ACC Finally Gets It

Today Cal Dooley, head of the American Chemistry Council, and Randy Dearth, head of Lanxess, have an editorial in the Pittsburg Post-Gazette. They address the need for the reauthorization of the CFATS regulations. Interestingly no mention is made of their opposition to IST provisions or some of the other provisions that have been mentioned for inclusion by the two Congressional committees currently involved in the process. I think that it is about time that the ACC has taken their campaign for re-authorization to the public. To date there have been a number of editorials written by Cal Dooley, but all of the ones that I have seen have been addressed to industry or Congress. None of them have been in newspapers or magazines read by the general public. Targeting the public is certainly the aim organizations that are pushing for the inclusion of inherently safer technology requirements, language mandating union involvement, specific whistleblower protection and other provisions that might be considered anti-industry. They realize that we are going through a phase of the political cycle where public lobbying efforts are as important as lobbying by business and industry. I am also pleasantly pleased to see that this editorial has taken a positive track in pursuit of its campaign for CFATS re-authorization. Instead of attacking the IST or some of the more populist measures being proposed by activists, this editorial is a positive statement about what has been done to date and what the industry hopes to accomplish. If both sides were to approach this issue in a non-confrontational manner, it would make it easier for both sides to come together to reach a reasonable compromise that all could live with. This would ensure that any changes to the CFATS program would be workable and effective while imposing a reasonable and sustainable burden on the chemical industry.