On Monday November 2nd, 2009 Clean Water Action and our partners in the Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow turned out in force for a hearing on the Safer Alternatives Bill at the Massachusetts State House.  The hearing was held by the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture with Chairmen Representative William Straus and Senator Anthony Petruccelli presiding.

The Clean Water Action organized a powerful lineup of experts and advocates to testify in support of the bill.  Those who testified came from a wide array of constituencies and areas of expertise including business, labor, those affected by illnesses linked to toxic chemicals, faith communities, scientists, economists, environmental and public health advocates, parents, and more.

Legislators who testified included the bill Sponsors Senator Steven Tolman and Representative Jay Kaufman as well as Representatives Frank Smizik, Ellen Story, Lori Ehrlich, Denise Provost, Steven D'Amico, and Michael Brady and Senators Ken Donnelly (who testified as a former firefighter as well as a Senator) and Pat Jehlen.

Strong testimony from AHT's labor allies came from Bobby Haynes and Ed Collins, President and Executive Vice President of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO.  Haynes asked the committee members,

"Have you ever had the experience of signing a death certificate?  Of visiting your workforce in the hospital?...I don't want a single job to go out of state, but I also don't want an employer to use a chemical that kills a single worker or makes a single worker sick."

Making the case that the Safer Alternatives Bill will be good for the Massachusetts economy was Nicholas Ashford, Ph.D., JD of MIT and Joel Tickner, Ph.D. and Ken Geiser Ph.D. both from the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Ashford convincingly presented the message that

"It is most certainly the case that regulation does not hurt the economy....The economy has benefited by regulation that stimulates innovation."

Beth Rosenberg, Sc.D., MPH and Maricel Maffini, Ph.D., both of the Tufts University School of Medicine, presented compelling evidence of the effects of toxic chemicals on our health and reproduction.  

Get the complete list of testifiers in support of the bill.

Industry groups were also there to testify against the bill.  Industry representatives included the American Chemistry Council, Technor Apex, flame retardant manufacturers, the Massachusetts Chamber of Business and Industry, the Associated Industries of Massachusetts, biotechnology sector, and the Toy Industry Association.