Factory farms off the hook

Jan 21, 2005 by Guest Blogger

It's now official: Factory farms that generate huge amounts of harmful pollution are being let off the hook from enforcement of clean air laws provided they simply let EPA monitor them and collect data. EPA basically let industry write its own rules in a back-room deal... no surprise that the rules would be toothless. The official story goes like this (per the AP): Seeking data for future regulation, the government on Friday told factory-style farms that generate huge amounts of animal waste they can escape potentially large fines if their air pollution is monitored.

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Someone's in the kitchen with OIRA

Jan 21, 2005 by Guest Blogger

What's cooking on the anti-regulatory front? Follow your nose... to the OIRA log of meetings with industry. These meetings have already begun in 2005: Meeting with the International Dairy Foods Association about FDA rules on "Food Standards: General Principles and Food Standards Modernization" About this pending rulemaking (RIN 0910-AC54):

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GAO 2004 Study of PART

<p>Download copy of GAO, <i>Performance Budgeting: Observations on the Use of OMB's Program Assessment Rating Tool for the Fiscal Year 2004 Budget</i>, Rep. No. GAO-04-174 (Jan. 2004)

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New Cases of BSE Highlight Need for Strong Safeguards

Jan 21, 2005 by Guest Blogger

With two new cases of mad cow disease in Canada, questions of food safety in the U.S. are once again making headlines, and two new articles do nothing to squelch national fears. According to the New York Times, scientists have recently discovered that the proteins that cause mad cow disease may be present in more parts of the animal than previously thought. Until now, scientists believed that the mad cow prion only existed in the brain and spinal tissue and removing those parts was enough to protect the food supply.

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ACLU and CFC

Jan 21, 2005 by Guest Blogger

A recent article by Rick Cohen of NCRP discusses the history of the CFC and the recent moves by OPM to require charities to check watch lists. Also check out the ACLU's page on the CFC requirement and the legal battle to change it.

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"War on Terror" Impacts Tsunami Aid

Jan 20, 2005 by Guest Blogger

Aid going to the tsunami relief efforts in South-east Asia is under close scruntiny by the US government, especially in the case of the Tamil Tigers - a seperatist movement in Sri Lanka. The Tigers were designated by the US government as a terrorist organization in 2001, hampering foreign aid to the area. US government officals have been reluctant to discuss whether nonprofits giving assistance to the region that the Tamil Tigers occupy in Sri Lanka would constitute as aiding and abetting terrorism. The article below contains the offical Treasury Department stance. Check it out.

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Divisions in Social Security Reform Widen

Jan 20, 2005 by Guest Blogger

The lack of a proposal from the White House on the President's specific plans for Social Security reform has continued to raise doubts and widen the divide of consensus on the proper way to approach this issues. In yesterday's Washington Post, House Ways and Mean Committee Chairman Bill Thomas (R-CA) was quoted as saying the President's plan would be a "dead horse" upon arrival in Congress and that it "cannot, given the politics of the [Congress]" win passage. Representative Thomas is one of the most powerful Republicans concerning tax policy and will have a huge influence on the fate of Bush's domestic agenda in his second term - particularly Social Security reform. Also recently released, a new analysis by Center for American Progress/The Century Foundation senior fellow Ruy Teixeira on recent polls concerning Social Security. It seems not only has Bush lost Congress, but he continues to be unable to sell the American public on his policies.

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57 channels, nothing on, and the price is still going up

Jan 19, 2005 by Guest Blogger

Consumers Union has an excellent companion website, Hear Us Now, with a wealth of information about, among other things, cable and satellite TV service. If you were concerned by the news that the FCC rigged a cost-benefit analysis in order to benefit the cable and media giants and deny consumers meaningful choice in their cable subscriptions, check out the Hear Us Now action alert, through which you can send comments to the FCC urging them to do the right thing.

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Bush environmental record: Broken record of broken promises

Jan 19, 2005 by Guest Blogger

NRDC has released its comprehensive report on the Bush administration's environmental record during the first term.

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More worries about water

Jan 19, 2005 by Guest Blogger

The recent report Homeland Unsecured identified a number of significant weaknesses in the nation's infrastructure that make us all vulnerable to significant harm from accidents or terrorism, and a whole chapter was devoted to water systems. Here's yet more evidence of vulnerabilities in the nation's water supply: the EPA Inspector General released a briefing report earlier this month identifying security vulnerabilities in water facilities' remote control computer systems: SCADA networks[, a technology that allows a user to collect data from sensors and control equipment, such as pumps and

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