The Religious Mandate For Chemical Policy Reform
Christian Health Ministry - Christian Health News
(HuffingtonPost 8/1/10) Before serving in a parish, I worked as a hospital chaplain on a
cancer ward at a Chicago hospital. Arriving at work each morning was like entering the
night of the living dead. After seeing dozens of people dying and hundreds of families
afflicted by grief, religious teachings about the importance and sanctity of health made
very clear sense. Jesus' commitment to healing; the Hindu and Buddhist commitment to
ahimsa, or non-violence; the Koran's recognition that good health is a sign of Allah's
mercy; Judaism's demand that society and individuals protect human health: each of
these teachings recognizes life's value, and that protecting health is a sacred duty.
When I left the parish to work as a religious environmentalist, I didn't expect to spend
time with cancer victims. To my surprise, when I visited sites polluted with toxic
chemicals, many of them in poor communities, I continued to meet people with cancer,
people who wondered why so many others in their community had cancer, too.
I learned about cancer clusters and the health threats posed by toxins. And there was
more. I visited Appalachian mining counties where everyone's water was stored in ugly
plastic tanks in their backyard because the groundwater was poisoned. I visited urban
and rural communities within an hour of New York City where there's so much chemical
pollution in the ground that the clean-up strategy is to pump groundwater through
filtering systems and back into the ground, 24/7, for years on end.
I met a New Jersey scientist who, when asked at a forum about what he would do to
protect his family from cancer-causing chemicals, said, "I wouldn't drink well water in
New Jersey."
And I've started reading that new genre of environmental stories, the mutating reptile
stories -- frogs growing extra legs, alligators growing stunted genitals, male fish
inexplicably laying eggs -- with growing scientific proof that chemicals called endocrine
disruptors are to blame.
The more I read about this topic, the more I got the sense that there's a massive science
experiment taking place, that we're all being exposed to a growing number of toxic
chemicals in varying doses, without knowing anything about it.
I don't know about you, but I never signed the release form for this.
Then, earlier this year, the President's Cancer Panel issued its report for 2008-2009,
dedicated to the topic of environmental cancer. This panel, whose members were
appointed by President Bush, called for surprisingly strong government action to reduce
the public's risk of cancer from chemical exposure. The panel's co-chairs reported the
following:
With nearly 80,000 chemicals on the market in the United States, many of which are
used by millions of Americans in their daily lives and are un- or understudied and largely
unregulated, exposure to potential environmental carcinogens is widespread ... [T]he
public remains unaware of many common environmental carcinogens ... [and are] also
unaware that children are far more vulnerable to environmental toxins and radiation than
adults. Efforts to inform the public of such harmful exposures and how to prevent them
must be increased. All levels of government, from federal to local, must work to protect
every American from needless disease through rigorous regulation of environmental
pollutants.
Make sure you read that last sentence carefully. Yes, in our day and age, it really does
represent an unashamed call for stricter, tougher regulation.
Last Thursday, the House of Representatives introduced the Toxic Chemicals Safety
Act, an important piece of legislation that would go a long way towards protecting
people and the environment from toxic chemicals.
This would be the first major overhaul of our nation's chemical policy since 1976, when
Congress passed the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). TSCA (pronounced like
the opera) is in a woeful state of affairs. Around 62,000 chemicals were grandfathered
under TSCA. About 20,000 more have entered commercial use since then. But since
1976, according to the non-partisan Government Accountability Office -- a widely
respected government agency -- only 200 chemicals have been tested for safety.
The evidence that chemical policy reform is needed is clear and convincing, and more
and more groups are calling for action. In recent years, scientists have found that
numerous chemicals once thought to be safe are dangerous at very low levels.
Environmental justice groups, concerned about pollution's impact on communities of
color and poor communities, have been watching the studies and sounding the alarm for
years.
Now, religious groups are getting involved. Last month, GreenFaith, the National
Council of Churches, the Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism, and religious
groups in ten states released The Interfaith Statement for Chemical Policy Reform.
The statement calls for increased protections for our nation's most vulnerable
communities; for workers, children, and pregnant mothers; and for natural systems. It
also calls for investments in a "green" economy, so that our economy creates jobs and
products that protect the web of life rather than tearing it apart. The groups are
collecting signatures from concerned people of faith in an effort to move public opinion
on this issue.
In the end, chemical policy reform is about protecting health and life -- the lives of
people, the life of the planet. The Bible puts it succinctly when it says, "Choose life." It's
time for our country to do exactly that.
