In the Public Interest

The business trade press is full of self-congrat­ulatory articles these days at the success which well-financed corporate lobbies are having in Congress. Although these articles point to larger staffs, computerized mailing systems and per­sonal visits on Capitol Hill by the heads of large corporations, the influence behind much of this lobbying is how much money…

When Herb Denenberg was Penn­sylvania’s Insurance Commissioner during the year 1971-1974, the insur­ance companies dubbed him “Horri­ble Herb.” There is even a story that some insurance executives, while out on the golf course, would roar “DENENBERG” instead of an expletive whenever they muffed a swing. Well, the former University of Pennsylvania insurance scholar now turned…

Anthropologists have long had an image problem. Are they not the scholars interested in the odd and the exotic, the totems and taboos of primitive tribal groups in faraway jungles, islands and deserts? Correct. So the image is in accord with reality. Which is what troubles a new group of young anthropologists who want to…

The months-long swirling controversy over the federally subsidized flood insurance-program between the insurance industry and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is highlighting these two major issues: Can the government defend the taxpayer by re­quiring corporate contractors to be either more efficient or be replaced in subsidized activities? Will the government stand firm…

Last spring, before President Carter’s energy speech to the nation, General Motors was worried about the slow sales of its Chevette. After the speech, which emphasized the need for energy conservation, Chevette sales signifi­cantly improved. GM makes a direct connection between Carter’s remarks and the sales up­surge. Clearly, when Presidents speak, some Ameri­cans listen. But…

News releases by the Interstate Commerce Commission are not usually astonishing. But one five-page release from the ICC’s regional office in Chicago is a real eye-catcher. It reminds one of the TV commercial’s refrain: “Pass it on, pass it on.” The ICC filed suit against 12 large Midwestern trucking companies for illegally keeping over $2.3…

Joan Claybrook, formerly an important standard-bearer in the citizen movement, has been reduced to bureaucratic putty in her present position as nominal head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Claybrook’s situation is instructive both for her colleagues who also joined the Carter administration and for others in public interest groups contemplating a move…

Solar energy may well he developed in America -more because of what is going on out­side of Washington than by what Schlesinger’s Department of Energy (DOE) or the Congress is doing. Despite the millions of dollars which the DOE is spending on solar energy development, the sun remains a low priority compared with nuclear energy.…

There may have been only mild surprise at the Swiss headquarters of the giant multi-national company when the news arrived in July about a march of 100 people in Minneapolis urging a boycott of all Nestle’s products. Over the last three years, Nestle has come under grow­ing criticism by church, women’s and other citizen action…

In their recent condemnation of the oil indus­try’s consumer rip-off, President Carter and his aides avoided criticizing the principal Congres­sional engine behind the gigantic gauge — Sen. Russell Long, D.-La. Such avoidance is a tribute to Long’s dominant role in shaping key energy legislation. He is now using his power to require consumers and taxpayers…