Stephen "Steve" Johnson, EPA. Not a Household Name . . . Yet.

ABC Breaking News: Bush To Appoint Acting EPA Administrator, Steve Johnson to EPA Chief.

Who is Steve Johnson? Just what one would expect from this Bush cabal:



Before joining the EPA, Johnson was the director of operations at Hazelton Laboratories Corp., the world's largest preclinical biological and chemical research laboratory, and Litton Bionetics, Inc, a medical division of the multi-billion dollar military contractor Litton Industries.

Policy Positions:

http://g.msn.com/9SE/1?http://environet.policy.net/reports/epa/candidates/johnson.vtml&&DI=293&IG=d6b6c957c475433b8f8b62e67a3d1772&POS=10&CM=WPU&CE=10&CS=AWP&SR=10

Toxics?

In 2000, Johnson supported the decision to spray New York City neighborhoods with Malathion, a toxin used to control mosquito populations. Months earlier, an EPA cancer review committee classified Malathion as a "likely human carcinogen," a designation that was later reversed following objections by the pesticide's producer. http://www.getipm.com/articles/malathion-newsday.htm

Genetic Crops?

While at the EPA, Johnson repeatedly defended the production of genetically modified crops, downplaying their potential heath and environmental dangers. In October 2001, he claimed, "Bt corn has been evaluated thoroughly by EPA, and we are confident that it does not pose risks to human health or to the environment." The EPA's science advisors were less confident, warning "Studies suggest that Bt proteins could act as antigenic and allergenic sources." http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A5627-2001Oct16

Enforcement?

As EPA acting deputy administrator, Johnson instructed agency officials to prioritize economic concerns in their environmental decision making. New policies detailed in an internal memo sent by Johnson would impede environmental rulemaking and politicize the scientific process, according to government watchdog OMB Watch.

Global Warming?

In January 2004 interview, a Japanese newspaper asked Johnson, "Is there any possibility that the Bush administration will come back to the Kyoto Protocol?" He responded, "That question is easy, and it's no." (Source: "EPA Official — U.S. will never return to Kyoto Protocol," The Daily Yomiuri, January 20, 2004.)

More:

Bush budget cuts EPA funding
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/science/02/08/budget.epa.reut/index.html

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The Bush administration Monday proposed cutting the Environmental Protection Agency budget by nearly 6 percent to $7.57 billion in fiscal 2006 by targeting a program that helps cities replace aging sewage systems.

The EPA said the requested reduction was part of the federal government's overall belt-tightening, but environmental groups said it would hurt an important clean water program.

Total EPA funding would decline from $8 billion, which Congress allocated in the current budget year for the agency to protect the nation's air, water and land. In 2004, the EPA had a budget of $8.4 billion.

Acting EPA administrator Steve Johnson defended the plan as "a strong request that allows us to keep up the pace of environmental protections" and said the cuts were part of the administration's larger deficit-cutting plan. The White House is facing a record federal budget deficit.
_________________________________________

US study renews worries about GM crops
http://www.agrnews.org/issues/84/environment.html

Iowa State University researchers said on Monday they found more evidence that pollen from genetically engineered corn could be deadly for Monarch butterflies, prompting environmentalists to renew demands for tighter restrictions on the crop.

>>>>“Based on what we’ve seen so far, we’re not seeing any impact on any non-target organism, particularly the Monarch butterfly,” Steve Johnson, an EPA deputy assistant administrator, said in an interview.

He downplayed environmentalists’ concerns about the latest butterfly study.

“If we were confronted by information that raised significant public health or environmental issues, then certainly we could take immediate action,” Johnson said. “Based on the reviews of all the data that have come in, we don’t see any reason to take any kind of action at this time.”

That's who Steve Johnson is. Let's go get him DU.

How the hell did I miss this one???


http://www.newfarm.org/news/2005/0205/021005/chem_peopl...


~snip~
EPA avoids regulation of chemical experiments on humans


WASHINGTON, DC, February 8, 2005 (ENS): Experiments that intentionally dose human subjects with pesticides and other chemicals will be evaluated and approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in a wide open case-by-case manner, the agency says in a draft notice for publication in the Federal Register.

The EPA is seeking public comment on this case-by-case method of considering experiments that involve human subjects in a notice dated February 2 and signed by Susan Hazen, acting assistant administrator in the Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances.

The guidelines proposed by the agency are all voluntary and non-binding upon the experimenters, the EPA or the public.

The notice defers adopting legally binding protections for infants, fetuses, pregnant women, and prisoners that apply to all medical and drug testing overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Instead, EPA announces that it "indends to publish a proposed rule” at some time in the future.

~snip~

The EPA is forming a panel to review the study. In a January 24 letter to then EPA Deputy Administrator Stephen Johnson, the Environmental Working Group requests that the makeup of the panel be "fair and balanced."

"By that we mean that there should be no past or present pesticide or chemical industry employees, consultants or contractors on the review panel, and that there must be several individuals with strong public health credentials, including expertise in pediatric environmental health," wrote Environmental Working Group Senior Vice President Richard Wiles.

Johnson, who has defended the CHEERS study, has now been elevated to the position of EPA Acting Administrator, following the departure of former EPA Adminstrator Mike Leavitt January 28 to head the Department of Health and Human Services.

Wiles notes that his organization and others object to the "fundamentally unethical nature" of the CHEERS study design, which proposed to "stand by and simply observe what the study acknowledged to be high pesticide exposures to infants and small children."

Johnson may be the most destructive EPA chief yet. Stay tuned.