with mandatory greenhouse gas reductions not out of guilt or shame, but because it is a fight we can win."</ref>  Easterbrook anticipates that climate change could benefit some regions, even while causing drastic problems elsewhere.<ref>McDonald, Bryan.  ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=kJaTbBJPH7EC&pg=PA72 Food Security]'', p. 72 (Polity, 2010).</ref>