by Ron Nixon

About the author: Ron Nixon is an editor for Southern Exposure magazine and a writer on environmental issues.

“Earth Day alarmists had it wrong,” proclaimed conservative columnist Joseph Perkins of the San Diego Union-Tribune in a pre–Earth Day commentary (5/1/95).

Drawing on a New Yorker article (3/10/95) written by veteran Newsweek writer Gregg Easterbrook, Perkins takes to task liberals and “greenies” for “grossly overstating the prospects of global warming, the threat of species extinction and the health risk of pesticides.”

Gregg Easterbrook’s Views

“We have heard similar alarmist rhetoric on Earth Day,” wrote Perkins, a onetime aide to Dan Quayle. “The warnings of environmental calamity should be greeted with skepticism.”

Perkins is hardly alone in his use of Easterbrook’s work to...