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Feb 8, 2016

Top 400 Taxpayers See Tax Rates Rise, But There’s More to the Story

As Americans were gathering party supplies to greet the New Year, the Internal Revenue Service released their annual report of cumulative tax data reported on the 400 tax r...

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Feb 4, 2016

Chlorine Bleach Plants Needlessly Endanger 63 Million Americans

Chlorine bleach plants across the U.S. put millions of Americans in danger of a chlorine gas release, a substance so toxic it has been used as a chemical weapon. Greenpeace’s new repo...

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Jan 25, 2016

U.S. Industrial Facilities Reported Fewer Toxic Releases in 2014

The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data for 2014 is now available. The good news: total toxic releases by reporting facilities decreased by nearly six percent from 2013 levels. Howe...

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Jan 22, 2016

Methane Causes Climate Change. Here's How the President Plans to Cut Emissions by 40-45 Percent.

  UPDATE (Jan. 22, 2016): Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its proposed rule to reduce methane emissions...

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Trans-Atlantic Free Trade Agreement Resources

The safety standards on which we rely daily for our food, medicines and cars. The energy and climate policies needed to save our planet. The new financial regulations designed to prevent banks from gambling with our money and creating another crisis. These are policies that should be determined in open, democratic venues where we have a say. But a group of the largest U.S. and European banks and corporations want to rewrite these safeguards behind closed doors. For over a decade, they have pushed for a new U.S. "trade" deal with Europe – the Trans-Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA), which corporate proponents have branded the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) – a deal that would roll back consumer protections on both sides of the Atlantic.

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New Rules Will Make Your Thanksgiving Dinner Safer – in a Couple of Years

As you plan your Thanksgiving dinner menu, stop and give thanks for new rules issues by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on November 13th just in time for our uniquely American holiday dedicated to feasting. The rules mean the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) of 2011 has finally been implemented.

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Once Again, Benefits of Public Standards and Safeguards Far Outweigh Costs

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently issued an annual report to Congress that finds the benefits of major standards and safeguards far outweigh their costs. It serves as yet another indicator of the value of public protections and the positive impacts they have on Americans' everyday lives.

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"No" to Fast Track – Secret, Undemocratic Trade Deals Are Not About Trade

A decade ago, U.S. trade negotiators began to discuss a sweeping international agreement between the United States, China, Japan, and nine other Asian nations. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will establish the rules that govern 40 percent of the world’s economy. It is commonly referred to as a trade deal, but trade is a small portion of the pact. Trade rules constitute just five of the treaty’s 29 chapters.

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FDA’s Insufficient Response to Antibiotics in Food Animals

The Obama administration released the National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria on March 27. The plan comes in response to the president's 2014 Executive Order 13676, “Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria.”

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Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: Bill Promotes Big Industry Interests in the Guise of Helping Small Business

Under the cynical guise of helping small businesses, on Jan. 27, the House Judiciary Committee will mark up, and the House will soon likely pass, the Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act of 2015 (SBRFIA, H.R. 527).

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UPDATE: Three Reasons the REINS Act Must Be Stopped (Again)

If passed, the REINS Act would require congressional approval of all major rules, potentially endangering the most important safeguards to our health, safety, environment, and economy.

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Foul Fowl? Why Your Thanksgiving Turkey May Be Getting Riskier

As we sit down to Thanksgiving dinner in a couple of days, we might be worried about who gets the drumstick or whether our crazy uncle will dominate the conversation. But we’re probably not worrying about whether the turkey is safe to eat because we’ve had a robust food inspection system in place for over a hundred years. That might be changing – parts of our food inspection system may not be keeping up with the threats posed by our current food production system.

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The Need for Speed: $15 Billion Cost of Foodborne Illness Underscores Urgent FDA Action

Preventable foodborne diseases cause thousands of illnesses and deaths in the United States every year. Coupled with this pain and suffering, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently estimated that foodborne illnesses cost the American public more than $15 billion annually.

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Poisoned Peanuts: Verdict Sends Strong Message to Food Company Executives

The guilty verdicts handed down on Sept. 19 in the unprecedented federal criminal case against senior officials of the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) should send a strong message to food company executives – you can and will be held criminally responsible for deliberately risking the health and safety of the American public for the sake of profits.

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Resources & Research

Living in the Shadow of Danger: Poverty, Race, and Unequal Chemical Facility Hazards

People of color and people living in poverty, especially poor children of color, are significantly more likely...

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A Tale of Two Retirements: One for CEOs and One for the Rest of Us

The 100 largest CEO retirement funds are worth a combined $4.9 billion, equal to the entire retirement account savings of 41 percent of American fam...

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