Steven Milloy

SOURCE:  Wikipedia, captured 2020-09-22
This page last modified: 2020-10-02 13:42:02 -0700 (PST)

  • Steven J. Milloy is a notorious, noxious lobbyist (corporate shrill), disinformation troll (second-hand tobacco smoke;  tobacco companies including R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, and Philip Morris Companies Inc.;  oil companies including ExxonMobil;  climate change denialist;  ecological and environmental destruction denialist;  FOX News; ...), and purveyor of junk science and pseudoscience ...

    Steven Milloy's reprehensible activity has been supported through Steven Milloy's close associations with Koch family-funded groups the Cato Institute, and the Competitive Enterprise Institute. From the 1990s until the end of 2005, Steven Milloy was an Adjunct Scholar at the libertarian Cato Institute, which hosted Milloy's JunkScience.com site -- "the best known" example of "a right wing effort in the U.S. to discredit widely accepted science, technology and medical information."

    Not mentioned in the Steven Milloy's Wikipedia page (immediately following) is Steven Milloy's association with the Heartland Institute, where he serves as Director. Steven Milloy's role at the Heartland Institute further discredits that disinformation source.

    Steven J. Milloy is a lawyer, lobbyist, author and FOX News commentator. Steven Milloy describes himself as a libertarian and his close financial and organizational ties to tobacco and oil companies have been the subject of criticism, as Milloy has consistently disputed the scientific consensus on climate change and the health risks of second-hand smoke.

    Among the topics Milloy has addressed are what he believes are false claims regarding DDT, global warming, Alar, breast implants, second-hand smoke, ozone depletion, and mad cow disease. Milloy runs CSRWatch.com, which monitors and criticizes the corporate social responsibility movement. From the 1990s until the end of 2005, Steven Milloy was an Adjunct Scholar at the libertarian Cato Institute, which hosted the JunkScience.com site. Steven Milloy was an adjunct scholar at the Competitive Enterprise Institute  [2005-2009  |  screenshot]. Milloy is head of the Congressional Effect Fund (formerly the Free Enterprise Action Fund), a mutual fund Milloy runs with former tobacco executive Tom Borelli.

    Steven Milloy also operates The Advancement of Sound Science Center (TASSC), established by Philip Morris Companies Inc. to counter legislation against second-hand smoke (now from Milloy's home in Potomac, Maryland). TASSC was originally known as The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition, which was established by the Philip Morris controlled public relations company APCO, specifically to attack the scientific credentials of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) when they threatened to categorise second-hand smoke as a "known carcinogen." Bonner Cohen who published the EPA Watch newsletter for Philip Morris was a partner with Milloy in both the original TASSC and the revamped operation through the Cato Institute; TASSC was a major lobbyist in attacking EPA science on global warming.

    Educational background

    Milloy holds a B.A. in Natural Sciences from Johns Hopkins University, a Master of Health Sciences in Biostatistics from the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health, a Juris Doctor from the University of Baltimore, and a Master of Laws from the Georgetown University Law Center.

    Career

    The National Environmental Policy Institute (NEPI) was formed in early 1993 by Congressman Don Ritter (R-PA) and Dennis Hertel. (D-MI). Most of the initial funding for this 'greenwash' lobby group came from Occidental Petroleum, and other oil companies. Milloy styled himself as NEPI's "Director of Science Policy Studies." These companies wanted to oppose aspects of the SuperFund clean-up program. NEPI's publication, "Science-Based Risk Assessment: A Key to the SuperFund Puzzle," says:

    At the same time, Milloy was working through Philip Morris's specialist-science/PR company APCO & Associates, but he was relegated to working behind the scenes as a contact for the newly formed TASSC, and on developing a new electronic-mail/computer business venture known as "Issues Watch" for APCO. APCO formally established TASSC in October 1, 1993 The budget for the first full year of operation was $365,411.

    By 1994, according to his website, Milloy was project leader of the Regulatory Impact Analysis Project, Inc. for the U.S. Department of Energy. The Cato Institute, where Milloy was listed as an adjunct scholar, published his work from 1995 to 2005. Milloy began his criticism of "Junk science" as president of the Environmental Policy Analysis Network in 1996.

