New Posts

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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The Public Wants EPA – Not Congress – to Protect Our Drinking Water

UPDATE (May 28, 2015): Yesterday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized the Clean Water Rule, closing loopholes that historically allowed polluters to dump waste into the streams and wetlands that feed our drinking water supply. One in three Americans’ drinking water comes from these sources, and so EPA’s rule is a win for public and environmental health. Among other provisions, the rule grants protection under the Clean Water Act to streams, wetlands, and rain-dependent waters that connect to navigable waters. 

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Business Leaders Question SBA Advocacy's Comments on EPA's Water Rule

The American Sustainable Business Council (ASBC) questioned the public comments submitted by the Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy (SBA Advocacy) concerning the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed Waters of the United States rule. Those comments called for EPA to withdraw the rule.

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Toxic Toledo Water: Cities Nationwide Face Similar Risks

On Aug. 2, the City of Toledo, Ohio issued a water use ban for roughly 500,000 residents after chemists detected toxic levels of microcystin in the public water supply. Microcystin is a toxin produced by harmful algal blooms caused by the overuse of nitrogen and phosphorous fertilizers. Large amounts of excess fertilizers run off into waterways during rainstorms. Exposure to microcystin can cause diarrhea, nausea, liver dysfunction, and nervous system damage. Beyond the public health risks, harmful algal blooms also negatively impact ecosystems and burden the economy.

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EPA Addresses Misinformation Surrounding Proposed “Waters of the U.S.” Rule

Update (07/17/2014): On July 16, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee passed a number of measures to limit the EPA's ability to regulate water pollution. These measures would entirely halt the agency's proposed "Waters of the U.S." rule and restrict the timeframe that the EPA has to veto pollution permits. Under the bills passed by the committee, individual states will have greater authority over water pollution permits.

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EPA Developing New Standards to Curb Power Plant Water Pollution

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently began finalizing a proposed rule to reduce water pollution from coal-fired power plants and their related wastes. These pollutants include lead, mercury, arsenic, selenium, and other dissolved solids, which are harmful to both human health and aquatic life.

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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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