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“America Recycles Day” Should Recognize Markets as the Key to Prosperity and Environmental Protection
Today is “America Recycles Day,” which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) explains recognizes that recycling contributes to “prosperity and the protection of our…
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Deep Dive on Plastics: CEI Launches Series on Benefits to Mankind and Wildlife
Members of Congress have introduced several proposals to regulate plastics, which as I noted here and here, could basically destroy the U.S. plastics…
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Junk Science Gains Traction at the Biden EPA
The Biden administration has begun to reverse a host of policies that could have substantially improved the quality of science produced by government agencies. One…
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Consumers May Lose Access to Herbicide Roundup Thanks to Junk Science Lawsuits
Agrochemical company Bayer’s quest to continue selling the herbicide known as Roundup to consumers may soon come to and end. The company is considering…
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Lawmakers Break Free from Logic with Anti-Plastic, “Climate” Legislation
In an effort to address the so-called “climate crisis,” members of Congress have proposed legislation so extreme that it could destroy the entire U.S. plastics…
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Africans Are Making Progress Controlling Locusts by Ignoring Greens’ Advice
As nations around the world struggle with COVID-19 and related economic lockdowns, African countries are fighting another plague: swarms of locusts. Massive crop damage during…
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Crop Protection Products on the Chopping Block under New EPA Leadership
The Biden administration is poised to start reversing Trump administration policies that were designed to ensure farmers have continued access to critical pest control…
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Bayer Spends Billions to Save Essential Tool for Farmers
Bayer Agrosciences is spending billions of dollars with the hope of keeping the herbicide known as Roundup on the market despite thousands of lawsuits alleging…
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Consumers Pay the Price for Mass Torts Driven By Junk Science
The Center for Truth in Science has released an excellent report on mass torts and how unscrupulous lawyers use them to extort large…
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Big Government Won’t Protect the Oceans; Markets Will
Last week, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced a U.S. effort to address plastic litter buildup in oceans and other waters. The desire…
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EPA Chooses Scientific Approach on Chlorpyrifos: Supports Transparency, Rejects Junk Science
Green groups are upset because the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decided to rely on science, rather than environmentalist hype, in its draft risk assessment…
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A Discussion on Saving Bluebirds through Private Conservation, and a Tribute to Andy Thompson
The following interview of CEI Senior Fellow R.J. Smith was inspired with the encouragement of former CEI staff member Andy Thompson, who passed away recently.
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Solutions to Locust Plague Are the Same as for COVID: Freedom and Technology
As nations around the world have struggled to address COVID-19, desert locusts have wreaked havoc in Africa this year. For months, billions of these pests…
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Democrats Use Phony Asbestos Narrative to Attack CPSC Nominee Nancy Beck
During hearings related to Nancy Beck’s nomination to the Consumer Product Safety Commission earlier this month, Senate Democrats engaged in what basically amounted to character…
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Will Senator Udall Accept the Blame for Methylene Chloride Deaths?
Hearings for Nancy Beck’s nomination to chair the Consumer Product Safety Commission took place last week at which several Senate Democrats launched outrageous and unfair attacks.
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Green Activists Make Highly Dubious Claims about CPSC Nominee Nancy Beck
Left-of-center activists are opposing toxicologist Nancy Beck's nomination to head up the Consumer Product Safety Commission. They suggest that since she once worked for the…
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Green Activists’ Unwarranted Attacks on CPSC Nominee Nancy Beck
Left-of-center environmental activists are at it again, maligning the reputation of one of President Trump’s nominees—with little regard for the truth. One of their latest…
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Medical Supply Sterilization Plant Employee Corrects Chicago Tribune’s Misleading Coverage
An April 13 letter to the editor in the Chicago Tribune addresses the paper’s misleading and alarmist narrative about the use of ethylene oxide (EtO).
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EPA Inspector General Report Could Exacerbate Medical Supply Shortages
As hospitals struggle to access sterile medical supplies, the EPA Inspector General released a report that could make things worse. It alleges that EPA officials…
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The Guardian Props Up Lame Greenpeace Tirade, Ignores Potential COVID-19 Risks from Reusable Grocery Bags
The Guardian recently published a story on a Greenpeace attack on CEI for pointing out that reusable grocery bags might contain dangerous pathogens, including COVID-19.
