Sallie Baliunas
Credentials
- Ph.D. in Astrophysics, Harvard University (1980).1“CFACT Speaker’s Bureau: Dr. Sallie Baliunas,” CFACT, Archived June 10, 2004.
- M.A. in Astrophysics, Harvard University (1975).2“CFACT Speaker’s Bureau: Dr. Sallie Baliunas,” CFACT, Archived June 10, 2004.
Background
Sallie Baliunas is an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in the Solar, Stellar, and Planetary Sciences Division and formerly Deputy Director of the Mount Wilson Observatory.
She is an Adjunct Professor at Tennessee State University and past contributing editor to the World Climate Report.
Baliunas is associated with many groups skeptical of climate change including the George C. Marshall Institute where she is Senior Scientist and chair of their “Science Advisory Board.”
She has been a “Scientific Adviser” to the Greening Earth Society, a now-defunct group originally controlled by the Western Fuels Association (WFA) and described “as a vehicle for advocacy on climate change, the environmental impact of CO2, and fossil fuel use.”3“Join GES,” Greening Earth Soceity. Archived March 8, 2005.
Baliunas has co-published numerous scientific papers with fellow climate change skeptic Willie Soon including a controversial paper in 2003 that suggested the climate hasn’t changed in the last 2000 years. Several members of the Climate Research journal resigned in protest to the flawed peer-review process allowing Baliunas’s paper to be published.
She was the Enviro-Sci Host for Tech Central Station. In 1997 Baliunas received the Petr Beckmann Award for her “devastating critique of the global warming hoax.”4DOCTORS FOR DISASTER PREPAREDNESS NEWSLETTER, Vol. XIV, No. 4 (July, 1997). Archived March 9, 2007.
Stance on Climate Change
“But is it possible that the particular temperature increase observed in the last 100 years is the result of carbon dioxide produced by human activities? The scientific evidence clearly indicates that this is not the case … measurements of atmospheric temperatures made by instruments lofted in satellites and balloons show that no warming has occurred in the atmosphere in the last 50 years. This is just the period in which humanmade carbon dioxide has been pouring into the atmosphere and according to the climate studies, the resultant atmospheric warming should be clearly evident.”5“Washington Roundtable on Science and Public Policy: Climate History and the Sun” (PDF), George C. Marshall Institute, June 5, 2001.
Key Quotes
“The science does not suggest dangerous global warming. If there is any trace at all of a greenhouse warming, it is too small to be seen in the climate record. That means that future warming due to human activities will be quite small –well under one degree C.”6“Human Activity Is Not Cause of Global Warming” (Media Release), the George C. Marshall Institute, April 10, 1996. Accessed November 14, 2011.
“Fear often dominates discussion about the earth’s climate. Many people have been led to believe that drastic measures are necessary to prevent the risk of negative future outcomes, such as global warming. As such, we now face a situation where politicians are misallocating resources because they are responding to manufactured problems, which are based on public anxiety rather than sound scientific evidence. Ineffective measures like the Kyoto Protocol, built on fear rather than science, will not reduce the future burden of greenhouse gases and will cause many more problems than they solve.”7“Leading scientist speaks out against UK climate change policy”, (Media Release) PRNewswire, May 9, 2003.
Key Deeds
2017
Sallie Baliunas is listed as a contributor to the upcoming release of Climate Change: The Facts 2017, a book released by the Institute for Public Affairs (IPA) and edited by Jennifer Marohasy. While investigating the authors, DeSmog noted that one of the IPA’s listed “leading experts” involved in the book is New Zealand’s Ken Ring, who in addition to being a described “long range weather forecaster” has written “two, possibly three, books about cats” including Pawmistry: How to Read Your Cat’s Paws in 1998.8Graham Readfearn. “Australian Climate Denial Think Tank Picks Cat Author and Moonman Ken Ring as Climate Expert,” DeSmog, April 9, 2017.
