Fluoridation poses risk to kids' IQs, US judge rules

Last week a federal court in California ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to act on concerns about the "unreasonable risk" to children posed by currently recommended levels of fluoride in the American drinking water supply.

How fluoride fears went mainstream | Unherd | Laurel Duggan:

September 27, 2024 - "A federal judge this week ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to further regulate fluoride levels in drinking water to minimise the risk posed to children’s health. It marks a turning point in the fight over public water fluoridation, the potential harms of which have long been dismissed.

"Water fluoridation began in the US in the Forties in order to prevent tooth decay, but it was followed soon after by rumours that the project was a communist plot to make Americans less intelligent. The John Birch Society, a fringe Right-wing group that was prominent in the Sixties, pushed this argument... 

"More recently, however, Left-wing environmental activists have led the charge against fluoride, citing health concerns rather than national security. David Brower, former leader of a Left-leaning environmental group, the Sierra Club, co-founded the Fluoride Action Network, ... [the] same group [that] brought the lawsuit which resulted in the new EPA ruling....

"Just this year, former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr pledged to 'remove neurotoxic fluoride from American drinking water', and was quickly fact-checked. 'Some studies suggest a possible association between greater levels of fluoride exposure during pregnancy or early childhood and reduced IQ in children. But many scientific experts have said the evidence for this association is weak,' FactCheck.org wrote, alongside citations of the CDC and EPA.

"For many years, health concerns about fluoride were dismissed.... But this week, an Obama-appointed judge, Edward Chen, determined that fluoride, which is added to the drinking water of about 75% of Americans, poses an 'unreasonable risk' to consumers. 'The scientific literature in the record provides a high level of certainty that a hazard is present; fluoride is associated with reduced IQ,' Chen wrote....

"18 high-quality studies have found a link between higher fluoride levels in public water and lower IQ in children, according to a National Toxicology Program systematic review published in August. The review was central to the federal court decision that the EPA needed to reconsider the regulation of fluoride in the water.

"Most of the studies cited in the review have been available for years, but federal agencies have been sceptical of this emerging body of research. The CDC announced in May that it had not 'found convincing scientific evidence linking community water fluoridation with any potential adverse health effect'.... 

"The US is a global outlier in water fluoridation, a practice which is rare in Europe. US authorities have long known that excessive fluoride consumption can have adverse health impacts, hence the existing limits on fluoride levels in water, but new research suggests the chemical is tied to lower IQ, even in quantities approved by the Government." In this week’s case ... Chen found that, based on existing research, even the Government-recommended fluoride levels posed an 'unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment'.

Read more: https://unherd.com/newsroom/how-fluoride-fears-went-mainstream/

Why I Changed My Mind on Water Fluoridation | NutritionFacts.org | May 6, 2024:

Read study: https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/ehp.1104912

Rachel Carson's DDT ban killed millions

Millions Died Thanks to the Mother of Environmentalism - Foundation for Economic Education - Working for a free and prosperous world - Paul A. Ofit :

June 17, 2017 - "On Jan. 24, 2017, PBS aired a two-hour special on Rachel Carson, the mother of the environmental movement....  Unfortunately, the PBS documentary neglected to mention that in her groundbreaking book, Silent Spring, Carson had made one critical mistake – and it cost millions of people their lives....

"According to Carson, children suffered sudden death, aplastic anemia, birth defects, liver disease, chromosomal abnormalities, and leukemia – all caused by DDT. And women suffered infertility and uterine cancer.... Carson made it clear that she wasn’t talking about something that might happen – she was talking about something that had happened.....

"In May 1963, Rachel Carson appeared before the Department of Commerce and asked for a 'Pesticide Commission' to regulate the untethered use of DDT. Ten years later, Carson’s “Pesticide Commission” became the Environmental Protection Agency, which immediately banned DDT....

"Although DDT soon became synonymous with poison, the pesticide was an effective weapon in the fight against an infection that has killed – and continues to kill – more people than any other: malaria....

"Since the mid 1970s, when DDT was eliminated from global eradication efforts, tens of millions of people have died from malaria unnecessarily: most have been children less than five years old. While it was reasonable to have banned DDT for agricultural use, it was unreasonable to have eliminated it from public health use.

"Environmentalists have argued that when it came to DDT, it was pick your poison. If DDT was banned, more people would die from malaria. But if DDT wasn’t banned, people would suffer and die from a variety of other diseases, not the least of which was cancer. However, studies in Europe, Canada, and the United States have since shown that DDT didn’t cause the human diseases Carson had claimed.... DDT was arguably one of the safer insect repellents ever invented – far safer than many of the pesticides that have taken its place....

