NYT: Conservatives Raise Questions About (Obama's pick) OSHA Nominee

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2009/09/24/24greenwire-conservatives-raise-questions-about-osha-nomin-31249.html

By SARA GOODMAN of Greenwire
Published: September 24, 2009

Conservative pundits and activists are taking aim at President Obama's pick to head the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for his writings about the dangers of various pollutants and hazardous materials.

Obama nominated David Michaels, an epidemiologist and former Energy Department official, to direct the Labor Department agency that enforces workplace safety and health legislation. The nomination came in late July, but a date has not yet been set for a confirmation hearing as the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee has been focused almost exclusively on health care legislation.

Some on the right are trying to use the delay to spark opposition against Michaels, calling him a proponent of junk science, anti-business and anti-guns.

Hans Bader, a legal scholar at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a free-market advocacy group, said several of Michaels' views on issues could directly impact the agency that enforces workplace safety and health legislation.

"I can see why there would be concern," Bader said. "He seems to want to loosen restrictions on junk science ... it seems reasonable for senators to take a closer look at his nomination."

Of particular concern to Bader are some of Michaels' writings, including a 2008 book he wrote called "Doubt is Their Product," in which he describes how some corporations skew the scientific debate about the dangers of various pollutants and hazardous materials. In it, Michaels documents cases in which corporations -- such as the tobacco industry -- hire their own scientists and lobbyists to dispute scientific evidence about public health threats.

FULL story at link.