According to the book description:9“Register your interest now and be the first to hear about the publication of Climate Change: The Facts 2017,” Institute of Public Affairs. Archived April 10, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/kvAFK
“Climate Change: The Facts 2017 brings together contributions on the latest climate science from some of the world’s leading experts in the field including John Abbot, Sallie Baliunas, Paul Driessen, Tony Heller, Craig Idso, Clive James, Pat Michaels, Jo Nova, Ian Plimer, Tom Quirk, Peter Ridd, Ken Ring, Nicola Scafetta, Willie Soon, Roy Spencer, and Anthony Watts.
There are also essays by Matt Ridley, and Bjørn Lomborg on the economics of climate change, and by Simon Breheny on how the freedom to discuss climate change science is under threat.”10“Register your interest now and be the first to hear about the publication of Climate Change: The Facts 2017,” Institute of Public Affairs. Archived April 10, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/kvAFK
Prior versions of the book featured contributions from a range of prominent climate change deniers, and describes mainstream climate change research as “pseudo-science.”11“Climate Change: The facts 2014,” Catallaxyfiles.com. Archived October 31, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/Trs4Y
December 25, 2008
Sallie Baliunas “discusses the history of people’s reactions to extreme weather,” in a YouTube video titled “Dr. Baliunas on Weather Cooking.”12Sallie Baliunas. ”Dr. Baliunas on Weather Cooking.” YouTube, December 25, 2008.
Baliunas states, “This is a brief lesson in history about fear and ignorance of extreme weather … Science needs special societal protection, and without that protection, science will just be dialed out, and in its place will be substituted the myths that humans love to create: Myths like ‘weather cooking.’“13Sallie Baliunas. ”Dr. Baliunas on Weather Cooking.” YouTube, December 25, 2008.
May 9, 2003
Sallie Baliunas spoke at the “Panic Attack Risk conference” organized by Spiked and the Royal Institution, produced in association with Tech Central Station Europe.14Helene Guldberg. “Panic Attack,” Spiked Online, May 14, 2003.
January 31, 2003
Sallie Baliunas co-authored ahighly controversial paper with Willie Soon that reviewed previous scientific papers and came to the conclusion that the climate hasn’t changed in the last 2000 years.
Twelve of the authors Baliunas and Soon cited in the paper refuted her interpretation of their work, and several editors of Climate Research resigned in protest at a flawed peer review process that allowed the publication. According to the acknowledgments listed in the paper, it was partially funded by the American Petroleum Institute.15Mann, M.E et al. “On Past Temperatures and Anomalous late-20th Century Warmth” (PDF), American Geophysical Union, July 7, 2003. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
Among the sharp criticisms of the Climate Research paper was one from Michael Mann, director of the Earth System Science Center at Penn State University.
When von Storch, the journal’s editor at the time, read Mann’s critique, he said he realized that his journal should never have accepted the study: “If it would have been properly reviewed, it would have been rejected on the basis of methodological flaws.” Shortly after, Von Storch and two other members of the Climate Research editorial board resigned in protest. “[T]hey submitted flawed research,” Von Stroch stated at the time.16Jeff Nesmith. “Three Journal Editors Resign Over Paper by Skeptics,” Cox News Service, July 29, 2003. Republished by The Heat is Online. Archived February 29, 2012, with WebCite.
After the controversy, a more extensive version of the research was published in Energy and Environment.
According to a search of WorldCat, a database of libraries, Energy and Environment is found in only 25 libraries worldwide. The journal is not included in Journal Citation Reports, which lists the impact factors for the top 6000 peer-reviewed journals. The editor of Energy and Environment, Sonja Boehmer-Christiansen has stated that “it’s only we climate skeptics who have to look for little journals and little publishers like mine to even get published.”
November 13, 2001
Sallie Baliunas spoke at a Manhattan Institute Forum on “Global Warming and Climate Change.”17“Manhattan Institute Events,” Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. Accessed February 29, 2012.
July 1998
Sallie Baliunas spoke on climate change at the 16th Annual Meeting of the Doctors for Disaster Preparedness held in Scottsdale, Arizona.18“Global Warming: The Latest on False and Scary Greenhouse Gas Theory | Sallie Baliunas,” YouTube video. Uploaded by LibertyInOurTime, May 31, 2010.
