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The Obama Watch
Obama Sells Out Science for Campaign Cash
This time, on the NRDC’s behalf, he wants to ban chemicals in food wrapping that time and again have been proved safe.
In March 2009 President Obama proclaimed: “We base our public policies on the soundest science; that we appoint scientific advisers based on their credentials and experience, not their politics or ideology… we are open and honest with the American people about the science behind our decisions.”
Since then, the Obama administration has used scientific policy decisions as patronage. It has denied young women access to Plan B, blocked the KeystoneXL pipeline, and limited greenhouse gases (they cause autism, according to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson) at the expense of science, not because of it.
Now the White House is at it again. The FDA “agreed” to rule by March 31 on the safety of bisphenol-A (BPA), a chemical the agency and several other scientific bodies worldwide have previously determined time and again is harmless to humans.
This turnabout is not the result of new science about the health risks of BPA, which is widely used in plastic material found in food packaging, military equipment, and medical devices. Rather it is part of a settlement the White House reached last December with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), a liberal environmental activist group.
NRDC officials don’t just visit the White House; they wind up working there. John Bryson, NRDC’s founder, is Commerce Secretary. NRDC President Frances Beinecke was on the Deepwater Horizon Commission. Van Jones, the 9/11 denier and socialist who ran the White House Green Jobs program, is on the NRDC board. David McIntosh, EPA’s point person on cap and trade legislation, was a NRDC lawyer.
NRDC, which rakes in nearly $120 million each year and has a $6 million election war chest, unleashes lawsuits as part of fear-mongering campaign for contributions. It’s a tactic the NRDC has used to great effect. In 1989 the organization falsely claimed that Alar (a chemical that stopped apples from rotting while being shipped)) caused cancer. A subsequent memo from NRDC’s public relations consultant published in the Wall Street Journal revealed that “We designed [the Alar campaign] so revenue would flow back to the NRDC from the public… to date there has been $700K in net revenue from it.” A gullible media spread the scare. By the time the truth emerged, NRDC was a lot richer.
NRDC’s crusade to ban BPA has been repeatedly discredited by renowned scientific authorities, including the FDA. On multiple occasions, the FDA has comprehensively evaluated all the scientific research on BPA, including studies by NRDC claiming BPA is deadly. In 2010 the FDA once again concluded that BPA is safe for current consumer uses and found no need to impose regulatory restrictions on the chemical. At the time of the review, then-deputy FDA commissioner Joshua Sharfstein stated, “If we thought [BPA] was unsafe, we would be taking strong regulatory action.”
Last year, an EPA-funded study conducted by scientists at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, FDA, and Centers for Disease Control confirmed that BPA is efficiently metabolized by the human body and rapidly excreted in urine. The study found the amount of BPA in our blood is 1 to 3 times lower than levels injected in rats used to claim potentially adverse effects. We can’t consume or retain enough BPA to matter.
The FDA, EPA, and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences have invested hundreds of millions of research dollars on BPA. This year the Advisory Committee to the German Society of Toxicology concluded that BPA is not a threat to human health, noting that “There is an unusual wealth of safety-related studies carried out on BPA.… To date, more than 5,000 studies on BPA have been published. It is obvious that this should be enough information to resolve the controversy.”
But not enough to stop White House politicization of the issue. The President who pledged to use sound science instead of politics or ideology in policymaking has strong-armed the FDA into revisiting BPA’s safety profile. The court decision did not this require this action by the FDA. Only political pressure, with utter disregard for the science, made that happen.
Chemical manufacturers that make BPA and downstream food packaging employ thousands of workers in the U.S. Should NRDC get its BPA ban from President Obama, it would boost the group’s fund-raising operation which would in turn contribute more money and support for Obama’s re-election. But manufacturers, who would have to switch to higher cost, less effective alternatives, would be forced to raise prices and cut jobs. It’s not the first time the administration has undercut economic growth for campaign cash and probably won’t be the last.
The BPA ban is political BS. The FDA is being asked to suborn science for the sake of political expediency. BPA is not a threat to human health. But the NRDC and the White House re-election machine certainly are.
