Steven J. Milloy

Credentials

Juris Doctorate, University of Baltimore.
Master of Laws (Securities regulation), Georgetown University Law Center.
Master of Health Sciences (Biostatistics), Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health.
B.A., Natural Sciences, Johns Hopkins University.

Source: [1]

Background

Steve Milloy is the publisher of the websites JunkScience.com [1] and DemandDebate.com [2], a columnist for Fox News [3][2], co-creator and manager of the Free Enterprise Action Fund, an adjunct analyst with the right-wing think-tank the Competitive Enterprise Institute [4], and the president of the business consulting firm Steven J. Milloy, Inc. [3]

On his website, Steve "The Junkman" Milloy proclaims himself a pioneer fighting against "faulty scientific data used to advance special, and often hidden, agendas."

Steve Milloy has been associated with the major American tobacco companies since at least 1997. In 1997 he took over as the executive director of The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition [5](TASSC), a front group set up by Philip Morris in 1993 and run by the public relations firm APCO & Associates [6].

The main objective of TASSC was to question the science showing detrimental effects of cigarette smoke. The idea was for TASSC to create an extensive grassroots campaign where it would be promoted as a legitimate scientific source.

The coalition created materials and reprinted news articles to distribute to TASSC audiences, found "appropriate scientists/spokespeople" to participate in and promote the coalition's message, and established a nationwide media tour defaming "unsound science" on radio and television and in newspapers. According to [7]PRWatch.org [7], Philip Morris budgeted $880,000 for TASSC in 1994. [4]

When Steve Milloy took over as executive director of TASSC in 1997, he cited [8] TASSC-sponsored website Junkscience.com, of which he was also publisher, as a tool in promoting the coalition's message. [5]

Philip Morris quietly retired TASSC in 1998. However, according to Tim Lambert's Deltoid blog [9] and The New Republic, Steve Milloy was still under contract as a consultant with Philip Morris through 2005. In both 2000 and 2001 Milloy charged Philip Morris $92,500 in fees and expenses for his consulting work. [6]

Stance on Climate Change

In the 2006 article, "The Greenhouse Myth [10]," Steve Milloy stated that the "doubling of atmospheric CO2 from pre-Industrial Revolution days might increase global temperature from between 0.5 degrees Centigrade to 1.5 degrees Centigrade – that is, not much." He went on to declare that anthropogenic climate change is not based on "actual temperature measurements and greenhouse physics – rather it comes from manmade computer models relying on myriad assumptions and guesswork." [7]

Key Quotes

"Yes, what logic . . . brilliant. . . . I don’t know anything . . . so rather than keeping my big fat mouth shut until I learn something, I'll side with the likes of Al Gore, Osama bin Laden, Charles Manson, the Discovery Channel gunman, Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama, Harry Reid, Henry Waxman, Bobby Rush and every other whacked out, intellectually and morally bankrupt believer in global warming." [8]

"Our opposition to global warming alarmism is based on three points. First, we don't believe the available scientific data indicate that human activity is measurably changing global climate - history shows that natural climate change can be far more significant than any slight change in climate that may have occurred over the last 200 years.

"Second, even if human activity is altering global climate to some extent, such climate change might actually be beneficial - historically, civilization has fared better in warmer climatic conditions as opposed to cooler climatic conditions.

"Third, even if humans are undesirably affecting global climate, the best path forward may be adaptation to that climate change rather than harming the global economy through the expenditure of hundreds of billion dollars under the questionable rationale that greenhouse gas regulation can act as some sort of global thermostat." [9]

"When the Clean Air Act was enacted in 1970, air pollution in the U.S. was more of an aesthetic than a public health problem. That is even more the case today. Few people realize this after 30 years of non-stop junk science-fueled alarmism from environmental activists." [10]

Key Deeds

January 27, 2012

Milloy will appear [11] in the movie An Inconsistent Truth [12], hosted by radio talk show host Phil Valentine and directed by Shayne Edwards. The movie suggests that "everything you've been told about global warming is a lie," and appears focused on discrediting Al Gore.