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Greenpeace’s Swing and Miss Reveals Its Hypocrisy about Health Risks from Reusable Bags
According to Greenpeace, my recent article on the sanitary benefits of single-use plastic bags is part of an effort to “exploit” COVID-19 fears and promote…
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Locusts Threatening African Food Supply; Greens Oppose Only Solution
As billions of desert locusts swarm through East Africa and into Asia threatening the food supply of millions, environmental activists want to ban and regulate…
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May Common Sense Prevail: New York Delays Enforcement of Plastic Bag Ban
New York State’s ban on single-use plastic grocery bags was slated to start on Monday, March 1st, but a state court has just put a…
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Luddites, not Almond Milk, Pose Biggest Risk to Honeybees
A recent story in the Guardian alleges that almond growers are somehow uniquely responsible for substantial losses of honeybee hives, and that may eventually lead…
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Lawmakers’ Fatal Conceit on Recycling Should Be Trashed
“The more things change, the more they stay the same” is a wise observation, and it’s particularly true in politics. I’ve been following solid waste…
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A Federally Funded Witches’ Brew of Dangerous Advice
Halloween is the one day of the year kids enjoy being a little spooked. But what would you think about a taxpayer-sponsored effort to frighten…
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CEI Report: Universities Misuse Federal Children’s Environmental Health Grants to Pursue Political Agenda
For more than two decades the federal government has funded a number of “children’s environmental health centers.” Since they are housed in universities, you might…
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Children’s Environmental Health Programs Translate to Junk Science
For more than a decade now, the federal government has doled out millions of dollars to fund junk science and political activism under the guise…
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Anti-Plastic Crusade Proves Deadly
News reports this week described the tragic death of a British woman, who died last November while using a metal straw. Apparently, Elena Struthers-Gardner, a…
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CIRCLE of Misinformation Spread by Environmental Health Centers
This is the second in a series of posts regarding the Trump administration’s plan to cut Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grants to children’s environmental health…
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Federal Grants to ‘Children’s Health Centers’ Fund Junk Science
Environmental activists threw an ever-predictable tantrum after Environmental Protection Agency officials indicated last month that they may eliminate EPA grants to a number of university-based children’s…
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Markets, Not Mandates, Best Way to Manage Trash Disposal
Governments around the world often mandate recycling when there’s no market for the materials collected. Oftentimes, markets don’t exist simply because recycling certain materials requires…
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Trump EPA Crosses Important Threshold on Science Policy Reform; Greens Get Political
News coverage would make most people think that Trump administration officials are doing everything possible to undermine environmental protection and human health. One article even…
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Activists Build False Narrative to Fight Trump Reforms at EPA
Expect accusations to fly tomorrow as Democrats attempt to build a narrative that the Trump Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) wants to skirt science to allow…
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Maryland’s Nanny State Targets Foam Cups and Containers
Maryland consumers may soon be deprived of one of my favorite products: plastic foam coffee cups. The Maryland House of Delegates has already passed a…
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Setting the Record Straight on IRIS Reform Progress
The Competitive Enterprise Institute published my paper this week on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS). This is a research program that…
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Plastic Bag Ban Mania Will Do More Harm than Good
An anti-plastics craze has swept the country and the globe, prompting lawmakers to propose and impose bans on various plastic products—from straws to shopping bags…
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Senate Should Move Forward with Confirmation Votes on Buerkle, Others
With the 2018 election behind us, it’s time to look for opportunities to advance freedom and economic well-being. I don't expect much to happen congressionally given…
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Greens Want to Hide the Truth about Chlorpyrifos
Environmental crusades to ban pesticides often exaggerate chemical risks with little, if any, consideration of how bans undermine food production. And there is a reason…
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Unfounded Accusations Regarding Bees and Glyphosate
Recent accusations that a popular weed killer harms honeybees have become headline news in a wide range of sources including CBS News, The…
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Health and Human Services Secretary Should Halt Grants to UN Cancer Agency
Yesterday, Congress passed an appropriations bill that kept funding intact for the United Nations body known as the International Agency for Research on Cancer…
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New York State’s Proposed Plastic Bag Ban: Assaulting an American Dream
I recently wrote a blog post about entrepreneur Eli Amsel, who reached out to me about how nanny state regulators and lawmakers have waged war…
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Weed Killer Hype Lacks Scientific Support
The latest Environmental Working Group (EWG) “study” sounds an alarm regarding the chemical known as glyphosate, which is the active ingredient in the…
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The Roundup on Monsanto’s Roundup: Six Facts You Should Know
Yesterday, I addressed why last week’s court order calling for a ban on the pesticide chlorpyrifos was both dangerous and wrongheaded. Today, we look…
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Six Things You Should Know about the Pesticide Chlorpyrifos
Last week was a bad one for farmers. Two legal decisions were released that promise to undermine access to valuable agrochemicals that farmers need to…
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Escape from New York: Minimum Wage is Killing and Chasing Away Small Businesses
Big government is crushing small business owners around the nation, punishing decades of hard work and job creation. Too few people speak up as the…
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Last Chance for the 115th: Common-Sense Guidance on Regulating Flame Retardants
In “Free to Prosper: A Pro-Growth Agenda for the 115th Congress,” CEI recommended that Congress hold oversight hearings regarding the Consumer Product Safety Commission…
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Excessive Caution at EPA Produces Absurd Conclusions
In an April 24 blog post, I detailed why a recent National Academies of Sciences review of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Integrated Risk Information…
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Systematic Failures of Chemical Safety Research at Environmental Protection Agency
“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again” could be the motto of one of the key research programs at the U.S. Environmental Protection…
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Obama Holdovers Work to Save EPA Junk Science
Obama administration holdovers at the Environmental Protection Agency are doing their best undermine efforts to drain EPA’s bureaucratic swamp. And thus far, unfortunately, they’re succeeding.
