Regs Talk: The CSS Blog
Blogs are authored by CSS members and policy experts, and have been reprinted with permission.
Fireflies’ Glow Could Soon Be Extinguished by Human Actions
By Jessica A. Knoblauch, Earthjustice Say goodbye to one of the dreamiest things about childhood. In the Midwest, fireflies are dying off. For many Americans, it’s hard to imagine summer nights without the magical glow of dozens of bioluminescent bodies fluttering above the grasses and fields, and lighting up the dark skies above. But the die-offs […]
Our Public Lands Must Be Part of the Climate Change Solution
By Alison Kelly and Briana Mordick, Natural Resources Defense Council The millions of acres of public lands that belong to all Americans should be part of the solution to the climate crisis, but mismanagement by the federal government is making them part of the problem. The fossil fuels found on our public lands are significant sources […]
New House Bill a Game Changer for Protecting Workers from Extreme Heat
By Katie Tracy, Center for Progressive Reform Asunción Valdivia, a 53-year old father and farmworker at a Giumarra vineyard in California, died after laboring to pick grapes for ten straight hours in 105-degree heat. When he collapsed, his employer told Valdivia’s son, Luis, who was also working in the field, to drive him to the hospital, but Valdivia died […]
It’s Time to Regulate Industrial Discharges of PFAS
By Scott Faber, Environmental Working Group Fluorinated chemicals known as PFAS have been linked to serious health problems, including cancer, harm to the reproductive system, and harm to the immune system. So you might be surprised to learn that industrial manufacturers can discharge unlimited amounts of PFAS directly into drinking water supplies. EWG recently found […]
House Strengthens Financial Whistleblower Protections
By Shanna Devine, Public Citizen On Tuesday evening in a sweeping 410 – 12 vote, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 2515, introduced by U.S. Reps. Al Green (D-Texas) and Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.), which protects whistleblowers who report potential violations of federal securities laws to their employers. Due to a drafting error in Dodd-Frank, […]
Congress Takes Step to Protect American Workers from Heat
By Juanita Constible, Natural Resources Defense Council The U.S. House Education and Labor Committee is taking critical action today to protect the health of American workers from heat, which is the deadliest form of extreme weather in the United States. The Asuncion Valdivia Heat Illness and Fatality Prevention Act, spearheaded by Representatives Judy Chu (D-CA) and Raul […]
White House Pretends to Care About the Environment
By Jason Mark, Sierra Club President Trump Delivers Remarks on America’s Environmental Leadership. It sounds like an April Fool’s joke or the quip of a lazy headline writer at The Onion. And yet that’s exactly what happened on Monday in the East Room of the White House, as Trump and his cabinet performed a carefully choreographed—but […]
Midwestern Floods Are Worsening the Gulf’s Toxic Algae Problem
By Alexandra Carter, Ryan Richards, and Miriam Goldstein, Center for American Progress Last summer, harmful algal blooms (HABs) off the coast of Florida wreaked havoc on the state, sickening beachgoers, costing businesses more than $8 million, and killing sea turtles, manatees, and even a juvenile whale shark. Two years ago, in the Gulf of Mexico, a low-oxygen “dead zone” the size of New Jersey […]
Confirmed Judges, Confirmed Fears: Trump Circuit Judge Tries to Excuse Weakening of Mine Safety Rules
By Elliot Mincberg, People For the American Way In June 2019, Trump judge Gregory Katsas of the D.C. Circuit partly dissented from a 2-1 ruling concluding that under Trump, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) improperly tried to weaken a rule protecting miners’ health and safety. Katsas dissented from the part of the ruling (written […]
Better Markets to Defend Stress Tests at Key Fed Conference Tomorrow
By Better Markets Tomorrow is a huge day for defending stress tests — those vital tools that protect taxpayers and our economy by making sure that banks have enough capital to absorb their own losses without needing bailouts. The Federal Reserve invited academics, regulators, bankers and Better Markets to speak at a conference on the […]
