Green Chemistry Infiltrates EPA’s Office of Research and Development

May 24th, 2009

Posted by: admin

Amongst the recent appointment announcements is the news that Paul Anastas, a synthetic chemist who coined the phrase ‘green chemistry,’ was nominated to head the EPA’s Office of Research and Development (H/T ScienceInsider).  As the EPA’s green chemistry efforts are in a different part of the agency, the choice of Anastas was not necessarily expected.  While currently at Yale, Dr. Anastas has worked at the agency before, and just might shift some of the research and development initiatives at the EPA to incorporate green chemistry.  This might prompt a scenario where there is greater attention paid to designing and innovating new products that reduce environmental impact.  It would be nice to have additonal policy choices besides traditional limits on exposure and similar regulatory restrictions.

6 Responses to “Green Chemistry Infiltrates EPA’s Office of Research and Development”

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  1. jae Says:

    LOL, LOL, LOL, ROFLAMO. Can someone define “green chemistry?” I have a PhD in chemistry and cannot figure this one out. Is this part of the Doublespeak that David loves so well?

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  3. jae Says:

    Damn, I spoke too soon. Like a young punk, I spoke before I read EPA’s definition of “green chemistry.” If I had only read that before I mouthed off, I would have said something entirely different.

    I would have been much more harsh. That is absolutely the biggest bunch of George Orwell pap that I’ve seen in a long time. Here is an article that should be read with that pap: http://jennifermarohasy.com/blog/2009/05/postmodern-physics/

    Given this kind of absolute TRASH from the EPA, we shall be very lucky if we even can have the kind of society that George Orwell predicted for 1984.

    Are ALL the politicians in Washington DC this fucking ignorant?

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  5. jae Says:

    OK. Correction to the last paragraph. Change to: “Are all the politicians in Washington DC dumb enough to swallow this kind of rewriting of the meaning of science?” That communication from EPA should scare the HELL out of anyone who knows anything about science and the quest for the truth.

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  7. jae Says:

    “This might prompt a scenario where there is greater attention paid to designing and innovating new products that reduce environmental impact. It would be nice to have additonal policy choices besides traditional limits on exposure and similar regulatory restrictions.”

    Is Bruggeman Roger Jr’s alter ego, or what?

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  9. John M Says:

    Well, so much for solar cells (silanes, CdTe, CIGS, not to mention doping agents), windmill blades (aromatic amines), or organic electronics (try doing an “atom efficiency” calculation on those syntheses, not to mention how much solvent waste is generated).

    I’m afraid if we seriously applied these principles, we’d have to resort to “oat chemistry” (aka horse and buggies).

    And also, should we shut down cancer research because the latest hot miracle drug synthesis uses protecting groups?

    Oh wait, now I get it. This really isn’t about changing the way things are actually done on a commercial and practical scale, it’s about creating a nice new area of “chemistry” that sounds good, attracts students and grant money, and generates a lot of publications.

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  11. Chemistry Hub Says:

    Chemistry Hub…

    [...] Amongst the recent appointment announcements is the news that Paul Anastas, a synthetic chemist who coined the phrase green chemistry, was nominated to head the EPAs Office of Research and Development (H/T ScienceInsider). … [...]…