1. The document discusses the history of environmental activism and media coverage since the 1950s, noting key events like Silent Spring and the establishment of the EPA. 2. It argues that activist groups have exaggerated environmental threats and problems in order to garner publicity and funding, often without proper scientific evidence. 3. Examples discussed include overstating threats from DDT, pesticides, love canal, and ozone depletion, which the document claims had negative health and economic impacts.

1. Public Relations, Activist Groups, Media, and the Environment A recipe for Crisis Communication!

2. A Little Overview/History: 1956: Dawn of the Civil Rights movement . 1962: Rachel Carson publishes Silent Spring, predicting that insect life on planet Earth will one day be gone due to the introduction of agricultural chemicals. THE ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENT IS BORN. 1965: Ralph Nader publishes Unsafe at Any Speed . Press follows his lead and begins doing “killer product” stories taken from plaintiff’s legal briefs. 1965: Vietnam anti-war movement begins, followed by women’s liberation movement. Both Draft cards and bras are publicly incinerated in great numbers.

3. 1973:The Turning Point The Vietnam war is over (we picked up our gear and came home). Significant civil rights legislation is on the books addressing inequalities for minorities and women. The result: Lots of protestors are left with nothing of real value to protest! But that will soon change ………….!!

4. Legislation is born! 1971: Congress reacts to publics/media environmental fervor by passing legislation -- signed into law by President Richard Nixon -- establishing: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)! A whole new movement -- the GREEN! MOVEMENT -- begins!

5. The result: All the out-of-work activists find a NEW HOME! Activist groups spring up like crazy, eventually totaling over 350. JUNK SCIENCE REPLACES REAL SCIENCE ………. Self-appointed seers arise among us, predicting dire environmental consequences to Mother Earth if huge changes are not made, changes that will require VAST amounts of $$ to be spent. Media cover these new activists extensively, greatly hyping the environmental doom stories. A whole new cottage industry is born.

6. Activists have learned their trade! While building huge war chests of $$ from both individual contributions and giant corporate foundations (Kellogg,Ford, etc .), they keep a public image of poor flower children. They learn the media accepts without question their cause -- no investigative reporting is done on them, and their scary claims and predictions are passed on by the media without question. They begin -- and sustain -- a public misinformation campaign of tremendous proportion.

7. Success is soon theirs: The U.S. public -- and soon the developed world -- comes to believe that the environmental sky is falling! Vast amounts of money are mandated by Congress to clean up the environment. American business, especially farmers come under attack. American businesses find it even tougher to compete as unfunded government mandates drastically inflate the cost of doing business.

8. Perception replaces Reality While there are legitimate environmental problems that need addressing, often irrelevant or imagined ones top the activist/media agenda.

9. Some examples: The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill: Activists claimed the 250,000 birds killed was “…..a disaster of unparalleled magnitude!” Media goes ape! FACT: 250,000 birds die from striking plate glass windows in the U.S. every 24 hours! FACT: 300,000 birds are killed by mammals -- mostly cats -- in England every 48 hours ! Perspective: While the Exxon Valdez spill was unfortunate, it was a mere blip on the scope of annual avian mortality!!

10. Prince William Sound - - - -

11. Energy: Circa: 1970: We were told that the earth would run out of oil by 1990. 1975 : Newswee k ran a terrifying cover story on the Earth’s rapidly dwindling oil supply and predicted dire consequences. 1976:CBS/ABC ran documentaries, one entitled “We Are All Going to Freeze in the Dark.” A New Ice Age was predicted by 2000!

12. One More Example: Pesticides: Activists advocate a total ban on their use. Minute pesticide traces on foodstuffs MIGHT cause up to 20 deaths per year in the U.S. (NOTE: 300 people drown in bathtubs in U.S. every year.) FACT: A ban on pesticides would result in less production , greater cost , less consumption , especially by poor. Estimated deaths in this scenario: 26,000 per annum!