    Milloy's employment by the EOP Group Inc. (major lobbyists) dates back to before 1995, and it includes a record of lobbying on behalf of the Fort Howard Corporation, the International Food Additives Council, Monsanto Co. and Edison Electrics. The Competitive Enterprise Institute also proposed to Philip Morris that Milloy and his partners Michael Gough and Michael Fumento should be used to attack the FDA through reports to the House and Senate on risk Management reform.

    In March 1997, Milloy moved from the backroom to become president of The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition (TASSC) [Established under Gov. Garrey Carruthers of New Mexico by Philip Morris], which later became The Advancement of Sound Science Center. Steven Milloy has links through Philip Morris and FOX News to Rupert Murdoch and News Corporation. Milloy was a correspondent for FOX News between 2002 and 2009, and he became a policy director at Murray Energy and a member of Donald Trump's presidential transition team.

    Junk science

    Milloy has used the term "junk science" in public debate, which he defines as "faulty scientific data and analysis used to advance special and, often, hidden agendas." According to Milloy, "the junk science 'mob' includes:

    Milloy frequently applies the term "junk science" to climate change science and certain health controversies.

    Scientists and science writers have argued the term is used, by Milloy and others, almost exclusively to "denigrate scientists and studies whose findings do not serve the corporate cause," in the words of David Michaels. In an editorial in Chemical & Engineering News, Editor-in-Chief Rudy Baum called Milloy's JunkScience.com website "the best known" example of "a right wing effort in the U.S. to discredit widely accepted science, technology and medical information." Rudy Baum went on to label Milloy "a tireless anti-science polemicist" who applies the term "junk science" to "anything that doesn't match his right-wing concept of reality." Along similar lines, an editorial in the American Journal of Public Health noted that "... attacking the science underlying difficult public policy decisions with the label of 'junk' has become a common ploy for those opposed to regulation ... One need only peruse JunkScience.com to get a sense of the long list of public health issues for which research has been so labeled."

    Second-hand smoke

    Milloy has criticized research linking second-hand tobacco smoke to cancer, claiming that "the vast majority of studies reported no statistical association." In 1993, Milloy dismissed an Environmental Protection Agency report linking second-hand tobacco smoke to cancer as "a joke." Five years later Milloy claimed vindication after a federal court criticized the E.P.A.'s conclusions. However, the court's finding against the EPA was overturned on appeal. When the British Medical Journal published a meta-analysis confirming a link in 1997, Milloy wrote, "Of the 37 studies, only 7 -- less than 19 percent -- reported statistically significant increases in lung cancer incidence... Meta-analysis of the secondhand smoke studies was a joke when EPA did it in 1993. And it remains a joke today." When another researcher published a study linking second-hand smoke to cancer, Milloy wrote that she "... must have pictures of journal editors in compromising positions with farm animals. How else can you explain her studies seeing the light of day?"

    Links to tobacco industry

    While at FOXNews.com, Milloy has continued to criticize claims that second-hand tobacco smoke causes cancer. However, with the release of confidential tobacco industry documents as part of the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement, the objectivity of Milloy's stance on second-hand smoke has been questioned. Based on this documentation, journalists Paul D. Thacker and George Monbiot, as well as the Union of Concerned Scientists and others, have contended that Milloy is a paid advocate for the tobacco industry.

    Milloy's JunkScience.com website was reviewed and revised by a public relations firm hired by the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. Milloy also worked as executive director of The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition (TASSC), which was established in 1993 by Philip Morris and its public relations firm "to expand and assist Philip Morris in its efforts with issues in targeted states." A 1994 Philip Morris memo listed TASSC among its "Tools to Affect Legislative Decisions." According to its 1997 annual report, TASSC "sponsored" JunkScience.com.

