CONTACT: EWG Public Affairs, 202-667-6982 leeann@ewg.org; Beyond Pesticides: Jay Feldman, 202-543-5450; Fluoride Action Network: Ellen Connett, 315-379-9200
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 10, 2011
Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today proposed to grant three environmental groups’ petition to end the use of sulfuryl fluoride, an insecticide and food fumigant manufactured by Dow AgroSciences.
The Dow product, approved by EPA as an alternative to methyl bromide, is used on hundreds of food commodities.
Citing concerns about children’s health and noting their current overexposure to fluoride through tap water, EPA’s decision is the second major federal action in three days to address the safety of fluoride for children. On January 7, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services proposed to reduce its recommended maximum level of fluoride in tap water from 1.2 to 0.7 parts per million (ppm), a 42 percent decrease.
In 2004, Fluoride Action Network, Environmental Working Group, and Beyond Pesticides challenged EPA’s risk assessment of the pesticide sulfuryl fluoride under the Food Quality and Protection Act of 1996, which regulates pesticide safety. The groups objected that EPA’s methodology relied on an outdated health risk assessment and significantly underestimated children’s exposures to fluoride from all sources.
With today’s announcement, the EPA Office of Pesticide Program has concluded that the current legal limit of the pesticide residue on food does not adequately protect children from aggregate fluoride exposures, such as drinking water and toothpaste.
The Top Ten Foreign Holders of U.s. Debt in November 2009:
Country Amount
China, Mainland $789.6 billion
Japan $757.3 billion
U.K. $277.5 billion
Oil Exporters $187.7 billion
(including Ecuador,
Venezuela, Indonesia,
Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait,
Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia,
the United Arab Emirates,
Algeria, Gabon, Libya,
and Nigeria)
Caribbean Banking Centers $179.8 billion
(includes the Bahamas,
Bermuda, Cayman Islands,
Netherlands Antilles,
Panama, and British Virgin Islands)
Brazil $157.1 billion
Hong Kong $146.2 billion
Russia $128.1 billion
Luxembourg $91.7 billion
Taiwan $78.4 billion
Source: Department of the Treasury/Federal Reserve Board as reported in CRS report The Federal Government Debt: Its Size and Economic Signifcance, Feb. 3, 2010. http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL31590_20100203.pdf.
The below was inspired by a close look at the evolving concept of cyber-commands. In our judgment, LtGen Keith Alexander, USA and those in charge of the various service cyber-commands are headed for spectacularly expensive failure, minor operational successes not-with-standing. The officers concerned are well-intentioned, precisely like their predecessors who chose to ignore precisely the same insights published in 1994–they simply lack the intestinal fortitude to break with the past and get it right for a change. What they plan is the cyber equivalent of “clear, hold, build,” and just as mis-guided. They are out of touch with reality and will remain so. They will all be happily retired long before the predictable recognition of their failure occurs, and the next generation of young flags will make the same mistakes again…and again…until we get an honest President with an honest Office of Management and Budget (OMB) able to demand and enforce integrity across the board.
Diversity, like fire, is a powerful part of life. Let us use it well on our shared journey, weaving our unique stories into new possibilities around the great shared fire of life.
Our use of the word “diversity” primarily to address issues of
racism, classism, sexism, and other oppressive isms has blinded us to the fact that diversity is a vast fact of life, deeply embedded not only in humanity but in natural systems and in the very fabric of the universe.
Diversity, like fire and genius, can be problematic. And like
fire and genius, diversity has creative power we can use to
make life better.
Daniel P. Mulhollan, director of the Congressional Research Service, told CRS staff last week that he will be retiring in April. Mr. Mulhollan, who joined CRS in 1969, has been director of the congressional support organization for the past 14 years, making him its longest-serving leader.
Although the basic parameters of CRS operation are set by Congress, Mr. Mulhollan's departure may encourage reconsideration of some particular CRS policies that he favored. These could include, for example, the CRS posture of strict neutrality, the deliberate erosion of CRS expertise in recent years, and perhaps the policy of barring direct public access to CRS reports.
“Dan loved CRS, and he worked hard to keep it above the Hill's political fray,” said one CRS analyst. “He kept CRS from suffering what GAO did– getting downsized because it was viewed as too friendly to one political party.”
But a former CRS analyst saw the issue of CRS impartiality differently: “In 2003, Dan invented a new standard of ‘neutrality' that prohibits any analyst, no matter the weight of evidence, from stating that one position is stronger than another. The result is a remarkable watering down of CRS reports, a trend that has been noticed not only by congressional staff but by readers outside of Congress. Neither CBO nor GAO follows the standard of ‘neutrality',” the former analyst said.
Another question is whether CRS should provide greater depth of analytical expertise or whether it should emphasize basic tutorials and reference services geared particularly towards new members and younger staffers.
The Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 mandated the appointment of highly qualified Specialists and Senior Specialists at CRS to be “available for special work” for congressional committees and members, on topics such as American government, foreign policy, economics, and others.
Under Mr. Mulhollan, these top two levels of CRS expertise have atrophied. “Not since 1989 has CRS hired a Senior Specialist,” according to a former analyst. In 1988 there were 18 of them. “The number is now down to four, with all facing retirement.” Similarly, in the late 1980s there were 38 research Specialists. “The number is now down to five, with all close to retirement.”
“In short, Dan over his reign has wiped out the two top levels of analytical competence” at CRS, the former analyst said. He has allocated their slots and salaries to “full-time administrators who have never done analytical work.”
A current CRS analyst said the future of the organization would have to be different from its past, and that sophisticated subject matter expertise may not be the main thing that Congress is looking for. “CRS is famed for being apolitical and expert, but some congressional staff also find it a bit stodgy. For example, the CRS website lacks full text search, and it doesn't have podcasts or videos. It's just a heap of long, dry reports, and often what the staffers need are primers or short essays.”
As for the policy of blocking direct public access to CRS reports, Congress is responsible for that, but it was firmly embraced by Mr. Mulhollan. (On various occasions since the 1990s, he expressed disapproval of FAS due to our continuing practice of publishing CRS reports online.) His successor could conceivably help to facilitate a change of direction in this area.
Before his departure, Mr. Mulhollan is expected to name an acting director, “someone who likely will continue his management policies and practices,” according to one observer. The appointment of a new CRS director will be up to the Librarian of Congress.
Phi Beta Iota: In combination with the televised comments of Douglas Holtz-Eakin, former Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), in the 2003-2005 timeframe, what is clear is that CRS and CBO have both been castrated by Congress and are neither allowed nor expected to actually report the truth with all its nuances. CRS and CBO have been corrupted from within.
EPA to Bar Fluoride-Based Pesticide
