Ken Cook

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ken Cook is president and co-founder of the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a public interest research and advocacy organization focused on protecting human health and the environment. Cook has written dozens of articles, opinion pieces, and reports on environmental, public health, and agricultural topics. He has been an active lobbyist for over 20 years.

Career

Cook has been named as one of Washington's Top Lobbyists by The Hill and The Huffington Post.[1][2] He has made multiple appearances on The News Hour With Jim Lehrer, CBS's 60 Minutes, National Public Radio, and the evening newscasts of ABC, NBC, CBS, and CNN among other programs.[3]

Cook started the Environmental Working Group in 1993, and since its inception they have provided research geared to reforming agriculture policy, advancing conservation techniques and environmental protection. At the onset of debate over the 1995 Farm Bill, the EWG compiled information on who received the money set aside for conservation efforts. The data sets "sift[ed] through a complex web of corporations, partnerships and other business entities," which allowed the USDA to assign specific dollar amounts to the individuals behind the businesses.[4]

A front-page profile in the Omaha World Herald in 1996 said, "Cook's fingerprints can be found on nearly two decades of U.S. farm law." In 2000, Progressive Farmer named Cook one of agriculture's most influential leaders in the 20th Century, alongside advocates like Rachel Carson and Aldo Leopold.[5]

Cook has appeared as himself in the documentaries King Corn (2007), The World According to Monsanto (2008), A Place at the Table (2012), and Pricele$$ (2012).[6]

Personal

Cook graduated from the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri with an M.S. in Soil Science. He is married to environmental leader Deb Callahan. Ken is a native of Affton, Missouri and went to Vianney High School.

References

  1. ↑ "Ken Cook President and Founder of the Environmental Working Group". The Washington Post. Retrieved 26 April 2012. 
  2. ↑ The Hill. "Top Lobbyists: Grassroots". Retrieved 2009-11-12. 
  3. ↑ "Ken Cook". HuffingtonPost.com. Retrieved 26 April 2012. 
  4. ↑ Associated Press (6/12/2007). "New light shed on farm subsidy payments". msnbc.com. Retrieved 26 April 2012. 
  5. ↑ "Ken Cook". HuffingtonPost.com. Retrieved 26 April 2012. 
  6. ↑ IMDB entry

External links


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.