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...
read in fullFeb 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...
read in fullJan 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...
read in fullJan 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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The House-passed fiscal year 2011 spending bill would stop the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from limiting greenhouse gases from certain sources, halt standards for air and water pollution, and set other conditions on the agency that will complicate its efforts to protect the environment and public health. Other health and safety agencies are also targeted in the bill.
In response to a congressional request, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently prepared a white paper on the effects of the Clean Air Act (CAA) on jobs and the economy. The paper summarizes the empirical evidence on the economic costs and benefits of the act since 1970. The evidence illustrates the many benefits of the CAA and the small impact of pollution controls on employment.
Corporate lobbyists and their allies in Congress have launched a systematic, coordinated effort to attack the federal government's efforts to boost innovation and protect public health, worker safety, and environmental quality. The attacks appear to have the Obama administration backpedalling on its agenda to provide meaningful health and safety standards to the American people.
A new health study found drinking water in 31 out of 35 U.S. cities contaminated by a dangerous form of chromium known as hexavalent chromium. Another study found that hexavalent chromium, a known carcinogen when inhaled and a suspected carcinogen when ingested, often contaminates water leaching from coal ash impoundments. The revelations expose the need for greater monitoring of public drinking water and stronger protections against contamination.
The Obama administration continued revamping offshore oil drilling regulation by recently announcing the next step in its plans to reorganize the Department of the Interior – creating a new agency to oversee drilling safety.
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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Gasping for Support: Implementation of Tougher Air Quality Standards Will Require New Funds for State Agencies
New scientific research shows that the current levels of...
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