{"id":436567,"date":"2026-04-02T11:55:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T09:55:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=436567"},"modified":"2026-04-02T11:55:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T09:55:23","slug":"michael-mann-praises-paul-ehrlich-for-the-record","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=436567","title":{"rendered":"Michael Mann Praises Paul Ehrlich (for the record)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

From The Master Resource<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Robert Bradley Jr.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cPerhaps the most serious flaw in\u00a0[The Population Bomb<\/em>\u00a0(1968)] was that it was much too optimistic about the future\u2026. Signs of potential collapse, environmental and political, seem to be growing.\u201d \u2013 Paul and Anne Ehrlich,\u00a0Betrayal of Science and Reason<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(1996).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cVery sad news. Paul was a friend and a hero. He will be greatly missed.\u201d \u2013 Professor Michael E. Mann,\u00a0X<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to the climate debate, Paul R. Ehrlich joins Climategate as a major reason to reject alarmism. And who other than Michael \u201cClimategate\u201d Mann praised Paul \u201cFalse Alarm\u201d Ehrlich.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sierra Club and other mainstream environmental groups could not muster the courage to RIP one of their own. The\u00a0New York Times<\/em>\u00a0obituary<\/a>\u00a0had to focus on the famous false alarms. But not Michael Mann. Ehrlich and Mann are two peas in the neo-Malthusian pod.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Letter-to-the-Editor Exchange<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regarding the look-back at Paul Ehrlich\u2019s predictions, I challenged this published letter-to-the-editor as follows (WSJ<\/em>, March 14, 2026).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Jason L. Riley overstates his premise in \u201cPaul Ehrlich Was Always Wrong, Never in Doubt\u201d (Upward Mobility, March 18). Ehrlich and his wife Anne (who helped write his 1968 book, \u201cThe Population Bomb\u201d) later regretted the use of theoretical scenarios to illustrate their view of the future. Even though they included in the book the warning that \u201cwe can be sure that none of them will come true as stated,\u201d the scenarios became tools of critics. Their book may be wrong on some issues, but it is hard to dispute that the earth has finite natural resources, limited human carrying capacity and that excessive growth has
resulted in environmental destruction.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

I responded with this (submitted, not published) letter:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Professor Thomas J. Straka\u2019s defense of Paul Ehrlich (LTE, March 24) falls short. Ehrlich never waffled on his doom scenarios despite his throw-away line, \u201cwe can be sure that none of them will come true as stated.\u201d In a 2018 interview, Ehrlich\u00a0proclaimed<\/a>\u00a0that societal collapse in the next few decades was a \u201cnear certainty.\u201d\u00a0In his 1996 book,\u00a0Ehrlich doubled down: \u201cPerhaps the most serious flaw in\u00a0[The Population Bomb\u00a0(1968)] was that it was much too optimistic about the future\u2026. Signs of potential collapse, environmental and political, seem to be growing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Straka\u2019s statement that \u201cit is hard to dispute that the earth has finite natural resources, limited carrying capacity and that excessive growth has resulted in environmental destruction\u201d neglects that human ingenuity, the\u00a0ultimate<\/em>\u00a0resource,. has reversed the so-called limits to growth. The two-thirds improvement in U.S. air quality since the early 1970s speaks to what Julian Simon stated in his final public lecture in 1997: \u201cmore people, greater wealth, expanded resources, cleaner environment.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Paul Ehrlich (1932\u20132026) is dead; Julian Simon (1932\u20131998) lives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When it comes to the climate debate, Paul R. Ehrlich joins Climategate as a major reason to reject alarmism. And who other than Michael \u201cClimategate\u201d Mann praised Paul \u201cFalse Alarm\u201d Ehrlich.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":436569,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691819265,691842124,691842123,691839231,691842122,691821482,691829509],"class_list":["post-436567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-climategate","tag-doomsday-prophets","tag-paul-false-alarm-ehrlich","tag-paul-r-ehrlich","tag-professor-michael-e-mann","tag-sierra-club","tag-the-new-york-times-nyt","fallback-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0-Michael-Mann-Praises-Paul-Ehrlich-for-the-record.jpg?fit=1440%2C720&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1Pzp","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":436298,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=436298","url_meta":{"origin":436567,"position":0},"title":"Paul Ehrlich and Michael Mann \u2013 Both Used the Media to Hide Their Misanthropy","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"04\/01\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"In the annals of environmental alarmism, few figures loom larger than Paul Ehrlich and Michael Mann. Ehrlich, the Stanford biologist who died in March 2026 at age 93, authored The Population Bomb (1968), a bestseller that warned of imminent global famine, societal collapse, and resource wars driven by overpopulation. Mann,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"catastrophic predictions\"","block_context":{"text":"catastrophic predictions","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=catastrophic-predictions"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0-Paul-Ehrlich-and-Michael-Mann.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0-Paul-Ehrlich-and-Michael-Mann.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0-Paul-Ehrlich-and-Michael-Mann.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0-Paul-Ehrlich-and-Michael-Mann.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0-Paul-Ehrlich-and-Michael-Mann.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":237801,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=237801","url_meta":{"origin":436567,"position":1},"title":"’60 Minutes’ Touts Apocalyptic Fake News With Eco- Doom Peddler","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"01\/05\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Chalk this up as \"60 Minutes\" hosting the worst peddler of false knowledge since Dan Rather left the set.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-165.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-165.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-165.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-165.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-165.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":411070,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=411070","url_meta":{"origin":436567,"position":2},"title":"Land of the Living Dead: Paul Ehrlich this Halloween","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"10\/31\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Always wrong but never in doubt. 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In the meantime, Paul Ehrlich keeps issuing \u2018important warnings\u2019 such as a recent prediction that humans might soon\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"\u201cimportant warnings\u201d\"","block_context":{"text":"\u201cimportant warnings\u201d","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=important-warnings"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0-%E2%80%98The-Bet.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0-%E2%80%98The-Bet.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0-%E2%80%98The-Bet.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0-%E2%80%98The-Bet.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":237767,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=237767","url_meta":{"origin":436567,"position":4},"title":"He’s Back! 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In 1968 the Stanford biologist famously declared that \u201cthe battle to feed all humanity is over,\u201d at a time when the Earth\u2019s population was about 3.5 billion.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-137.png?fit=1200%2C874&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-137.png?fit=1200%2C874&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-137.png?fit=1200%2C874&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-137.png?fit=1200%2C874&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-137.png?fit=1200%2C874&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":238022,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=238022","url_meta":{"origin":436567,"position":5},"title":"Serially Wrong Paul Ehrlich Is Wrong, Again. We Are Not on The Brink of a 6th Mass Extinction Event","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"01\/06\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"On January 1, CBS News\u2019 \u201c60 Minutes\u201d rang in the new year by airing a\u00a0segment\u00a0in which several scientists, including Dr. Paul Ehrlich, predicted that we are on the cusp of a sixth mass extinction event and that \u201cthe next few decades will be the end of the kind of civilization\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-193.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-193.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-193.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=436567"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436567\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":436575,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436567\/revisions\/436575"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/436569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=436567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=436567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=436567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}