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| EST. READ TIME 1 MIN.Passive Smoke: The EPA's Betrayal of Science and Policy
With his public choice theory, Nobel laureate James Buchanan pointed out how public interest groups, including public servants, end up working for themselves at the expense of the public. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has long fulfilled this prediction. In fact, in 1980 blue ribbon panel concluded that the EPA's work was rife with what become known as junk science: a habit of selectively citing data designed to support preconceived and self-serving ambitions and policy goals.
A 1993 EPA study concluded that second-hand cigarette smoke caused around 3,000 lung cancer deaths a year among non-smokers. Anti-tobacco activists used the report to secure full or partial bans on indoor smoking in the US and Canada.
Recently, however, a US Federal Court declared the EPA's risk assessment of ETS null and void, finding that the agency acted illegally and corrupted science to engage in a campaign of public disinformation.
If the science underpinning public policy is purposefully distorted, then the public's trust in regulatory decisions will be lost - with disastrous consequences. Reflecting on the facts, this book raises fundamental questions about the endemic abuses of power by public bureaucracies.
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John Luik
John C. Luik taught philosophy and management studies at a number of universities, has been Senior Associate of the NiagaraInstitute with responsibility for its work in public policy and leadership and organizational change, and has worked as a consultant for governmental institutions, professional organizations, and corporations in the United States, Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. He was educated on a Rhodes Scholarship at the University of Oxford where he obtained his B.A., M.A. and D.Phil. degrees. His academic interests include public policy, particularly the use of science in policy and the question of government intervention to change risky behaviours, the ethics of advertising and business, and philosophy. He is a frequent media commentator and conference speaker and the author of numerous ar ticles and several books. His most recent publications include: The Assault on Pleasure: Health Promotion and Engineering the Human Soul , Pandora's Box: The Dangers of Corrupted Science for Democratic Public Policy , Smokescreen: Passive Smoking and Public Policy, I Can't Help Myself: Addiction as Ideology, Advertising and Markets, Humanism , and The Problem of Permission for Pleasure in a Democratic Society . Most recently, he is the co-author with Gio Gori of the book, Passive Smoke: The EPA's Betrayal of Science and Policy , published by The Fraser Institute… Read more Read Less… -
Gio Batta Gori
Gio Batta Gori has lectured widely in North America, Europe, and many countries, appeared at several hearings in the U.S.Congress and foreign governments, and has advised corporations internationally. Born in Friuli, Italy, he obtained a doctorate in biology after an education in the classics. In the United States he first worked with the late Jonas Salk, followed by academic and industrial experiences. During a distinguished tenure at the National Cancer Institute he was deputy director of the Division of Cancer Cause and Prevention, and directed the Smoking and Health Program and the Diet and Cancer Program. He was recognized with the U.S. Public Health Service Superior Service Award for his achievements in smoking and health. Later he organized and directed the Franklin Institute Policy Analysis Center, followed by his own Health Policy Center, a study and advisory group in health policy and regulation. He publishes extensively on scientific and policy matters.… Read more Read Less…
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