About the Author
Robert M. Goldberg is vice president of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest and founder of Hands Off My H ealth, a grass roots health care empowerment network. His is new book, Tabloid Medicine: How the Internet is Being Used To Hijack Medical Science For Fear and Profit, was published last month by Kaplan.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (23) | Leave a comment
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c. j. acworth| 3.21.12 @ 6:56AM
As usual, whether the issue is global warming, DDT, endangered species, or whatever, just follow the money.
numbatdog| 3.21.12 @ 8:25AM
It is becoming clear that nothing related to science can be taken at face value anymore. Once an area of pure facts and intellectual pursuit, it is now a tool of whoever pays the most to produce predetermined results.
From the global warming scam (yes, its hot in the NE. That's called unusual weather. It's cold elsewhere) to the industry crippling EPA decrees to green group studies, its all skewed to achieve political goals. Facts have taken a back seat to ideology. We live in a world awash in information but sadly people don't realize most of it is junk science. Its hard to trust anyone anymore.
Jonny Danger| 3.21.12 @ 8:46AM
Are you serious? This article is complete garbage. BPA is PROVEN to cause diabetes, heart disease and contribute to obesity. Stop spreading lies and do some actual research about the topic.
L. Ross| 3.21.12 @ 11:51AM
And some gentleman designed a new type of carburator in his basement, which allows any car to get over 100mpg. The car and the oil companies paid him off to keep from bringing it to market. Everybody knows this stuff. Why isn't anyone listening to me?
Dick Nome| 3.21.12 @ 12:02PM
Not good enough unless it also causes flatulence.
Carnival Barker| 3.21.12 @ 11:33AM
There is no science in the White House. There is only consensus. Science is never based on consensus.
ebonystone| 3.22.12 @ 10:28PM
No science, and no conscience.
Petronius| 3.21.12 @ 12:00PM
Dear Ecoweenies
Do the world a favor and quit eating then. Dropping dead would be better.
Al Adab| 3.21.12 @ 12:42PM
Long ago, about 1885 or so, the legislature in NY State would "blackmail" business by threatening to regulate products or business activities and then accept "contributions" to not pass such regulatory bills. Back then this was called corruption. Today we see it as Chicago style business as usual.
A government which decides on favored businesses, grants contracts or financing to those and regulates or otherwise controls those it does not favor is known as a fascist government.
Do we still have a problem understanding the stakes this November?
play nice| 3.21.12 @ 2:06PM
"Do we still have a problem understanding the stakes this November?"
I don't know. Let's ask Tom Hanks.
Al Adab| 3.21.12 @ 3:44PM
Play:
Why is it that all the rich leftists want tthe government to take their money (and ours) to give it away? Can't they just do that without government coercion and leave us poor folk alone?
jan| 3.21.12 @ 3:06PM
Please let's call a spade a spade, Van Jones was/is
a fucking communist.
suzieQ| 3.21.12 @ 8:37PM
I seriously think we should ban people. Do you know how many chemicals are in people????
POST American| 3.22.12 @ 4:33AM
"Scientists are always presented
as these rational, objective secular
figures when, upon closer examination,
nothing could be further from the truth.
Science itself is NOTHING more than a
technique of the imagination to bring
into being a desired mythological system."
---And so, it would seem science itself
sells out science ---as a matter of form,
and has always has.
And, come to think of it, for all the undoubted
wonders, achievements and discoveries of
genuine science ----isn't it all measurement?
---and numbers magick brought to an exceedingly
high degree? ---that and nothing more?
And even if one day it has us playing golf on
Alpha Centuri ---isn't that, really, in reality,
as vapid as the astro turf in Sarasota?
