Protecting Consumers

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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more news

FDA Warns Egg Producer Linked to Salmonella Outbreak

Oct 19, 2010 by Matthew Madia

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has sent a warning letter to Wright County Egg, one of the facilities implicated in a recent salmonella outbreak that sickened more than 1,600 people and led to the recall of more than 500 million eggs.

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Senate Could Vote on Food Safety Bill after Elections

Oct 1, 2010 by Matthew Madia

On Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid filed a cloture motion on the beleaguered FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, according to Food Safety News.

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GOP 'Pledge' Is Simply a Way of Shutting Down a Large Part of Government

Sep 23, 2010 by Gary Bass*

As Yogi Berra's redundant saying goes, "It's déjà vu all over again." Back in 1994, congressional Republicans unveiled what they called the "Contract with America." The Contract was chock-full of policy proposals intended to shrink the size of government, kneecap agencies' ability to protect the public, and decrease the burden on taxpayers, especially the rich.

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New Report Examines Agency Rulemaking Activity at Mid-term Point of Obama Administration

WASHINGTON, Sept. 20, 2010—Some agencies under the Obama administration have energetically laid out a clear rulemaking agenda, while others have been stymied by a variety of factors, according to a new OMB Watch report. The report, The Obama Approach to Public Protection: Rulemaking, was released today and evaluates the regulatory activity of several environmental, worker safety, and consumer protection agencies within the federal government.

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Reid, Senate Continue to Foul Up Food Safety Bill

Sep 17, 2010 by Matthew Madia

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said yesterday that the Senate is unlikely to take up beleaguered food safety legislation before recessing in October for midterm elections. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) has published a list of objections to S. 510, the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, and is blocking the bill.

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Senate Confirms Hagen for FSIS

Sep 17, 2010 by Matthew Madia

The Senate yesterday confirmed Elisabeth Hagen to serve as the USDA’s undersecretary for food safety. Hagen began serving in the position, which leads the department’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), after Obama recess appointed her Aug. 19. Obama renominated Hagen Sept. 13.

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Food Safety Bill Pushed after Salmonella Outbreak

A salmonella outbreak that has sickened more than 1,500 people and led to the recall of 550 million eggs highlights the need for Congress to pass legislation that would empower the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to better protect the food supply, advocates say.

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Industry Lobbied FAA over Pilot Fatigue Rules, Reports Say

Sep 10, 2010 by Matthew Madia

A proposed Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) passenger safety rule aimed at limiting the number of hours pilots can fly may have been delayed over concerns about the rule’s cost-benefit analysis, the Associated Press reports.

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The Senate Fiddles While America Falls Ill

Sep 9, 2010 by Matthew Madia

Eighty-five food recalls have sickened at least 1,850 people since July 30, 2009, the day the House passed a food safety reform bill that has yet to be taken up by the Senate, a new study shows.

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Recess Appointment Puts Food Safety Agency Back on Track

Aug 20, 2010 by Matthew Madia

Yesterday, President Obama recess appointed Elisabeth Hagen to serve as the USDA Undersecretary for Food Safety. Hagen was nominated by Obama in January 2010, but has had difficulty getting the Senate’s attention.

Hagen had been the chief medical officer at the USDA. Now, as undersecretary, she will head the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), the regulator of meat and poultry products.

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