Indur M. Goklany

Indur M. Goklany
Education	B.Tech. (1968), M.S. (1969), Ph.D. (1973)
Alma mater	Indian Institutes of Technology, Michigan State University
Occupation(s)	Science and technology policy analyst
Employer	United States Department of the Interior
Notable work	The Improving State of the World
Website	Homepage

Indur M. Goklany is a science and technology policy analyst for the United States Department of the Interior, where he holds the position of Assistant Director of Programs, Science and Technology Policy.

He has represented the United States at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and during the negotiations that lead to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. He was the rapporteur of the Resource Use and Management Subgroup report to the WGIII of the IPCC First Assessment Report in 1990, and is the author of Clearing the Air (1999), The Precautionary Principle (2001), and The Improving State of the World (2007).

Education

Goklany holds a B.Tech from the Indian Institutes of Technology in Electrical Engineering and obtained his M.S. and Ph.D from Michigan State University.

Views on climate change

Golanky has spoken against the use of biofuels and ethanol as he believes it drives the price of food beyond the reach of the poor. In an op-ed for The New York Times, he wrote, "Ironically, much of the hysteria over global warming is itself fueled by concerns that it may drive numerous species to extinction and increase hunger worldwide, especially in developing countries. Yet the biofuel solution would only make bad matters worse on both counts".

He took part in the making of Policy Peril: Why Global Warming Policies are More Dangerous than Global Warming Itself, a film created by the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

He has also been critical of the Worldwide Fund for Nature and the United Nations Population Fund over their stance on population growth saying, "For many groups like the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF), World Population Day, which fell on July 11, is another chance to bemoan 'the relentless growth in human population,' while the United Nations Population Fund says 'stabilizing population would help sustain the planet.' The problem, however, is not population but poverty."

He is also a regular guest poster on Watts Up With That.

Publications

Books

• Goklany, Indur M. (2006). The Improving State of the World: Why We're Living Longer, Healthier, More Comfortable Lives on a Cleaner Planet. The Cato Institute. ISBN 978-1930865983.
• Goklany, Indur M. (November 2002). The Precautionary Principle: A Critical Appraisal of Environmental Risk. The Cato Institute. ISBN 978-1930865167.
• Goklany, Indur M. (November 26, 1999). Clearing the Air: The Real Story of the War on Air Pollution. The Cato Institute. ISBN 978-1882577835.

Papers

• Goklany, Indur M. (September 19, 2009). "Climate change is not the biggest global health threat". The Lancet. 374 (9694). The Lancet: 1. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(09)61655-X.
• Goklany, Indur M. (July 29, 2009). Energy & Environment. 20 (3). Multi Science Publishing: 279–302. doi:10.1260/095830509788066439. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
• Goklany, Indur M. (February 5, 2008). "What to Do about Climate Change" (PDF). The Cato Institute. p. 1. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
• Goklany, Indur M. (November 2002). "From precautionary principle to risk–risk analysis". Nature. 20 (1075). Nature. doi:10.1038/nbt1102-1075.
• Goklany, Indur M. (August 22, 2002). "The Globalization of Human Well-Being". The Cato Institute. p. 1. Retrieved May 23, 2010.