Environment

Monsanto Hid Decades of Pollution

Submitted by Laura Miller on

Washington Post reporter Michael Grunwald uncovers a decades-long campaign by Monsanto to hide its extremely toxic PCB pollution in Anniston, Alabama. Monsanto held a monopoly on PCB production in the United States until they stopped making them in 1977. For nearly 40 years while producing PCBs at the Anniston plant, Grunwald reports, Monsanto knew that the PCBs they were dumping into an Anniston creek and open-pit landfills were toxic and they concealed that knowledge.

No
Main Source: 
Washington Post, December 31, 2001
Topics: 
Corporations
Environment
Secrecy

Denying Global Warming Bad For ExxonMobil's Reputaion

Submitted by Laura Miller on

PR trade publication O'Dwyer's PR Daily reports: "Robert Monks, Chairman of LENS Investment Management and Ram Trust Services, has filed a resolution calling for the separation of the Chairman and CEO positions at ExxonMobil because he believes the current holder of the posts, Lee Raymond, and his denial of the global warming problem is destroying the reputation of the energy giant. Monks says Raymond's 'extreme position' and negative public image is the reason that ExxonMobil's stock is 'undervalued compared to its peer group when it should be at a premium.'"

No
Main Source: 
O'Dwyer's PR Daily, December 18, 2001
Topics: 
Climate Change
Corporations

Tokyo 'Stifled EU Study On Mad-Cow Danger'

Submitted by Laura Miller on

"A study by the European Union completed earlier this year claimed that Japan was at high risk of an outbreak of the deadly mad-cow disease, but it was never published because of objections from Tokyo, a Japanese newspaper said yesterday," reports the Straits Times. The story broke just days after the Japanese government announced that a fourth cow was suspected to be infected with mad cow disease (BSE). The three other cases have been confirmed.

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Main Source: 
The Straits Times, December 14, 2001
Topics: 
Mad Cow Disease

How a Pseudo-Scientist Duped the Big Media

Submitted by John Stauber on

"Bjorn Lomborg's new book, The Skeptical Environmentalist, brings us glorious news. The world's environment is getting better, not worse. ... If this sounds too good to be true, that's because it is. The Skeptical Environmentalist presents itself as a work of impartial scholarship, an attempt to test the validity of various environmental concerns through a careful analysis of the evidence. In fact, it's a polemic, an intellectually dishonest tract filled with glaring omissions, appalling errors of fact and analysis, and inaccurate characterizations of contrary arguments.

No
Main Source: 
TomPaine.com
Topics: 
Environment
Science

Lobbyist Tells of Graham's War on Health & Safety Regs

Submitted by John Stauber on

John D. Graham founded the industry-funded Harvard Center for Risk Analysis that last week issued a whitewash report on mad cow risks in the US. Now Graham has a new government post at the Office of Management and Budget where he is leading the Bush administration's assault on environmental, health and safety regulations. The secret plotting between business lobbyists and Graham has even angered a lobbyist who leaked information to the Washington Post. The documents "provide another glimpse of behind-the-scenes strategy-setting by business lobbyists" such as the U.S.

No
Main Source: 
Washington Post
Topics: 
Environment
Health
Lobbying
U.S. Government

US Fails to Adequately Test Cattle for Mad Cow Disease

Submitted by John Stauber on

A USDA-funded study by the industry-supported Harvard Center for Risk Analysis concludes that British mad cow disease is "very unlikely" to be a problem in the US. Unfortunately the study is seriously flawed because it is based on computer modeling, not real world testing. The US refuses to conduct an adequate number of tests on cattle to determine if British BSE exists in the US. Dr. John Collinge, a British BSE researcher, says that "after mandatory testing ...

No
Main Source: 
New York Times
Topics: 
Mad Cow Disease

The UN's Rio+10 Summit: Banking on Feelgood PR

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

In October 2001, captains of industry from around the world marked the tenth anniversay of the United Nation's environmental summit in Rio de Janiero by gathered in Paris for a major strategy meeting, hosted by Business Action for Sustainable Development (BASD).

No
Main Source: 
Corporate Europe Observer, December 2001
Topics: 
Corporate Social Responsibility
Environment

Cloning Story Was Offspring of Hype

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

The bold announcement from Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) that it had taken steps to create human embryos through cloning was more hype than reality. The methods used had already been done in animals, and some scientists insisted it wasn't cloning at all. Also, the few embryonic cells it had created had died. "This was a public relations campaign," said Arthur Caplan, director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

No
Main Source: 
Buffalo News, November 30, 2001
Topics: 
Genetic Engineering
Public Relations

Terrorizing the Environmental Movement

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

Rep. Scott McInnis of the GOP wants leading green groups to denounce eco-terror, though they're already on record against it. Is he using Sept. 11 to crack down on groups he disagrees with? Environmental activist Ray Vaughan responds to McInnis: "We have long fought against those secretive multi-national organizations that have sponsored 'environmental terrorism' in America. Throughout our great land, these groups are poisoning our air, our water and our food supply. Children have been hurt. People have been killed. ...

No
Main Source: 
Salon.com, November 26, 2001
Topics: 
Terrorism
Environment

Pitching Pharma

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

According to Clive Cookson, science editor for the Financial Times, news coverage of biotechnology "often appears in a form that anyone who really knows about the subject recognizes as grossly exaggerated, either as positive stories in the time-honoured 'miracle cure' genre or as negative scare stories." Cookson offers tips to help companies make sure the spin goes their way: "The most important thing is to build up a good long-term relationship with journalists. Make friends with them ... Help journalists write stories about your company or research field.

No
Main Source: 
HMS Beagle, November 23, 2001
Topics: 
Genetic Engineering

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