13. The Great Cranberry Scare (1959) Trace amounts of aminotriazole are found on cranberries in Oregon. HEW Secretary Fleming cautions housewives against buying cranberries Comments set off full-blown panic -- bans against berries in San Francisco, Chicago, Ohio. Public figures try to mitigate effect: Kennedy and Nixon both publicly eat cranberries at campaign stops. Ag Secretary Benson says he’ll have cranberries on his Thanksgiving table. FACT : Humans would have to eat 15,000# of cranberries EVERY DAY to equal amount fed to test mice. Growers hurt; holiday sales trashed. LEGACY: Food scares have begun. Delaney Clause (1958) and “mouse as miniature man” idea is set in stone!

14. DDT -- 1962 1940 - DDT discovered as the most effective pesticide with no ill effects to humans 1962 - Carson’s Silent Spring erroneously says that DDT is poisoning wildlife and environment and endangering human health. Environmental Activists -- and press -- discount enormous benefits to world health; label DDT a carcinogen based on mouse studies. 1969: WHO replicates mouse studies: finds major flaws and clears DDT. 1971 - authority over pesticides transfers to new EPA. 1972 - Federal Judge declares DDT safe. 1973 - EPA Secretary Ruckleshaus, despite science to the contrary , declared DDT a human carcinogen and bans nearly all uses.

15. Results of DDT Ban: 1948 , malaria deaths in Ceylon number 2.8 million ; after DDT, in 1963, there are ONLY 17! 1964 : DDT spraying stopped ; 1969 - malaria deaths rose to 2.5 million. 1978 - American Cancer Society concludes DDT not a carcinogen 1980’s - DDT cleared of causing low survival rate in birds of prey. Despite Carson and the EPA, NONE OF THE CLAIMS AGAINST DDT Were EVER SUBSTANTIATED!! YET: DDT remains today the first major enduring victory of the environmental activists!!!

16. A Little Perspective: According to the WHO in a study released April 28, 2003: In South Africa, a child dies from malaria every :30 SECONDS!! That’s 2 kids a minute times 60 minutes times 24 hours or 2880 African children EVERY DAY! That’s an awful price to pay for someone’s enviro/political agenda………….!

17. November, 2005 Congress is considering legislation to allow use of DDT.

18. September 2006: WHO publicly acknowledges that malaria is a catastrophic disease out of control. It calls for the spraying of DDT in countries – notably sub-Saharan Africa – hardest hit by malaria. Old line enviro activist Jay Feldman – today of “Beyond Pesticides” -- says DDT not necessary. Instead, he says, we should concentrate on things such as eliminating standing water where mosquitoes breed!!

19. Food for Thought . . How would you like to be the spirit of Rachel Carson or one of her descendents, knowing that your environmental nonsense had unnecessarily killed millions and millions of people – primarily children – over the last 40 years?

20. Love Canal, New York 1978 - Local reporter raises specter of unusual illnesses among Love Canal residents. 1979 - Dr. Beverly Paigan in an unscientific, uncontrolled study , “finds” birth defects and miscarriages. 1980 - EPA back-to-back studies “find” chromosomal and nerve damage in residents. HYSTERIA BREAKS OUT! EPA announces it will temporarily relocate 2500 residents of LC. EPA studies reviewed and found flawed ; CDC/AMA/NRC and New York State Department of Health studies all failed to show any abnormalities . LC residents often found healthier than control groups

21. Significance of Love Canal: EPA “SUPERFUND!” IS BORN, authorized by Congress months after Love Canal hit headlines. Note: SUPERFUND spends $1.7 billion annually to clean up some 2000 identified waste sites Today most of the sites NOT reclaimed. Most of Superfund budget spent on consulting and attorney's fees. “ It remains unclear whether there will be any benefit to public health when and if all the sites are ever cleaned up.” -- American Council on Science and Health, 1997.

22. Three Mile Island March 28, 1979 - plumbing problem results in cooling capacity loss and some fuel meltdown. Radiation in an amount slightly above naturally occurring levels escapes into the atmosphere. Initial public reaction negligible Governor advises pregnant women and children within 5 mile radius to leave; media frenzy begins! Approximately 70% of all residents evacuate.

23. TMI Fallout: From repeated studies of high-risk groups: NO EFFECT! 1996: All 2100 cases brought against TMI for alleged negative health effects DISMISSED! Today: Public still afraid of nuclear power. However: With gas at $3/gal there may be some change in the wind !

