00:00:01 On any given day...

00:00:03 We usually keep the pool clean with scrubbers and we use filters and chemicals.

00:00:08 I couldn't live without my glasses or lightweight frames or plastic lenses.

00:00:13 On any given street...

00:00:15 This bike is so light. I can pick it up and throw it over my shoulder when I need to take off and run with it.

00:00:20 I definitely could not live, or see, without my contact lenses.

00:00:24 In any backyard...

00:00:25 We like to get a lot of different colors, lots of purples and blues and whites.

00:00:29 The new golf clubs, all the new composites.

00:00:31 In any classroom...

00:00:33 Disposable items, like cups and forks and spoons and things.

00:00:38 Everything you can think of...

00:00:41 Baseball, Coca-Cola and medicines.

00:00:46 Everything is made a little better, safer, more durable, more available by the work of the chemical industry.

00:00:57 For 125 years, one association has worked to promote and strengthen the U.S. chemical industry.

00:01:06 The Chemical Manufacturers Association.

00:01:15 The mission of CMA is fourfold.

00:01:18 On behalf of the chemical industry in the United States...

00:01:22 We promote responsible care.

00:01:25 We conduct research.

00:01:28 We discourse with the public.

00:01:31 And we advocate.

00:01:33 The industry has got a very powerful track record.

00:01:36 Over 125 years of working together on issues that are very leveraging to our success, to our future.

00:01:44 Really significant changes in human development, as well as in community development, come in leaps and bounds.

00:01:53 And I think responsible care was a leap.

00:01:55 Any fair examination of the chemical industry over the last 20 years, particularly in the last 10 years, would conclude that they have been very responsive to public opinion.

00:02:06 An association is a vehicle for problem solving. Period.

00:02:11 The oldest chemical association in America, CMA was founded in 1872 as the Manufacturing Chemists Association.

00:02:20 The first members were sulfuric acid manufacturers who joined together to oppose congressional tariff revisions.

00:02:27 Dues were $15.

00:02:29 Early work included establishing standard strengths of acids and safe methods for transporting chemicals.

00:02:37 The industry consisted of 292 plants with 4,700 employees and was growing.

00:02:46 With each passing decade came marvelous innovations and amazing technological advances, each with its own unique benefit to society.

00:02:56 During World War I, the industry struggled to meet wartime demands.

00:03:01 Member company representatives learned that working together through the association was a very effective way to get things done.

00:03:10 In the 20s and 30s, marathons weren't limited to the dance floor.

00:03:14 There was no stopping the chemical manufacturers.

00:03:17 Growing to nearly 9,000 plants with some 371,000 employees, when World War II threatened, the chemical industry responded quickly.

00:03:28 The U.S. couldn't depend on foreign countries for materials, so synthetic rubber was thought of as a miracle.

00:03:36 Aviation gasoline kept us flying high, and life-saving drugs kept casualty numbers low.

00:03:43 And chemical separations technology enabled entry into the atomic age.

00:03:48 The government called on our industry leaders for advice and ideas about packaging, production, and manpower.

00:03:55 A nation that had scrimped during the war years found itself with worn-out products.

00:04:01 Then, two innovations revolutionized the world and changed our lives forever.

00:04:07 Plastics and synthetic fibers.

00:04:10 And we were given a challenge.

00:04:12 Environmental and safety concerns in the production of chemicals.

00:04:16 In the 50s, this brought about research and the widespread use of warning labels.

00:04:21 By the 60s, we had slick hair, swivel hips, and hula hoops.

00:04:26 The output of plastic and resin soared.

00:04:30 In the late 60s and early 70s, a sea change took place.

00:04:35 Environmental activism evolved.

00:04:38 We now faced federal legislation and regulation, command and control structure.

00:04:44 CMA's number one mission became efficacy.

00:04:48 The industry and association took a leadership position in responding to environmental problems and regulatory activity.

00:04:55 The industry established ChemTrek, the chemical transportation emergency center,

00:05:00 to provide around-the-clock centralized emergency response information.

00:05:05 Celebrating its 25-year anniversary, ChemTrek is recognized internationally for its emergency service.

00:05:12 The early challenges of the chemical industry were kind of gross pollution problems, smell, touch, and feel kinds of problems.

00:05:19 As we've come through the next decade, we've got laws involving toxic substances

00:05:24 where the materials are much more subtle.

00:05:26 The chemical industry has been quite responsive to that latter kind of issue by being open about it,

00:05:33 by trying to set their mind at ease by taking steps necessary to produce the more toxic material.

00:05:39 But they've done that in a very open and transparent way that has stood them in good stead over time.

00:05:46 Robert Rowland was brought in to head the association,

00:05:49 and the name was changed to the Chemical Manufacturers Association.

00:05:54 The new CMA realized that its greatest resource to meet an accelerating set of challenges lay in its membership.

00:06:01 So we brought many of these industry people together with good staff people.

00:06:06 That peer professional relationship between the right talents from industry and the right staff talents

00:06:14 was the secret to the success and the change that had to be made in the Chemical Industries Association.

00:06:22 Today, CMA's voice is heard beyond Capitol Hill and the federal regulatory agencies.

00:06:28 At international, federal, and state levels, CMA advocates policy that is beneficial to industry,

00:06:34 the environment, and society as a whole.

00:06:38 We were successful in our advocacy of GATT.

00:06:41 We were key players in the debate on NAFTA.

00:06:44 We were able to get the Chemical Weapons Convention passed.

00:06:47 We had many issues in front of us, such as Superfund and customer choice in electricity.

00:06:52 I think if we continue to advocate, if we continue to be balanced,

00:06:55 if we continue to think about the ethical way in which we conduct our business,

00:06:59 then I think more successes lie ahead.

00:07:02 In 1988, to improve the performance of member companies in the areas of health, safety, and the environment,

00:07:10 CMA launched its foremost proactive initiative, Responsible Care.

00:07:16 This was a wonderful idea because it did, for the first time,

00:07:22 put the responsibility on the industry people to reach out beyond the fence line

00:07:27 and convince the general public that we not only cared, but that we would show them how we cared.

00:07:34 Responsible Care, on behalf of the industry as a whole, took a big leap forward and a big risk

00:07:41 because they said, we're going to open the door, not just to let people in to see what happens in the industry,

00:07:47 but to let them sit down and talk with us and try to address their concerns.

00:07:53 And Responsible Care has improved member and partner performance.

00:07:58 Emissions to the environment have declined, while production has increased.

00:08:04 More than 300 community advisory panels are working to promote open dialogue between the public and industry.

00:08:12 One of the big challenges that I see in front of the chemical industry is this question of sustainable development.

00:08:19 Can we continue to grow? Can we continue to develop as an industry,

00:08:23 while at the same time guarding the resource base, the limited resource base, that's available around the world?

00:08:31 The key to making it work is technology.

00:08:36 If we carry out our four-fold mission successfully, what this means is that our industry will be operating in a favorable business climate.

00:08:46 The industry will be able to bring new products to the marketplace.

00:08:50 We'll be able to innovate. We'll be able to conduct successful research programs.

00:08:55 We'll be able to really raise the standard of living, not only in the United States, but worldwide.

00:09:02 When our 200 member companies work together through CMA, we win.

00:09:09 Our vision is that we will be highly valued by society for our leadership,

00:09:15 for the benefits of our products, and for the responsible and ethical way in which we conduct our business.

00:09:22 It's as simple as that.