Fred Singer
S. Fred (in full Siegfried Frederick) Singer (born September 27, 1924) devised the instrument which is in current use in satellites to measure ozone.
In his retirement, he became President of The Science & Environmental Policy Project, a non-profit policy research group 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.
Singer was the director [2] of the science and environmental policy project of the controversial think tank Washington Institute for Values in Public Policy, and an Adjunct Fellow of "Frontiers of Freedom" (http://www.ff.org/about/staff.html).
He is known for his contrarian views about greenhouse gas induced global warming and the connection between CFCs, ozone depletion, ultraviolet radiation and skin cancer (see ozone depletion theory). Singer claims that he speaks for a "majority" of scientists, while environmentalists claim that his views disagree with "most" experts in the field.
Environmentalists arguing against Singer's ideas say that:
- his objections "go beyond reasonable skepticism."
- he is a retired scientist who has produced no new research since the mid-1970s.
- his contributions have consisted entirely of commentaries and letters, mostly self-published rather than in scientific journals.
- he has a conflict of interest, i.e., financial ties to oil companies (Exxon, Shell, ARCO, Unocal, and Sun Oil).
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)
