Nuke Scaremongering and the Left

I'm always on the lookout for questionable science coming from the left--and this Counterpunch article, entitled "Is the Dramatic Increase in Baby Deaths in the US a Result of Fukushima Fallout?", certainly seems to qualify. The authors report on an increase in infant mortality across 8 U.S. northwestern cities during April and May. And let's give them their claim that this is not some fluke. The authors then leap to the implication that radiation from Fukushima--wafting from 5,000 miles away--is the cause! And yet no discussion is provided of how much radiation is actually arriving on the shores of the West Coast, or whether it is at dangerous levels; there is simply a recitation of the effects of Chernobyl on children--but Chernobyl created much more radiation, and it was, basically, in the middle of Europe. See my Point of Inquiry episode on this. I'm sorry, but you can't start speculating about dead babies without a much stronger basis than this. For a saner discussion of risks to the West Coast, see here, or here. Goes to show that misuse of science can clearly occur on the left. Bad lefties!