Science & Environmental Policy Project

The Science & Environmental Policy Project (SEPP) is a United States-based advocacy organization founded in 1990 by atmospheric physicist S. Fred Singer. It is based in Arlington County, Virginia, and has been financed through private contributions. Rather than operating as a consumer-facing commercial brand, SEPP functions as a policy and communications platform focused on disputes over the interpretation of environmental science and the design of related public policy. SEPP became associated with skeptical positions on several subjects that have been central to environmental regulation. Its published arguments have questioned the prevailing scientific consensus on human-caused climate change, challenged aspects of the scientific and policy case surrounding stratospheric ozone depletion, and criticized regulatory measures addressing air pollution, environmental toxins, particulate matter, and smog. The organization has also expressed concern that scientific research and public funding can be influenced by political assumptions, and it has generally favored market-based resource management within systems of clearly defined property rights. The group’s climate position has emphasized the difference between computer-model projections and observations from satellites, weather balloons, and other measurement systems. SEPP has argued that natural variability should receive greater weight in explanations of observed temperature changes and has criticized the treatment of dissenting views in reports associated with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. These positions place the organization within the broader climate-change controversy, where its claims have been disputed by mainstream climate scientists and scientific institutions. SEPP has also addressed ozone policy. It has argued that evidence for harmful increases in ultraviolet radiation was insufficiently demonstrated in the positions it promoted and that restrictions on chlorofluorocarbons could impose economic costs without delivering commensurate environmental benefits. More broadly, the organization has portrayed some environmental regulations as economically damaging and of limited practical benefit. Its stated policy agenda has not been limited to environmental skepticism: SEPP materials have also supported a stronger emphasis on crewed Mars exploration, treated the Moon as a possible stepping stone for that effort, and called for greater attention to asteroid-impact risks. In the 1990s, SEPP organized a conference in Leipzig with the European Academy for Environmental Affairs and became associated with the Leipzig Declaration, a document opposing aspects of the emerging international climate-policy consensus. In 2008, the organization completed the organization of the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), a separate initiative intended to present an independent review of climate evidence. SEPP founder S. Fred Singer served as general editor of the NIPCC’s 2008 report, Nature, Not Human Activity Rules the Climate, which was published by The Heartland Institute. The NIPCC report drew sharp criticism from climate scientists contacted by ABC News, who characterized its conclusions and presentation in strongly negative terms. Singer responded by accusing the report of journalistic bias and unfair treatment. This exchange illustrates SEPP’s broader public role: it has operated not only through policy papers and declarations, but also through direct challenges to media coverage, scientific assessments, and regulatory assumptions. Publicly documented information identifies Singer as SEPP’s founder and identifies Frederick Seitz, a former president of the National Academy of Sciences and president emeritus of Rockefeller University, as a former chairman of its board. The available reference material does not establish a current executive roster, current operating scale, or whether the organization remains active in its former institutional form. Accordingly, SEPP is best understood as a historically significant advocacy group in debates over climate science, ozone policy, environmental regulation, and the relationship between scientific evidence and government decision-making.

The Science & Environmental Policy Project was established in 1990 by S. Fred Singer, an atmospheric physicist who became known for challenging mainstream interpretations of several environmental risks. SEPP was structured as an advocacy organization supported by private contributions and based in Arlington County, Virginia. Its work centered on the relationship between scientific evidence, environmental regulation, and public policy rather than on commercial products or services. From its early years, SEPP engaged with controversies involving climate change, ozone depletion, and environmental regulation. The organization questioned whether observed temperature trends supported predictions produced by climate models and argued that natural climate variability was insufficiently recognized in policy discussions. It also criticized the treatment of dissenting scientific perspectives in international assessments, including the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. These arguments positioned SEPP against the dominant policy direction favoring stronger controls on greenhouse-gas emissions. Ozone policy was another important area of activity. SEPP disputed aspects of the case for restrictions on chlorofluorocarbons and argued that the economic costs of those restrictions were not justified by the environmental benefits it believed had been demonstrated. The organization similarly challenged selected Environmental Protection Agency regulations concerning smog, ozone, toxic substances, and particulate pollution, portraying some of them as economically harmful while producing limited environmental gains. In 1995, SEPP helped organize a conference in Leipzig, Germany, together with the European Academy for Environmental Affairs. The meeting produced the Leipzig Declaration, which became an important document in organized opposition to elements of international climate policy. SEPP’s public materials also addressed issues beyond climate and pollution. They advocated a stronger focus on crewed exploration of Mars, identified the Moon as a possible intermediate destination, and argued that governments had devoted too little attention to protection against asteroid impacts. During the 1990s, Frederick Seitz was identified as chairman of SEPP’s board. Seitz had previously served as president of the National Academy of Sciences and later held the title of president emeritus at Rockefeller University. The available reference material identifies him as a former chairman and does not establish the complete succession of SEPP leadership. SEPP’s arguments were also developed through academic and technical publications associated with Singer and other researchers. In 2004, Singer was a coauthor of papers in Geophysical Research Letters comparing atmospheric temperature observations with climate-model results. The organization’s positions were contested in the scientific literature and public commentary, including criticism addressing its treatment of ozone evidence and its interpretation of climate observations. A major later development was the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change. SEPP completed the organization of the NIPCC in 2008 after a process that had begun in 2003. The initiative described itself as an international coalition of scientists seeking to examine peer-reviewed evidence about climate change independently of what it regarded as selective or biased assessments. Its 2008 report, Nature, Not Human Activity Rules the Climate: Summary for Policymakers, was published by The Heartland Institute, with Singer as general editor and copyright holder. The NIPCC report became a focus of public controversy. Climate scientists contacted by ABC News rejected its presentation and conclusions in emphatic terms. Singer responded by accusing ABC News of unfairness, distortion, and inappropriate reliance on anonymous criticism. The dispute reflected the recurring pattern of SEPP’s public engagement: the group challenged established scientific and regulatory conclusions, while mainstream scientists and environmental commentators challenged the evidentiary basis and policy implications of its work. SEPP’s publicly documented identity is therefore closely tied to organized environmental skepticism and criticism of government-led environmental policy. It has not been documented primarily as a commercial brand, and available sources do not provide reliable information on current staff, present funding, current headquarters beyond the historical Arlington County reference, or whether its activities continue at their previous level. Its historical significance lies in its role as a platform for climate-policy dissent and in its contribution to the formation and communication of alternative reports such as those produced by the NIPCC.

