Op-Ed

Beyond the Rhetoric: Chemical Industry Advocating More Regulations

Published

10 years ago

May 4, 2015

By Harry C. Alford
NNPA Columnist

One of the few shining stars of our nation’s economy, the $812-billion chemistry business, is working with Congress to pass a law that would actually give the federal government more authority to regulate chemicals. You heard right. An industry that has spent the past 40 or so years operating under a loosely defined “chemical regulatory system” in the U.S. Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) has decided it’s time to bring U.S. chemical regulations into the 21st Century so the federal government can do a better job at protecting consumers, including African Americans.

If you think something smells fishy here, you’re mistaken. In an era of zero-sum games and partisan, win-lose decision-making in Congress, this is a case of good, old-fashioned compromise.

Businesses around the country, millions of consumers who purchase their products as well as regulating agencies and environmental activists who hold those agencies accountable – all of us stand to gain from the passage of chemical safety reform legislation currently under review by Congress.

I haven’t seen this kind of bipartisanship in years.

But why are chemical manufacturers supporting this change? And for that matter, why should our 2.1 million Black-owned businesses support it? Because chemical reform done right will help ensure America and Americans – not just industry – are in a better place than we are today under the current law, in terms of protecting both health and safety, and ensuring that our country can hold on to its position as the world’s leading, low-cost innovator.

Note that I said low-cost innovator. As the backbone of America’s economy, the U.S. chemical industry is in a position to become the world’s low-cost producer of chemicals. This is important for a simple reason: the cost savings chemical manufacturers enjoy from being able to make the same chemicals for less can be passed on to suppliers, distributors, retailers and ultimately, the consumers served by our businesses.

What makes this all possible is America’s gift of abundant, affordable natural gas. Only in the past decade have we begun to unwrap that gift and see all that it has to offer. It turns out that one of the key building blocks of natural gas, ethane, is also a key building block of plastics – and, therefore, of virtually every product or technology in our homes made from plastics. If plastic can be made at a more reasonable cost, plastic products can be supplied, distributed and sold at a more reasonable cost.

In large part, because of what chemistry can do with our country’s vast natural gas supply, other countries are investing in America again. They want a share of our pie. That makes for a very bright outlook for 21st century manufacturing, and certainly a welcome development for the thousands of Black men and women who have made a career in making the products that their friends, family and fellow Americans can enjoy every day.

Now, not all of us in the African American community may care that much for the chemical sector. But I can tell you this: we care a great deal about what chemistry brings our community and our country. How about 800,000 jobs across the U.S.? How about 7.5 jobs in other sectors for every one job created in the business of chemistry? How about more than $700 billion in chemistry products flowing through our economy every year? Many of those products are helping to revolutionize medicine in the United States – and they’re saving our lives.

More than 96 percent of all manufactured goods are directly touched by chemistry. We know them as the cars and trucks we drive every day; the clothes we wear; the shoes we run in; the insulation and windows that keep us warm when we need it and cool when we don’t; the battery-powered portable device you might be holding in your hand right now; the lightweight plastic containers that keep our food safe from the farm, to the local store, to our homes; and those life-saving drugs and medical devices that help keep our loved ones healthy and in our lives as long as possible.

That’s why making sure we get it right in reforming our nation’s outdated chemical regulatory law is so important. Americans deserve to be able to shop at their favorite stores with confidence, knowing that the product they need is made and available in store shelves here in America – and that the chemicals used to make those products have been thoroughly tested. And chemical manufacturers want consumers to be able to have this kind of confidence. They want a comprehensive regulatory program that has everyone’s buy-in so that they can continue focusing on what they do best: creating solutions that enhance our lives and can solve some of the world’s most pressing challenges.

The chemical reform bill currently under review in the U.S. Senate is “The Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act” (S. 697). In the House, the bill is called the “TSCA Modernization Act of 2015.” With the support of our community, we can help ensure strong reform is delivered to President Obama so he can sign them into law – and become a champion of one of the greatest compromise efforts of his presidency.

Harry C. Alford is the co-founder, President/CEO, of the National Black Chamber of Commerce®. Website: www.nationalbcc.org Email: halford@nationalbcc.org.

###

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Up Next

The Black Athlete: Where are Today’s Muhammad Ali-like Athletes?

Don't Miss

Baltimore and the Dynamic of Racial Déjà Vu

Oakland Post

Click to comment

Commentary

California Respects the Power of Your Vote

As California Secretary of State, I do not take the progress we have made over the years lightly. My staff and I hold sacred the obligation to ensure that our elections are safe, free, fair, and accessible to all. Therefore, before certifying the results for this year’s election on Dec. 13, we have taken a number of steps to ensure that every vote is counted. We have also made sure that our ballot counting process is credible and free from interference.