September 20, 1995
Sallie Baliunas testified before the House Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment in an apparent attempt to weaken support for ozone protection laws.19“Scientific Integrity and Public Trust: The Science Behind Federal Policies and Mandates: Case Study 1 – Stratospheric Ozone: Myths and Realities,” Testimony before the Subcommittee on Energy and Environment of the Committee on Science, U.S. House of Representatives, September 20, 1995. Text saved at the Internet Archive.
Affiliations
- Annapolis Center for Science Based Public Policy — Member, Science and Economic Advisory Council.20“Smoke, Mirrors & Hot Air: How ExxonMobil Uses Big Tobacco’s Tactics to Manufacture Uncertainty on Climate Science” (PDF), Union of Concerned Scientists, January 2007.
- Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow — Member, Academic and Scientific Advisory Board.21“Smoke, Mirrors & Hot Air: How ExxonMobil Uses Big Tobacco’s Tactics to Manufacture Uncertainty on Climate Science” (PDF), Union of Concerned Scientists, January 2007.
- Competitive Enterprise Institute — Report Author.22“Smoke, Mirrors & Hot Air: How ExxonMobil Uses Big Tobacco’s Tactics to Manufacture Uncertainty on Climate Science” (PDF), Union of Concerned Scientists, January 2007.
- George C. Marshall Institute — Senior Scientist and Chair of Science Advisory Board.23“Dr. Sallie Baliunas,” The Marshall Institute.
- Global Climate Coalition — Featured Scientist.24“Smoke, Mirrors & Hot Air: How ExxonMobil Uses Big Tobacco’s Tactics to Manufacture Uncertainty on Climate Science” (PDF), Union of Concerned Scientists, January 2007.
- Heartland Institute — Writer/contributor.25“Smoke, Mirrors & Hot Air: How ExxonMobil Uses Big Tobacco’s Tactics to Manufacture Uncertainty on Climate Science” (PDF), Union of Concerned Scientists, January 2007.
- Heritage Foundation — Writer/contributor.26“Smoke, Mirrors & Hot Air: How ExxonMobil Uses Big Tobacco’s Tactics to Manufacture Uncertainty on Climate Science” (PDF), Union of Concerned Scientists, January 2007.
- Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace — Fellow, Robert Wesson Endowment Fund.27“Smoke, Mirrors & Hot Air: How ExxonMobil Uses Big Tobacco’s Tactics to Manufacture Uncertainty on Climate Science” (PDF), Union of Concerned Scientists, January 2007.
- Tech Central Station — Member, Science Round Table. Previous “Co-host.”28“Smoke, Mirrors & Hot Air: How ExxonMobil Uses Big Tobacco’s Tactics to Manufacture Uncertainty on Climate Science” (PDF), Union of Concerned Scientists, January 2007.
- The Natural Resources Stewardship Project (NRSP) — Past member, “Scientific Advisory Committee.” The NRSP has been defunct since 2008.29“NRSP People,” Natural Resources Stewardship Project. Archived July 2, 2007.
- The Greening Earth Society — Past “Scientific Advisor.” Both Baliunas and Willie Soon were “Scientific Advisors” from December, 1998, to September, 2001. The group has been defunct since 2005.30“Scientific Advisors,” The Greening Earth Society. Archived Feb 20, 1999.
- World Climate Report — Past contributor.31“Contributors/Editors,” World Climate Report.
- Statistical Assessment Service (STATS) — Member of Advisory Board until 2008.32“About,” STATS at George Mason University. Archived May 6, 2004.
- American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) — Sallie Baliunas and Fred Singer reviewed an ACSH report titled ”Global Climate Change and Human Health” that claimed cutting carbon emissions could be more harmful to human health than global warming.33“American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) – Koch Industries Climate Denial Front Group,” Greenpeace. Accessed February, 2012.