24. Ozone Activist Claim: Clorofluorocrbons (CFC’s ) --specifically freon -- are creating a hole in the Ozone Layer that will allow more UV radiation to reach earth. (Translation: We’re all going to get cancer!) Fact: Ozone levels vary naturally by 50% every year. Fact: Freon is heavier than air , so it doesn’t rise to the stratosphere, it falls to earth , where soil microbes use it as a food source!!

25. Scientific Reality: A single eruption of a Mt. St. Helens or Pinatubo injects more “greenhouse gases” into the atmosphere by a multiple in the thousands than all the activities of man to date!

26. Mt. Pinatubo Ash Cloud

27. Ozone is much thicker at the poles during their respective winters Fact: For every 6 miles one moves closer to the equator, UV exposure rises by 1%! Between the poles and the equator, ozone levels vary naturally by 5000%! Ozone Layer

28. Global Warming Those folks who brought us dire predictions of a New Ice Age now say we’re going to be toast by Christmas! Carbon dioxide emissions are going to melt polar icecaps and flood coastal cities!!! 1992 Gallup Poll shows 83% of scientific community believes the above is nonsense ; (Media interview the other 17%!) Senator Al Gore publishes Earth in the Balance ; calls for a world-wide “carbon tax” estimated to cost more than $200 billion annually!!

29. Now for Reality ……….. 90% of the warming occurred before 1940, before the use of CFC’s. Global temps plummeted during 60’s and 70’s, which is where the “New Ice Age” nonsense came from. 1991 : NOAA reports analysis of 750 weather stations world-wide over 40 year period revealing LITTLE OR NO INCREASE IN MEAN MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE!! 1992: Coldest winter in past 100 years : Mt. Pinatubo!

30. Speaking of Al Gore: His movie is nonsense, hype and half truths. 1.Film shows 2% of Antarctica that is warming , but ignores the 98% that has been cooling the past 35 years. 2. He shouts about the shrinking sea ice in the Northern hemisphere and totally ignores the fact that sea ice in the Southern hemisphere is increasing .

31. John Coleman, founder of the Weather Channel, calls the whole global warming bit “ . . the greatest scam in history.” “ I have read dozens of scientific papers. I have talked with numerous scientists. I have studied. I have thought about it. I know I am correct. There is no run away climate change. The impact of humans on climate is not catastrophic. Our planet is not in peril . I am incensed by the incredible media glamour, the politically correct silliness and rude dismissal of counter arguments. . . In time, a decade or two, the outrageous scam will be obvious .” ICECAP, November 2007

32. “ It’s a hoax.” William Gray, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus at Colorado State University and the leading meteorologist on hurricane predictions noted the above in Orlando, FL April 5, 2008.

33. Stick to Reality! Following the Christmas 2004 tsunami, Activists wasted no time blaming it on the activities of man, especially the United States. NEWS FLASH: Man had NOTHING to do with it! Earth is composed of 8 tectonic plates which shift constantly far below the earth’s crust. Between the Crust/Mantle/Outer core/ Inner Core, it is 4000 MILES to the center of the earth. The deepest hole man has ever drilled is 7 miles . If you fell into a “hole” that took you to the center of the earth, it would take you 32 hours to hit bottom!!! The idea that man’s activities cause tsunamis is nothing short of breathlessly stupid!

34. Speaking of Law & Crisis Management . . Erin Brokovich The basic story: Legal assistant found 650 plaintiffs claimed chromium 6 in water supply, leaching from PG&E plant blamed PG&E for nosebleeds, miscarriages, Hodgkin’s disease, breast cancer, spinal deterioration, etcetc. Hired Lawyer Thomas Girardi PG&E settled for $333mm

35. However: While EPA considers chromium 6 a human carcinogen: it is linked ONLY to cancer of the lung and the septum it must be INHALED (NOT INJESTED) to be a carcinogen it takes massive exposure over a long period of time to cause cancer. The only problems yet discovered are those involved in the production of the compound. From the EPA Integrated Risk Information System: “No data were located in the available literature that suggested that it is carcinogenic by the oral route of exposure.”

