Media Advisory
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Media Advisory
Date:
Wed, 22 Jan 2003 12:39:43 -0500
From:
Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization: Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)
To: Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
Director, State of California, Department of Pesticide
Regulation
cc: Christine Whitman whitman.christine@epa.gov
Environmental Media Services
http://www.ems.org/advisories/science_panels.html
18 January 2003
MEDIA ADVISORY
On the record media briefing
Thursday, January 23, 2003
CONTACT: Nathan Naylor or Kalee Kreider, Fenton Communications, 202/822-5200
Top Scientists Concerned About Politicization of the Government's Science Advisory Process
Use of Political Litmus Tests for Selection of Scientific Experts
Washington, D.C. - As reported in the journal Science, senior scientific experts have become increasingly concerned with the influence that the political process is exerting over federal scientific advisory panels. Although the Washington Post initially reported that the number of scientists with ties to polluting industries had proliferated in environmental health panels, the story does not end there. In fact, this trend can be documented in a wide variety of scientific advisory panels, which advise many of the top agencies in the U.S. government.
Please join us to hear the experts outline how the selection process for these panels was designed to work and how it has worked in the past, compared with recent incidences of political interference. They will explain how this process affects the role scientists play in assisting the government - from issues such as reproductive rights and unhealthful exposures to chemicals, to allocating resources to scientifically validated priorities such as stem cell research.
WHO: David Michaels, Ph.D., MPH, Research Professor, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, The George Washington University School of Public Health. Dr. Michaels was Secretary Bill Richardson's Assistant Energy Secretary for Environment, Safety and Health from 1998-2001.
Martin Apple, Ph.D. President, Council of Scientific Society Presidents, Chair of the Board of Visitors at University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute
Lynn Goldman, M.D., MPH, Professor, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Goldman was Assistant Administrator for EPA's Office of Prevention, Pesticide and Toxic Substances between 1993-1998.
Kelly O'Brien, MPA Associate Executive Director, Public Affairs, American Public Health Association
WHAT: Environmental Media Services on the record press event
WHERE: Willard Hotel, 1401 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
WHEN: 9:30 a.m., Thursday, January 23
Environmental Media Services
1320 18th Street NW 2nd Floor
Washington, DC 20036
(202) 463-6670
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ems@ems.org
©2002 Environmental Media Services
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