FAN Bulletin 1032

January 3, 2009

Our first victory in 2009.

Mike Ewall has informed us that once again the biannual attempt by die-hard fluoridation promoters to introduce mandatory fluoridation into Pennsylvania  has failed. The madatory bill did not reach the floor before the legislative session closed. Mike gives full details ? plus a little history ? below. Meanwhile, I am sure everyone will join me in congratulating Mike and the other fluoridation fighters in PA for fighting this arrogant measure once again. Mike’s email is catalyst@actionpa.org  You will also probably also want to wish him luck in his new career. Mike started law school this year in DC.

Not too late for donations to our 2009 fighting fund

Even though our official annual fundraiser ended on December 31, donations continue to come in, edging us closer and closer to our goal of $40,000. Our total now stands at $39,112 from a magnificent 333 donors. If any one else wishes to add to this fighting fund for 2009 it is easy to do, simply click here https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?aid=5061. If you prefer, you can send a check, in US$, payable to FAN, to:  Paul Connett, 82 Judson Street, Canton NY 13617.

Don’t forget a $50 donation will secure you a copy of our powerful new 28 minute video “Professional Perspectives on the Fluoridation Debate” - this offer will continue for another week.  Mike Connett will be back here after a trip to Boston to celebrate the new year and will be putting in the finishing touches before returning to law school. You should certainly be receiving a copy before the end of January and hopefully a little sooner than that. Hold tight this is the BIG one.

Paul Connett

Mike Ewall’s message:

Dear PA Fluoridation Opponents and Fluoride Action Network allies,

Just writing to share some good news…

Another legislative session in Pennsylvania has gone by and the mandatory fluoridation bill failed to pass once again.  In nearly every legislative session in Pennsylvania in the last 20 years, there has been an attempt to mandate fluoridation.  See http://www.actionpa.org/fluoride/bills/bills.html

In the 2007-2008 session, the bill passed through two House committees in 2007, but stalled and ultimately died in the Appropriations committee, where it was assigned in November 2007.  See
http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billinfo/billinfo.cfm?syear=2007&sind=0&body=H&type=B&BN=1649

About 9-10% of PA water systems are fluoridated, service just over half of PA water customers.  The bill, if passed, would have made it mandatory and would have increased the fluoridated population to around 97%.

In spite of an increasingly organized lobbying effort for the mandate, the fluoride pushers still failed to get the bill through one house (as they managed to do in 2006).  In this past session, the fluoride pushers in PA have a new lobbying coalition with a fancy website at: http://www.pafluoridenow.org  

While they have a PA fluoridation map that’s way cooler than ours (http://www.actionpa.org/fluoride/map/), they apparently don’t have the political clout to overcome the opposition from water suppliers and concerned water customers in PA.  It seems that our activity in 2007 was enough to keep the bill dead through all of 2008.

For those who haven’t seen them, we’ve developed some good new web content while working on this in the past couple of years.  See:

10 Reasons to Oppose Mandatory Fluoridation
http://www.actionpa.org/fluoride/reasons.html

“Drugs in the Water” Testimony before Philadelphia City Council
http://www.actionpa.org/fluoride/philly/testimony.pdf

Water Fluoridation Chemical Shortages and Rising Costs
http://www.actionpa.org/fluoride/chemicals/shortagesandrisingcosts.html

Is Water Fluoridation an Environmental Racism issue?
http://www.actionpa.org/fluoride/ej.html

If history is a guide, they’ll be back with another bill early in 2009.  Since I’ve started law school in August and now spend most ofmy time in DC, I can’t be as available as I’ve been to lead things in PA.  Judy Luther and others have been helpful in trying to fill this void.  If you haven’t been very active in this yet, and would like to help step things up, let me know.  We’ve been hoping to start new campaigns to end fluoridation in local communities where it’s already going on, starting with the City of Chester, PA — where the Chester Water Authority is contributing to an already extreme environmental racism problem.  Frances, Dolores, Desire, Carole and others in Chester and the DelCo Alliance for Environmental Justice (http://www.ejnet.org/chester/) have been educating people about the problems with fluoridation and I hope that we can make Chester the first of many communities in PA to reverse this practice of using drinking water systems as toxic waste dumps.

Please consider donating time or money to help us win in 2009.

Happy New Year!

Mike Ewall, ActionPA
1434 Elbridge St.
Philadelphia, PA 19149
215-743-4884
catalyst@actionpa.org
http://www.actionpa.org