No word on input from Obama (or any Illinois politicians at this point). Though, to be fair, reactions might come later.
Top federal health officials said Wednesday that they had asked the Institute of Medicine, the government’s premier medical adviser, to referee a dispute over a report suggesting that pollution in the Great Lakes region may have serious health consequences for people who live there, including infant mortality and breast cancer.
“It’s a good way to get a really high-quality and completely objective scientific review,” said Dr. Henry Falk, who oversees environmental health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But Dr. Christopher T. De Rosa, a federal toxicology official who was a co-author of the report, said the Bush administration had suppressed it “because it implies injury.” He bemoaned the decision to ask for a review from the Institute of Medicine, which is part of the National Academy of Sciences.
“How much review is enough?” Dr. De Rosa asked in an interview. “If you get caught up in analysis paralysis, you never get anything out.”
Representatives John D. Dingell and Bart Stupak, both Michigan Democrats who serve on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, sent a letter on Feb. 28 to Dr. Julie L. Gerberding, director of the disease centers, stating that “very serious allegations have been made about the basis upon which this report has been withheld from release.”
The report, titled “Public Health Implications of Hazardous Substances in the 26 U.S. Great Lakes Areas of Concern,” was commissioned in 2001 by the International Joint Commission, an independent organization established by treaty to resolve disputes between Canada and the United States over the use and quality of boundary waters.
[Click to read details of Health Report Raises Dispute Over Great Lakes Pollution - New York Times]
Yet another way the Bush Administration misuses science for political agendas, and because if our world is polluted beyond recognition, the Rapture will be eminent. Or something.
