Before leaving for Congress' traditional August recess, Republicans on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee rammed through a bill that would make it harder to protect our lakes, rivers, and streams from pesticide pollution. The committee passed the bill without holding a single public hearing on the issue.

Earlier this year, the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer dropped a bombshell when it concluded the active ingredient in Roundup, a popular weed killer, probably causes cancer.

Currently, the total number of vehicles with potentially defective airbags that have been recalled has expanded to nearly 34 million – or about 18 percent of the more than 183 million cars on the road. So far, 8 deaths and over 100 serious injuries have been reported from defective air bags.

In April 2013, an explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas killed 15 people, injured more than 200, and levelled nearby homes and schools. President Obama visited West in the aftermath and promised to improve our nation’s chemical safety laws. On Aug. 1, 2013, he issued an executive order directing federal agencies to revise their chemical safety policies to ensure that a West-type tragedy never happens again. But two years later, are we any safer?