In January 2003, the a “Danish Committee on Scientific Dishonesty” (DCSD) gained worldwide media attention for alleging author Björn Lomborg was guilty of intellectual dishonesty in his book, The Skeptical Environmentalist. Lomborg’s book had drawn global attention for its carefully documented exposé of environmental alarmism, all the more dramatic because of Lomborg’s past association with Greenpeace.
In December 2003, the Danish Ministry of Science vindicated Lomborg by ruling the DCSD had rendered an unsubstantiated attack on Lomborg. Among the Ministry of Science’s findings:
- “[T]he DCSD has not documented where the respondent (Lomborg) has allegedly been biased in his choice of data and his argumentation, and that the ruling is completely void of argumentation for why the DCSD find that the complainants are right in their criticism’s of (Lomborg’s) working methods.”
- The DCSD’s choice of language in attacking Lomborg “does not meet the linguistic standards of good administrative practice” and “the DCSD should be able to refer to the content of a criticism without using condescending or emotional language.”
- It was “clearly wrong” for the DCSD to make a public ruling regarding the Lomborg book before giving Lomborg an opportunity to defend himself against the charges.
— J.T.
