Regs Talk: The CSS Blog
Blogs are authored by CSS members and policy experts, and have been reprinted with permission.
Workers Are Safer at Work, But Not as Safe as They Could and Should Be
By Sidney Shapiro, Member Scholar, Center for Progressive Reform The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has reported that the occupational fatality rate of 3.3 deaths per 100,000 workers for 2013 was the lowest reported rate since the BLS started using its current tracking methodology in 2006. That’s good news, but we’ve got a very long […]
New Senate Bill Would Repeal Clean Water Act
By Jon Devine, Senior Attorney, Natural Resources Defense Council Imagine you’re a United States Senator and you aren’t much of a fan of the Clean Water Act, notwithstanding the fact that it has been a tremendously successful and wildly popular law for more than 40 years. If you wanted to effectively repeal the law, but […]
Feds to GE: You’re Still on the Hook for Toxic PCBs in Hudson River Fish
By Daniel Raichel, Staff Attorney, Natural Resources Defense Council A new report released yesterday by two federal agencies (U.S. Fish and Wildlife and NOAA) and the State of New York highlights a fact that the General Electric Corporation has been trying to downplay for years–namely, that GE must pay for the damage it caused by […]
National C.O.S.H. Releases Annual Workers’ Memorial Week Report
By the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health For Workers’ Memorial Week 2015, the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health has released Not An Accident: Preventable Deaths 2015. This annual report provides details on and context for the yearly toll of worker fatalities in the U.S. “54,000 deaths a year is way too […]
USGS Weighs in on Earthquakes Caused by Oil & Gas Operations
By Briana Mordick, Staff Scientist, Natural Resources Defense Council The United States Geological Survey (USGS) released a preliminary report yesterday assessing the impact that manmade or “induced” earthquakes caused by oil and gas operations in the Central and Eastern U.S. have on seismic hazard. While their work is not yet final, they were able to […]
11 Things You Need to Know About Safety for Workers Memorial Day
By Kenneth Quinnell, AFL-CIO Every year on April 28, the unions of the AFL-CIO observe Workers Memorial Day to remember those who have suffered and died on the job and to renew our efforts for safe workplaces. This year, the struggle continues to create good jobs in this country that are safe and healthy and […]
From Climate Deniers and Big Tobacco to Agribusiness: How Major Industries are Pushing “Junk Science” Legislation Intended to Dodge Regulations
By Colin O’Neil, Director of Government Affairs, Center for Food Safety For years, agrichemical companies have used their influence to pass state legislation that prevents cities, counties and even states from regulating farming practices that may cause harm to human health, the environment or farmers. Their latest tactic, reminiscent of the American Legislative Exchange Council’s […]
Administration Unveils Energy Modernization Plan
By Carl Zichella, Director of Western Energy Transmission, Natural Resources Defense Council Responding to rapid changes in the nation’s energy system and the growing need to upgrade aging transmission, storage and distribution (TS&D) infrastructure the Obama Administration has released the nation’s first “Quadrennial Energy Review (QER)” detailing federal priorities for modernizing the nation’s power lines, […]
Blue Bell Recalls are a Public Health Wake-Up Call
By Anya Vanecek, Public Health Digital Campaigner, U.S. PIRG Blue Bell creamery has suffered a series of brain freeze-level headaches this spring. For the first time ever, the Texas-based company is voluntarily recalling all of its ice cream products from the market after being linked to three food-illness-related deaths. A bacteria called listeria contaminated ice cream […]
Conservatives Complain About Regulatory Delays, Yet Vote for Roadblocks
By Katherine McFate and Robert Weissman, Co-Chairs, Coalition for Sensible Safeguards “Four years is too long.” That was the conclusion of U.S. Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.), chairman of the U.S. House Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials, at an April 14 hearing on oil train safety standards. New rules for oil trains have been […]
Why We Have Grave Environmental Concerns About “Fast Track” Trade Authority
By Jake Schmidt, Director, International Program, Natural Resources Defense Council A “fast track” trade bill was just introduced that would expedite approval of two massive trade agreements. We know enough about these pending trade agreements – one between the U.S. and eleven other countries and the other with the European Union – to reject efforts […]
There Are Big Flaws in Our Main Chemical Safety Law. The Shimkus Bill Won’t Fix Them.
By Katie Weatherford, Regulatory Policy Analyst, Center for Effective Government Every day, we are exposed to chemicals in our shampoo, body wash, hand sanitizer, toothpaste, lotion, and much more. We expect our government to ensure that the chemicals in products have been tested and are safe for us and our families. The truth is that […]
BP: The Whole Story?
By Allison Fisher, Outreach Director, Climate and Energy Program, Public Citizen Five years have passed since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers and setting off the worst oil spill in U.S. history. In the aftermath of the crisis, BP pledged to make the Gulf Coast and the victims […]
Let’s Derail Fast Track Authority
By Debbie Barker, International Programs Director, Center for Food Safety Everyone knows that the Obama Administration and Republican leadership in Congress rarely agree on anything, but when it comes to sealing the deal on non-transparent trade agreements they seem to be bosom buddies. Deviating from typical political party positioning, Republican leaders are advocating that Congress […]
Despite Hoopla, Court Challenge to Clean Power Plan Likely to Fail
By David Doniger, Director, Climate and Clean Air Program, Natural Resources Defense Council The much ballyhooed legal challenge to the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed Clean Power Plan, brought by coal companies and conservative state attorneys-general, ran out of steam today in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington. Judges Karen LeCraft Henderson, Thomas Griffith, and […]
Let the EPA Be a Real Referee
By David Brodwin, Co-Founder & Board Member, American Sustainable Business Council America’s entrepreneurs have long applied chemistry to make new products that enrich our lives. But sadly, many chemical innovations have turned out to be dangerous, even deadly. Asbestos and formaldehyde cause cancer and have been largely banned from consumer products. Bisphenol A, an additive […]
Department of Labor Proposes Protecting People with Retirement Savings Accounts Against Bad Investment Advice
By Amy K. Matsui, Senior Counsel and Director of Women and the Courts, National Women’s Law Center Did you know that the financial advisors you pay to help you decide how to invest your IRA or 401(k) aren’t required to act in your best interest? That they can recommend the investment that pays them the […]
Two Years After West Disaster, Are Our Communities Any Safer?
By Anya Vanecek, Public Health Digital Campaigner, U.S. PIRG Two years ago today (April 17th, 2013), a fertilizer plant explosion devastated West, Texas. Fifteen people died, including 12 volunteer firefighters. The blast demolished an apartment building and nursing home, and damaged three nearby schools. In the two years since, there have been over 350 other […]
House Republicans Vote Against Protecting Your Drinking Water
By Jon Devine, Senior Attorney, National Resources Defense Council Did you drink water today? If so, you’ll want to read this post, because Republicans in the House of Representatives are pushing legislation that threatens our drinking water. Yesterday, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved a bill that would kill the Clean Water Rule, an […]
Tilting at Windmills: The Coal Industry’s Vain Attempt to Stop Carbon Pollution Safeguards
By Joanne Spalding, Chief Climate Counsel, Sierra Club If you are looking for the latest sign that the coal industry is desperate, look no further than the three lawsuits coal companies and their defenders are bringing before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Thursday. Big Coal — led by the infamous […]