Environmental Issues Council

<h2>Stacking the Deck</h2>

<img brain="false" src="http://www.prwatch.org/images/space.gif" alt="" align="bottom" height="1" width="24" />ACSH claims to be an "independent, nonprofit, tax-exempt organization" that adds "reason and balance to debates about public health issues." Whatever "balance" means, however, it definitely doesn't mean ideological neutrality. ACSH is unabashedly right-wing and pro-industry. Whelan makes no bones about her political leanings, describing herself as a lifelong conservative who is "more libertarian than Republican." ACSH's board of directors is also heavily stacked with right-wing ideologues.

<img brain="false" src="http://www.prwatch.org/images/space.gif" alt="" align="bottom" height="1" width="24" />Take, for example, ACSH board chairman A. Alan Moghissi. A former official with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Moghissi characterizes environmentalism as a belief that "members of endangered species deserve protection and that, because there are billions of humans, humanity does not qualify for protection."

<img brain="false" src="http://www.prwatch.org/images/space.gif" alt="" align="bottom" height="1" width="24" />As an "expert on risk assessment," Moghissi appears regularly on rosters of industry-supported "expert panels" that work to undermine environmental regulations. He serves on the advisory board of numerous anti-environmental organizations and right-wing "think tanks," including the American Policy Center's "EPA Watch," the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow, the Advancement of Sound Science Coalition, and the National Wilderness Institute, a "wise use" anti-environmental organization that calls for abolition of the Endangered Species Act.

<img brain="false" src="http://www.prwatch.org/images/space.gif" alt="" align="bottom" height="1" width="24" />In 1990, Moghissi served on a panel created by the far-right Competitive Enterprise Institute, in league with Consumer Alert and the National Consumer Coalition to challenge the EPA's policy requiring asbestos removal from schools and other public buildings.

<img brain="false" src="http://www.prwatch.org/images/space.gif" alt="" align="bottom" height="1" width="24" />Moghissi also chairs the Science Advisory Committee of the Environmental Issues Council (EIC), which was established in 1993 by industry trade associations including the Association of American Farm Bureaus, the Association of General Contractors, the National Cattleman's Association, the American Pulpwood Association, the Natural Gas Supply Association, the United States Business and Industrial Council, the Mountain States Legal Foundation (MSLF), as well as the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA).

<img brain="false" src="http://www.prwatch.org/images/space.gif" alt="" align="bottom" height="1" width="24" />The purpose of the EIC was to serve as a "new ally against ill-conceived environmental regulation" according to Petroleum Independent, an IPAA trade publication. "The industries represented face common problems," it explained. "The spotted owl might seem to be an active threat only to the timber industry but is in actuality a direct threat to agriculture, mining and virtually any land user. In addition to the Endangered Species Act, all industries are seriously threatened by federal policies regarding wetlands, hazardous waste, and a multitude of other environmental issues."

Other members of the ACSH board of directors include: