Regs Talk: The CSS Blog
Blogs are authored by CSS members and policy experts, and have been reprinted with permission.
The EPA, Mercury, and Air Toxics, Oh My!
By Kathleen Rest, Union of Concerned Scientists The government may be in the midst of a nonsensical shutdown, but that didn’t stop the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last week from proposing a new formula of calculating the human health benefits of reducing mercury emissions from power plants (or in their words proposing a “revised Supplemental […]
Bowing to Coal Industry, EPA Moves to Weaken Mercury & Air Toxics Standards
By Natural Resources Defense Council In its latest attack on clean air protections, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released its new proposal to weaken the Obama-era Mercury & Air Toxics Standards (MATS), putting public health at risk from more than 80 dangerous pollutants, some of which are known to cause brain damage in children. “This is an unconscionable […]
2019 Wish List for Workers’ Health and Safety
By Katie Tracy, Center for Progressive Reform As 2018 ends and we take stock of the developments in workers’ rights over the first half of the Trump administration, there is little forward progress to report. This administration, acting with minimal to no congressional oversight, has consistently neglected to protect America’s workers, instead rolling back and delaying […]
The Lowdown on Trump’s Lowdown Dirty Water Rule
By Jon Devine, Natural Resources Defense Council Earlier this month, the Trump administration unveiled its long-threatened scheme to radically restrict the Clean Water Act, the country’s key safeguard against pollution of our lakes, rivers, and wetlands. If they follow through on this proposal, it’ll be the most severe weakening of clean water protections since the […]
Top Ten Regulatory Policy Stories of 2018 (IMHO)
By James Goodwin, Center for Progressive Reform While regulatory policy developments might not lead evening news broadcasts or dominate newspaper headlines, they can have an enormous impact on our day-to-day lives. Regulatory policy has been a particular hotbed of activity during the Trump administration, which swept into office determined to undermine or corrupt the institutions […]
Dear Automakers – Consumers Want Cleaner Cars This Year and Every Year!
By Michelle Robinson, Union of Concerned Scientists Whether your gifts come during Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or Día de Los Reyes, everyone knows it’s holiday wish-list time. The automakers know this too – you can’t turn on the tv without seeing lots of shiny new cars festooned with giant red bows. Due to the strong national […]
New Federal Lead Strategy Is No Gift in the Fight Against Lead Poisoning
By David Jacobs and Amanda Reddy, National Center for Healthy Housing Just before the holidays and like the Grinch who stole Christmas, the Trump Administration’s release of its new federal lead strategy (the Federal Action Plan to Reduce Childhood Lead Exposures and Associated Health Impacts) threatens to steal the gift of a bright and lasting future […]
Why I’m Optimistic That Courts Will Stop the Unlawful Final Trump-Pence Birth Control Rules From Taking Effect
By Michelle Banker, National Women’s Law Center Given the flurry of Trump-Pence administration efforts to roll back birth control coverage and the confusing court decisions about the ACA and the birth control benefit in the news late last week, you may be worried about the future of your birth control coverage. Let’s be clear: The ACA […]
Trump Administration Seeks to Undermine SNAP After Congress Negotiates Bipartisan Farm Bill
By Sarah Reinhardt, Union of Concerned Scientists As the adage goes, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again, but less diplomatically.” “And be a little sneaky about it.” And yesterday—after work hours, in peak holiday season—that’s just what the Secretary of Agriculture did. At 5:30 PM, Secretary Sonny Perdue held an off-camera, on-record, […]
The Trump Administration’s Lead Balloon
By Erik D. Olson and Mae Wu, Natural Resources Defense Council Today the Trump Administration issued its long-promised and much-ballyhooed “Lead Action Plan,” which it said will “identify and reduce lead contamination while ensuring children impacted by lead exposure are getting the support and care they need.” We welcome the recognition that lead continues to be an extraordinary threat […]
Facebook Violates Its Users’ Privacy Yet Again
By Free Press Another Facebook scandal?!? That’s right. The social-media giant has found its way into the spotlight once again: A New York Times investigation published Tuesday reveals that the company has given Amazon, Microsoft, Netflix, Yahoo and others unprecedented access to user data in what appears to be a violation of a consent decree Facebook reached with the […]
Equitable Schools Are Safe Schools
By Jen Herrick, People For the American Way Stopping the scourge of gun violence in our nation’s schools, and in all corners of society, is of paramount importance to many Americans. Indeed, after 17 people were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, the call to action reached the Trump administration, where Secretary of […]
Why Was Climate Change Content Removed From the Department of Transportation Website?
By Michael Halpern, Union of Concerned Scientists CNN had a scoop this past weekend: the U.S. Department of Transportation recently removed several climate change pages from its website. The changes are indicative of a greater trend within the federal government when it comes to climate information: when in doubt, take it out. The DOT is responsible […]
McNamee Should Recuse Himself in FERC Resilience Dockets
By Gillian Gianetti, Natural Resources Defense Council The Natural Resources Defense Council today joined with other organizations in formally asking new Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Commissioner Bernard McNamee to recuse himself from two pending proceedings related to the Department of Energy’s proposal to bail out coal and nuclear power plants, which McNamee signed while at DOE. […]
Making Waves: 5 Steps the 116th Congress Should Take to Restore the Health and Productivity of America’s Oceans
By Alexandra Carter and Miriam Goldstein, Center for American Progress The 2018 elections sent a clear message: Americans value conservation. Voters elected representatives and senators who vowed to protect public lands and waters and stand against the Trump administration’s many attacks on the environment. Now, as the 116th Congress prepares to start work in January, it is time to […]
5 Tips for Working in the Trump Administration Like an Absolute Pro
By Julie McNamara, Union of Concerned Scientists Are you a new political appointee looking to join your administration peers in governing by deregulatory splash? Does the idea of winning the title of Best Worst Rule-Maker of Them All make you want to jump to the front to assume the mantle of dismantle? Would you be interested in throwing […]
The Dirty Scheme to Make Americans Buy More Gasoline
By Rhea Suh, Natural Resources Defense Council It’s not often that an industry chieftain brags to investors about picking the pockets of American families with help from the White House. That’s what happened, though, after Big Oil schemed with the Trump administration last summer to ensure higher gasoline consumption—to the tune of $16 billion a […]
Zinke Circles the Drain, but the Stains of His Reign Remain at Department of the Interior
By Joel Clement, Union of Concerned Scientists It is tempting to get excited about the departure of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke; his tenure was marked by scandal after scandal and he demonstrated the will and gall to dutifully gut the agency he was charged with leading in order to advance oil, gas, and mining industry […]
Sonny Perdue’s School Lunch Bait-and-Switch
By Karen Perry Stillerman, Union of Concerned Scientists Last week, the Trump administration finalized a rule that will weaken nutrition standards governing what kids are served in the school lunch line. This rollback had been in works for more than a year—Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue first signaled his intention in May 2017, just weeks into his […]
Tired of Losing in Court, Trump Administration Amplifies Attack on Science
By Abigail Dillen, Earthjustice Several years ago, researchers studying environmental causes of childhood autism found a link to chlorpyrifos, a pesticide widely used across the U.S. on staple crops like corn, wheat, and citrus. That study and others that followed led the EPA to ban the use of chlorpyrifos for most indoor applications, but agricultural use continued, poisoning farmworkers and others. […]