Coursey, D

---emailhttp://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=File:Syn_email_Coursey_Fee_35000.pdf==

<ul style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-type: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li id="execphp-4" class="widget widget_execphp" style="list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 10px; border: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><h3 class="widgettitle" style="line-height: 1em; letter-spacing: -1px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204);">Triazine Network 7/7/2010 Press Conference</h3><div class="execphpwidget">View clips from the Triazine Network press conference with University of Chicago Prof. Don L. Coursey Ph.D. and Kansas Corn Growers Association AG SENSE.ORG  Executive Director Jere White <a href="http://agsense.org/news/videos/" style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">here</a>. You can also download the full press conference <a href="http://agsense.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/White-Coursey-Press-Club.wmv" style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">here</a>.</div></li></ul>  ===

see also http://www.prwatch.org/print/11506

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100 reporters:

Its weed killer atrazine is one of the most popular herbicides in the United States, with 76 million pounds applied each year. But the herbicide’s tendency to drift off targeted sites led to a ban by Germany in 1991, and following a 2004 vote, by the 27 member countries of the European Union.

Syngenta’s attorney on the case, Kurt Reeg, declined to comment for this story.

A videotaped deposition  of University of Chicago Professor Don Coursey, played in court, demonstrated Syngenta’s use of seemingly independent experts to make its case, typically without disclosing payments to them. Their work downplays the risks of pesticides, herbicides and other agricultural agents to human health, and warns of grave economic consequences if farmers ceased using the chemicals.

Syngenta had hired Coursey through PR agency Jayne Thompson & Associates to write about the economic losses that would be created by an atrazine ban. He estimated that an atrazine ban would eliminate 21,000 to 48,000 jobs and create an economic loss for U.S. corn production of $2.3 to $5 billion.

Over the course of questioning, however, Stephen Tillery, the lawyer who is representing the water companies, raised doubts about the validity of those assumptions and the integrity of the analysis.

Coursey admitted his reports were based on an atrazine ban, something not sought in Tillery’s lawsuit. He also admitted he had not read the legal complaint and was ordered by Syngenta and the PR agency to analyze the cost of an atrazine ban.

For his expert opinion, Coursey was able to supplement his university salary handsomely. In his deposition, Coursey said that Syngenta’s PR firm paid him $500 an hour and gave him $50 an hour for a research assistant over three to four years. His reports relied on data supplied by Syngenta, he said, adding that he had an office at the public relations firm. He submitted his work to both Jayne Thompson and Syngenta for editing.

Coursey said the PR agency also paid him $500 an hour to meet with newspaper editors and radio talk show hosts, and to make a presentation to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

Just the same, Syngenta initially refused to honor a subpoena for Coursey to testify in the trial or turn over documents, and relented only after judicial intervention.

Coursey did not respond to requests for an interview.

In a memo released in April as part of the discovery process, the PR firm proposed planting stories with newspapers critical of the Madison County courts and suggesting the lawsuit could be characterized as an attack on family farmers. The memo suggested castigating the Madison County judicial system as a “judicial hellhole” and the source of “jackpot justice.”

As the hearing continued, Tillery told the judge that realtors in some areas served by the plaintiffs had been informed property values would decline if this lawsuit proceeds.

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Alex Avery [27] is director of research and education with the Center for Global Food Issues [28] (CGFI) at the Hudson Institute [29]. The Hudson Institute receives funding from big agribusiness interests, including Monsanto [30], Dow AgroSciences [31], and Syngenta. According to documents obtained by CMD, the Hudson Institute has received at least $68,550 [32] (PDF) from Syngenta.

Avery has been a crusader against organic food and for "debunking" science showing the harm of chemicals to humans, including efforts to discredit science on the effects of nitrate in water. When it comes to atrazine, Avery also choses to target Dr. Hayes. In a self-made video posted by CGFI, Avery says "the problem is that while Dr. Hayes, whose latest research paper is based on a whopping 80 frogs -- only 40 of which were treated with atrazine -- is up against a large body of research showing that atrazine has no impact on amphibian development." He claims that science comes from "independent researchers, who don't work for chemical companies." However, documents obtained by CMD show that at least one of the researchers cited, Dr. Werner Kloas, Professor of Endocrinology at Humboldt University in Berlin, was in fact contracted by Syngenta [33] (PDF) to conduct EPA-mandated studies on atrazine's effects on frogs.