    The New Republic reported that Milloy, who is presented by Cato Institute as an independent journalist, was under contract to provide consulting services to Philip Morris through the end of 2005. In 2000 and 2001, for example, Milloy received a total of $180,000 in payments from Philip Morris for consulting services. A spokesperson for FOX News stated, "FOX News was unaware of Milloy's connection with Philip Morris. Any affiliation he had should have been disclosed."

    Milloy's association with the Cato Institute ended shortly afterwards; however, as of March 2008, he continues to write for FOXNews.com, where he is described as a "junk science expert." Monbiot wrote: "Even after FOX News was told about the money Milloy had been receiving from Philip Morris and ExxonMobil, FOX News continued to employ Milloy -- without informing its readers about his interests." Thacker wrote:

    Climate change

    Milloy argues that human activity has little impact on climate change and that regulations to limit greenhouse gas emissions are unwarranted and harmful to business interests. Steven Milloy has recently offered a prize of $500,000 to anyone who can "prove, in a scientific manner, that humans are causing harmful global warming," stating that "JunkScience.com, in its sole discretion, will determine the winner, if any."

    In 2004, when the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment was released by the Arctic Council and the International Arctic Science Committee, Milloy wrote that the report "pretty much debunks itself." Milloy based his assertions that the variation was natural on his interpretation of just one graph from the overview of the large study. One of the lead authors of the study, oceanographer James J. McCarthy, commented that those taking Milloy's position would "have to refute what are hundreds of scientific papers that reconstruct various pieces of this climate puzzle." Milloy's assertion was repeated by lobbyists including the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

    In 2005, it was reported that non-profit organizations operating out of Milloy's home, and in some cases employing no staff, have received large payments from ExxonMobil during his tenure with FOX News. A FOX News spokesperson stated that Milloy is "... affiliated with several not-for-profit groups that possibly may receive funding from Exxon, but he certainly does not receive funding directly from Exxon."

    Milloy is the Executive Director of DemandDebate.com, an organization that seeks to eliminate what it calls "bias" in environmental education. A Competitive Enterprise Institute press release says he "coordinated" the group's activities at the recent Live Earth concert in New York, at which a plane circled the event pulling a banner reading, "DON'T BELIEVE AL GORE -- DEMAND DEBATE.COM."

    U.S. Surgeon General

    In 1998, Milloy, writing on behalf of TASSC, co-wrote an article which called for the abolition of the position of United States Surgeon General. "We have not had a surgeon general for three years. Has anyone noticed? Is anyone's health at risk," asked the authors.

    DDT

    Milloy has campaigned against the 1972 ban on non-public-health uses of DDT in the United States and in favour of wider use of DDT against malaria, which he claims could be largely eliminated if DDT were used more aggressively. Steven Milloy has been particularly critical of Rachel Carson who, Milloy wrote, "misrepresented the existing science on bird reproduction and was wrong about DDT causing cancer."

    Milloy's JunkScience.com web site features "The Malaria Clock: A Green Eco-Imperialist Legacy of Death," which he claims counts up the approximate number of new malaria cases and deaths in the world, most of which he says could have been prevented by the use of DDT. As of June 2007, Milloy's clock stood at more than 94 million dead, 90% of whom were said to have been expectant mothers and children under five years of age. "Infanticide on this scale appears without parallel in human history," writes Milloy. "This is not ecology. This is not conservation. This is genocide."

    Critics have argued that the clock holds Carson "responsible for more deaths than malaria has caused in total," a charge that a footnote at the bottom of the malaria clock webpage seems to acknowledge, stating: "Note that some of these cases would have occurred irrespective of DDT use. Note also that, while enormously influential, the US ban did not immediately terminate global DDT use and that developing world malaria mortality increased over time rather than instantly leaping to the estimated value of 2,700,000 deaths per year. However, certain in the knowledge that even one human sacrificed on the altar of green misanthropy is infinitely too many, I let stand the linear extrapolation of numbers from an instant start on the 1st of the month following this murderous ban."

    Milloy's claims about malaria in general are generally held to have been debunked, with many commentators pointing to the close links between Milloy, DDT-advocacy and the tobacco industry as casting suspicion on the motives for his difficult to support claims.

