Just before Thanksgiving, the chemical industry squashed a bi-partisan effort to ban the controversial chemical bisphenol-A (BPA) from baby bottles and children's drinking cups. Really guys?

Protecting kids from toxic chemicals should be a no-brainer, right? Especially when the science is so strong, the scientists themselves are calling for action. After the U.S. effort stalled, the European Union plowed ahead and voted to ban BPA in baby bottles - following the lead of Denmark, France, Australia and Canada.

The American Chemistry Council should be downright ashamed of itself. They're the ones that strong-armed policymakers into opposing action on BPA. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), who co-authored the BPA measure with Sen. Michael Enzi (R-WY), had it right when she told a Greenwire reporter:

"I don't understand how a chemical group would oppose taking a chemical [out of products] which, at the very least, may impact the endocrine systems of infants, because they want to make money on it."

She went on to call the situation "very, very frustrating."

The American Chemistry Council is a national lobby group with dozens of member companies including agrochemical giants like Dow, Dupont, and Bayer. The BPA example shows us yet again why it is so darn hard to put laws in place to protect the public - even kids - from toxic chemicals. If it threatens their bottom line too directly, they pull out all the stops, call in all their political favors and halt progress in its tracks.

It's right there on their website:

"Protecting our children's health and well-being is a fundamental value the chemical industry shares with society."

Sorry guys, your actions speak much louder than these empty words. Shame on you.

If you're as outraged as I am, join thousands across the county sending emails directly to ACC leaders telling them to shape up.

A version of this post ran previously on Pesticide Action Network's GroundTruth blog.