TEFLON UNDER ATTACK: FOR THE USUAL BOGUS REASONS

(I was tempted to say: "But the charges won't stick"!). The real reason Greenies have for the attack is that teflon is so widely used that attacking it offers the maximum prospect of disrupting the everyday lives of ordinary people

The uncanny ability of President Ronald Reagan to deflect public criticism won him the nickname, "The Teflon President." Ironically, now it is Teflon itself that is facing the heat, as anti-chemical groups and trial attorneys have joined forces to cook up controversy over a product that has become one of America's most trusted consumer icons, as well as an integral part of our language, like Thermos and Kleenex.

The radical Environmental Working Group has charged that the billions of meals worldwide prepared every day on Teflon cookware are being contaminated with "Teflon toxins," and two Florida-based law firms have filed a $5 billion class-action suit in eight states against the manufacturer, DuPont, for "failing" to warn consumers about the product's alleged dangers. But, like many product-safety scares these days, these charges are bogus. And that really fries us.

The truth is that an EPA advisory panel has recommended more testing of a chemical known as PFOA, which is used to make non-stick coatings and numerous other products, including those trademarked as Teflon. However, both Teflon and PFOA have been the subject of numerous studies, and there is not a shred of evidence that either poses a human health risk.

Only when tested at very high doses on mice and rats, has PFOA been shown to cause cancer, but under the EPA's current policy, such questionable animal data are enough to classify the chemical as a "likely human carcinogen." That high-dose test methodology is unreliable, though, because it is totally irrelevant to real world exposures. In fact, a wide spectrum of naturally occurring chemicals -- including many that are common constituents of our diet -- also cause cancer in lab animals at high doses. At the very low doses to which humans are actually exposed, most natural and synthetic chemicals are completely harmless.

Most compelling of all, PFOA is not present in the actual non-stick cookware coating -- including pots and pans coated with Teflon. A recent peer-reviewed published study confirmed that there is no detectable consumer exposure to PFOA through Teflon-coated cookware. Even the chronically over-cautious European Food Safety Administration recently dismissed the trumped up concerns and allowed the continued use of non-stick coatings in cookware. Studies in Denmark and China also have also confirmed Teflon's safety. Finally, the risk-averse U.S. EPA has stated quite clearly that it "does not believe there is any reason for consumers to stop using any consumer or industrial related products" as a result of their ongoing investigation into PFOA.

That should be the end of the story. But the persuasive evidence against any injury caused by Teflon doesn't faze attorney Alan Kluger. "I don't have to prove that it causes cancer," he said. "I only have to prove that DuPont lied in a massive attempt to continue selling their product."

What's going on here? The typical formula used in these big class action suits is to trump up some bogus health claim, demand a quick settlement, and then cut and run before the facts are weighed in litigation. The lawyers know they can count on people's fear of chemicals and their natural concern for the health of their families to generate public outrage. Teflon has been around for half a century and is ubiquitous.

As toxicologist and president of the American Council on Science and Health Dr. Elizabeth Whelan has pointed out, "Teflon, probably more than any industrial product, is the poster child of modern technology, one that has made our lives easier and more enjoyable." It is precisely the product's "stellar success story [that] makes it a very ripe target for those who spew chemical-phobia in their crusade to eliminate the tools modern industrial chemistry has given us -- pesticides, pharmaceuticals, food additives, and more."

Another factor in pursuing bogus claims is that the plaintiffs' lawyers know they can often count on a major corporation like DuPont to capitulate in order to protect its reputation. In 2004, for example, the company paid an $82 million out-of-court settlement to the residents of Parkersburg, West Virginia, who alleged that PFOA from a nearby DuPont plant had tainted their water supplies -- in spite of the lack of any supportive evidence. In fact, a University of Pennsylvania study examined neighbors of the Parkersburg claimants who used the same water source and found no harmful effects. We hope that this time DuPont fights to the bitter end to expose this class action charade....

Distortion and manipulation of science by self-styled consumer groups in pursuit of political agendas and by voracious plaintiffs' attorneys looking for the next big score erodes our society's capacity to innovate and prosper. It jeopardizes safe and beneficial products and harms manufacturers and their employees. In the absence of persuasive evidence vetted by experts, consumers should reject the attacks on Teflon, as well as on other essential products like vaccines, pesticides, medical drugs, and many others. The charges just won't stick.

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BRITISH GOVERNMENT IS SLOWLY TURNING THE SHIP OF STATE AWAY FROM "KYOTO"

Let me predict right now that Greenies will soon be calling the new body, "The Stern Gang"

The Chancellor announced on 19 July 2005 that he had asked Sir Nicholas Stern to lead a major review of the economics of climate change, to understand more comprehensively the nature of the economic challenges and how they can be met, in the UK and globally. The Terms of Reference for the review have now been announced and are annexed to this Press Notice. A call for evidence has also been issued.

The review will be taken forward jointly by the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury, and will report to the Prime Minister and Chancellor by Autumn 2006. It takes place within the context of existing national and international climate change policy. The announcement of this review is a further demonstration of the importance which this Government attaches to the issue of climate change, and follows its decision to make climate change a priority for the UK Presidencies of the G8 and EU.

Sir Nicholas is Head of the Government Economic Service, and has also been appointed today as Adviser to the Government on the economics of climate change and development. He said: "I am delighted to be taking on the challenge of conducting this review of the economics of climate change. Climate change is one of the most serious issues facing the world in the 21st century. In order to tackle it whilst also promoting a dynamic, equitable and sustainable global economy, we will need to have a deep understanding of the economics of this complex problem. That is what I hope this Review can achieve"

Sir Nicholas is today asking interested stakeholders in the UK and the rest of the world, including academic, private sector, scientific, NGO and other experts, to submit evidence to the Review. Evidence on all areas relevant to the Terms of Reference will be welcomed. The deadline for evidence to be submitted is 9 December 2005.

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Planet endures hottest month since 1880

You've read the headline now read the story:

"September was the hottest month recorded on the planet Earth since 1880, US weather trackers said overnight. The global temperature was 0.63 degree C above the mean going back to 1880, when the first reliable instrument recordings were available, said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, part of the US Commerce Department.

Earth's second-hottest month was September 2003, but September 2005 was only the fourth-hottest month ever for the United States, NOAA said.

This year, the US state of Louisiana had its hottest September in 111 years. The US Gulf Coast was battered by the first of two hurricanes on August 29, during a particularly active tropical storm season".

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So although we appear to be amid a period of slight warming, the warming is so slight (less than one degree above the average for the last 125 years) that what was true of the earth as a whole was not true of the USA nor of Louisiana. In other words, if you are looking at tiny variations in temperature, what the hottest period is varies from place to place. How surprising! If you keep looking hard enough at even a series of random numbers you will always find unusual bits here and there -- particularly if you are looking at only a tiny fragment of the total sequence -- and records going back only 125 years are a VERY tiny fragment of the earth's temperature history -- a history which proxy measurements show to be highly variable. And in months when the temperature is below average, do we hear: "Earth cools down"? I think not.

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Many people would like to be kind to others so Leftists exploit that with their nonsense about equality. Most people want a clean, green environment so Greenies exploit that by inventing all sorts of far-fetched threats to the environment. But for both, the real motive is to promote themselves as wiser and better than everyone else, truth regardless.

Global warming has taken the place of Communism as an absurdity that "liberals" will defend to the death regardless of the evidence showing its folly. Evidence never has mattered to real Leftists

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