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Alan Caruba 2002's Most Dubious News Stories of the Year In a year when Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein made the bogeyman look like the Tooth Fairy, the 'environmaniacs' kept telling anyone who would listen the Earth was doomed and everything you ate, drank or breathed would kill you. Here's my 12th annual review of The Most Dubious News Stories of the Year on behalf of the National Anxiety Center, a clearinghouse for information about scare campaigns that I founded in 1990. The Obesity 'Epidemic.' In a campaign similar to that leveled against the tobacco industry, the drumbeat of news about an 'obesity' epidemic stayed in the news much of the year. This attack on the fast-food industry was greeted with joy by trial lawyers, the only people to actually benefit from idiotic lawsuits. In July, the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine warned against trans-fatty acids thus putting vegetable shortening, dairy products, pastries, crackers, and fried foods off limits. That same month, a New York City lawyer filed a suit against four fast-food corporations on behalf of an obese client. Beware of Chocolate. In May, a California group, the American Environmental Safety Institute, launched a lawsuit against major chocolate makers for failing to warn consumers against the alleged danger of infinitesimal amounts of lead and cadmium. Trace amounts of minerals, including arsenic, exist in everything we eat without any demonstration of harm. EPA says toxic sludge is good for fish. In June, the Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers defended the dumping of toxic sludge into the Potomac River saying that it may "actually protect the fish." Despite the Clean Water and Endangered Species Act, the EPA continues to ignore the threat its toxic sludge policy poses to both animals and humans. Attacking Plastic. Despite four decades of safe use, the Food and Drug Administration issued a warning in July about plastic intravenous [IV] bags and tubes based totally on a hypothetical harm. Environmentalists have been attacking the use of plastic for decades, claiming a 'carcinogenic' threat that even the World Health Organization has refused to confirm. Declaring the oceans to be 'wilderness.' An environmental group, the Ocean Conservancy, in July, launched a campaign claiming that recreational fisherman were threatening the "biodiversity" of fish, seeking to put major portions of the ocean off limits to sport fishing in Alaska, Hawaii and Florida. End of the world claims. The British, who thrive on claims the Earth will be destroyed at any moment, were treated to yet another in July when the BBC warned that a space rock that could hit the Earth on February 1, 2019. Hot or cold? Which is it? In October, Dr. Robert Gagosian, president of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts, predicted that "The earth's climate could switch gears and jump very rapidly," thus plunging everyone into a new Ice Age instead of the predicted global warming. Predictions are fun, they get headlines, and they scare anyone silly enough to pay attention. 'Light' and 'noise' pollution. In July, the International Dark-Sky Association launched an effort in a Washington, DC suburb to reduce nighttime lighting to "save the night skies." In August, a group called Noise Free America announced that "noise pollution" was a growing epidemic that would lead to "social deterioration and chaos." Cities under water. Greenpeace, one of the most absurd of the many environmental organizations, claimed in August that Manhattan and Shanghai, among other coastal cities could be underwater and worldwide starvation would occur because of the rise in water levels. Scientists have long known the oceans rise about three inches or less every hundred years. All this is going on, despite the fact that life expectancy in America is the highest it has ever been and the ample evidence that life on Earth continues to improve for people throughout the world. The Earth is not running out of food or natural resources. The claims of environmentalists and others have nothing to do with scientific and economic data that clearly demonstrates the improvement of life for people everywhere. [In January, Merril Press will publish a collection of Alan Caruba's columns.] Alan Caruba writes Warning Signs, a weekly commentary posted on the Internet site of The National Anxiety Center. Alan Caruba may be reached at [EMAIL PROTECTED] 2002's Most Dubious News Stories of the Year ------- End of forwarded message ------- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. 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