Behind Bate

In a major article profiling Roger Bate, one of the leading think tank players, Adam Sarvana writes that Bate is "to the environmental movement what Bugs Bunny is to Elmer Fudd, a clever, slippery and often triumphant adversary. But unlike Bugs, who cuts a wide swath, Bate is unknown even to his favorite targets. Indeed, it’s safe to say that his name is unknown to many of the players in the ongoing conflict over science’s role in public policy." Bate has worked for a range of think tanks including the Institute for Economic Affairs in the UK, the Competitive Enterprise Institute and more recently the American Enterprise Institute in the U.S. Sarvana, who drew background material in part from the Center for Media and Democracy's SourceWatch website, concludes that in the debate over health care reform in the U.S., "Roger Bate has once again found a signature issue and staked out a comfortable, lucrative position that will keep him active for years to come."