36. Moreover: Exhaustive, replicated studies of communities adjacent to landfills full of chromium 6 -- including that detectable level in residents’ urine -- have found NO ILL HEALTH EFFECTS, CANCER OR OTHERWISE! William Blot, head of International Epidemiology Institute study of 52,000 workers at PG&E plants -- including the one at Hinkley, CA -- found cancer rates the same as for the population in general, and LOWER DEATH RATES!

37. More Scientific Information: The amount of chromium 6 in Hinkley’s water supply was .058 ppm. Animal studies on rats and dogs dosed with 25ppm and 11.2ppm showed no ill health effects whatsoever. When pregnant rats were dosed at 15-400 ppm of chromium 6 they found that the compound “ . . , was not a reproductive toxicant in either sex.” BOTTOM LINE: THE CLAIM THAT THE LEECHED CHROMIUM 6 CAUSED HEALTH PROBLEMS IN HINKLEY, CALIFORNIA IS BOGUS!

38. Regarding Law,Lawyers, and the Public: The PG&E case is instructive. Why did PG&E settle? All the science is very recent they feared Lawyer Girardi and his reputation for winning class action suits involving toxicants. A sympathetic witness and an emotional jury trial could have resulted in awarded damages in the billions. NOTE: One should always think twice (or more) before settling when one is not guilty of anything. One payoff can lead to another .. and another … and another!

39. Some things to note: Media is now in the picture. Brockovich -- through the persona of actress Julia Roberts -- has been elevated to heroine status . Therefore: It is highly unlikely that -- without significant public relations crisis management -- that the truth of the Hinkley, CA case will ever be widely known among the movie-going public. Lawyers for Hinkley get $133mm for winning the case. Brockovich was given $2mm for her work.

40. The Fallout: The settlement, though not a court case, nonetheless sets a precedent . Thousands of people in Hinkley, California, will live the rest of their lives believing -- incorrectly -- that they have been poisoned. PG&E -- if it’s going to survive as a company -- is going to have to pass along the cost of the lawsuits to its customers.

41. And as for Brockovich: Ms. Brokovich’s firm has currently identified 1500 clients in Kettleman, CA and are about to file suit against PG&E … again! She is also soliciting public interest groups in Alaska, working on a case against Exxon/Mobil alleging negative health effects from the cleanup of the Exxon Valdiz oil spill She is touring the country commanding $15,000 fees from audiences.

42. The Result:

43. Some Bottom Lines: 1.The symbiotic relationship between reporters and activists has ruined media coverage of things environmental. 2. When it comes to learning about our health and the environment, the media are -- almost always -- less than worthless! The Scary Story that brings in viewers and advertising dollars trumps science almost every time 3. Activists enjoy entirely too much positive media attention. They are rarely, themselves, examined critically. The result: Americans -- from DDT to nuclear power -- “know” a great deal of “stuff” that flat isn’t true!

44. One Example: For the past 30 years, environmentalists have ruled over U.S. energy policy, so: No new oil fields have been brought on line. No new refineries have been built in the U.S. for 23 years. As a result: We produce only 32% of the gas/diesel needed to run the country 68% of our energy we import form primarily three countries, all of whom hate us: Russia, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia. Welcome to $4/gallon gas!!!

45. More Bottom Lines: We’re wasting a lot of valuable time , money , and resources on crises that aren’t . We’re doing the above at our peril , ignoring or giving a low priority to those things that are, indeed, impending crises: Food, Energy, Freedom!! These issues surely will -- and perhaps are -- catching up with us, and perhaps it is time for some serious self-correction.

46. There are real consequences: Near Zellwood, FL there are thousands of acres that once produced tons and tons of vegetables for the people of the world. The farms were breathtaking to behold!

47. No More Today that land is abandoned and fallow, bought by the state and returned to swampland, and the food that was once produced there is no longer grown. With world populations growing, taking land out of food production for dubious reasons is the height of stupidity!!

48. What does this mean to us? Crises, both real and imagined , can strike any organization at any time They can have dire, sometimes terminal consequences The greatest weapon in the arsenal of crisis management is communication

49. To Learn More: ActivistCash.com: Lists the groups, their affiliated foundations, the people who are behind the groups and several celebrities and their ties to the organizations. ConsumerFreedom.com: Provides information about activist groups that appear to be on the side of the consumer but actually do severe societal damage (PETA/Greenpeace/NRCD. Etc.)