"In 2006, the World Health Organization reinstated DDT as part of its effort to eradicate malaria. But not before millions of people had died needlessly from the disease."

Read more: https://fee.org/articles/millions-died-thanks-to-the-mother-of-environmentalism/
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3 libertarians named in Trump transition talk

Ex-BB&T CEO Allison said to be in running for Treasury chief - Chicago Tribune- Saleha Mohsin & Jennifer Jacobs, Bloomberg:
November 23, 2016 - "Former BB&T Corp. Chief Executive Officer John Allison is a late entrant on a short-list for the job of U.S. Treasury secretary, according to two people familiar with President-elect Donald Trump's selection process....

"Allison, 68, is a director at investment bank Moelis & Co. and is a former president and CEO of Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank based in Washington where he is now on the group's board of directors. He's been a critic of the Federal Reserve and the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the government's effort to purchase toxic assets from financial institutions following the sub-prime mortgage meltdown."

Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-john-allison-treasury-chief-20161123-story.html

Myron Ebell A Telling Choice To Lead Trump's EPA Transition Team: The Two-Way: NPR - Nell Greenfieldboyce:
November 23, 2016 - "The good news for those worried that the U.S. will lose its leadership role in confronting climate change: President-elect Donald Trump said Tuesday, 'I have an open mind to it. ... I do have an open mind.' At a meeting Tuesday with New York Times journalists and executives, Trump said he thinks 'there is some connectivity' in terms of human activity causing climate change.

"However, ... on the same day ... Trump formally announced that Myron Ebell would lead his transition team for the Environmental Protection Agency.... Ebell was one of seven people whose faces were recently featured in an activist campaign labeling them 'Climate Criminals.'

"He directs the Center for Energy and Environment at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. It's one of the few conservative, free-market groups that's been an accredited non-governmental organization at the United Nations' climate meetings. Ebell has long questioned mainstream climate science and has argued against any need to rein in greenhouse gas emissions that are warming the planet."

Read more: http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/11/23/503156456/trump-says-he-has-open-mind-on-climate-but-staff-pick-raises-questions

‘Who knows if Trump is even aware that he has a Secretary of Transportation?’ - The Washington Post - Ashley Halsey III:

 November 17, 2016 - "[An] inside-the-Beltway wag gave this reply when asked who might head the U.S. Department of Transportation: 'Who knows if Trump is even aware that he has a secretary of transportation?' Naming said person obviously isn’t a high priority in Trump Tower, despite the fact that the president-elect has promised to pour $1 trillion into roads, bridges and other infrastructure....

"Former Reason Foundation analyst Shirley Ybarra is the Trump transition team member tasked with finding the new Sec/Trans, and there’s talk that she may be a candidate for the job herself."

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2016/11/17/who-knows-if-trump-is-even-aware-that-he-has-a-secretary-of-transportation/
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Ghostbusters most libertarian Hollywood film ever

Why 'Ghostbusters' is the most libertarian Hollywood blockbuster of all time | Washington Examiner - Philip Klein:

June 27, 2016 - "With the new Ghostbusters movie set to hit theaters, it's worth paying tribute to the original 1984 film, and recalling why it is the most pro-limited government film Hollywood ever made.

"In Ghostbusters, paranormal activity is becoming a growing problem in New York City. Government doesn't do anything to stop the problem, so private entrepreneurs set up a small business that successfully captures and stores ghosts — for a fee.

"But then, the villain — a regulator from the Environmental Protection Agency — decides to interfere with the private business by cutting off their power, thereby releasing all of the captured ghosts. Here is the clip. The EPA agent orders the shut down of the ghost containment unit over the protests of Ramis' character, Dr. Egon Spengler, who says: 'Excuse me, this is private property!'....

"The movie's heroes are taken into police custody after the release of the ghosts. Once the assault by the ghosts causes apocalyptic chaos in New York City and the government is completely helpless in solving the problem, the mayor releases the small-business owners who once again save the day.

"How many Hollywood blockbusters involve private businesses as the heroes and government regulators as the villains?

"Not to mention the fact that the film is also peppered with lines like this: 'I liked the university. They gave us money and facilities. We didn't have to produce anything! You've never been out of college. You don't know what it's like out there. I've worked in the private sector. They expect results.'

"The director of the original movie, Ivan Reitman, once told Entertainment Weekly, 'I've always been something of a conservative-slash-libertarian. The first movie deals with going into business for yourself, and it's anti-EPA—too much government regulation. It does have a very interesting point of view that really resonates.'

