Editing Leipzig Declaration (section)

=== The 1995 Declaration ===

The 1995 declaration asserts: "There does not exist today a general scientific consensus about the importance of greenhouse warming from rising levels of carbon dioxide. On the contrary, most scientists now accept the fact that actual observations from earth satellites show no climate warming whatsoever." The latter statement was broadly accurate at the time, but with additional data and correction of errors, all analyses of [[satellite temperature measurements]] now show statistically significant warming.

The declaration also criticised the [[United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change]], saying: "Energy is essential for all economic growth, and fossil fuels provide today's principal global energy source. In a world in which poverty is the greatest social pollutant, any restriction on energy use that inhibits economic growth should be viewed with caution. For this reason, we consider 'carbon taxes' and other drastic control policies ... to be ill-advised, premature, wrought with economic danger, and likely to be counterproductive."

==== Signatures ====

According to the SEPP website, there were 79 signatures to the 1995 declaration, including [[Frederick Seitz]]: the current SEPP chair. Perhaps the most prominent signatory to the declaration was Dr. Robert E. Stevenson, a former research scientist for [[NASA]] and the [[Scripps Institution of Oceanography]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/history/oral_histories/StevensonRE/RES_BIO.pdf |title=NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project, Biographical Data Sheet, Name: Robert E. Stevenson |accessdate=2014-08-16}}</ref>  The signature list was last updated on 16 July 1996. Of these 79, 33 failed to respond when SEPP asked them to sign the 1997 declaration. SEPP calls the signatories "nearly 100 climate experts".

The signatures to the 1995 declaration were disputed by David Olinger of the ''St. Petersburg Times''. In an article on 29 July 1996, he revealed that many signers, including [[Chauncey Starr]], [[Robert Balling]], and [[Patrick Michaels]], have received funding from the oil industry, while others had no scientific training or could not be identified.<ref name=Olinger>{{cite web |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sptimes/access/22741240.html?dids=22741240:22741240&FMT=FT&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Jul+29%2C+1996&author=DAVID+OLINGER&pub=St.+Petersburg+Times&edition=&startpage=1.A&desc=Cool+to+the+warnings+of+global+warming%27s+dangers+Series%3A+COLUMN+ONE |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001001254/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sptimes/access/22741240.html?dids=22741240:22741240&FMT=FT&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Jul+29,+1996&author=DAVID+OLINGER&pub=St.+Petersburg+Times&edition=&startpage=1.A&desc=Cool+to+the+warnings+of+global+warming%27s+dangers+Series:+COLUMN+ONE |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 1, 2007 |title=Cool to the warnings of global warming's dangers|last=Olinger |first=David |publisher=St. Petersburg Times |date=July 29, 1996}} (paywall)</ref>

The 1995 declarations begins: "As scientists, we are intensely interested in the possibility that human activities may affect the global climate". However, those identified as scientists and climate experts include at least ten weather presenters, including Dick Groeber of Dick's Weather Service in [[Springfield, Ohio]]. Groeber, who had not completed a university degree, labelled himself a scientist by virtue of his thirty to forty years of self-study.<ref name=Olinger/>

In any case, it is difficult to accurately evaluate the list of signatures of the 1995 declaration, as the SEPP website provides no additional details about them except for their university, if they are professors.