Other documents obtained by CMD show that Avery and Milloy were included in a Syngenta list of "select media" [34] (PDF), chosen because they "demonstrated a balanced approach in covering the frog issue." Avery was included in a list of Syngenta consultants in a document unsealed by the court.

Don Coursey: Crunching the Numbers for Syngenta

Don Coursey [35], an Ameritech-endowed Professor in the Harris School of Public Policy Studies at the University of Chicago, has written analysis touted by Syngenta on the economic cost of banning atrazine. Documents obtained by CMD reveal that Coursey is on Syngenta's "benefits" panel, a group of scientists and academics that the corporation has paid to extol the "benefits" and "value" of atrazine and who have attacked effort to increase regulation of the weed-killer.

In a 2010 briefing sponsored [36] by the Triazine Network at the National Press Club in Washington, Coursey discusses his research on what a ban would mean to farmers. (The Triazine Network is a coalition of agribusiness groups formed in 1995 that documents obtained by CMD show has received funding from Syngenta [37].) He forecasts that a ban would be "devastating" and that farmers would be faced with two options: using a more expensive herbicide or switching to GMO crops. He claims that farmers would lose $26-$58 dollars per acre if atrazine were banned. Dr. Frank Ackerman, an economist at the Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University, has written a report [38] debunking some of the faulty conclusions Coursey has presented over the years.

Documents obtained by CMD reveal that Coursey received $35,000 [39] (PDF) from Syngenta for just one of his reports on the economic impact of an atrazine ban. That paper indicates that it was "prepared for" Syngenta, but subsequent videos and press quotes do not mention that.

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<h2>Coursey named Ameritech Professor</h2>

Additional appointments to endowed professorships will be announced in the Jan. 18 Chronicle Don Coursey, an expert on the financial impact of environmental decisions, has been named the University's first Ameritech Professor of Public Policy. Coursey is Professor in the Irving B. Harris Graduate School of Public Policy Studies.

The Ameritech chair was established with a gift of $1.5 million from the Ameritech Foundation. The contribution is part of the University's Campaign for the Next Century, which has raised $542 million toward its $650 million goal.

"We are delighted to announce Don Coursey's appointment to this chair," said President Sonnenschein. "We are proud of his innovative and thoughtful research on the economic costs and benefits of environmental policy. As the first Ameritech Professor, he will set a standard for his successors. We are grateful for Ameritech's generosity and for the company's interest in supporting important work in public policy. "

Dick Notebaert, chairman and CEO of Ameritech, said the grant for the professorship underscores the Ameritech Foundation's commitment to higher education.

"Ameritech is proud to be a partner with the University of Chicago, a world-class institution that also calls Chicago home," Notebaert said. "The Ameritech Professorship at the Harris School will put the University at the forefront of addressing some of the nation's most important public policies. Ameritech is both delighted and privileged to have Don Coursey named as the first Ameritech Professor."

Coursey has studied the links between financial and environmental decisions. He has examined the relative costs of preserving various species, for instance, and found that the larger, more popular animals receive the most governmental support.

He has also examined hazardous-waste sites in Chicago neighborhoods and found that historical forces other than discrimination are responsible for their location in minority neighborhoods.

Charles Glaser, Acting Dean of the Harris School, said, "Don has made enormous contributions to the Harris School as a scholar, a teacher and the coordinator of our environmental policy concentration.

"Don has made fundamental contributions that have significantly advanced methods for determining the public's true desires for alternative policy outcomes," Glaser continued. "He is doing important work at the intersection of basic research and current policy questions. That is what public policy research is all about. Don is also an exceptional teacher who prepares students to think critically and to use scientific evidence carefully. He is very deserving of this honor."

Coursey joined the faculty of the University's Harris School in 1993. He earned a B.A. in 1978 and a Ph.D. in 1982 from the University of Arizona. Before joining the University of Chicago, he was a faculty member at the University of Wyoming and at Washington University in St. Louis.