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Human Achievement Benefits Nature’s Creatures—Including Pets
Environmental activists want you to “take action for our planet and nature” by sitting in the dark for an hour on March 24th. But…
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European Food Safety Assessment Proves Nothing about Risks to Bees
As European Union risk assessments purportedly “confirm” that pesticides threaten honeybees and lawmakers quickly clamor for pesticide bans, the stark reality is that so far…
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Is Using Pesticides an Act of Chemical Warfare?
While the benefits of judicious use of pesticides are quite clear and documented, the claims about chlorpyrifos being risky lack substance.
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New York Times’ Eric Lipton Smears EPA Chemical Office Official Nancy Beck
Recently, Project Veritas released a series of undercover videos that reveal how New York Times journalists are more interested in smearing the Trump administration…
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Common Sense Trumps Absurd Bottled Water Ban
Cheers to the Trump Administration for taking this common sense stand on bottled water in national parks.
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NYT Pesticide Exposé Only Exposes Foolish Reporting
EPA decision not to ban chlorpyrifos was based on sound science.
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Environmental Activists Continue to ‘Bee’ Wrong about Honeybee Health Challenges
Lawmakers need to start ignoring the environmentalist hype and let bee keepers continue to resolve environmental health challenges.
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EPA Should Stand Firm on Chlorpyrifos Decision
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt took the right stand in favor of sound science last March when he denied an activist petition to ban the pesticide…
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New Study Shows Minimal Pesticide Impact on Bees
95 percent of the time there were no detectable levels of neonics in hives or pollen from. This indicates a very minimal exposures, which should…
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Trump Can Fund Chemical Safety Review while Cutting EPA Budget
A recently leaked EPA memo reveals there are plenty of discretionary programs to cut.
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Let’s Make a Commitment to Human Ingenuity
Tomorrow, between 8:30 and 9:30 PM, environmental activists will show their commitment to Mother Nature by sitting in the dark for so-called “Earth Hour.” But…
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Trump Should Cut Government-Funded Junk Science
Congress should defund the anti-technology work of the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, which threatens human well-being and public health.
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Scrap Proposition 65, California’s Unscientific Chemical Safety Law
California lawmakers should oppose the effort to list glyphosate as a carcinogen under the state's chemical safety and risk law, originally adopted by voters as…
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Endangered Species Bee Listing Could Harm Bees, Butterflies, other Pollinators
In the interest of both pollinators and landowners, the incoming Trump Administration needs to advocate and pass serious reforms to the Endangered Species Act.
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The ‘Fake News’ Problem: Health and Safety Edition
The moniker “fake news” may have entered the mainstream lexicon in 2016, but phony and misleading news stories have always been a problem—and it’s a…
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Congress Should Target Unaccountable EPA Programs
The newly elected congressional majority should be ready and willing to help implement President elect-Donald Trump’s promise to tackle onerous regulations. But what about so…
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Fight Zika with Smarter Pesticide Rules
Last month, Congressional lawmakers set aside partisan disagreements and agreed to dole out $1.1 billion to combat the spread of the mosquito-transmitted Zika virus.
