Safeguarding Public Health and the Environment

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

A Little Good News for the Holidays

Nov 22, 2005 by Guest Blogger

The New York Times reports that more and more companies are finding it profitable to go green: "There are a lot of creative types looking for the next big thing," said Bob Sheppard, deputy director for corporate programs at Clean Air-Cool Planet, a nonprofit environmental education organization. "Well, these days, environment is it." It is impossible to quantify the size of the environmental industry. Many of the newer companies are privately held. And many "green" products - more efficient power generators, say, or biodegradable plastics - are parts of other industries.

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Groups Build Support for the Toxics Release Inventory

The many public interest groups that oppose EPA's recent proposals to gut the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) are now working in concert to produce materials and resources that support the environmental right-to-know program. OMB Watch is hosting an Online Resource Center, developed with participating organizations to act as a clearinghouse for concerned groups and individuals to learn about the program and to take action to defend it.

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The Spy Who Greened Me

Nov 3, 2005 by Guest Blogger

Huh? PEER has released an EPA email announcing that the agency is Creating an Intelligence Operations function within the Office of Homeland Security to advise the Administrator and other senior EPA officials on matters related to national security and intelligence; to serve as the principal Agency liaison to the U.S. intelligence community; and to coordinate with EPA programs and Regions on matters related to classified and other sensitive information. Again -- huh? Read the PEER press release and download the EPA email

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TRI: The Tool For Public Protection Against Toxic Pollution

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) implied that the public had already received most of the benefits the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) could offer when the agency recently proposed significantly cutting the amount of information companies report under the program. This is not, however, reflected in the facts, which show the TRI continues to be an important public health tool widely used by community groups, labor unions, local officials and citizens.

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Clear Skies No Better than Existing Regs

Nov 1, 2005 by Guest Blogger

EPA recently released cost-benefit analysis of competing legislation to curb power plant emissions, including the President's Clear Skies legislation as well as legislation introduced by Sen. James Jeffords (I-VT) and separate legislation introduce by Sen. Thomas Carper (D-DE). The cost-benefit analysis showed that the President's Clear Skies bills perform no better than regulations already on the book. Furthermore, though the analysis predicts lower costs for the Clear Skies Act compared to competing legislation, it also predicts far fewer benefits.

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NSR: A Second Bite at the Apple

Oct 20, 2005 by Guest Blogger

With slim chances of passing in Congress, a controversial change to the designation of new source review is now snaking its way through the regulatory system. The regulation would allow power plants to make modifications to existing equipment without installing new pollution technology if their hourly emissions rates do not increase. By changing the way power plant emissions are calculated from an annual output to an hourly output, plants would be allowed to pollute more per year by operating for longer hours. From the New Standard:

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Tracking the Precautionary Principle

Oct 17, 2005 by Guest Blogger

We've mentioned before that the Environmental Research Foundation, which already publishes the excellent Rachel's Environment and Health News, has launched a new newsletter focused on the precautionary principle. If you haven't subscribed to the email version, note that it is now available online: Rachel's Precaution Reporter.

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Learn More About the Precautionary Principle

Oct 12, 2005 by Guest Blogger

The Environmental Research Foundation, which publishes the excellent Rachel's Environment & Health News, is now producing an email newsletter dedicated to the precautionary principle. In the latest edition, there's a link to a nice web tutorial on the precautionary principle, which you can find here.

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Toxic Gumbo... Flowing from YOUR Tap, Too?

Oct 11, 2005 by Guest Blogger

Grist Magazine is exploring whether New Orleans is alone in seeing a "toxic gumbo" in the drinking water: Last month, "toxic gumbo" entered the American lexicon with the speed and force of the floodwaters it describes.... "I want to be very clear," cautioned EPA administrator Stephen Johnson, describing the situation in the devastated city to the press. "Emergency response personnel and the public should avoid direct contact with any floodwater."

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Groups Demand Better Protection for Katrina Cleanup

Oct 11, 2005 by Guest Blogger

From Medical News Today: Gulf Coast Cleanup Workers Must Be Protected from Serious Health Hazards The U.S. Congress should immediately act to protect the health and safety of workers and residents engaged in the cleanup of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, according to a group of more than 100 of the nation's foremost labor, religious, environmental, community, public health and public interest organizations and more than 100 academic, medical, religious and public health leaders.

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