TOXIC
DANGERS
HUFFINGTON
11.11.12
FROM TOP: COURTESY OF ED BROWN ; DAVID MCNEW/GETTY IMAGES
INDUSTRY
INFLUENCE
When Steingraber and her family moved to Ulysses, New York,
in 2003, she said it “seemed like
the perfect place.” Having grown
up herself downwind from polluting coal-fired power plants in
Illinois, she appreciated the clean
air, the clean water and the region’s nonexistent history of fossil fuel extraction.
Little did she know, however,
that the natural gas industry already had their eyes on the shale
beneath her home. “I had no idea
that the house sits on top of bedrock that contains a motherlode of
methane,” said Steingraber.
Yet again, a mother’s best efforts
could fall short of protecting her
children from toxic chemicals. Steingraber continues to fight against
fracking in upstate New York,
which she believes “poses a massive public health problem.” She
is further convinced that the road
to TSCA reform “runs straight
through our energy system.”
Byproducts from fossil fuel production are used by the chemical
industry to create common goods
including solvents, pesticides and
plastics.
The pervasiveness and persistence of the chemical economy is
obvious to Brown as well. He suggests a different course: simply
embrace it.
“Ultimately, I see all of these
companies — DuPont, Monsanto,
Dow — as having to be part of the
solution long-term. For anyone to
have any illusions that those companies and their influence isn’t going to be a factor in changing chemical policy is naive,” said Brown.
The success to-date of the European Union’s progressive new
chemical regulation has largely
been dependent on the cooperation
of many actors, including industry
and other stakeholders, according
to EU officials. Sen. Lautenberg is
hopeful that similar collaborations
ABOVE: A still
of household
cleaning
products
from Brown’s
documentary.
BELOW: A
crop duster
sprays
pesticides.