Published

1 week ago

December 18, 2024

Oakland Post

Shirley N. Weber, Ph.D., California Secretary of State. Courtesy of California Secretary of State Office.

By Shirley N. Weber, Ph.D.,
California Secretary of State

Californians can confidently claim this: California has made more significant reforms to our election laws and expanded voting rights than any other state.

The relevance of this accomplishment deepens as we prepare to celebrate the 60^th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act next year. This landmark legislation began to undo our country’s long history of voter suppression, intimidation, and disenfranchisement that far too many Americans experienced at the polls for decades.

My own parents, who were sharecroppers, were denied their right to vote in the Jim Crow era South. Before moving to Los Angeles from Hope, Arkansas, my parents, David and Mildred Nash, could not vote. My father was an adult with six children before he registered to vote and was only able to exercise that constitutional right for the first time here in California.

Therefore, before certifying the results for this year’s election on Dec. 13, we have taken a number of steps to ensure that every vote is counted. We have also made sure that our ballot counting process is credible and free from interference.

To meet that deadline without a hitch, California requires elections officials in all 58 counties to turn in their official results by a certain date. This year, that date was Dec. 6.

By law, every eligible voter in our state receives a vote-by-mail ballot. This ensures all registered voters can exercise their right to vote.

Whether you placed your ballot in a designated drop-off box, voted by mail, or cast your ballot at a polling center, votes are safe and secure. And we allow voters to sign up to receive text message, email, or voice call notifications about the status of their own ballots by using the Where’s My Ballot? tool. To learn more or to sign up, paste this URL in your web browser: https://california.ballottrax.net/voter/

The ballots of Californians who voted by mail are also protected. The United States Postal Service partners with the State to make sure ballots are delivered on time. All mailed-in ballots are sent by First Class mail with a postage paid envelope provided to every eligible registered voter.

Election Security is our No. 1 priority. That’s why my office designed and implemented a program to back up that commitment. For more information, visit this URL: https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/election-cybersecurity

Additionally, California takes preventive actions to make sure our voting technology keeps our elections safe and protects everyone’s votes.

For example, county voting systems are not connected to the internet, which protects them from cyberthreats. The State also performs regular and rigorous testing to make sure the voting systems are working optimally, and only authorized personnel are granted access.

Staff members are also given phishing and cybersecurity training.

VoteCal, the state’s centralized voter registration system, is also key. The system is regularly updated, and it is used as a resource for counties to verify voter signatures.

California also provides security at all counting locations and makes sure ballot drop-off boxes are secured and monitored.

And all election processes are open to observation during specified hours.

In my role as Secretary of State of California, there is nothing more important to me than defending our democracy.

I am committed to safeguarding voting rights, and to leading our state in upholding the highest democratic standards by implementing policies and practices that Californians and all Americans can trust and look to for instruction and hope.

You can contact the California Office of the Secretary of State at 1-800-345-Vote or elections@sos.ca.gov with inquiries or to report suspected incidents or irregularities. Additional information can be found at www.sos.ca.gov and the office’s social media platforms:

Instagram: @californiasos_
Facebook: Facebook.com/CaliforniaSOS
X: @CASOSVote

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Activism

COMMENTARY: PEN Oakland Entices: When the News is Bad, Try Poetry

Strongman politics is not for the weak. Here in the U.S., Donald Trump is testing how strongman politics could work in the world’s model democracy.

Published

3 weeks ago

December 6, 2024

Oakland Post

iStockphoto.

By Emil Guillermo

As the world falls apart, you need more poetry in your life.

I was convinced on Tuesday when a weak and unpopular president of South Korea — a free nation U.S. ally — tried to save himself by declaring martial law.

Was it a stunt? Maybe. But indicative of the South Korean president’s weakness, almost immediately, the parliament there voted down his declaration.

The takeaway: in politics, nothing quite works like it used to.

Strongman politics is not for the weak. Here in the U.S., Donald Trump is testing how strongman politics could work in the world’s model democracy.

Right now, we need more than a prayer.

NEWS ANTIDOTE? LITERATURE

As we prepare for another Trump administration, my advice: Take a deep breath, and read more poetry, essays and novels.

From “Poetry, Essays and Novels,” the acronym PEN is derived.

Which ones to read?

Register (tickets are limited) to join Tennessee Reed and myself as we host PEN OAKLAND’s award ceremony this Saturday on Zoom, in association with the Oakland Public Library.

Find out about what’s worth a read from local artists and writers like Cheryl Fabio, Jack Foley, Maw Shein Win, and Lucille Lang Day.

Hear from award winning writers like Henry Threadgill, Brent Hayes Edwards and Airea D. Matthews.

PEN Oakland is the local branch of the national PEN. Co-founded by the renowned Oakland writer, playwright, poet and novelist Ishmael Reed, Oakland PEN is special because it is a leader in fighting to include multicultural voices.

