"At 'HuffPo' Fearmongering Is an Olympic Sport," By Jeff Stier. What is to blame for spiraling medical spending? Exposure to chemicals in food containers, of course. In a dazzling display of confusion between association and causation, Huffington Post environmental and public health columnist Lynne Peeples writes that: "Health care spending in the U.S. has surged more than eightfold since the 1960s. Skyrocketing in that same time: Rates of chronic disease, use of synthetic chemicals, and … [Read more...]
Politics Behind Proposed BPA Bans
October 3, 2013
"The EU, US Approaches to Endocrine Disruptors Have Been Appropriate Until Now," by Jeff Stier. When it comes to food safety, the European Union and the United States have some of the most effective scientific and regulatory programs in the world. So it came as a surprise when France flouted the studies and assurances of EU and US food safety regulators and sought to ban the use of Bisphenol A (BPA) in any food contact item starting in 2015. Read the full article on Euractiv. … [Read more...]
Accidental Bee Kill Not Excuse for Bans
July 29, 2013
"A Stinging Rebuke of Anti-Agriculture Environmental Activists," by Jeff Stier. An estimated one hundred people braved scorching outdoor temperatures to attend a memorial service earlier this month. The honorees, however, were not heroes, community figures, or even human. They were bees apparently killed by accident in Wilsonville, Ore. Deemed a "bee kill," the insects were found dead in a Target parking lot after a pesticide was sprayed on trees infested with aphids. Media attention to the … [Read more...]
Honeybee Health
May 31, 2013
"For a Responsible Approach to Bee Health, Ignore the Activists," by Jeff Stier. Bees pollinate a host of important crops, from fruits and nuts such as oranges, blueberries, apples and almonds, to row crops such cotton, canola, and soy. But the last few decades have been tough for bee populations, which have experienced larger than normal winter die-offs. Read the full article on the Huffington Post. … [Read more...]
Pesticide Scare Debunked
May 7, 2013
"Environmental Activist Scare Debunked," by Jeff Stier. In a piece for the Huffington Post, Dr. Henry I. Miller and I take on the Environmental Working Group for scaring the public about the safety of fruits and vegetables. We also take on the scare-hungry media for reporting on the junk-science as if it had any merit. Read the full story on the NCPPR blog. … [Read more...]
Jeff Steir on Green TV
November 28, 2012
"Organic Farmers Use Pesticides Too," with Jeff Steir. … [Read more...]
Dr. Oz Very Wrong about Organic Food
October 31, 2012
"Organic Food Worth it?" by Jeff Stier. The federal government annually spends millions of taxpayer dollars promoting and regulating organic agriculture. Is it worth it? In a piece for Real Clear Science, I explain why pro-organic arguments made by the likes of popular television health guru, Dr. Oz, are just plain wrong: "Remember the large-scale study from Stanford last month that said that organic foods aren’t necessarily healthier? The study has spurred a raging debate between organic food … [Read more...]
Jeff Stier Discusses Bloomberg Failure to Address West Nile
September 12, 2012
"Jeff Stier Discusses Mayor Bloomberg's Failure to Lead in the Fight Against West Nile Virus in NYC," by David Almasi. On the September 12, 2012 edition of “Good Day New York” on Fox5-New York, National Center Risk Analysis Division director Jeff Stier says the Bloomberg Administration’s response to the threat of West Nile virus is “too little, too late… We need to do more.” Jeff says Mayor Bloomberg and his staff were too fixated on their own nanny-state agenda of regulating behavior and too … [Read more...]
Debate on Organics is Over
September 10, 2012
"Debate on Organics is Over: The National Center was Right!" by David W. Almasi. Two landmark reports were issued this week that cast doubt on the health and safety benefits used to cheerlead for organic foods over conventional foods and the means of procuring them. Since 2000, the National Center has urged people to eschew the hype over organic grandstanding. A newly-released study by Stanford University researchers — reportedly the largest study of its kind — finds that there are no real … [Read more...]
Bloomberg Refuses to Spray to Control Deadly West Nile Virus
September 5, 2012
"City To Mosquitoes: Don't Drop Dead," by Jeff Stier. In an op-ed in today’s New York Post, I explain why Mayor Bloomberg and his nanny-state health commissioner are putting New Yorkers at risk by failing to stand up to environmental activists who oppose the responsible use of low-concentration pesticides to kill disease-spreading mosquitoes: "As the city headed into the Labor Day weekend, six new West Nile cases were reported — bringing Gotham’s total to 14 (with one fatality) for 2012, up … [Read more...]
Obama Regulatory Reform Falls Short
August 29, 2012
"Regulatory Reform? Really?" by Jeff Stier In a piece in today’s Townhall.com, I explain how the administration’s regulatory record doesn’t match it’s reform rhetoric. "The Obama Administration would like to have us believe that his agencies have struck a reasonable approach to using its regulatory powers. In his Executive Order on regulatory reform last year, the president proclaimed (in part), “Our regulatory system must protect public health, welfare, safety and our environment while … [Read more...]
Science in Government and the Private Sector
August 22, 2012
"There Are A Thousand Ways To Do An Experiment Wrong," by Henry Miller and Jeff Stier on Forbes.com The 18th century philosopher and economist Adam Smith observed, "People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices." That view is one justification for giving federal agencies so much money, control and discretion over commerce and other aspects of our lives. And … [Read more...]