- European Science and Environment Forum (ESEF) — “Academic Member” (1998).34“Facts versus Factions: the use and abuse of subjectivity in scientific research” (PDF), ESEF working paper, February 1998. hivskeptic. Retrieved February, 2012, from hivskeptic.wordpress.com.
- Manhattan Institute for Policy Research — “Spokesperson” (2004).
- Hoover Institution — Previous Robert Wesson Endowment Fund Fellow (1993–1994).35“Sallie Baliunas,” Biography at Allvoices.com. Accessed February 29, 2012.
- The Scientific Alliance — Formerly listed as a member of The Scientific Alliance’s Advisory Forum.36“Scientific Advisory Forum,” The Scientific Alliance. Archived June 22, 2004. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/H50nb
Publications
- Willie Soon and Sallie Baliunas. “Proxy climatic and environmental changes of the past 1000 years” (PDF), Climate Research, Vol. 23 (January 31, 2003), page 89-110.
- Sallie Baliunas and Willie Soon. “The Trouble with Ozone,” The Heartlander, June 1, 2000.
- “Ozone and Global Warming: Are the Problems Real?” (PDF), George C. Marshall Institute, December 13, 1994.
See a full list of Sallie Baliunas’s publications at the Marshall Institute.
Other Resources
- “Scientists’ Report Documents ExxonMobil’s Tobacco-like Disinformation Campaign on Global Warming Science” (Press Release) Union of Concerned Scientists, January 3, 2007.
- “American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) – Koch Industries Climate Denial Front Group,” Greenpeace.
- “DOCTORS FOR DISASTER PREPAREDNESS NEWSLETTER,” July 1997, Vol. XIV, No. 4. Archived March 9, 2007.
- ExxonSecrets Factsheet: Sallie Baliunas.
- “Sallie Baliunas,” Wikipedia.
- “Sallie L. Baliunas,” Sourcewatch Profile.
- Greenpeace Investigations on Salllie Baliunas.
- “OZONE ACTION REPORT: Ties That Blind 11: Parading Opinion as Scientific Truth,” Greenpeace report.
- “Foes of global warming theory have energy ties,” Seattlepi, June 1, 2003.
- “Tech Central Station’s Jim Glassman and Sallie Baliunas Cover the UN Climate Conference” (Media Advisory), E-wire. October 25, 2001.
- “Dr. Sallie Baliunas,” Profile at the Marshall Institute. Includes a list of publications.
- Andrew Revkin. “Politics Reasserts Itself in the Debate Over Climate Change and Its Hazards,” The New York Times, August 05, 2003. See page 3.
Resources
- 1“CFACT Speaker’s Bureau: Dr. Sallie Baliunas,” CFACT, Archived June 10, 2004.
- 2“CFACT Speaker’s Bureau: Dr. Sallie Baliunas,” CFACT, Archived June 10, 2004.
- 3“Join GES,” Greening Earth Soceity. Archived March 8, 2005.
- 4DOCTORS FOR DISASTER PREPAREDNESS NEWSLETTER, Vol. XIV, No. 4 (July, 1997). Archived March 9, 2007.
- 5“Washington Roundtable on Science and Public Policy: Climate History and the Sun” (PDF), George C. Marshall Institute, June 5, 2001.
- 6“Human Activity Is Not Cause of Global Warming” (Media Release), the George C. Marshall Institute, April 10, 1996. Accessed November 14, 2011.
- 7“Leading scientist speaks out against UK climate change policy”, (Media Release) PRNewswire, May 9, 2003.
- 8Graham Readfearn. “Australian Climate Denial Think Tank Picks Cat Author and Moonman Ken Ring as Climate Expert,” DeSmog, April 9, 2017.
- 9“Register your interest now and be the first to hear about the publication of Climate Change: The Facts 2017,” Institute of Public Affairs. Archived April 10, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/kvAFK
- 10“Register your interest now and be the first to hear about the publication of Climate Change: The Facts 2017,” Institute of Public Affairs. Archived April 10, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/kvAFK
- 11“Climate Change: The facts 2014,” Catallaxyfiles.com. Archived October 31, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/Trs4Y
- 12Sallie Baliunas. ”Dr. Baliunas on Weather Cooking.” YouTube, December 25, 2008.
