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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Bush Trying Last-Minute Changes to Endangered Species Act

Aug 12, 2008 by Matthew Madia

The Bush administration is proposing major changes to the Endangered Species Act that would sideline government experts and allow development projects to proceed unchecked, all at the expense of endangered plants, animals, and other organisms. The Washington Post reports:

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For EPA Staff Trying to Protect the Planet, "Disappointment is Profound"

Aug 8, 2008 by Matthew Madia

Last week, a group of EPA staffers wrote to administrator Stephen Johnson chiding him for the agency's recent decision to delay federal action on greenhouse gas emissions and the damaging climatic effects they cause. In July, EPA issued an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (a relatively minor step in the rulemaking process) that solicits public comment on various regulatory options for curbing greenhouse gas emissions.

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Life's Value Shrinks at EPA

An Associated Press (AP) investigation released July 10 showed that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been devaluing human life when it prepares cost-benefit analyses for new regulations. Federal agencies such as EPA use the life value, an inaccurate statistic, to help them determine whether a proposal's benefits will outweigh compliance costs to industry.

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Bush Administration Says Americans Are Worth Less

Jul 15, 2008 by Matthew Madia

A recent Associated Press investigation shows the Environmental Protection Agency has been using new statistics to assign monetary values to the lives potential regulations will save. "The 'value of a statistical life' is $6.9 million, the Environmental Protection Agency reckoned in May – a drop of nearly $1 million from just five years ago," according to AP.

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America's Wetlands Sullied by Supreme Court Decision

Jul 9, 2008 by Matthew Madia

A 2006 Supreme Court decision has seriously hindered EPA's ability to enforce the Clean Water Act, according to new documents released by two House Committee chairmen. The decision in the case, which pertained to enforcement of the act in non-navigable wetlands, made a real mess of things. According to The Washington Post, "That 5 to 4 decision, known as Rapanos v. United States, held that the Army Corps of Engineers had exceeded its authority when it denied two Michigan developers permits to build on wetlands…"

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Pentagon Refuses EPA's Pollution Cleanup Orders

The nation's worst polluter, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), is refusing to sign enforcement agreements with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that require DOD to clean up polluted sites nationwide. The military bases covered by EPA's enforcement orders may endanger public drinking water supplies as a result of the military dumping toxic pollutants at the sites.

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Toxic Assessment Delays Block New Standards

A House panel recently examined efforts by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to study human exposure to, and toxic effects of, common industrial chemicals. EPA is not assessing enough chemicals and is taking too long to complete the assessments it does undertake, lawmakers said. Witnesses complained that without rigorous scientific studies as a foundation, federal and state agencies cannot set air and water quality standards that protect public health.

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OMB Watch on Health, Safety, and Environmental Protections

Jun 11, 2008 by Matthew Madia

In this video, OMB Watch Executive Director Gary Bass discusses the importance of public protections; the Bush administration's track record on such protections; and what the American people can do to take our country back from the big-monied special interests that are endangering our health and safety. You can also leave comments on our YouTube page with suggestions for future videos.

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Ozone Standard Challenged in Multiple Court Actions

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) new, stricter national air quality standard for ozone is being challenged in multiple court actions, all of which are asking a federal appeals court to review the final rule. Although the new standard, announced March 12, is an improvement over the previous standard, environmental groups, state and local governments, and business interests all have filed lawsuits hoping to force the EPA to reconsider its decision.

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Improving the Use of Science in Government

Jun 4, 2008 by Matthew Madia

The Project on Scientific Knowledge and Public Policy at the George Washington University is looking for government scientists to participate in a project which will allow for better understanding of how science is used in policymaking and how the process can be improved:

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