Regs Talk: The CSS Blog
Blogs are authored by CSS members and policy experts, and have been reprinted with permission.
Off Highway Vehicles: Nearly 100 Recalls Since CFA Began Tracking
By Rachel Weintraub, Consumer Federation of America An Analysis of OHV Recalls: Increasing Number of OHVs Pulled from Market due to Safety Concerns A Consumer Federation of America (CFA) analysis of off highway vehicle (OHV) recalls found that over the past nine years, there have been 97 OHV recalls, and the number of recalls has […]
EPA Might Be Using Its Advisors to Do Away With Protective Science Guidelines
By Genna Reed, Union of Concerned Scientists At the last EPA Science Advisory Board meeting in June, the EPA SAB was asked to partake in a consultation process in review of the EPA’s planned changes to its cancer and noncancer risk assessment guidelines. These guidelines are used by the agency to help it figure out whether chemicals pose […]
New Poll: Americans Strongly Oppose USDA Move to Weaken Food Safety at Pork Plants
By United Food and Commercial Workers As America’s largest private-sector union representing thousands of pork workers, UFCW works to protect the safety of the hardworking men and women at swine slaughter plants as well as the food they pack and process. A new poll released this week shows that a strong majority of Americans agree with us […]
You Won’t Hear President Trump Boast About These Records
By Jacob Carter, Union of Concerned Scientists President Trump recently boasted about his amazing environmental record, which others have shown to be, in fact, not great. What records has President Trump achieved? I did some research to find out. Here is a list of records that the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) and others have found […]
What I Will Say to the House Committee on Natural Resources About Attacks on Science
By Andrew Rosenberg, Union of Concerned Scientists I will be testifying tomorrow (Thursday, July 25) before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources concerning attacks on science in the Trump Administration and scientific integrity at the Department of Interior. It is a great opportunity to highlight for members of Congress the important role that independent […]
New Bill Centers Environmental Justice and Cumulative Impacts
By Rob Friedman, Natural Resources Defense Council For too long, communities of color, Indigenous peoples, and low-income communities across the United States and around the world have borne a disproportionate burden of exposure to pollution and climate change. This trend is further magnified as the impacts of climate change worsen, from extreme heat in our cities to superstorms that […]
What the Latest Proposed Rule on SNAP Categorical Eligibility Really Means
By Jenalyn Sotto, National Women’s Law Center Yesterday, the Trump administration published a new proposed rule targeting women, girls, and working families in need. This time, he wants to bypass Congressand cut billions of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, which help millions across the country feed their families in times of need. Deny food assistance to hungry children and families? Not on our watch. What Happened? Last December, Congress […]
Dodd-Frank: Nine and Nearly Orphaned
By Bartlett Naylor, Public Citizen Dodd-Frank just turned nine years old. There’s no party. It’s been a rough childhood. On July 21, 2010 President Obama signed the birth certificate on the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The law was Congress’ response to the 2008 Wall Street crash. From the first, Dodd-Frank was […]
The Future of Plastics Is Less: Addressing It at the Source
By Zak Smith, Natural Resources Defense Council The oil and gas industry is waging a war against wildlife, hitting species from all sides, be it climate change, spills, or plastic pollution. All these activities are putting wildlife in jeopardy, helping produce a world today where more than one million species are threatened with extinction, many within […]
Our Children Deserve Better: Trump’s EPA Refuses to Ban Brain-Damaging Pesticide. Again.
By Kathleen Rest, Union of Concerned Scientists While many of us were buoyed this past weekend by the 50th anniversary of our nation’s moon landing, the Trump administration gave the U.S. chemical industry another reason to celebrate. This time at the expense of children’s health. The Dow company was the prime beneficiary of this latest […]
As Heatwave Blankets Nation, Utility Disconnect Policies Can Kill
By Joseph Daniel, Union of Concerned Scientists As temperatures increase, so does our reliance on things like air conditioning. That increased electric load can stress the grid, but it can also stress our pocketbooks with the increased use of A/C translating into increased electric bills. Sadly, an increasing number of people in the United States struggle to […]
Trump Administration Once Again Places Company Profits Over Quality Care for Seniors
By Remmington A. Gregg, Public Citizen Yesterday, the federal government drastically rolled back protections for some of the country’s most vulnerable people by overturning an Obama-era rule that protected seniors and other nursing home residents from being forced into secretive arbitration proceedings when they are harmed by a long-term care (LTC) facility. Forced arbitration clauses […]
EPA Still Doesn’t Want to Ban Pesticide That Harms Kids
By Natural Resources Defense Council In an ongoing legal battle initiated by NRDC that includes a coalition of labor and health groups represented by Earthjustice, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said—yet again—that it will not ban chlorpyrifos, a pesticide that is commonly sprayed on various U.S. food crops, including apples, oranges, and berries. “Scientists have […]
Bees and Beekeepers Feel the Sting of Trump Administration’s Anti-Science Efforts
By Jessica A. Knoblauch, Earthjustice It’s been a particularly terrible summer for bees. Recently, the U.S. EPA announced it is allowing the bee-killing pesticide sulfoxaflor back on the market. And just a few weeks prior, the USDA announced it is suspending data collection for its annual honeybee survey, which provides critical information to farmers and scientists by tracking […]
Trump Administration Dramatically Reduces Penalties for Auto Inefficiency
By Dave Cooke, Union of Concerned Scientists In a Friday news dump last week, the Trump administration announced that they will be finalizing a reduction in fines for missing fuel economy targets. Not only is the administration working to roll back the strong standards set in place by the previous administration currently driving efficiency improvements across new vehicles, but […]
Trump Offers Polluters a Free Pass
By Luke Tonachel, Natural Resources Defense Council In the Trump administration’s latest effort to roll back public safeguards and reward its polluting pals, the Department of Transportation snuck out a gift to automakers late on Friday. The department announced it would slash the penalties automakers must pay for not meeting federal fuel economy standards to […]
Attacks on Public Health and Safety That the Scientific Integrity Act Could Have Prevented
By Jacob Carter, Union of Concerned Scientists In March, Senator Schatz (D-HI) and Representative Tonko (D-NY) introduced the Scientific Integrity Act (hereafter referred to as the “SI Act”). The legislation is a step forward to protecting federal agency scientists and their work from political interference. Attacks on science come from both sides of the political aisle and […]
Drilling Down on the Attempted Takedown of the Government’s Advisory Committees
By Genna Reed, Union of Concerned Scientists The House Science committee will be holding a hearing tomorrow to talk about the status of the government’s advisory committees, which is extremely timely considering the Trump administration is attempting to get rid of them altogether. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a brand new report on the subject and will […]
Trumpery, Codswallop and This Administration’s Real Environmental Record
By Andrew Rosenberg, Union of Concerned Scientists Earlier this month President Trump, surrounded by multiple Cabinet members, presented his administration’s environmental “accomplishments” in a speech to the nation. As noted by many fact-checkers, the president and his Cabinet made statements that were a series of half-truths, cherry-picked data, and outright fabrications. One of my favorite words is “codswallop,” meaning nonsense. […]
10 Ways Andrew Wheeler Has Decimated EPA Protections in Just One Year
By Elliott Negin, Union of Concerned Scientists On July 8, President Trump hosted a White House event to unabashedly tout his truly abysmal environmental record. The next day, coincidentally, marked the one-year anniversary of Andrew Wheeler at the helm of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), first as acting administrator and then as administrator after the Senate confirmed […]