Untitled Document

EXECUTIVE ORDER ON THE PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE AS A PUBLIC HEALTH TOOL
FOR PREVENTING HARM FROM PERSISTENT BIOACCUMULATIVE TOXIC CHEMICALS (PBTS)

WHEREAS every resident of Washington State has an equal right to conditions that
protect and promote human health, including a healthy and safe environment,

WHEREAS Washington State recognizes that “health is a state of complete physical,
mental and social wellbeing, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” and a
fundamental human right,

WHEREAS many conditions, including asthma, cancer, Alzheimer's disease,
Parkinson's disease, birth defects, behavioral disorders, Autism, and chemical
sensitivities, have been linked to environmental toxicants which incur enormous
individual and societal costs in Washington State,

WHEREAS the growing "public health catastrophe" knowledge confers an ethical responsibility and duty to make
decisions that promote and maintain human and environmental health, thereby
preventing disease, illness or disability,

WHEREAS a principle for guiding activities to promote a healthy and safe environment
and encourage human health is known as the European Precautionary Principle, which consists of four basic elements:
1) Taking preventive action in the face of uncertainty,
2) Shifting the burden of responsibility of safety to the proponents of an activity;
3) Exploring and implementing safer alternatives to possibly harmful actions, and
4) Increasing public participation in decision making,

WHEREAS scientific studies have determined that even low-level exposures to
PBTs may cause serious and permanent health and neurodevelopmental harm,

WHEREAS the precautionary principle holds that when an activity threatens harm to
human health or to the environment, precautionary measures should be taken, even if
cause-and- effect relationships are not fully established scientifically,

WHEREAS taking precautionary action is the common sense idea behind many
adages, such as "be careful", "better safe than sorry" and "look before you leap" and is
inherent in the understanding of the Hippocratic oath of "first, do no harm", in essence,
the principle goes hand in hand with prevention, the cornerstone of public health,
2
WHEREAS precautionary action is the basis of many activities designed to protect the
health and safety of United States citizens, such as requirements of the federal Food
and Drug Administration to ensure that new drugs are efficacious and safe before being
placed on the market, requirements of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act
of 1970 that require employers to provide safe workplaces and working conditions, and
the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 that acknowledges additional protection for
children,

WHEREAS the precautionary principle has been incorporated in international
environmental treaties and in health, environment and educational policies of numerous
governmental entities in the United States, including the city of San Francisco, and that
Seattle includes a statement on the precautionary principle in the City’s Comprehensive
Plan,

WHEREAS the precautionary principle is a highly effective decision-making tool for
reducing negative and costly effects on human health resulting from exposure to
environmental toxicants,

WHEREAS the Washington State Department of Ecology has developed a
comprehensive strategy, based on preventing harm to human and environmental
health, to reduce and eventually eliminate persistent bioaccumulative toxic chemicals
(PBTs), further developing an accompanying PBT Rule which incorporates tenets of
prevention,

WHEREAS the Washington State Departments of Ecology and Health have developed
chemical action plans recommending phase out of mercury and polybrominated
diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in order to protect human and environmental health,

WHEREAS the precautionary principle’s preventive foundation promotes environmental
and economic justice to protect the environment and to safeguard the health of all
people of Washington State,

WHEREAS the precautionary principle has been endorsed by the American Public
Health Association, with the APHA stating it “Reaffirms its explicit endorsement of the
precautionary principle as a cornerstone of preventive public health policy and practice” and by hundreds of other organizations nationally and internationally, including
the American Nurses Association,

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT the proposed candidate Christian Pierre Joubert endorses the Precautionary Principle as a policy-making,
educational and advocacy tool for preventing harm to health, behavior and
neurodevelopment from exposures to PBTs in Washington State,

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the proposed candidate orders that the precautionary principle becomes the cornerstone of our preventive approach to public health and envrionmental sanity in Washington State,

These efforts shall be coordinated by the Department of ecology, Department of natural resources, Secretary of the Department of Social and Health Services, the Secretary of the Department of Health, and the Administrator of the Health Care Authority in partnership with the Governor's Office, the World Health Organization, the federal and local governments, private sector health purchasers, and other stareholders in our state’s health care system.

So it be ordered on behalf of the People of Washington State and the Common Good.

This Executive Order shall take effect immediately.

Signed and sealed with the official seal of the state of Washington, on this..... day of .................., at Seattle, Washington.

By:
____________________________________
Christian Pierre Joubert
Governor (candidate)

________________________________
Secretary of State

EXECUTIVE ORDER ON THE PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE AS A PUBLIC HEALTH TOOL FOR PREVENTING HARM FROM PERSISTENT BIOACCUMULATIVE TOXIC CHEMICALS (PBTS)

WHEREAS every resident of Washington State has an equal right to conditions that protect and promote human health, including a healthy and safe environment,

WHEREAS Washington State recognizes that “health is a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” and a fundamental human right,

WHEREAS many conditions, including asthma, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, birth defects, behavioral disorders, Autism, and chemical sensitivities, have been linked to environmental toxicants which incur enormous individual and societal costs in Washington State,

WHEREAS the growing "public health catastrophe" knowledge confers an ethical responsibility and duty to make decisions that promote and maintain human and environmental health, thereby preventing disease, illness or disability,

WHEREAS scientific studies have determined that even low-level exposures to PBTs may cause serious and permanent health and neurodevelopmental harm,

WHEREAS the precautionary principle holds that when an activity threatens harm to human health or to the environment, precautionary measures should be taken, even if cause-and- effect relationships are not fully established scientifically,

WHEREAS the precautionary principle is a highly effective decision-making tool for reducing negative and costly effects on human health resulting from exposure to environmental toxicants,

WHEREAS the Washington State Departments of Ecology and Health have developed chemical action plans recommending phase out of mercury and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in order to protect human and environmental health,

WHEREAS the precautionary principle’s preventive foundation promotes environmental and economic justice to protect the environment and to safeguard the health of all people of Washington State,

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT the proposed candidate Christian Pierre Joubert endorses the Precautionary Principle as a policy-making, educational and advocacy tool for preventing harm to health, behavior and neurodevelopment from exposures to PBTs in Washington State,