From left are: Mark Cohen, Owen associate professor, VCEMS co-director; Engineering Professor Mark Abkowitz, VCEMS co-director; Carol Browner, EPA administrator; Dennis Minano, GM; and Fred Krupp, Environmental Defense Fund. Photo by David Crenshaw

Carol Browner, administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency, was one of three keynote speakers at Vanderbilt's national environmental summit who discussed the need for a better system of reporting the voluminous amount of information in the Toxic Release Inventory. The summit, "Environmental Information Disclosure and Stakeholder Involvement: Searching for Common Ground," held last spring, was hosted by the Vanderbilt Center for Environmental Management (VCEMS) and attracted 50 invited authorities from government, business, and environmental organizations. Engineering professor Mark Abkowitz is co-director of VCEMS.
"For the average citizen, and even the most experienced computer user, finding the information they need to protect their health and the environment in their communities can be a frustrating journey through the nation's data warehouses," said Browner, adding the EPA has plans to streamline the process. Other keynote speakers were Dennis Minano, vice president of public policy and chief environmental officer for General Motors, and Fred Krupp, executive director of the Environmental Defense Fund.

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