Newest Scientific Research: Fracking is Completely SAFE

Tree-huggers and other Enemies of Freedom — you can stop your hand-wringing.  The latest scientific findings have proven that fracking is safe, sugar is good for you, and “climate change” is a hoax dreamed up by socialist thugs who want to steal your property.

These are just a few of the scientific facts brought to us by the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH).  Research conducted by the American Council on Science and Health is totally objective and impartial.  Now, uhh [ahem] their unbiased scientific research happens to be funded by the fossil fuel industry and the Food Syndicate, among others.  Move along.  Nothing to see here.

Like most slippery rightwing organizations, the American Council on Science and Health does not disclose its corporate donors.  Fortunately, Mother Jones has obtained financial documents that confirm the obvious:  the American Council on Science and Health is funded by the industries that have a stake in the organization’s “scientific” findings.

The largest donors to the American Council on Science and Health include Chevron, Coca Cola, Monsanto, McDonald’s and the tobacco industry.

The executive director of the American Council on Science and Health, Dr. Gilbert Ross, says the group doesn’t disclose its donors because:

“The sources of our support are irrelevant to our scientific investigations.  Only science-based facts hold sway in our publications, even if the outcome is not pleasing to our contributors.”

Here’s that grain of salt you were looking for:  Dr. Gilbert Ross was once convicted of defrauding New York State’s Medicaid program of $8 million.  He lost his medical license and served 23 months out of his 46-month prison sentence.

The American Council on Science and Health was founded in 1978 as a “counterweight” to the environmental and consumer movements.  The group’s website says:

“ACSH protects consumer freedom from a variety of unscientifically based activist organizations—such as the Natural Resources Defense Council, Center for Science in the Public Interest, and Environmental Working Group—that use 'junk science' and hyperbole about risk to promote fears about our food, pharmaceuticals and chemicals, and other environmental and lifestyle factors.  Their agenda is to limit or dismantle many technological achievements that contribute to consumer choice and good health.”

The American Council on Science and Health was founded with a $100,000 donation from the Sarah Scaife Foundation, which also donates to the Heritage Foundation and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

Birds of a feather.