Rating: 
Summary: A tour de force
Review: Though I have long been involved in the environmental movement, I never totally bought into the position that "everything is going to hell" in the environment and it is all Man's fault.Indeed, in my particular area of emphasis (forestry), I know of and have reseached a lot of examples to the contrary of this now knee-jerk position. Recognizing successes in environmental protection need not be off limits, fearing that to do so one would cause fewer people to have concerns about the environment. What does hurt and diminish concern for the environment is the mindless assertion that "everything is going to hell." At the extreme, it is this postion and not Lomborg's that threatens to undo the environmental movement. If everything is lost, why do anything? Lomborg's book is clear eyed view at what is actually happening in the world. He is not a pollyanna or an apologist for anyone, although environmental extremists have subjected him to ad hominem attacks, thereby increasing his prestige in the eyes of many. This book ought to be required for any one claiming to be an environmental activist.
Rating: 
Summary: No way!
Review: Let me first say that this book is very self-serving and opportunist. It paints a false picture that we are really better off now than ever. It concentrates mostly on Europe and the US. I'm not a keen believer on statics either. Hello, you don't need to look at a chart to tell you that something is going on with the Earth! We may polute less, which I really doubt, but less than of what standards before? What about the developing nations, companies are moving there in droves so that they don't have to spend money on pollution standards. Also, with the datas out there on global warming, marine depletion, deforestation, and etc., for him to claim that the earth pollution is getting better is unbelievable.
Oh, and I can't believe that alot of readers also gave this book 3-5 stars! Save your money and check it out at the library if you really want to read it. Lomborg is pocketing a few pretty pennies at the expense of the earth.
Rating:
Summary: The Skeptical Environmentalist
Review: This book is a sorry excuse for science or criticism based on science. While being skeptical about environmental issues is probably a good idea, this is not the book where you will find reasonable arguments on both sides. Lomborg picks his data to support predetermined conclusions, not the other way around. He often chooses to cite studies or reports that are over 30 years old while ignoring or downplaying more current information. The data he presents are often superficial and misleading. He makes no attempt to help the reader see the data in context - yet that is what rational skepticism is all about. In each chapter he concludes by saying nothing serious is really wrong. So if you want a book that says, "Don't worry - be happy," lull yourself to sleep with this one. But if you want to take a look at why you might be skeptical about the claims of some environmentalists, then find a book by someone who can differentiate between being critical and being Pollyanna.
Rating:
Summary: helps to get the facts straight
Review: Lomborg tells about the gloom and doom predications people have been making baout the world about how we are going to fun out of fossil fuels, clean water and food and pollution is causinghigh rates of canccer. Lomborrg does claim that we live in a perfect world and doesn't claim mistakes have not been made but he goes into detail about how much society has been working on our problems and making a great deal of progress. He covers areas such clean water, fuel, biodiversity and cancer looking at how we deal with these issues and d how we should deal with them in his eyes.
Rating:
Summary: Level headed and well researched
Review: Lomborg doesn't deny the importance of environmental issues, but simply asks that we approach them with intelligence. I suspect those who vehemently attack this book have made up their minds on the issues without bothering to consider the evidence he presents (with is often culled from government sources and such hallowed organizations as the United Nations). If nothing else, it presents the questioning mind positive food for thought.
Rating:
Summary: the Mein Kampf of nature haters
Review: Thia book is a shame to humanity, I am sure financed by the extreme right wing, logging interests and trappers, their game of numbers to justify cruelty is childish and has no science to it. The book is a pure attack against caring for the planet and an insult to life, if there was ever one book that deserved to be burned this is the one. Only for ignorant people who base their opinions in the latest hunting magazines, there was no intelligence needed to read it and there was no intelligence needed to write it, but if you are a catle rancher and nazi you might find it useful to impress your truck riding friends you have some knowledge of the scientifical justification to destroy the planet for fun .