Better Markets Fights Latest Deregulatory Proposals
By Better Markets U.S. banking regulators have issued another round of dangerous de-regulatory proposals that will increase the likelihood of another financial crisis. These rule proposals would scale back three of the most important banking reforms established in the Dodd-Frank Act: Capital requirements designed to fortify banks against periods of financial stress and instability. Stress […]
Protect Your Pup: FDA’s New Warning on Dog Food Safety and Canine Heart Disease
By Rebecca Spector, Center for Food Safety The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced a link between some grain-free dog food brands and a serious—and sometimes fatal—form of canine heart disease called dilated cardiomyopathy, or DCM. At Center for Food Safety (CFS), we adore our pets, and we know you do too. Learn […]
Stopping ‘Predatory Wolf Packs’ From Ripping You Off
By Better Markets It’s hard to believe, but some brokerage firms specialize in hiring recidivist brokers — those with 3, 4, 5 and even more customer-related disciplinary infractions on their record. These “predator wolf-pack” firms populated with recidivist brokers have a business model that maximizes profits by targeting and ripping off unsuspecting, vulnerable and often […]
Stress Tests Are Vital Tools to Protect Taxpayers and Our Economy
By Better Markets Stress tests are critical tools to protect the economy and taxpayers. Such tests, which regulators conduct on banks to see if they could survive a financial shock without failing, would have been invaluable before the 2008 crash that cost American families their homes, savings, and jobs (as detailed in our Cost of […]
DOE Gas Furnace and Water Heater Proposal Wastes Fossil Fuels
By Lauren Urbanek, Natural Resources Defense Council The Department of Energy is continuing its assault on the appliance energy efficiency standards program, with a proposed interpretive rule out this week that could freeze in place the standards for residential furnaces and commercial water heaters that use natural gas or propane. This shortsighted proposal could waste substantial amounts […]
It’s Time to Designate PFAS a “Hazardous Substance”
By Melanie Benesh, Environmental Working Group Per-and polyfluorinated substances, known as PFAS, are often characterized as “emerging contaminants.” However, ask the residents living in the communities polluted by decades of unregulated discharges of these chemicals and they’ll tell you that it’s a contamination crisis that has arrived long ago. PFAS chemicals are a group of […]
As CFPB Reviews Overdraft Rules, UK Regulator Makes Pro-Consumer Changes
By Ed Mierzwinski, U.S. PIRG We’ve commented twice (group comment and our own, adding our recent report on Campus Banking Practices to the record) in a CFPB ten-year regulatory review of the Overdraft Rule established by the pre-CFPB regulators in 2010. The overdraft rule was a response to massive increases in overdraft fee collection triggered largely by small transactions on debit […]
Congress Investigates Rollback of the Clean Car Standards – an Epic Oversight Hearing
By Jonna Hamilton, Union of Concerned Scientists The House Energy and Commerce committee held its first oversight hearing on the soon-to-be-rolled-back fuel economy and greenhouse gas standards on Thursday, June 20. The hearing highlighted how the rollback will be bad for consumers, the environment, health, and energy security – you can read more about the hearing set up in […]
Groups Launch Legal Action to Protect Waterways from Slaughterhouse Pollution
By Waterkeeper Alliance Conservation groups today filed a formal notice of intent to sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for failing to update slaughterhouse wastewater guidelines as required by the Clean Water Act. More than 8 billion chickens, 100 million hogs, and 30 million beef cattle are processed each year in more than 5,000 slaughterhouses […]
The Bernhardt Doctrine: Dismissing Rules and Dodging Oversight
By Marc Rehmann, Center for American Progress U.S. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt is hard to put a finger on. Attempts to understand what he’s doing or who he’s meeting with through Freedom of Information Act requests have yielded surprisingly few documents and sparse calendars. Bernhardt has granted relatively few—or brief, if at all—on-the-record interviews with reporters. He has […]