space shuttle, space: 2004_04_01_spewingforth

PERMALINK Posted 9:58 PM by Jordan

US Government Lobbies Against Euro Chemical Safeguards at Request of Chem

Industry

So what else is new?

I've written a number of times about the European Union's proposed

REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals)

program that would require chemical manufacturers and importers to

gather and report the quantity, uses and potential health effects of

approximately 30,000 chemicals. About 1,400 of these chemicals are

known or suspected to be carcinogens, reproductive toxicants, persist

in the environment or to accumulate in body tissues. The initiative

would subject these 1,400 chemicals to an authorization review similar

to that used in the regulation of pharmaceuticals. These chemicals

could be strictly controlled, depending on whether they are an

environmental, consumer or workplace hazard, or even banned.

Needless to say, the American chemical industry has not been too happy

about this proposal and is doing its best to squelch it, some even

calling it a national security threat. Today, Congressman Henry Waxman

(D-CA) released a report that

shows that the Administration, at the request of the U.S. chemical

industry, mounted a campaign to block the efforts of the European

Union to require chemical companies to adequately assess the risks

of chemicals that are sold in the marketplace.

The report examines how the Bush Administration responded to a

landmark effort by the European Union to reduce the risks of

chemical exposure.

The report is based on a series of documents obtained by the

Environmental Health Fund.

According to Waxman,

"This report reveals that the Bush administration worked

hand-in-glove with the chemical industry to oppose the European

chemical initiative.

"There is no evidence that the administration ever attempted to

determine what was best for the nation as a whole," Waxman said.

"The administration ignored requests to analyze what the benefits

of the European proposal might have been and dismissed the concerns

of environmental and public health groups. ... The only views that

mattered were those of the chemical industry."

None of this is particularly surprising. I've written before about

U.S. government attempts to influence the European Union's decision

and the strange reasoning they use to justify their actions.

Which makes this press release by the American Chemistry Council

rather bizarre.

Perhaps Rep. Waxman should be more concerned with the potential

impact of Europe?s proposed scheme on his constituents and American

workers rather than conspiracy theories hatched by anti-industry

activists. The innuendo in today's report obscures the U.S.

government?s legitimate and wholly appropriate role in raising

questions about the global impact of REACH.

Conspiracy theories? Are they perhaps referring to a chapter of the

report that compares a list of "themes" developed by US industry

associations with a memo sent by Secretary of State Colin Powell to

diplomatic posts in European Union nations. For example,

* Industry theme: "REACH will work to stifle innovation and the

introduction of new safer chemicals."

Secretary Powell's cable: "These compliance costs may negatively

impact innovation and EU development of new, more effective, and

safer chemicals and downstream products."

* Industry theme: "Suppliers might not share information about

chemicals and might pull a particular chemical off the market

because they don't want to go through the burden of testing and

registration."

Secretary Powell's cable: "Manufacturers of chemicals for many

applications may halt production where demand does not justify

registration and testing costs."

Waxman concluded that

Taken together, the documents described in this report provide a

case study of how a well-connected special interest can reverse

U.S. policy and enlist the support of numerous federal officials,

including a cabinet secretary, to intervene in the environmental

policies of other countries. Under President Clinton, the United

States adopted a policy of recognizing the authority of other

nations to act to protect their public health and environment. At

the urging of the chemical industry, however, the Bush

Administration reversed this policy and actively opposed European

Union efforts to improve the regulatory system for chemicals.

Greg Lebedev, president of the American Chemistry Council, argues that

the industry's actions are perfectly justifiable: "The questions the

U.S. government is raising about the global impact of REACH are

perfectly sensible. American companies have a stake in Europe as

investors, manufacturers and suppliers."

Right. So that means we (as in the American chemical industry) get to

determine whether Europeans get poisoned and polluted because we have

a stake "as investors, manufacturers and suppliers?" Do other country

that invest, manufacture and supply the American homeland have a right

to determine what chemicals we're exposed to?

P.S. This is not an April Fool's joke.

More here.

PERMALINK Posted 9:16 PM by Jordan

April Fools

I wasn't in the mood to do an April Fools Day story this year, so I'm

linking one here that I did a couple of years ago -- when I had a

sense of humor, before turning into an embittered humorless old

blogger.

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