THINK ABOUT IT
Brian H| 3.26.12 @ 7:54AM
Drivel. Scientific method is the best attempt to date to minimize the power of assumptions and make ideas and assertions pass reality checks. Your post-modern nonsense is, of course, never applied to your own presumptions. Only post-modernists know the TRUTH, it seems! Blech.
sikiş | 3.22.12 @ 5:38AM
---And so, it would seem science itself
sells out science ---as a matter of form,
and has always has. porno
Jay| 3.22.12 @ 11:00AM
A federal ban of BPA in food packaging could actually be a good thing for industry. Eleven states, Canada, and many European countries have already passed legislation banning BPA in baby bottles. Efforts to ban BPA in a wider array of food packaging are also underway in Europe, and would likely occur in many U.S. states if the FDA does not decide to issue a federal ban. For industry, facing one national standard regulating BPA in food products that is consistent across states and in international markets would be much easier than dealing with a nation-wide or world-wide patchwork of regulation and having to adjust manufacturing & distribution on a market-specific basis.
steve ellman| 3.22.12 @ 11:44AM
"Rather it is part of a settlement the White House reached last December with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), a liberal environmental activist group."
What "settlement" are your referring to?
ebonystone| 3.22.12 @ 10:34PM
In re greenhouse gasses and autism:
Since water vapor is the most important greenhouse, we should expect to find more autism cases in the wetter states. But it turns out that two states with the lowest autism rates are soggy Louisiana and Mississippi. And the rate in bone-dry Arizona is virtually the same as that in dripping Florida.
Jennifer Sass | 3.23.12 @ 4:49PM
How many factual inaccuracies can you fit into one 800-word opinion piece? It seems Mr. Goldberg is on a quest to find out.
The science-based health concerns about BPA are real. Endocrine disrupting chemicals, including BPA, interfere with hormones in our bodies and can impact development of children’s reproductive and nervous systems and have been linked to cancer. Endocrine disrupting chemicals seem to operate at very small doses, as noted in two new studies published this month.
The large (and growing) body of science raising concerns about BPA, as well as the public’s concern over the uncertainty regarding its safety has led most manufacturers to cease using it in baby bottles and sippy cups and other products. In addition, 11 states have enacted bans on BPA in baby bottles, sippy cups, and other products, most with strong bi-partisan support and signed by Republican, Democratic, and Independent Governors.
The Food and Drug Administration’s mandate is to protect our food and improve our health. The chemical industry has a vested interest in protecting its products; and it has done everything in its power to muddy the debate, including questioning the legitimacy of independent science, throwing industry-funded defense data into the mix, and attacking the messengers.
NRDC has a 40-year track record of protecting people from toxic pollution, starting with our efforts to enact valued laws like the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act and to remove lead from gasoline. Our work on these issues is driven by solid science, not fundraising or special interests. That was the case with Alar, and – despite Mr. Goldberg's revisionist history – the fact remains that Alar was proven to be a dangerous pesticide on kid’s apples. Scientific institutions and the courts agreed. Perhaps a court ruling put it best when tossing an industry Alar lawsuit against NRDC out of court: "[d]efamatory meaning may not be imputed to true statements."
NRDC is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and does not engage in election politics in any way. The suggestion that NRDC campaigns or fundraises for any politician, President Obama or otherwise, is flat-out false. The NRDC Action Fund, an affiliated but separate 501(c)(4) group, also does not contribute money to any political candidate.
Perhaps most laughable of Goldberg’s false charges is the idea that this administration is in our pocket. NRDC is currently battling the FDA, Environmental Protection Agency, Interior Department and the White House itself on a number of health and environmental issues. In fact, Mr. Goldberg’s story is the result of NRDC going to court to force the FDA to respond to our initial BPA petition after a three year delay.
The bottom line is that BPA is a chemical that was intentionally developed to mimic the female sex hormone estrogen and has been linked in animal studies to cancer and altered brain development, and in some human studies to cardiovascular disease, obesity, and metabolic changes leading to insulin levels that could lead to diabetes (see Dr. Janssen’s blog here). There is no reason we should be forced to unknowingly consume it through our food. FDA should put science and people first - and protect Americans from needless exposure to this toxic chemical.
Brian H| 3.26.12 @ 7:49AM
Increase coherence thusly by killing this this:
"The court decision did not
thisrequire this action by the FDA.