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WARNING: BPA Warning Labels Threaten Public Health
The state of California has extended an emergency rule that allows companies to wait until January 2017 before placing a warning on the label of…
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Reform of “Toxic Substance” Rules Could Increase Health Risks
Although it was not unwarranted for safety reasons (as I detailed before), TSCA reform has granted the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) greater power to remove…
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Federal Subsidies Won’t Promote Fair Housing
Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine recently outlined his and Hillary Clinton’s plan to promote fair housing. Basically, they want to throw money at the…
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Don’t Fear DEET-Based Insect Repellents
With the Zika virus now reportedly being transmitted by mosquitos here in the United States, consumers—expecting moms, kids, and everyone else--should be sure to use…
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Rounding Up the Cowards: EU Leaders Block Glyphosate
As reported in the Wall Street Journal this week, yet another valuable pesticide product may eventually be removed from the market place. But despite…
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One Enlightened Statesman: Sen. Rand Paul Pauses TSCA Bill
Three cheers to Senator Rand Paul for actually caring enough to read legislation before voting on its passage. Last week, he held up legislation…
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TSCA “Reform”: Consensus May Again Prove Toxic
According to a story in Bloomberg BNA, a final vote on legislation to reform the nation’s chemical law—the Toxic Substances Control Act—may be imminent. The…
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The Devil, the Details, and “Consensus” for “TSCA Modernization”
For some reason, there’s always near “consensus” when Congress passes environmental laws that later become controversial (for data, see my study from 2008 on…
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Trust in Government: A Bad Strategy for the Chemical Industry
There is a reason why people laugh when you say: “Trust me, I come from the government.” Governments are not particularly trustworthy because bureaucracies are…
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Glyphosate Saves Lives, Reduces Child Labor, and More
David Zaruk, aka the Risk Monger, has produced an excellent series of blog posts on why the herbicide glyphosate (the active ingredient in “Roundup”) is…
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Doing Away with Government Flammability Standards
During the past several years, there’s been much hype in the news alleging that flame retardant chemicals used on upholstered furniture pose unacceptable health risks. With…
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Human Achievement of the Day: Fighting Mosquito-Borne Diseases with Technology
For millennia, mosquitos have wreaked havoc on mankind, passing along myriad deadly or debilitating diseases. Mankind’s clever interventions—from screened windows to pesticides—have helped greatly control mosquito-transmitted…
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Regulation Poses Biggest Threat to Monarch Butterflies
Like many nature lovers and gardeners, last year I launched a milkweed garden for monarch butterflies, starting from seed. After a long summer of manually picking pesky…
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Zika Wake-Up Call
The spread of the mosquito-transmitted Zika virus should be yet another wake-up call for public officials around the world. As a relatively new threat, Zika has…
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The Many Bad Reasons to Support TSCA “Reform”
With reform to nation’s chemical law—the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)—basically around the corner, groups from both left and right are commenting on why we…
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Green Alarmism about Sunscreen Debunked
Often spoon-fed alarmist hype by green activist groups, reporters rarely get the science right about the risks associated with trace chemicals found in consumer products.
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How Markets Benefit Honeybees and Mankind
After more than a decade of panicked reports about honeybees disappearing and potentially going extinct because of a phenomenon called “colony collapse disorder,” The…
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Kudos to Rep. Tom McClintock for His Principled Stand
Last night, the U.S. House of Representatives passed its version of TSCA reform (H.R. 2576) by a roll call vote of 398 in favor, one opposed,…
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Suspending Reason to Pass “TSCA Reform”
The process of lawmaking is often compared to sausage making: an unpalatable job that produces a palatable result. It’s easy to agree with the first part…
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Pollinator “Strategy”: Pork Barrel, Handouts, and Counterproductive Pesticide Policy
The Obama administration has finally released its National Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and other Pollinators. It’s the federal government’s answer to all…
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U.S. Pollinator Policy Should Focus on Facts Rather than Alarmism
Today, the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Biotechnology, Horticulture and Research is holding a hearing on “pollinator health” to discuss a national strategy designed to improve honeybee…
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On Bee Enslavement and Other Nonsense
I’ve seen many crazy headlines about the challenges facing honeybees, but this one takes the cake: “Bee collapse is the result of their enslavement…
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Who Dares Question the Mighty Oz?
Yesterday, Dr. Mehmet Oz launched his “counter attack” on several doctors who sent a letter last week to the dean of Columbia University’s medical department complaining…
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Dr. Oz Rebuked by Medical Professionals
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Honeybees are Not Headed for Extinction
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A Voluntary Approach to Helping the Honeybee
Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute published my paper on the honeybee health issue and pesticide use. We have had several media outlets ask, why…
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TSCA Reform Debate Is Not about Public Safety
At recent hearings on the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (S. 697), senators, environmental activists, and local government officials claimed…
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Arsenic in Wine: Dangerous or Beneficial?
Dan Nosowitz in Modern Farmer offers some insights on the recent class action lawsuit filed against California winemakers. The plaintiffs found that some inexpensive wines contained arsenic at levels…
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Data Torturing at the CPSC
James Mills of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development lamented in an article in the New England Journal of Medicine back in 1993: “‘If…
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CPSC’s Scientific Shenanigans on Phthalates
Many “stakeholders” have complained about the process through which the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) developed its proposed rule related to a class of chemicals…
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CPSC Proposal on Phthalates Likely to Do More Harm than Good
On Monday, the Consumer Product Safety Commission will close the comment period for a proposed rule related to chemicals used to make soft and pliable…
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Tainted Claims about “Agglomerated” Corks
A recent article in Wine Industry Insight titled “Micro-Agglomerates: 350 Million Illegal Corks Per Year?” reports: “Agglomerated cork manufacturers and importers are facing scrutiny from two major…
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European Food Safety Authority Confirms BPA Safety—Again
The debate over the chemical Bisphenol A (BPA) has raged for years, with environmental activists continually hyping the risks associated with it. Used to…