by Joseph L. Bast, Peter J. Hill, and Richard C. Rue

About the authors: Joseph L. Bast is president of the Heartland Institute, a research organization that studies state and local public policy problems. Peter J. Hill is a senior associate with the Political Economy Research Center, a Bozeman, Montana, think tank that focuses on environmental and resource issues. Richard C. Rue, a former senior policy analyst and vice president of the Heartland Institute, is the senior vice president of the American Life League, a pro-life organization in Stafford, Virginia.

In recent years, exposure to mercury, lead, dioxin, asbestos, some kinds of pesticides, vinyl chloride, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and other man- made chemicals has been identified as a real or hypothetical threat to wildlife and sometimes to human health. The environmental movement helped to identify these risks...