High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Greenhouse Effect is a term coined by Hoover Institution economist Thomas Sowell and popularized by D.C. Court of Appeals Senior Judge Laurence Silberman in a speech to The Federalist Society in 1992. In this speech, Silberman used the term to postulate a tendency of conservative Supreme Court Justices to vote with the liberals more often as their careers progress due to a desire for favorable press coverage. He said "It seems that the primary objective of The Times`s legal reporters is to put activist heat on recently appointed Supreme Court justices."