The Rev. Fletcher Harper, an Episcopal priest, is Executive Director of GreenFaith, an
interfaith environmental coalition.
cancer ward at a Chicago hospital. Arriving at work each morning was like entering the
night of the living dead. After seeing dozens of people dying and hundreds of families
afflicted by grief, religious teachings about the importance and sanctity of health made
very clear sense. Jesus' commitment to healing; the Hindu and Buddhist commitment to
ahimsa, or non-violence; the Koran's recognition that good health is a sign of Allah's
mercy; Judaism's demand that society and individuals protect human health: each of
these teachings recognizes life's value, and that protecting health is a sacred duty.
When I left the parish to work as a religious environmentalist, I didn't expect to spend
time with cancer victims. To my surprise, when I visited sites polluted with toxic
chemicals, many of them in poor communities, I continued to meet people with cancer,
people who wondered why so many others in their community had cancer, too.
I learned about cancer clusters and the health threats posed by toxins. And there was
more. I visited Appalachian mining counties where everyone's water was stored in ugly
plastic tanks in their backyard because the groundwater was poisoned. I visited urban
and rural communities within an hour of New York City where there's so much chemical
pollution in the ground that the clean-up strategy is to pump groundwater through
filtering systems and back into the ground, 24/7, for years on end.
I met a New Jersey scientist who, when asked at a forum about what he would do to
protect his family from cancer-causing chemicals, said, "I wouldn't drink well water in
New Jersey."
And I've started reading that new genre of environmental stories, the mutating reptile
stories -- frogs growing extra legs, alligators growing stunted genitals, male fish
inexplicably laying eggs -- with growing scientific proof that chemicals called endocrine
disruptors are to blame.
The more I read about this topic, the more I got the sense that there's a massive science
experiment taking place, that we're all being exposed to a growing number of toxic
chemicals in varying doses, without knowing anything about it.
I don't know about you, but I never signed the release form for this.
Then, earlier this year, the President's Cancer Panel issued its report for 2008-2009,
dedicated to the topic of environmental cancer. This panel, whose members were
appointed by President Bush, called for surprisingly strong government action to reduce
the public's risk of cancer from chemical exposure. The panel's co-chairs reported the
following:
With nearly 80,000 chemicals on the market in the United States, many of which are
used by millions of Americans in their daily lives and are un- or understudied and largely
unregulated, exposure to potential environmental carcinogens is widespread ... [T]he
public remains unaware of many common environmental carcinogens ... [and are] also
unaware that children are far more vulnerable to environmental toxins and radiation than
adults. Efforts to inform the public of such harmful exposures and how to prevent them
must be increased. All levels of government, from federal to local, must work to protect
every American from needless disease through rigorous regulation of environmental
pollutants.
Make sure you read that last sentence carefully. Yes, in our day and age, it really does
represent an unashamed call for stricter, tougher regulation.
Last Thursday, the House of Representatives introduced the Toxic Chemicals Safety
Act, an important piece of legislation that would go a long way towards protecting
people and the environment from toxic chemicals.
This would be the first major overhaul of our nation's chemical policy since 1976, when
Congress passed the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). TSCA (pronounced like
the opera) is in a woeful state of affairs. Around 62,000 chemicals were grandfathered
under TSCA. About 20,000 more have entered commercial use since then. But since
1976, according to the non-partisan Government Accountability Office -- a widely
respected government agency -- only 200 chemicals have been tested for safety.
The evidence that chemical policy reform is needed is clear and convincing, and more
and more groups are calling for action. In recent years, scientists have found that
numerous chemicals once thought to be safe are dangerous at very low levels.
Environmental justice groups, concerned about pollution's impact on communities of
color and poor communities, have been watching the studies and sounding the alarm for
years.
Now, religious groups are getting involved. Last month, GreenFaith, the National
Council of Churches, the Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism, and religious
groups in ten states released The Interfaith Statement for Chemical Policy Reform.
The statement calls for increased protections for our nation's most vulnerable
communities; for workers, children, and pregnant mothers; and for natural systems. It
also calls for investments in a "green" economy, so that our economy creates jobs and
products that protect the web of life rather than tearing it apart. The groups are
collecting signatures from concerned people of faith in an effort to move public opinion
on this issue.
In the end, chemical policy reform is about protecting health and life -- the lives of
people, the life of the planet. The Bible puts it succinctly when it says, "Choose life." It's
time for our country to do exactly that.
The Rev. Fletcher Harper, an Episcopal priest, is Executive Director of GreenFaith, an
interfaith environmental coalition.
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