FYI. Best wishes, Alison > > Dear Dr. Burgmeier, > Dr. Singer, an atmospheric physicist and founder of the The Science & > Environmental Policy Project, will be in town on March 28 for a press > conference at the State House and a speaking event regarding climate > change at Ira Allen. > > > > Here is some background on Dr. Singer and his Institute: > > S. Fred Singer is internationally known for his work on energy and > environmental issues. His areas of expertise include global climate > change and the greenhouse effect, depletion of the stratospheric ozone > layer, acid rain, air pollution, importance and future of the U.S. > space program, energy resources and U.S. energy policy. A pioneer in > the development of rocket and satellite technology, he devised the > basic instrument for measuring stratospheric ozone and was principal > investigator on a satellite experiment retrieved by the space shuttle > in 1990. He was the first scientist to predict that population > growth would increase atmospheric methane--an important greenhouse gas. > > Now President of The Science & Environmental Policy Project, a > non-profit policy research group he founded in 1990, Singer is also > Distinguished Research Professor at George Mason University and > professor emeritus of environmental sciences at the University of > Virginia. His previous government and academic positions include Chief > Scientist, U.S. Department of Transportation (1987- 89); Deputy > Assistant Administrator for Policy, U.S. Environmental Protection > Agency (1970-71); Deputy Assistant Secretary for Water Quality and > Research, U.S. Department of the Interior (1967- 70); founding Dean of > the School of Environmental and Planetary Sciences, University of > Miami (1964-67); first Director of the National Weather Satellite > Service (1962-64); and Director of the Center for Atmospheric and > Space Physics, University of Maryland (1953-62). > > Singer has received numerous awards for his research, including a > Special Commendation from the White House for achievements in > artificial earth satellites, a U.S. Department of Commerce Gold Medal > Award for the development and management of the U.S. weather satellite > program, and the first Science Medal from the British Interplanetary > Society. He has served on state and federal advisory panels, including > five years as vice chairman of the National Advisory Committee on > Oceans and Atmospheres. He frequently testifies before Congress. > > Singer did his undergraduate work in electrical engineering at Ohio > State University and holds a Ph.D. in physics from Princeton > University. Ohio State also awarded him an honorary D.Sc. He is the > author or editor of more than a dozen books and monographs, including > /Is There an Optimum Level of Population?/ (McGraw-Hill, 1971), /Free > Market Energy/ (Universe Books, 1984), /Global Climate Change/ > (Paragon House, 1989), and /Unstoppable Global Warming : Every 1500 > Years, Natural climate cycles as seen in the geological record/ > (Rowman & Littlefield, 2007). Singer has also published more than 400 > technical papers in scientific, economic, and public policy journals, > as well as numerous editorial essays and articles in /The Wall Street > Journal, New York Times, New Republic, Newsweek, Journal of Commerce, > Washington Times, Washington Post/, and other publications. His > previous book, /Hot Talk, Cold Science: Global Warming's Unfinished > Debate/, was published in late 1997 through the Independent Institute, > and again in 1999. > > The Science & Environmental Policy Project was founded in 1990 by S. > Fred Singer on the premise that sound, credible science must form the > basis for health and environmental decisions that affect millions of > people and cost tens of billions of dollars every year. A non-profit, > 501(c)3 educational group, its mission was to clarify the diverse > problems facing the planet and, where necessary, arrive at effective, > cost-conscious solutions. > > Over the years, SEPP's authoritative critiques of UN documents used to > shore up the Climate Treaty negotiated at the 1992 Rio de Janeiro > "Earth Summit" have been widely quoted. Its debunking of NASA's > announcement of "record" chlorine in the Arctic stratosphere (the > "ozone hole over Kennebunkport") attracted the attention of the press > and Congress. The Project has been tapped by both Democrats and > Republicans on Capitol Hill for objective, science-based information > on global warming, ozone depletion, chemical risk, clean air > standards, and other issues. The Project has been cited hundreds of > times by the major news media. Articles and editorials by > SEPP-affiliated scientists have been published in leading journals and > newspapers, including the /Wall Street Journal, Miami Herald, Detroit > News, Chicago Tribune, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Memphis > Commercial-Appeal, Seattle Times, Orange County Register, The Bulletin > of the Atomic Scientists, New Straits Times/ (Malaysia), and /Finanz > und Wirtschaft/ (Switzerland), among many others. > > Today, with an expanded program of policy and research analysis, and > with an international network of scientists working /pro bono/, SEPP > has an impact far greater than its size might suggest. Not > surprisingly, /Outside/ magazine, a mainstream environment-oriented > publication with some 350,000 subscribers, has lauded SEPP President > S. Fred Singer as one of "The Ones to Watch."