- 13Sallie Baliunas. ”Dr. Baliunas on Weather Cooking.” YouTube, December 25, 2008.
- 14Helene Guldberg. “Panic Attack,” Spiked Online, May 14, 2003.
- 15Mann, M.E et al. “On Past Temperatures and Anomalous late-20th Century Warmth” (PDF), American Geophysical Union, July 7, 2003. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
- 16Jeff Nesmith. “Three Journal Editors Resign Over Paper by Skeptics,” Cox News Service, July 29, 2003. Republished by The Heat is Online. Archived February 29, 2012, with WebCite.
- 17“Manhattan Institute Events,” Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. Accessed February 29, 2012.
- 18“Global Warming: The Latest on False and Scary Greenhouse Gas Theory | Sallie Baliunas,” YouTube video. Uploaded by LibertyInOurTime, May 31, 2010.
- 19“Scientific Integrity and Public Trust: The Science Behind Federal Policies and Mandates: Case Study 1 – Stratospheric Ozone: Myths and Realities,” Testimony before the Subcommittee on Energy and Environment of the Committee on Science, U.S. House of Representatives, September 20, 1995. Text saved at the Internet Archive.
- 20“Smoke, Mirrors & Hot Air: How ExxonMobil Uses Big Tobacco’s Tactics to Manufacture Uncertainty on Climate Science” (PDF), Union of Concerned Scientists, January 2007.
- 21“Smoke, Mirrors & Hot Air: How ExxonMobil Uses Big Tobacco’s Tactics to Manufacture Uncertainty on Climate Science” (PDF), Union of Concerned Scientists, January 2007.
- 22“Smoke, Mirrors & Hot Air: How ExxonMobil Uses Big Tobacco’s Tactics to Manufacture Uncertainty on Climate Science” (PDF), Union of Concerned Scientists, January 2007.
- 23“Dr. Sallie Baliunas,” The Marshall Institute.
- 24“Smoke, Mirrors & Hot Air: How ExxonMobil Uses Big Tobacco’s Tactics to Manufacture Uncertainty on Climate Science” (PDF), Union of Concerned Scientists, January 2007.
- 25“Smoke, Mirrors & Hot Air: How ExxonMobil Uses Big Tobacco’s Tactics to Manufacture Uncertainty on Climate Science” (PDF), Union of Concerned Scientists, January 2007.
- 26“Smoke, Mirrors & Hot Air: How ExxonMobil Uses Big Tobacco’s Tactics to Manufacture Uncertainty on Climate Science” (PDF), Union of Concerned Scientists, January 2007.
- 27“Smoke, Mirrors & Hot Air: How ExxonMobil Uses Big Tobacco’s Tactics to Manufacture Uncertainty on Climate Science” (PDF), Union of Concerned Scientists, January 2007.
- 28“Smoke, Mirrors & Hot Air: How ExxonMobil Uses Big Tobacco’s Tactics to Manufacture Uncertainty on Climate Science” (PDF), Union of Concerned Scientists, January 2007.
- 29“NRSP People,” Natural Resources Stewardship Project. Archived July 2, 2007.
- 30“Scientific Advisors,” The Greening Earth Society. Archived Feb 20, 1999.
- 31“Contributors/Editors,” World Climate Report.
- 32“About,” STATS at George Mason University. Archived May 6, 2004.
- 33“American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) – Koch Industries Climate Denial Front Group,” Greenpeace. Accessed February, 2012.
- 34“Facts versus Factions: the use and abuse of subjectivity in scientific research” (PDF), ESEF working paper, February 1998. hivskeptic. Retrieved February, 2012, from hivskeptic.wordpress.com.
- 35“Sallie Baliunas,” Biography at Allvoices.com. Accessed February 29, 2012.
- 36“Scientific Advisory Forum,” The Scientific Alliance. Archived June 22, 2004. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/H50nb
