![]() There has been a long-standing debate on the risks of many chemicals and for many years the chemical industry has dominated the toxic substance regulatory process through both Republican and Democratic administrations. Bowman was a spokeswoman for the American Chemistry Council.” “The only thing inappropriate and biased is your continued fixation on writing elitist clickbait trying to attack qualified professionals committed to serving their country.” Before joining the E.P.A., Ms. “No matter how much information we give you, you would never write a fair piece,” Liz Bowman, a spokeswoman for the E.P.A., said in an email. Beck declined repeated requests to comment that included detailed lists of questions. In Eric Lipton’s New York Times story on this issue last weekend, he reported that: Perhaps worse than this effort to turn toxic chemical regulation over to the chemical industry is EPA’s unwillingness to defend their approach in any media the administration does not control. This is done in the interest of reducing “regulatory burden” on the chemical industry. Their strategy has not been to end regulation, since that would be illegal, but to make it more difficult to track the impact of regulatory controls. ![]() Beck, formerly of the American Chemistry Council, a chemical industry trade group, has been serving as a principal deputy to Pruitt on the regulation of toxic chemicals. In a trend that we are starting to see throughout the federal government, former industry lobbyists are being given key positions in regulatory agencies. EPA under President Trump and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has been moving to weaken already inadequate U.S. Fewer than half of these high-production-volume chemicals have been fully tested for safety.”ĭespite these findings, the U.S. “There are more than 140,000 new chemicals since 1950-5,000 of these materials are produced in great volume. While America has been a leader in the half-century-long effort to clean up our environment, the anti-regulatory zealots now running this country’s executive branch are doing their best to eliminate that progress. The notion that poisoning the planet is bad for people and profits is not shared universally. Companies that learn to control these costs can outcompete those that ignore the cost impacts of pollution and wasted resources. Moreover, formerly free and low-cost resources, such as water, minerals and even energy are becoming significant cost factors in many organizations. Nevertheless, I believe that on a more crowded planet, with instant and inexpensive global communication, a company that engages in wanton acts of environmental destruction will not survive long in the market place. People learn through lore and stories, and the drama of a factory shut down is more memorable than anyone’s cost-benefit data. That is what has given rise to the myth that we must trade off economic growth against environmental protection. ![]() One problem with a macro-analysis such as Lancet’s is that many of the costs of pollution control are incurred by specific firms and localities while the benefits are provided to an entire society. I strongly believe that sustainability management―or managing organizations to ensure they minimize their environmental impact― will come to be synonymous with competent management. has invested about $65 billion in air pollution control and received about $1.5 trillion in benefits. Every dollar invested in air pollution control generates thirty dollars of benefits. The study reported that in the United States, air pollution control pays off at a rate of 30-1. According to this Commission, the global financial costs of pollution are huge, totaling “$4.6 trillion per year-6.2% of global economic output”. In wealthier nations that have worked to reduce pollution, the benefits of pollution control far outweigh the costs. ![]() Nearly all of these deaths (92%) took place in poorer nations. Exposures to contaminated air, water and soil kill more people than smoking, hunger, natural disasters, war, AIDS, or malaria.” “In 2015, diseases caused by air, water and soil pollution were responsible for 9 million premature deaths, that is 16% of all global death. Last week, the Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health issued its report on the global impact of environmental pollution. Read more from Executive Director Steven Cohen on the Huffington Post.
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