1.Revolving doors
2.In the Loop -- Washington Post
3.NEW EPA HEAD FINDS GENETIC FOOD FIGHT WAITING -- PressRelease
---
1. Revolving doors -- the industrial alignment of public service and regulatory authorities through shared personnel/agendas
Business as usual with Linda Fisher, who also did a stint as vice president for government and public affairs at Monsanto, heading to be no. 2 at the EPA - Linda's been through those revolving doors before along with an extraordinary list of other folk.
Here's some excerpts from a speech by Ann Clark on the pattern to date:
"....Insider Trading? It is difficult to envision how government decisions can be made impartially and objectively - with societal and environmental interests in the forefront - when people in positions of high authority frequently have such strong ties to industry. A brief listing of key people who have migrated between the biotech industry and the USDA, the FDA, or the EPA in recent years would include Linda Fisher (EPA to Monsanto); Val Giddings (USDA to BIO), Terrence Harvey (FDA to Monsanto), Margaret Miller (Monsanto to FDA), Keith Reding (USDA to Monsanto), Michael Taylor (lawyer representing Monsanto to USDA), and Sally Van Wert (USDA to AgrEvo). These are not bench scientists, but people with key, governmental regulatory positions, often over the very products they are/were involved with in industry." http://www.oac.uoguelph.ca/www/CRSC/faculty/eac/biotech.htm
For more on the "revolving door": http://www.edmonds-institute.org/door.html and 'Revolving dooors and FDA regulatory scandals' - Ecologist article (Sept/Oct 98) http://www.psrast.org/ecologmons.htm The Washington Post
---
2. In the Loop
By Al Kamen
Washington Post
February 07, 2001
At the Environmental Protection Agency, word is that Linda Fisher, assistant administrator for toxics and pesticides in Bush I, is to return as Administrator Christine Todd Whitman's No. 2.
A source close to the situation described the Fisher appointment as close to a done deal. Whitman met with transition team members and current EPA senior staff yesterday to discuss who might take the top agency jobs, which in addition to deputy administrator include the assistant administrators for air, water, toxics and several other key areas.
The appointment of Fisher, who also did a stint as vice president for government and public affairs at Monsanto Co., is certain to anger enviro activists working to limit production of genetically modified crops, a company specialty.
Herb Tate, another EPA veteran currently running the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, is also rumored to be in line for one of the top jobs -- if he wants it. The trouble for Whitman, according to a knowledgeable source, is that anything less than the No. 2 slot might not be enough to lure Tate, a rising African American political player.
Washington lawyer Donald A. Carr is also said to be in line for a top job. Carr, a partner in the D.C. office of Pillsbury Winthrop, currently advises chemical and pharmaceutical companies on air toxics and Superfund matters. He worked at the Justice Department under former presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush, rising as high as acting head of the lands and natural resources division.
Also on the enviro front, buzz continues to point to John Howard, President Bush's environmental director in Texas, as the next head of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
---
3. NEW EPA HEAD FINDS GENETIC FOOD FIGHT WAITING
Whitman to Name Former Monsanto Executive as Second at Agency. StarLink Dumped at EPA Headquarters (7 Feb 2001, PEER PressRelease) to be filed at: http://www.peer.org/action/index.shtml
WASHINGTON - More than a ton of StarLink corn dumped at EPA headquarters today provided a welcome mat for Christine Todd Whitman, just starting her new job as head of the agency, and a reminder of the genetic food fight that is waiting her attention.
A dozen Greenpeace activists dressed in biohazard suits and holding a banner reading, "Genetic Experiment - Whitman: StarLink Corn Isn't Food!," piled the gene-altered corn in the Environmental Protection Agency's driveway to underscore the group's demands that the agency not approve the animal feed crop for human food. Scientists have warned that the altered corn could trigger dangerous allergies in some people, with children at greatest risk.
In a move that signals a continuing revolving door between regulators and the biotech industry, Whitman is expected to name former Monsanto executive Linda Fisher as Deputy Administrator of EPA, according to today's Washington Post. Fisher is just the latest genetic engineering crony to be added to the Bush administration, which already includes at least four others with ties to Monsanto.
"The Bush Administration is shamelessly handing over our food to the gene giants," said Charles Margulis, Greenpeace Genetic Engineering Specialist. "Christy Whitman is known for favoring dirty industries over scientific precaution, and with Monsanto attached at her hip, we're sure to see more genetic food pollution."
The American Chemical Council (ACC), a trade group that includes the major producers of engineered crops, has already reacted warmly to the Whitman's appointment. According to Chemical Week, ACA President Fred Webber "is optimistic about the appointment given Whitman's record in New Jersey." Even before her confirmation as the new EPA chief, Whitman called Webber to express her desire to work together with the industry.
ACC has good reason to be optimistic. The former New Jersey Governor has a reputation, even among her own agency staff, for being soft on polluters. According to a 1997 survey of over 700 New Jersey Department of Environmental Quality staffers, enforcement of environmental laws under Whitman was marred by "excessive corporate influence and manipulation of scientific findings." The survey, conducted by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), found that more than half of the environmental staffers felt that "scientific evaluations are influenced by political considerations" under Whitman.
Since last fall, nearly 300 food products have been contaminated with StarLink corn. EPA approved StarLink only for animal feed, and required Aventis, the developer of the corn, to insure that the corn is used only for feed. EPA officials have stated that Aventis illegally allowed StarLink to contaminate the food supply, but the agency has never indicated that it would enforce its rules against the company.
"Christy Whitman has been cozying up to the chemical and biotech industries while environmentalists and consumers are left holding the feed bag," said Margulis. "Wealthy companies should not be granted pardons, they should be held accountable for polluting our food."