British Zoologist Replaces Controversial Danish Researcher as Head of State Environmental Agency

Typography
Peter Calow, a British zoologist, was appointed the head of a Danish environmental agency on Thursday, replacing Bjoern Lomborg, a maverick Danish researcher who made his name playing down the threat of global warming.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Peter Calow, a British zoologist, was appointed the head of a Danish environmental agency on Thursday, replacing Bjoern Lomborg, a maverick Danish researcher who made his name playing down the threat of global warming.


Calow has been a zoology professor with the University of Sheffield since 1984, Environment Minister Connie Hedegaard said.


The 57-year-old Briton will head the Copenhagen, Denmark–based Environmental Assessment Institute, which monitors how tax money is used to curb pollution.


In April, Lomborg, announced he was leaving the institute to return to his old job as an associate professor at the University of Aarhus, in northwestern Denmark.


Lomborg, a statistician, is best known for his 2001 bestseller, The Skeptical Environmentalist, which drew widespread criticism for its argument that concerns about melting ice caps, deforestation, acid rain were exaggerated. The Dane argued that the Earth overall is getting cleaner and humankind healthier and wealthier.


Lomborg also has said that the Kyoto Protocol, which requires industrial nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2012 to pre-1990s levels, is not a good investment.


A former member of Greenpeace, Lomborg became the first director of the Environmental Assessment Institute in February 2002.


Source: Associated Press