Rating:
Summary: No food, one problem; much food, many problems
Review: This book is a stockpile of funny and interesting facts. Did you know that basil, lettuce and orange juice are relatively very carcinogenic? How and why the earth's population will stabilize in 2050 at 11 billion people? Or that for some reason, men with the highest sperm quality live in Finland and in New York? I didn't, at least not until I read this book. Lomborg has his highs and lows. His discussion of many environmental problems is singularly centred on Europe and especially the US. Large problems get a very short 'discussion' (waste, biodiversity, water pollution, acidification), while excellent chapters treat the earth's food production, energy & resources, air pollution and chemical fears. The biggest chapter by far, on global warming, was the only one I didn't finish because of the depth of the technical discussion. Although most graphs are interesting and to the point, Lomborg definitely moulds his graphs to illustrate his arguments best. Data are plotted in multiple lines with different scales on 3 axes, which makes for pretty complex reading. Also, without warning, data on income are are plotted on a logarithmic scale which seriously distorts a clear picture. All in all, despite its many flaws and weaknesses, this is a must-read. Some cool quotes to finish:
"The Stone Age came to an end not for a lack of stones, And the Oil Age will end, but not for a lack of oil" (Sheikh Yamani, former oil minister of Saudi Arabia)
"It's not that people suddenly started breeding as rabbits, it's just that they stopped dying like flies" (UN consultant Peter Anderson, on the causes of global population growth)
"The increasing pollution points to one inescapable conclusion: Life on earth is killing us" (David Pimentel)
Rating: 
Summary: Shooting down the doomsday theorists
Review: This book certainly made waves within the environmental protection community, and for good reason. Lomborg takes a systematic, statistics-based approach to shooting down pretty much every doomsday theory on the environment. From pollution to global warming, from food shortages to disease, his well-reasoned and exhaustively-researched arguments make it pretty clear that environmental groups have exaggerated the precarious state of the world. Having said that, I should note that I am neither an expert in statistics or environmental science, so perhaps Lomborg has simply fooled me the same way that he claims environmentalists have been fooling the masses for decades. But it's indicative of something, I think, that nobody has come along yet to refute his arguments. From what I've heard, the statistical evidence that he presents is air-tight. This is an excellent book for anyone who is interested in environmental science but perhaps does not have the in-depth knowledge or interest required to read some of the more technical studies. Lomborg presents his arguments in simple language, and while the statistics that he cites can get tiresome, it is not in any way a difficult read. What's more, he presents an overview of all the major environmental concerns in just 350 pages, as opposed to focusing on one specific problem (or worse, spending thousands of pages to cover everything). And you'll learn some fascinating facts that will stick with you for a long time. Like for example, did you know that cats kill more birds each day than the Exxon Valdez oil spill killed? Or that the U.S. could satisfy it's entire need for garbage landfills for the next century with a plot of land less than 30 square miles? At the very least, it's good material for cocktail parties.
Rating:
Summary: Who Hired Lomborg to Write this Book?!
Review: All I can say is: Beware of spin! Nature magazine warns that it is "a mass of poorly digested material, deeply flawed in its selection of examples and analysis."
Rating: 
Summary: The Renewed Vitality of Real and Mythical Numbers
Review: I am amazed at how much attention this book has received when much of the information presented here has already been discussed before in various settings. Greg Easterbrook's 800-page book "A Moment on the Earth" and the late Julian Simon's "The Ultimate Resource" among others. The Cornucopian and celebratory view presented here and the equally self-righteous criticism by some environemntalists is disturbing. There needs to be a more reasoned way to approach this topic and alas both sides are too polarized to do justice to the issues at hand. The biggest problem with Lomborg is his equivocation under the pretense of objectivity. While environmentalists may be accused of the same, they tend to predicate their perspectives on morally premised relativism and are thus more humble about the human perception of nature. Like good insurance evaluators, we should rather err on the side of humility and caution in the face of vastly complex environmental phenomenon rather than be skeptical and dismissive about risks that we don't fully comprehend.
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