"Editor's note: The original version of this item was posted in February of 2014 following the death of actor and writer Harold Ramis and has been reprinted."

Read more: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/why-ghostbusters-is-the-most-libertarian-hollywood-blockbuster-of-all-time/article/2544522
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3M gallons of toxic waste released into river by Environmental Protection Agency

EPA chief: Colorado mine spill 'pains me' | KSL.com - Michael Biesecker, Associated Press:

August 11, 2015 - "The head of the Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday her department takes full responsibility for spilling 3 million gallons of mining waste that turned a southwest Colorado river an unnatural shade of orange, adding it 'pains me to no end.'

"Gina McCarthy made the comments as her agency comes under increased scrutiny after federal and contract workers accidentally unleashed the spill last week while inspecting the abandoned Gold King mine near Silverton, Colorado.

"The contaminated water that flowed into a tributary of the Animas and San Juan rivers contained high levels of arsenic, lead and other potentially toxic heavy metals. McCarthy expressed regret that the spill occurred and said her agency has 'added responsibility here'....

"The accident comes at a sensitive time for the EPA, a frequent and favorite target of conservatives and pro-business groups. McCarthy spoke Tuesday as part of an event on the Obama Administration's Clean Power Plan, which mandates steep greenhouse gas emission cuts from U.S. power plants.

"State and local officials in the areas affected by the spill have characterized EPA's initial response as too slow and too small. It took about 24 hours to first notify some downstream communities of the accident and the agency originally underestimated the volume of the spill.

"The plume of pollution has since flowed at least 100 miles downstream to New Mexico, where towns and cities have been forced to close their intake valves to protect public water supplies."

Read more: http://www.ksl.com/?nid=151&sid=35918688&title=epa-chief-colorado-mine-spill-pains-me
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Stopping the environment's worst enemy

The Pollution Solution: Stopping the environment's worst enemy - Mary Ruwart, Libertarian Party :

"Who's the greatest polluter of all? The oil companies? The chemical companies? The nuclear power plants? If you guessed 'none of the above,' you'd be correct. Our government, at the federal, state, and local levels, is the single greatest polluter in the land. In addition, our government doesn't even clean up its own garbage! In 1988, for example, the EPA demanded that the Departments of Energy and Defense clean up 17 of their weapons plants which were leaking radioactive and toxic chemicals -- enough contamination to cost $100 billion in clean-up costs over 50 years! The EPA was simply ignored. No bureaucrats went to jail or were sued for damages. Government departments have sovereign immunity.

"In 1984, a Utah court ruled that the U.S. military was negligent in its nuclear testing, causing serious health problems (e.g. death) for the people exposed to radioactive fallout. The Court of Appeals dismissed the claims of the victims, because government employees have sovereign immunity....

"By turning to government for environmental protection, we've placed the fox in charge of the hen house -- and a very large hen house it is! Governments, both federal and local, control over 40% of our country's land mass. Unfortunately, government's stewardship over our land is gradually destroying it."

Read more: https://www.lp.org/issues/environment
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Ghostbusters: the most libertarian Hollywood blockbuster of all time

Why 'Ghostbusters' is the most libertarian Hollywood blockbuster of all time | WashingtonExaminer.com - Philip Klein:

February 24, 2014 - "After learning the sad news that comedy actor and filmmaker Harold Ramis had died, I remarked on Twitter that the 1984 classic Ghostbusters (which he co-wrote and co-starred in) was the most libertarian Hollywood blockbuster ever made.... To me, it's quite obvious. In Ghostbusters, paranormal activity is becoming a growing problem in New York City. Government doesn't do anything to stop the problem, so private entrepreneurs set up a small business that successfully captures and stores ghosts — for a fee.

"But then, the villain -- a regulator from the Environmental Protection Agency -- decides to interfere with the private business by cutting off their power, thereby releasing all of the captured ghosts.... The EPA agent orders the shut down of the ghost containment unit over the protests of Ramis' character, Dr. Egon Spengler, who says: 'Excuse me, this is private property!'

"The movie's heroes are taken into police custody after the release of the ghosts. Once the assault by the ghosts causes apocalyptic chaos in New York City and the government is completely helpless in solving the problem, the mayor releases the small-business owners who once again save the day."

Read more: http://washingtonexaminer.com/why-ghostbusters-is-the-most-libertarian-hollywood-blockbuster-of-all-time/article/2544522
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