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11 April 2001. John Peterson Myers and Lisa Guide write in the New Jersey Star Ledger about the dilemma Bush faces as he must decide whether or not to support EPA's draft decision to dredge PCBs out of the Hudson River. Should he side with two moderate Republican Governors both of whom support dredging (and one of whom is now his EPA head)? Or should he bow to the political pressures of GE? 25 February 2001. In an invited op-ed for the Anniston (Alabama) Star Journal, John Peterson Myers examines some of the health risks that Monsanto has created for residents of the area, where EPA is evaluating the need for Superfund designation because of Monsanto's careless disposal of PCB waste. 15 December 2000. Writing in Grist Magazine, Dana Meadows commends the new POPs treaty just promulgated in Johannesburg, but she rightly observes that with more than 50,000 synthetic organic chemicals in regular use, and roughly a thousand new ones entering production each year, closing the door on 12 is just a small start. Meadows then describes a far more ambitious approach unfolding in Sweden, which will ban any substance (organic or inorganic) that is persistent and bioaccumulative. Most importantly, for any new chemical the burden of proof "will be shifted to industry to show that it's safe, rather than to the public to prove ... that it's harmful. While the jury is out, the chemical cannot be used." Sweden's approach uses the precautionary principle to protect public health. The US, in contrast, uses the precautionary principle to protect chemical products. More on what Sweden is contemplating... 12 December 2000. With significant funding from GE, it is not surprising to see Elizabeth Whelan, President of the industry PR front group, American Council on Science and Health, defending GE's attempts to avoid their legal and financial responsibilities to clean up the Hudson River of PCB contamination caused by GE. What is surprising is to see how blatantly she misrepresents the facts in her op-ed in the Wall Street Journal. Contrary to her assertions, there is solid evidence linking PCBs to human cancer. If there ever were any doubt about the ACSH biases, they are laid bare by her distortion of science in this op-ed. More... 29 November 2000. Karen Florini and Lynn Goldman recommend in the San Francisco Chronicle that steps should be taken to preserve the quality of human breast milk. Enough disquieting data have emerged from scientific studies of breast milk contamination over the past decade to justify a major investment in research, with the goal of characterizing the nature, sources and consequences of this contamination. They conclude "while mothers' milk is clearly the best first food for babies in almost all instances, identifying its contaminants will allow us to take actions needed to make it even better. But the critical first step is finding out what is in mothers' milk that Mother Nature didn't put there. We won't know until we look."
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| 21
September 2000. Nicholas Regush observes in his
column on the ABC News website that there is enough scientific
information available now to begin phase-out of organochlorine products
and processes. The obstacle to progress is the chlorine industry,
which successfully intimidates the EPA and any politician from taking
this issue head-on.
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|
19 September 2000. Here we go again. Peter Montague writes in Rachel's Environment and Health Weekly about new studies raising concerns about phthalates' threat to health. "As scientific and medical evidence accumulates, linking phthalates to reproductive disorders in humans, the chemical industry is digging in its heels for a 50-year fight. The industry produces a billion pounds of phthalates every year and has no intention of acknowledging that its products may cause birth defects, infertility or hormone disruption."
|
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| 10
August 2000. Most
cancer is made, not born. Devra Lee Davis. San Francisco Chronicle.
|
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| 8
August 2000. Stop
double-dealing on dioxin. John Peterson Myers. Wilmington Star.
|
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| 13
July 2000. US
undermines POPs treaty. Charlie Cray. Rachel's Environment and
Health Weekly.
|
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| 10
July 2000. Chemicals
good for your lawn could be bad for you. Timothy Gower. Los Angeles
Times.
|
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| 8
July 2000. Devinder Sharma writes in New
Scientist that India is on the brink of a serious food crisis.
