April Fools

It's a strange coincidence that two very important US House Committee hearings are being held today, April 1st, a day that has traditionally become associated with practical jokes

At 9:30 AM EST, The House Science and Technology Subcommittee held a hearing on how the CDC and other agencies handled complaints about potentially high levels of formaldehyde in trailers issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

excerpt from:
Scientists CDC Bosses Ignored Warning
By BEN EVANS – 44 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal scientist said Tuesday his bosses ignored pleas to alert Gulf Coast hurricane victims about formaldehyde dangers in government-issued trailers and told him last year not to write e-mails about his warnings of potentially widespread health problems.

Christopher De Rosa, a top scientist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's toxic substances agency, said his bosses told him that his warnings of a "pending public health catastrophe" could be misinterpreted if publicly released.

De Rosa's comments came Tuesday at a House Science and Technology subcommittee hearing on how the CDC and other agencies handled complaints about potentially high levels of formaldehyde in trailers issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Committee Democrats have accused FEMA of manipulating scientific research to play down the dangers of high levels of formaldehyde found in the trailers. They say the CDC and its Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry went along with misleading residents.

and

At !2 noon EST. The House Select Energy Committee Chairman Edward Markey (D-MA) began a hearing involving top-level executives from the five largest oil companies to discuss the current state of oil & gas prices, renewable fuels, and pollution.

Attendees include:

• J. Stephen Simon, Senior Vice President, Exxon Mobil Corp.
• John Hofmeister, President, Shell Oil Co.
• Robert A. Malone, Chairman and President, BP America Inc.
• Peter Robinson, Vice Chairman, Chevron
• John Lowe, Executive Vice President, ConocoPhilips.

Location: Cannon House Office Building, Room 210

While the hearing on oil prices is viewable of C-SPAN3, most Americans will probably hear very little about these hearings. And that will probably be the cruelest April Fool's Day joke of the day.

I'll post more on this later