Reed is still writing. So is his wife Carla Blank, whose title essay in the new book, “A Jew in Ramallah, And Other Essays,” (Baraka Books), provides an artist’s perspective on the conflict in Gaza.

Of all Reed’s work, it’s his poetry that I’ve found the most musical and inspiring.

It’s made me start writing and enjoying poetry more intentionally. This year, I was named poet laureate of my small San Joaquin rural town.

Now as a member of Oakland PEN, I can say, yes, I have written poetry and essays, but not a novel. One man shows I’ve written, so I have my own sub-group. My acronym: Oakland PEOMS.

Reed’s most recent book of poetry, “Why the Black Hole Sings the Blues, Poems 2007-2020” is one of my favorites. One poem especially captures the emerging xenophobia of the day. I offer you the first stanza of “The Banishment.”

We don’t want you here
Your crops grow better than ours
We don’t want you here
You’re not one of our kind
We’ll drive you out
As thou you were never here
Your names, family, and history
We’ll make them all disappear.

There’s more. But that stanza captures the anxiety many of us feel from the threat of mass deportations. The poem was written more than four years ago during the first Trump administration.

We’ve lived through all this before. And survived.

The news sometimes lulls us into acquiescence, but poetry strikes at the heart and forces us to see and feel more clearly.

About the Author

Emil Guillermo is a journalist and commentator. Join him at www.patreon.com/emilamok

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Bay Area

In the City Attorney Race, Ryan Richardson Is Better for Oakland

It’s been two years since negotiations broke down between the City of Oakland and a developer who wants to build a coal terminal here, and the issue has reappeared, quietly, in the upcoming race for Oakland City attorney. Two candidates are running for the position of Oakland City Attorney in November: current Assistant Chief City Attorney Ryan Richardson and retired judge Brenda Harbin-Forte.

Published

2 months ago

October 28, 2024

Oakland Post

Members of Oaklanders Defending Democracy political action committee with Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, center. Courtesy photo.

By Margaret Rossoff

Special to The Post

OPINION

Two candidates are running for the position of Oakland City Attorney in November: current Assistant Chief City Attorney Ryan Richardson and retired judge Brenda Harbin-Forte.

Richardson has worked in the Office of the City Attorney since 2014 and is likely to continue current City Attorney Barbara Parker’s policies managing the department. He has committed not to accept campaign contributions from developers who want to store and handle coal at a proposed marine terminal in Oakland.

Retired Judge Harbin-Forte launched and has played a leading role in the campaign to recall Mayor Sheng Thao, which is also on the November ballot. She has stepped back from the recall campaign to focus on her candidacy. The East Bay Times noted, “Harbin-Forte’s decision to lead the recall campaign against a potential future client is … troubling — and is likely to undermine her ability, if she were to win, to work effectively.”

Harbin-Forte has refused to rule out accepting campaign support from coal terminal interests or their agents. Coal terminal lobbyist Greg McConnell’s Independent Expenditure Committee “SOS Oakland” is backing her campaign.

In the 2022 mayor’s race, parties hoping to build a coal terminal made $600,000 in contributions to another of McConnell’s Independent Expenditure Committees.

In a recent interview, Harbin-Forte said she is open to “listening to both sides” and will be “fair.” However, the City Attorney’s job is not to judge fairly between the City and its legal opponents – it is to represent the City against its opponents.

She thought that the 2022 settlement negotiations ended because the City “rejected a ‘no coal’ settlement.” This is lobbyist McConnell’s narrative, in contrast to the report by City Attorney Barbara Parker. Parker has explained that the City continued to negotiate in good faith for a settlement with no “loopholes” that could have allowed coal to ship through Oakland – until would-be coal developer Phil Tagami broke off negotiations.

One of Harbin-Forte’s main priorities, listed on her website, is “reducing reliance on outside law firms,” and instead use the lawyers working in the City Attorney’s office.

However, sometimes this office doesn’t have the extensive expertise available that outside firms can provide in major litigation. In the ongoing, high stakes coal litigation, the City has benefited from collaborating with experienced, specialized attorneys who could take on the nationally prominent firms representing the City’s opponents.

The City will continue to need this expertise as it pursues an appeal of the judge’s decision that restored the developer’s lease and defends against a billion-dollar lawsuit brought by the hedge fund operator who holds the sublease on the property.

Harbin-Forte’s unwillingness to refuse campaign contributions from coal terminal interests, her opposition to using outside resources when needed, as well as her uncritical repetition of coal lobbyist McConnell’s claim that the City sabotaged the settlement talks of 2022 all raise serious concerns about how well she would represent the best interests of Oakland and Oaklanders if she is elected City Attorney.