Bonner Cohen
From SourceWatch
Bonner Cohen headed EPA Watch which received funding from Philip Morris. He purported to edit EPA Watch as an independent newsletter published and distributed by the non-profit American Policy Center, but in fact it was a publication of the APCO & Associates PR Group, originally owned by Philip Morris's Washington legal firm, Arnold & Porter (ie A&P Co = APCO)
During this time he shared the work with Steve Milloy ("Junkman") who was running the organisation known as The Advancement for Sound Science Coalition (TASSC) which purported to be a grass-roots sound-science organisation, but which was originally a tobacco industry front (run also by APCO) pushing a "sound science" line (only their science was judged to be sound!).
Milloy clearly wrote a number of the articles published in EPA Watch, and Cohen eventually became listed as President of TASSC when it moved from being a vehicle just for tobacco promotion, to having a wider agenda, opposing government attempts at health regulation of a number of polluting industries.
A Philip Morris document states that EPA Watch was an "asset" established to assist Philip Morris achieve a broader impact than just on the issue of second-hand smoke. Another Philip Morris document argues the need to "develop a plan for EPA Watch / Bonner Cohen as expert on EPA matters, i.e. regular syndicated radio features on EPA activities." [1] (http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/2000Q3/usual.html)
According to a biographical note in a report he authored, Cohen "joined the Lexington Institute as a senior fellow in 1999. Dr. Cohen has lectured and participated in panels dealing with environmental issues in the United States and abroad and is a frequent commentator on television and radio programs. He was the editor for Environment & Climate News.
"Together with Steve Milloy, Cohen has served as editor of American Values: an Environmental Vision, an anthology published by the Environmental Policy Analysis Network in 1996. Articles by Dr. Cohen have appeared in Forbes, the Weekly Standard, National Review, Investor's Business Daily, Journal of Commerce, Washington Times, Earth Times, and other publications," the note states.
"His previous positions include that of research associate at the Stiftung, Germany Wissenschaft und Politik (Foundation for Science and Policy)in Ebenhausen,Germany and as a German-language lecturer for the United States Information Agency (USIA), in Germany. Dr. Cohen holds a Ph.D.--summa cum laude--from the University of Munich and a B.A. from the University of Georgia," the biographical note states. [2] (http://www.cgfi.org/materials/key_pubs/fear_profiteers.pdf)
Cohen is now a senior fellow at the National Center for Public Policy Research in Washington, D.C. critiquing environmental issues. [3] (http://www.nationalcenter.org)
He has authored profiles on several environmental groups - including the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Environmental Working Group - which have appeared in Organization Trends, a publication of the conservative Capital Research Center.
[NOTE: Don't confuse Bonner Cohen, with Bernard Cohen, a radon scientist who also worked for Phillip Morris and the tobacco industry]
External links
- Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber, "The Usual Suspects: Industry Hacks Turn Fear on its Head (http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/2000Q3/usual.html)", PR Watch, Volume 7, No. 3, 3rd quarter 2000.
- Bonner Cohen, et al.,ed., "The Fear Profiteers: Do 'Socially Responsible' Businesses Sow Health Scares to Reap Monetary Rewards? (http://www.cgfi.org/materials/key_pubs/fear_profiteers.pdf)", February 2002, page 79.
- Bonner R. Cohen, "Natural Resources Defense Council: Weapons in the Environmentalist Arsenal: Lawsuits, Blacklists and Publicity (http://www.capitalresearch.org/pubs/pubs.asp?ID=139), Organization Trends, Capital Research Center, August 2003.
- Bonner R. Cohen, "The Environmental Working Group: Peddlers of Fear: Junk Science Specialists Foment Public Health Scares (http://www.capitalresearch.org/pubs/pubs.asp?ID=165)", Organization Trends, Capital Research Center, January 2004.
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