Ironically and tragically, this is the result of unintended, unforeseen
consequences of the Green Revolution. Dramatic increases in food productivity
have depleted soils of micronutrients and aquifers of water, and the
chemical intensivity of Green Revolution solutions have left agricultural
lands heavily polluted.
|
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| 1
July 2000. J.P. Myers writes
that Monsanto, historically one of the largest producers of PCBs,
should accept its responsibilities for PCB cleanup before the public
should accept Monsanto's reassurances about the safety of biotech
agricultural products.
|
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|
May-June
2000. Washington Post columnist Judy Mann writes a series
of columns about contamination's impact on neurological development,
intelligence and behavior, including the issue of whether some forms
of contamination contribute to violence.
|
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| 21
June 2000. MSNBC correspondent Francesca Lyman examines pesticide
risks in schools and then follows up (5 July) with an exploration
of steps some schools are taking to use effective,
less risky alternatives.
|
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| 26
April 2000. "Women shouldn't start rethinking their diets and
lifestyles after they become pregnant. They should get ready well
beforehand, say advocates of preconceptual care, who claim that a
careful program of nutrition, healthy living and environmental awareness
makes for easier pregnancies and healthier babies. Even couples formerly
unable to conceive will boost their chances of success, advocates
say." More...
from MSNBC correspondent Francesca Lyman
|
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| 28
March 2000. www.TomPaine.com raises sticky questions about drKoop.com
and its association with the "American Council for Science and
Health," a PR outfit funded significantly by the chemical industry.
More...
An op-ad from the NY Times about drKoop.con
|
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| September
1999. JP Myers and Michael Lerner write in the International Herald
Tribune that the real test for international negotiations on persistent
organic pollutants is in setting criteria to be used for adding chemicals
to the list slated for elimination. More...
|
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|
August 1999. Gregg Easterbrook gets it wrong. Again. This time he
writes misguidedly about endocrine disruption in The New Republic.
If he read the book, he either didn't understand key parts or chose
to misrepresent it. More...
|
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| Chemical
industry pr consultant Steven Milloy pretends to be an independent
judge of science, and writes a flaming parody of Our Stolen Future.
Whoever paid him for that might ask to get their money back. More...
|
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| 12
May 1999. Chemical industry flack Michael Fumento opines on frogs,
parasites and pesticides in the Wall Street Journal. Predictably,
he gets it wrong. More...
|
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|
6 July 1998. Mark Dowie analyzed reporting by New York Times reporter Gina Kolata in The Nation, revealing a pattern of reporting by Kolata that raises serious questions about her consistent reporting biases. One of the cases he analyzes is Kolata's coverage of Our Stolen Future, especially about sperm count declines. More...
|
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| 16
November 1998. Michael Fumento gets personal in Forbes, accusing
the authors of Our Stolen Future of being "Truth Disruptors."
More...
|
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| 4
June 1998. The
POPs treaty. Charlie Cray. Rachel's Environment and
Health Weekly.
|
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| Autumn
1997. Steven Safe publishes two op-eds on endocrine disruption.
One (Wall Street Journal, 20 August 1997) contends that the health
risks of endocrine disruption have been over-blown and are now debunked,
and that Congress should reconsider the Food Quality Protection Act.
The other (New England Journal of Medicine, 30 October 1997), argues
that weak xenoestrogens do not cause breast cancer. Both op-eds
are severely flawed. More...
|
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| 1 January
1997. Man-made chemicals put human health at risk. Winston-Salem
Journal. Dr. Claude Hughes.
|
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| January
1997. David Helvarg reports on industry's attempt to discredit Our
Stolen Future: Poison
Pens. Sierra Magazine.
|
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| Summer
1996. Pete Myers writes about "Our
Untested Planet" in a guest editorial in Defender's Magazine.
|
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| 5 May
1996. Donella Meadows. "The Global Citizen" syndicated column.
The Sperm of New York Men is Not the Issue.
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|
March-April 1996. Peter Montague writes a three part review of Our Stolen Future in Rachel's Environment and Health Weekly. |
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