Regs Talk: The CSS Blog
Blogs are authored by CSS members and policy experts, and have been reprinted with permission.
NOAA Urged to Protect Right Whales From Deadly Entanglements
By Francine Kershaw, Natural Resources Defense Council NRDC and the broader environmental community has come out in force to urge the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to protect the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale from deadly entanglements in fishing gear. Across a six-week scoping period that ended yesterday, NRDC and our members and […]
Trump’s Witch Hunt Against California and Carmakers
By Ken Kimmell, Union of Concerned Scientists For years, President Trump has decried the Mueller investigation as a “witch hunt.” Putting aside whether that characterization was fair, the Trump justice department has now initiated a witch hunt of its own—an investigation into whether four car companies violated antitrust laws by agreeing with the State of California […]
How the Defense Spending Bill Vote Could Impact Children’s Health
By Ketura Persellin, Environmental Working Group This year’s defense spending bill – the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA – now being considered by Congress, is an unprecedented chance to regulate the toxic fluorinated chemicals known as PFAS, which have contaminated hundreds of public water systems nationwide. Both the House and Senate versions of the bill include […]
Fighting Fear With Facts: What to Know About the Public Charge Rule
By Gabriela Salas, National Women’s Health Network Last month, the Trump administration finalized a radical new rule as part of their larger attack on immigrant communities. Known as the “public charge” rule, it’s a particularly cruel and short-sighted example of the administration’s on-going attempt to limit immigration of poor brown communities, primarily from Latin America […]
Pres. Trump – Light Bulbs Don’t Cause People to Look Orange
By Noah Horowitz, Natural Resources Defense Council President Trump has been talking a lot lately about light bulbs and complaining that they make people look orange, are toxic, and cost too much. He’s sadly mistaken on all fronts. Let’s correct the record. Consumers are very happy with LEDs Talking about energy-efficient light bulbs, the president […]
Trump Administration Rolls Back Protections for Millions of Acres of Wetlands, Waterways
By Waterkeeper Alliance The Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency finalized a rule today rolling back protections for millions of acres of wetlands, vernal pools, and other waterways. The rule opens the door for more pollution and toxic waste dumping in rivers, streams, and wetlands across the country without any study of the effects on endangered […]
Trump Administration Kicks Clean Water Protections Out the Door
By Natural Resources Defense Council The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers officially repealed the Clean Water Rule today, undoing critical protections for streams, wetlands, and other smaller bodies of water at risk of pollution. The rollback makes it easier for oil drillers, industrial sites, developers, and other polluters to contaminate […]
The Broken Safe Drinking Water Act Won’t Fix the PFAS Crisis
By Erik D. Olson, Natural Resources Defense Council We’ve known for years that 6 million Americans’ tap water is contaminated with PFOA and PFOS, just two of thousands in a class of “forever” chemicals known as PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), at levels above the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) “Health Advisory.” We also know that tens […]
Administration Flouts Basic Rules of Process to Open Arctic
By Garett Rose, Natural Resources Defense Council The Trump administration just released its Final Environmental Impact Statement for oil and gas leasing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. This document, like the draft it is based one, is a slapdash attempt to skirt the environmental laws it purports to satisfy. The administration is rushing to ensure that […]
EPA Attack on Science Targets Animal Tests
By Jennifer Sass, Natural Resources Defense Council This week, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler signed a directive instructing the agency to significantly reduce animal testing by 2035. The agency also awarded $4.25 million to four universities to advance the development of alternative test methods for chemical testing. This is yet another Trump Administration attack on scientific information, this […]
Trump EPA Uses Animals to Hide Science Attack
By Kristi Pullen Fedinick, Natural Resources Defense Council The Trump EPA is planning to significantly reduce the number of animals used in chemical testing over the next 16 years. Administrator Wheeler has signed a directive that will eventually eliminate these tests and reduce study requests and funding for some animal testing by 30%. To that end, the agency has […]
Former NOAA Officials File Scientific Integrity Complaint Over Trump Attacks on Weather Forecasters
By Michael Halpern, Union of Concerned Scientists Three former high-ranking NOAA officials filed an official complaint yesterday asking for a comprehensive investigation into multiple violations of the NOAA Scientific Integrity Policy. “Recent actions to censor NWS scientists put public safety at risk, are inconsistent with NOAA’s scientific integrity principles, violate the public trust, and compromise the independence […]
How Science Watchdogs Can Protect the Gray Wolf
By Carlos Carroll, Union of Concerned Scientists Sadly, we have grown accustomed to seeing political candidates denying the reality of established scientific facts, such as those that underpin our understanding of evolution and climate change. Science denial is even more disturbing, however, when it emerges from federal agencies such as the US Fish and Wildlife […]
Everything Must Go: Selling Out Our Rivers and Clean Water
By Christopher Williams, American Rivers President Trump’s first term is winding down, and the final year of any presidential term sees a flurry of proposed rules and other regulatory actions that seek to cement that president’s vision and legacy. Unfortunately, the legacy of an administration that tasked the likes of former Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) […]
Here’s What Congress Should Ask When Industry Tries to Spread PFAS Disinformation Today
By Genna Reed, Union of Concerned Scientists At a hearing tomorrow in the House Oversight and Reform Committee, the primary makers and users of PFOA and PFOS, 3M, DuPont, and Chemours, will be testifying about their roles in the PFAS contamination fiasco. This follows a July hearing featuring the voices of community members and state agencies who have been […]
NOAA Officials Threatened with Firing After Dorian Trump Tweet Fiasco
By Michael Halpern, Union of Concerned Scientists Senior NOAA political staff objected to orders to “fix” weather forecasts to conform with the president’s claim that Hurricane Dorian would impact Alabama, the New York Times reports. Then Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross threatened to fire them. This is the first evidence that the Commerce Department (and possibly the […]
The Science on PFAS: Rebuttal to 3M’s Claims
By Environmental Working Group For decades, 3M was a leading producer of the toxic fluorinated chemicals known as PFAS. As early as the 1950s, 3M’s own studies showed that PFAS chemicals built up in blood, and by the 1960s, 3M’s own animal studies showed the potential for harm. Yet 3M continued to produce PFAS chemicals […]
NOAA Leadership Trades Scientific Integrity for Political Appeasement
By Gretchen Goldman, Union of Concerned Scientists The mission of the National Weather Service is to provide “weather, water, and climate data, forecasts and warnings for the protection of life and property and enhancement of the national economy.” And its hard-working employees work around the clock in offices around the country to ensure the weather […]
GSE Reform Shuffles to the Exits
By Barry Zigas, Consumer Federation of America More than a decade after Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were placed into conservatorship at the height of the financial crisis, the Trump Administration’s Treasury Department on September 5 released its long-awaited report on mortgage finance reform. Importantly, the report endorses a government role in supporting long term fixed […]
Anti-Labor Day: DOL’s Double-Down on Deregulation Hurts Working Americans, Further Erodes Regulatory Integrity
By Matt Kent, Public Citizen Just before Labor Day weekend, Acting Labor Secretary Patrick Pizzella made clear that the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) planned on accelerating its efforts to strip away key worker protections. In remarks at the DOL Labor Day celebration, Pizzella promised to “focus like a laser beam” on President Donald Trump’s deregulatory agenda […]