"I've been called a paid liar for industry so many times I've lost count," boasts Elizabeth Whelan of the American Council on Science and Health.
This year, ACSH celebrated its 20th anniversary as an "independent" organization that claims to offer a "sound scientific" understanding of issues related to public health. Yet a substantial percentage of its funding comes from the same corporations that produce the food, pharmaceuticals, pesticides and other chemicals that ACSH routinely and enthusiastically defends.
Notwithstanding these funding sources, Whelan insists that her principles remain pure. "If you consider the possibility that we do believe in what we're doing--that it's wrong to terrify people about trace levels of chemicals that cause cancer in mice--where could you get money?" she asks. "Where would such money come from that would not be tainted?"
Of course, no one but Whelan herself knows whether her beliefs are "sincere." What matters is why corporations like Monsanto, Dow Chemical and hosts of others choose to donate money to ACSH, year in and year out.
Corporations are not ruled by concepts like "sincerity." They are ruled by the need to maximize profits, and their donations to an organization like ACSH are designed to serve this need. For them, it doesn't matter whether Whelan believes what she says, as long as what she says helps further a vision of "truth, science and progress" that advances their business objectives.
In examining organizations like ACSH, therefore, the key question is not, "Are they paid liars?" It is more meaningful to simply ask, "Who funds them, and whose interests do they serve?"
