Fred Singer
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Siegfried Frederick Singer (born September 27, 1924 in Vienna) is an atmospheric physicist. In 1959 he was selected as one of "Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Nation," by the U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce. He was involved in designing on of the first instruments used in a satellite to measure ozone [1] (http://www.sepp.org/misuse/stvincen.html).
He is President of The Science & Environmental Policy Project, a non-profit policy research group disputing climate change and ozone depletion theory, which he founded in 1990. He is also Distinguished Research Professor at George Mason University and Professor Emeritus of environmental science at the University of Virginia, and an Adjunct Fellow of "Frontiers of Freedom" [2] (http://www.ff.org/about/staff.html).
He is known for his skeptical views about greenhouse gas induced global warming. Although he considers the observed increase in CO2 and CFCs to be anthropogenic, he disagrees with IPCC conclusions about how much warming is to be expected. He is also skeptic on the connection between CFCs, ozone depletion, ultraviolet radiation and skin cancer. Furthermore, Singer supported the position of the tobacco industry. He attacked the US Environmental Protection Agency for their study about the risks of passive smoking and called it "junk science". [3] (http://www.quit-smoking-stop.com/effects-of-second-hand-smoke.html), [4] (http://www.tobaccoscam.ucsf.edu/pdf/9.6-JunkScience-Yach.pdf)
Environmentalists arguing against Singer's ideas say that he has a conflict of interest, i.e., financial ties to oil companies [5] (http://www.kwikpower.com/AREAS/GC/gc04.htm), [6] (http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/personfactsheet.php?id=1).
He holds a PhD in physics and is a fellow of the American Physical Society. The famous theoretical physicist John Archibald Wheeler was Singer's advisor.
Previous government and academic positions:
- Director of the Center for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Maryland (1953-62)
- Special advisor to President Eisenhower on space developments (1960) [4]
- First Director of the National Weather Satellite Service (1962-64)
- Founding Dean of the School of Environmental and Planetary Sciences, University of Miami (1964-67)
- Deputy Assistant Secretary for Water Quality and Research, U.S. Department of the Interior (1967- 70)
- Deputy Assistant Administrator for Policy, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1970-71)
- Professor of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia (1971-94)
- Chief Scientist, U.S. Department of Transportation (1987- 89)
External links
- Dr. Singer's professional background (http://www.sepp.org/bios/singer/cvsfs.html)
- SourceWatch: S. Fred Singer (http://www.disinfopedia.org/wiki.phtml?title=S._Fred_Singer)
- George Monbiot, The Guardian, May 10, 2005, "Junk science:David Bellamy's inaccurate and selective figures on glacier shrinkage are a boon to climate change deniers" (http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1480279,00.html) (Bellamy's figures came ultimately from Singer but are contradicted by WGMS)
- An interview with Dr. Singer, Feb 2001 (http://www.sepp.org/NewSEPP/singer_interview.htm)
- Environmental Strategies with Uncertain Science (http://www.cato.org/pubs/regulation/reg13n1-singer.html), Regulation 13(1), Winter 1990
- Astronautics magazine, February 1960, quoted at google cache of: http://www.presidentialufo.8m.com/eisenhow5.htm (http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:7SbQAsojLy8J:www.presidentialufo.com/eisenhow5.htm) - article about possibility of base on Martian moon Phobos