Skeptics who appear in the film include John Christy [13], James Inhofe [14], Fred Singer [15], and Roy Spencer [16]. [11]

September, 2009

Milloy was criticized for his "Carbon Criminal" campaign that had displayed members of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership who had campaigned for cap and trade in congress on "Wanted' posters [17]. [12]

March, 2008

Milloy attended the Heartland Institute's 2008 International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC1), and was also offered up by the Institute as an "expert" available for contact [18]. [13]

November 8, 2007

DemandDebate.com conducted a "survey of IPCC Climate Experts" (PDF [19]). According to the website, "The survey results indicate that when asked routine questions about the climatic role of manmade CO2, the IPCC scientists surveyed responded for the most part with the Pavlovian manmade-CO2-is-bad view seemingly demanded of them by the IPCC. But when you ask questions that are off the usual script, the supposed consensus seems to readily fall apart." [14]

Scholars & Rogues investigated [20] the survey and found that the presentation of the survey data was included "obvious bias," and gave readers the "correct" interpretation of the data, which suggested that the survey may not have been as even and balanced as claimed. They also looked at individual questions presented in the survey, and found that some were "specifically designed to produce results that can be spun by DemandDebate.com and Mr. Milloy for they own political ends." [15]

July 7, 2007

Milloy engineered what he called the "'Live Earth' Invasion" and "air raid" where he sponsored a group of college students to attend the Live Earth concert and distribute DemandDebate.com's message. [1]

This consisted of distributing DebandDebate.com beach balls, and sending an airplane with the banner "Don't Believe Al Gore. DemandDebate.com" that flew over the event just as Al Gore walked on stage. See their video here [21]. [16]

February, 2006

On behalf of the Free Enterprise Action Fund, Milloy drafted the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission the first climate skeptic shareholder resolution over the challenge of the General Electric Co.

The Free Enterprise Action Fund had called on GE to stop advocating global warming regulation:

"'We're not sure GE's management performed the necessary due diligence before embracing the global warming hypothesis,' said Milloy. 'We asked management for its global warming assessment but management never responded to our request. We hope shareholders will take advantage of our resolution and send GE CEO Jeff Immelt the message that company policy on global warming must be supported by factual analysis, not executive bias.'" [17]

The resolution didn’t pass at the shareholder meeting, but had enough votes for GE to include it on the ballot for the following year. Milloy also defended the global warming resolution in 2007 [22] and 2008 [23]. [18], [19]

October, 1999

Milloy bought up the web domain that would have hosted the the fifth conference of the parties parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP-5), at http://www.cop5.org [24].

He had the url point to Junkscience.com, and forced the COP5 conference to purchase the "less findable" link at http://www.iisd.ca/climate/cop5/ [25]. [1]

February 16, 1996

Milloy registered [26]JunkScience.com. According to PR Watch, Milloy then began calling himself "the Junkman," and "he offered daily attacks on environmentalists, public health and food safety regulators, anti-nuclear and animal rights activists, and a wide range of other targets that he accused of using unsound science to advance various political agendas." [4]

The JunkScience.com describes [27] "Junk Science" as "faulty scientific data and analysis used to advance special interests and hidden agendas." The website features a prominent picture of Michael Mann with the header "Hide the Decline" and "Mann-Made Global Warming." [20]

Affiliations

EOP Group, Inc. [28]— Lobbyist [29]. [21]

Milloy's clients [30] have included the FMC Corporation [31] (manufacturer of insecticides and pesticides), and Solutia Inc. [32] (formerly the chemical branch of Monsanto). [22]

Cato Institute [33]— "Adjunct Scholar [34]" until late 2005. [23]
Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) [35]— "Adjunct Analyst [36]." [24]
The National Environmental Policy Institute (NEPI) [37] — Director.
Free Enterprise Action Fund (FEAF) [38] — Manager (2004 - 2009). [1]
JunkScience.com [1] and DemandDebate.com [2] — Publisher.
Citizens for the Integrity of Science (CFIS) [39] — Operator (according to SourceWatch).
Phillip Morris [40]— Past Consultant [9]. [6]
Fox News [41] — Columnist [3].
The Heartland Institute [42]— "Expert [43]." [25]
Tech Central Station [44]— Contributor. [26]

Publications

Milloy has published three of his five books through the Cato Institute:

Junk Science Judo: Self-defense Against Health Scares and Scams, Cato Institute, 2001.
Silencing Science, Cato Institute, 1999, (with Michael Gough).
Science Without Sense: The Risky Business of Public Health Research, Cato Institute, 1996

His other books are titled Green Hell: How Environmentalists Plan to Control Your Life and What You Can Do to Stop Them (Regnery Publishing, 2009) and Science-Based Risk Assessment: A Piece of the Superfund Puzzle which was published by the National Environmental Policy Institute [37] in 1995.

Milloy has not published any articles in peer-reviewed journals.