Regs Talk: The CSS Blog
Blogs are authored by CSS members and policy experts, and have been reprinted with permission.
Wrong Choice on Endangered Species
By Environment America We know too little about the interaction of species and their effects on each other within ecosystems. What we do know is fascinating. For instance, check out this National Geographic video about how wolves changed rivers, as peculiar as that sounds. We also know that research is telling us that extinction rates today are […]
The Public Demands Worker Heat Protections Now
By Shanna Devine, Public Citizen Today more than 61,000 individuals called on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to establish protections for workers who are exposed to extreme heat. The grassroots petition was organized by Public Citizen, United Farm Workers (UFW), UFW Foundation and Friends of the Earth. The grassroots petition is part of a national heat […]
Duke University Study: N.C. Residents Living Near Large Hog Farms Have Elevated Disease, Death Risks
By Olga Naidenko and Sydney Evans, Environmental Working Group Residents of communities near industrial-scale hog farms in North Carolina face an increased risk of potentially deadly diseases, Duke University scientists reported in a study released this week. Researchers found that compared to communities without big hog farms, in the communities with the highest hog farm density, there were 30 percent […]
From Surviving to Thriving — Emergency Waiver of Health, Safety, and Environmental Rules
By Victor Flatt, Center for Progressive Reform On August 23, 2017, Texas Governor Greg Abbott declared a state of emergency as Hurricane Harvey approached the Texas Coast. That state of emergency was ultimately expanded to 60 counties in Texas. Emergency declarations in Texas (as in many states and for the federal government) allow the governor to […]
Five Ways Brett Kavanaugh Tried to Mislead the Senate — and the Public — about His Environmental Record
By Marc Boom, Natural Resources Defense Council During the Senate Judiciary Committee’s confirmation hearing for Brett Kavanaugh, there were a number of firework moments that left many wondering how candid the judge was being about his record. Kavanaugh continued in this form when it came to answering questions about decisions he made in environmental cases—offering […]
The Many Hazards of Toxic Algae Outbreaks
By Sarah Graddy and Robert Coleman, Environmental Working Group This summer, EWG is tracking outbreaks of potentially toxic algae across the U.S. We have been startled to find that these outbreaks are erupting everywhere: from the East Coast to the West Coast, from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. Though outbreaks of algae vary in type, severity […]
USDA Reorganization 2.0: Cut Researchers, Cut Research
By Steve Suppan, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy Steve Bannon, President Donald Trump’s former director of strategy, aimed to “deconstruct the administrative state.” The means of deconstruction are by now a familiar litany: Eliminating or not filling administrative positions; pressuring civil service bureaucrats and scientists to quit; not enforcing laws; abandoning lawsuits against industry; deregulation; budget cutting; […]
NRDC and Partners Threaten Lawsuit Over Giraffe Protections
By Elly Pepper, Natural Resources Defense Council Today NRDC and our partners sent a Notice of Intent letter (NOI) to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) asking it to respond to our petition to list giraffes as an endangered species. If they don’t respond within 60 days, we’ll sue the Trump administration. As you might recall, […]
Why Hurricane Florence Could Become a Public Health Crisis
By Jessica Knoblauch, Earthjustice People in the southeastern U.S. are facing life threatening winds and rains from Hurricane Florence. Less obvious, but also of great concern, is the public health threat posed by a variety of contaminated sites located around the region. These include giant pits filled with coal ash, a byproduct of burning coal that […]
Ten Years After Lehman, Lessons of Financial Collapse Ignored, Not Forgotten
By Ed Mierzwinski, U.S. PIRG You’re starting a new week, but ten years ago today a wild and crazy Wall Street-induced lost weekend didn’t end. A decade of unhinged Wall Street risk-taking unleashed on consumers, homebuyers and communities had come to a head. The weekend bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, an investment bank, marked our 2008 financial […]
That’s Free Press for $800, Alex
By Free Press We’ve always been big fans of Jeopardy, but never in our most outlandish fantasies did we imagine that we’d become part of the show. But that’s exactly what happened last night. The category: “Principles.” The answer, worth $800, was this: “freepress.net is a website that’s interested in ‘Net’ this, ‘the internet’s guiding principle.’” Contestant […]
World Advances to Save Bees—EPA Stalls
By Daniel Raichel, Natural Resources Defense Council So here’s an all too familiar story—as the rest of the world moves to address a global environmental crisis, the Trump EPA does… nothing. That’s exactly what happened last month when, after Europe and Canada moved to significantly restrict use of bee-toxic neonic pesticides, EPA quietly pushed back […]
The EPA Can’t Stop Polluters When the Trump Administration Cuts Enforcement Staff
By Andrew Rosenberg, Union of Concerned Scientists The primary task of the US Environmental Protection Agency is to protect public health and the environment. To do so, the agency must ensure that everyone, whether in the private sector or in government, complies with our nation’s laws and regulations. These safeguards are in place to protect […]
Florence Increases Manure Lagoon and Coal Ash Threat
By Valerie Baron and Becky Hammer, Natural Resources Defense Council As the residents of frontline communities in North Carolina and others in the southeastern U.S. brace for the impact of Hurricane Florence, our thoughts are with the people in the storm’s path whose health and safety is at risk from a number of storm-induced threats—including potentially record-setting winds […]
Zombie Truck Theater: A House Science Committee Hearing
By Jonna Hamilton, Union of Concerned Scientists The issue of glider trucks, new truck bodies with old polluting engines, has come up in Congress yet again. This time, it moves over to the House Science Committee, a place where Chairman Lamar Smith tends to hang science (and sometimes scientists) out to dry. If the Science Committee was, well, […]
Trump Methane Rollbacks Out of Step With State & Biz Leaders
By David Doniger, Natural Resources Defense Council As leaders meet in California for the Global Climate Action Summit to mark new state, local, and business commitments to curb climate-changing pollution, the odd-men-out in the Trump Administration took another step backwards, by proposing to roll back Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) limits on the rampant leakage of methane, a […]
Toxic EPA Appointees Spell Conflict for Public Health Safeguards
By Sally Hardin, Center for American Progress Since taking over as acting administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in June 2018, Andrew Wheeler has followed in the footsteps of disgraced former Administrator Scott Pruitt—especially when it comes to prioritizing polluting industries over Americans’ health and well-being. Across the EPA, many former chemical industry insiders have been […]
Five Products Improved in 2018, Thanks to Efficiency Standards
By Lauren Urbanek, Natural Resources Defense Council Hotels, offices, stores and other commercial spaces across the U.S. are reaping benefits from new energy efficiency standards taking effect this year, one of which is the largest ever set by the Department of Energy (DOE). Consumers will see lower bills from these efficiency efforts, which were finalized during the […]
Trump Administration Throws the Clean Car Standards in Reverse
By Andrew Linhardt, Sierra Club Instead of protecting our climate and protecting our air clean, our health, and our communities, Donald Trump and his Dirty Deputies Andrew Wheeler and Heidi King are siding with their friends in corporate boardrooms across the country. Earlier this month, Wheeler and King announced they were slamming the brakes on […]
Trump Says He’ll Save Coal Power Plants, But Even Utilities Know He’s Blowing Smoke
By Grant Smith, Environmental Working Group The Trump administration’s latest idea to “bring back coal” is to let individual states decide how – or even whether – to cut air pollution from coal-burning power plants. The plan is meant to encourage electric utilities to invest in upgrading their dirty, aging coal plants or build new […]