    In 2006, following a press release by the World Health Organization recommending more extensive use of indoor residual spraying with DDT and other pesticides, Milloy wrote, "It's a relief that the WHO has finally come to its senses." In 2007, the WHO clarified its position, saying it is "very much concerned with health consequences from use of DDT" and reaffirmed its commitment to phasing out the use of DDT.

    Asbestos and the World Trade Center

    On September 14, 2001, three days after terrorist attacks destroyed the World Trade Center, Milloy wrote that the World Trade Center towers might have stood longer, preventing many casualties, had the use of asbestos fire-resistant lagging not been discontinued during the Towers' construction. Milloy's article reported that, "In 1971, New York City banned the use of asbestos in spray fireproofing. At that time, asbestos insulating material had only been sprayed up to the 64th floor of the World Trade Center towers," and cited an expert who questioned the efficacy of the asbestos-free lagging that was used on the steel in the upper floors.

    Advocates for banning asbestos were highly critical of the article, questioning his motives and disputing his conclusions. The International Ban Asbestos Secretariat charged him with "insensitivity that is hard to fathom."

    Food safety

    Responding to criticism of the safety of the food product Quorn by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), Milloy accused CSPI of having an undisclosed relationship with Quorn's main competitor, Gardenburger. Writing for FOXNews.com, Milloy said that "CSPI appears to have an unsavory relationship with Quorn competitor, Gardenburger" and called the CSPI's complaints "unscrupulous shrieking," noting comments in CSPI newsletters like "Remember the saturated fat and the E.coli bacteria that could be hiding inside a hamburger? You can keep the taste but forget the worries with Gardenburger."

    Rall controversy

    In 1999, David Platt Rall, a prominent environmental scientist, died in a car accident. Steven J. Milloy, at the time a Cato adjunct scholar, commented: "Scratch one junk scientist....". Cato Institute President Edward Crane called Milloy's comments an "inexcusable lapse in judgment and civility," but Milloy refused to apologize, stating "I'm sorry for Rall's family that he's dead. It's not intended as a slight to them. But he had a huge role to play in junk science and that's undeniable."

    David P. Rall, M.D., Ph.D.

    Registration as a lobbyist

    The United States Senate Lobby Filing Disclosure Program lists Steven Milloy as a registered lobbyist for the EOP Group for the years 1998-2000. The guidebook "Washington Representatives" also listed him as a lobbyist for the EOP Group in 1996. The EOP Group's clients include the American Crop Protection Association (pesticides), the Chlorine Chemistry Council, Edison Electric Institute (fossil and nuclear energy), Fort Howard Corp. (a paper manufacturer) and the National Mining Association. Milloy himself was personally registered as a lobbyist for Monsanto Company and the International Food Additives Council. Milloy denies ever lobbying, and in a 1998 email response to his registration as a lobbyist under EOP he wrote:

    Corporate activism

    Milloy and former tobacco executive Tom Borelli run a mutual fund called the Free Enterprise Action Fund (FEAF). The fund has criticised companies that voluntarily adopt high environmental standards. Through the platform of the FEAF, Milloy has criticized a number of other corporations for adopting environmental initiatives:

    FEAF has been criticised by investment analyst Chuck Jaffe as being "an advocacy group in search of assets." Jaffe concludes "Strip away the rhetoric, and you're getting a very expensive, underperforming index fund, while Milloy and his partner Thomas Borelli get a platform for raising their pet issues."

    Similarly, Daniel Gross, in a Slate magazine article, wrote that FEAF "seems to be a lobbying enterprise masquerading as a mutual fund." Gross noted that Milloy and Tom Borelli, the former head of corporate scientific affairs for Philip Morris, lack any money management experience; he also noted that FEAF had badly underperformed the S&P 500 during its first 10 months of existence. Gross concluded that "...in the short term, it looks like Borelli and Milloy are essentially paying the fund for the privilege of using it as a platform to broadcast their views on corporate governance, global warming, and a host of other issues."

    Books

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