Author of Environmental Index Challenges Gore Op-Ed on Environment; Dr. Steve Hayward Available for Interviews

4/26/2002

From: Dawn Collier of Pacific Research Institute, 415-955-6136

WASHINGTON, April 26 -- Environmental specialist Dr. Steve Hayward is taking former Vice President Al Gore to task for stretching the truth on the environment in his op-ed last Sunday in the New York Times.

"Mr. Gore's statements about the quality of the environment contradict environmental quality data reported by the EPA for years, and long before President Bush came to Washington," said Steve Hayward, a senior fellow with the Pacific Research Institute and American Enterprise Institute.

Gore's oped comes as the American Lung Association prepares to release its yearly report on air quality on May 1, which Hayward says "routinely leaves out several critical air quality indicators and distorts the well-documented, long-term trend of air quality improvement in the U.S."

Dr. Hayward is the author of the Pacific Research Institute's Index of Leading Environmental Indicators, which was released on Earth Day, April 22. Hayward and the Index, now in its seventh year, have received endorsements from leading environmental journalists and commentators as the go-to source for environmental accuracy in the face of politically motivated environmental myth making:

"Everyone interested in environmental issues out to consult the Index of Leading Environmental Indicators, which has become the definitive source in the field. If more people read this indispensable publication, environmental debate would not be such a muddle." -- Gregg Easterbrook, Environmental Editor, New Republic, and author of A Moment on Earth: The Coming Age of Environmental Optimism

"This 7th edition of PRI's Index of Leading Environmental Indicators is a refreshing break from the doom-and-gloom panic of environmentalists." -- John Stossel, ABCNEWS Correspondent, "20/20" Anchor

"For journalists who care about both sides of the issues, Pacific Research Institute's Index of Leading Environmental Indicators has long been a useful corrective to the conventional view that everything is running down and running out." -- Tom Bray, Columnist, The Detroit News and OpinionJournal.com

Dr. Hayward is available for interviews in the Washington, DC, area. For more information, contact Dawn Collier at 415-955-6136.