• 2008

  NIPCC organization completed

  [1]Science & Environmental Policy Projecten.wikipedia.org

  SEPP completed the organization of the NIPCC and supported publication of its first major report.

• 2003

  NIPCC process begins

  [1]Science & Environmental Policy Projecten.wikipedia.org

  A process began to organize the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change as an alternative climate-evidence review initiative.

• 1995

  Leipzig conference and declaration

  [1]Science & Environmental Policy Projecten.wikipedia.org

  SEPP organized a conference in Leipzig with the European Academy for Environmental Affairs, leading to the Leipzig Declaration associated with opposition to prevailing climate-policy positions.

• 1990

  Science & Environmental Policy Project founded

  [1]Science & Environmental Policy Projecten.wikipedia.org

  Atmospheric physicist S. Fred Singer founded SEPP as a privately funded advocacy organization focused on science and environmental policy.

A science-policy advocacy organization presenting itself as an independent or skeptical voice on climate change, ozone depletion, environmental regulation, and the use of science in public policy.

• Climate-policy reports · 2008

  Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change reports

  The NIPCC reports were designed to present an alternative assessment of peer-reviewed climate research. The 2008 report Nature, Not Human Activity Rules the Climate argued that natural forces played the dominant role in climate change and was produced with SEPP involvement. The report was published by The Heartland Institute and became a subject of strong criticism from mainstream climate scientists and media commentators.

• Policy advocacy

  Environmental policy position papers

  SEPP has issued or supported policy arguments concerning climate change, ozone depletion, air pollution, environmental toxins, particulate matter, and the use of scientific evidence in regulation. These materials generally question the scale of environmental risks or the economic justification for particular regulatory responses.

• Advocacy declaration · 1995

  Leipzig Declaration

  The Leipzig Declaration emerged from a conference organized in 1995 by SEPP and the European Academy for Environmental Affairs. It expressed opposition to elements of the emerging international consensus on climate change and became a reference point for climate-policy critics.

• 2008Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change

  International

  SEPP completed the organization of the NIPCC to provide an alternative examination of climate evidence and challenge the conclusions and methods of intergovernmental climate assessments.

  Outcome. The NIPCC produced a widely discussed report, but its conclusions were sharply criticized by mainstream climate scientists and commentators.

  Source
• 1995Leipzig Declaration initiative

  International

  SEPP convened a Leipzig conference with the European Academy for Environmental Affairs and helped promote the resulting declaration as a challenge to prevailing climate-policy assumptions.

  Outcome. The declaration became associated with organized opposition to international climate policy, although its scientific and policy claims were contested.

  Source

• 2008

  Release of the first major NIPCC reportProduct launch

  Background

  SEPP sought to create an alternative to mainstream intergovernmental assessments of climate change.

  Action taken

  The NIPCC released Nature, Not Human Activity Rules the Climate: Summary for Policymakers, published by The Heartland Institute and edited by S. Fred Singer.

  Aftermath

  Scientists contacted by ABC News rejected the report in strongly negative terms. Singer publicly accused ABC News of biased and improper reporting.

  Source

1. 1Science & Environmental Policy Projecten.wikipedia.org