Environment

Arsenic Flap and "Sound Science"

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

The Christian Science Monitor quotes industry mouthpiece Steven Milloy in defense of the Bush administration's decision to scrap regulations limiting arsenic in drinking water. "Over the last 40 years, and accelerating over the last 20, science has become very political in Washington," Milloy complains. Somehow the Monitor fails to mention that Milloy himself is a Washington policy wonk, not a scientist, who spends his days politicizing science and harassing researchers in defense of corporate polluters.

No
Main Source: 
Christian Science Monitor, June 14, 2001
Topics: 
Environment
Science

Ex-PR Executive Wins $32M Toxic Mold Suit

Submitted by Laura Miller on

Melinda Ballard, former PR executive at Ruder Finn and United Brands in New York, on June 1 won a $32 million toxic mold case against a unit of Farmers Insurance Group. She charged the company mishandled her family's claim for mold damage which damaged the health of her husband and son and made her 22-room house uninhabitable.

No
Main Source: 
O'Dwyer's PR Daily, June 4, 2001
Topics: 
Environment

Green Mountain Energy Teams Up With American Forests

Submitted by Laura Miller on

Delivering "a breath of fresh air" to Texas consumers, Green Mountain Energy Company, the nation's largest residential retail provider of cleaner electricity, is kicking off the state's Electric Choice Pilot Program with the launch of the first phase of its year-long Texas Fresh Air Project. In partnership with American Forests, the nation's oldest non-profit conservation organization, Green Mountain Energy Company will donate additional fresh air to Texas by sponsoring the planting of 10,000 native trees in the state to help restore damaged forest ecosystems and provide clean air.

No
Main Source: 
Press Release, May 31, 2001
Topics: 
Environment

Chemical Industry Discusses PR Damage Control

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

Environmental activist Dave DeRosa snuck into the March 22, 2001 meeting of the Vinyl Formulators Environmental Forum and caught industry representatives discussing ways to limit bad publicity connected with Bill Moyers exposT of the chemical industry.

No
Main Source: 
Focus on the Corporation, March 26, 2001
Topics: 
Crisis Management
Corporations
Environment

Pro-Road TV Ads Tar Environmentalists as Tyrants

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

"The Korean War veteran stares out from the television screen, an American flag waving behind him. 'Environmentalists are telling us how to live our lives ... preventing us from driving cars, and forcing us to live downtown,' he says. 'In America, these are still personal choices. Tyranny didn't win in South Korea,' he concludes. 'Don't let it get a foothold here.' The message, brought to you by the Georgia Highway Contractors Association, began airing on metro Atlanta television stations last week. Similar messages have been airing for months across the country..."

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Main Source: 
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, March 18, 2001
Topics: 
Environment
Public Relations

The Secret Life of AAA

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

People join the American Automobile Association because they think it's a nice way to get Triptiks, traveler's checks and emergency towing, but what most members don't know is that AAA is a lobbyist for more roads, more pollution, and more gas guzzling vehicles. AAA weighs in on highway funding, suburban sprawl, mass transit, car design and safety, air pollution, and global warming. Almost without exception, critics say, it advocates policies that damage the environment and endanger health.

No
Main Source: 
Amicus Journal, Winter 2001
Topics: 
Environment
Health

Moore Disinformation

Submitted by Laura Miller on

In a recent Manilla Times article, Canadian timber industry apologist Patrick Moore, identified as a co-founder of Greenpeace and an ecologist, accuses Greenpeace of "abandoning science and following agendas that have little to do with saving the Earth." Is there really "trouble in the house of Greenpeace" as the Manilla Times headline suggests or are Moore's comments an industry supported attempt to undermine and discredit anti-biotech NGOs?

No
Main Source: 
http://members.tripod.com/~ngin/moore.htm
Topics: 
Environment

Industry Ally John Graham Is Wrong Choice to be Nation's Regulatory Gatekeeper

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

John Graham, who has been nominated by President Bush to the top regulatory oversight position in the United States, is an an industry ally who has a long record of crusading against health, safety and environmental standards through the industry-funded Harvard Center for Risk Assessment. Public Citizen recently authored a 130-page report (available as a free PDF download) exposing his decade of efforts on behalf of the corporations that fund him.

No
Main Source: 
http://www.citizen.org
Topics: 
Environment
Think Tanks

Website Attacks the Rainforest Action Network

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

The Center for Defense of Free Enterprise, led by anti-environmental "Wise Use" organizers Alan Gottlieb and Ron Arnold, has created this website which claims to "unmask" the Rainforest Action Network for its "ties to other radical groups," "anti-capitalist ideology" and "lawless and dangerous activities." To "unmask" Gottlieb and Arnold themselves, read the Environmental Working Group's excellent backgrounder.

No
Main Source: 
http://www.ranamuck.org/
Topics: 
Environment
Public Relations
Think Tanks

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