June 2000 Vol. 221 No. 6  Editorial

Thomas R. Wright, Jr.,  Editorial Director

Toxics, taxes and typos

Two aging hippies who knew how to make good ice cream started Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream and made it famous while promoting numerous liberal causes. The company then went public, making the original owners millionaires. But then the need to keep stockholders happy began to take precedence over political and social causes. The old hippies tried to go back to their roots by returning the company to private ownership, however, they weren’t able to swing the deal and ended up being taken over by Unilever.

Now, in a most ironic twist, Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream stands accused of violating the very standards for dioxin exposure for which it has so vehemently castigated others. For example, Ben & Jerry’s has said, "Dioxin is known to cause cancer, genetic and reproductive defects and learning disabilities . . . . The only safe level of exposure to dioxin is no exposure at all."

But according to a new study published on Junkscience.com, unsafe levels of dioxin were measured in a sample of the company’s ice cream. "An independent laboratory measured 0.79 ± 0.38 parts per trillion of dioxin in the sample of ice cream," said Michael Gough, lead study author (and former government scientist who chaired the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services advisory panel on the effects of dioxin-contaminated Agent Orange on U.S. Air Force personnel in Vietnam). Gough went on to say that, "Our result has measurement error associated with it and the sample may or may not be representative of all Ben & Jerry’s ice creams, but our result is consistent with current scientific literature."

"The level of dioxin in a single serving of the Ben & Jerry’s World’s Best Vanilla Ice Cream (which was tested) was almost 200 times greater than the ‘virtually safe [daily] dose’ determined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency," said Gough. And according to Ben & Jerry’s and EPA’s standards, that level of dioxin could cause about 200 "extra" cancers among lifetime consumers of the ice cream.

Steven Milloy, editor of Junkscience.com and co-author of the study with Gough suggested that an appropriate new flavor for Ben & Jerry’s might be "Tasty Toxics or World’s Best Hypocrisy."

Taxing gasoline. With current oil prices again flirting with $30 per bbl, it shouldn’t be long before gasoline prices start their ascent, especially with the summer driving season quickly approaching. Therefore, don’t be surprised when the masses begin screaming once again about how they are being ripped off by the oil companies.

When oil (and later gasoline) prices spiked earlier this year, we were deluged with requests for information about how taxes figure into the prices Americans pay to fuel their cars. Apparently, some folks were gathering ammunition to take a stand on the side of the oil industry. But before we could print the data, prices dropped below emotional levels. Now, however, it appears we are in store for another round of consumer teeth gnashing, so we thought it would be appropriate to look at the numbers.

According to American Petroleum Institute figures, the average tax on a gallon of gasoline sold at retail in the U.S. totals 40.5 cents per gallon. So, if gasoline sells for $1.50 per gallon, more than a quarter of the cost is due to taxes. (At this point, we ask that our European readers forgive our whining.)

Many typically blame the federal government for high gasoline taxes and, thus, would be surprised to learn that state levies actually make up the majority of the tax bite. Federal excise taxes are 18.4 cents per gal. State excise taxes average 17.4 cents per gal. But some states also add other taxes, which average (weighted) 4.7 cents per gallon.

The highest gasoline taxes are in Connecticut, where drivers pay 55.7 cents a gallon (state excise – 33.0 cents; state other – 4.3 cents; federal excise – 18.4 cents). Hawaii and New York rank second and third, respectively. California – which receives so much publicity because of its perceived high gasoline costs – ranks eighth with total taxes of 45.2 cents per gal.

Consumers in the oil producing states don’t necessarily get a break on gasoline taxes. Texas and Louisiana rank 28th (in a tie, also with South Dakota and Washington D.C.) with taxes totaling 38.4 cents. There are numerous "consuming" states with lower taxes. Alaskans, on the other hand, "only" pay 26.4 cents in gasoline taxes.

Is something wrong here? When the U.S. bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade during the war (skirmish?, conflict?, peacekeeping mission?) over Kosovo, the Central Intelligence Agency was roundly blamed and ridiculed because it had incorrectly located the building on maps used to plan air strikes. Now, one might understand such a lapse when it occurs in a foreign country, but one wonders what’s up when a government agency can’t even correctly locate a state within the U.S.

As reported recently by the Drudge Report (the online rumor and "intelligence" publication not particularly noted for its journalistic professionalism), the White House’s official website had a similar screw-up. The site showed a map of the U.S. with the state of Kentucky occupying what most of us know as Tennessee.

With the rousing declaration, "President Clinton and Vice President Gore: An Unprecedented Commitment to Education Dramatically Increasing Accountability," the map outlines President Clinton’s "School Reform Tour." Ironically, one stop on the tour, Owensboro, Kentucky, appears to have been relocated to Tennessee – the home of Vice President Al Gore! There’s got to be a deeper meaning to this, but we’re not sure what.

Mean, but funny. Following is an e-mail that came in recently. Our only comment is that it may clear up a few things.

"On July 8, 1947, witnesses claim a spaceship with five aliens aboard crashed on a sheep and cattle ranch outside Roswell, New Mexico – an incident they say has been covered up by the military. On March 31, 1948, nine months after that day, Al Gore was born."