YOU can submit a comment into the public record that the EPA is obligated to consider. And now is the time! For this proposal, the comment period is only 30 days—and it’s over at the end of May. Read more >
Andrew's Latest Posts
Flint, Michigan Still Waiting for Justice Four Years On
April 24, 2018 2:37 PM EDT
In April of 2014, Flint, Michigan residents noticed that there was something wrong with their water. As UCS Senior Fellow and noted Boston Globe Opinion writer Derrick Jackson recounts in his lengthy report, only a month after the city of Flint switched to using Flint River, instead of Lake Huron water, community members noticed the difference. Read more >
Photo: Gage Skidmore/CC BY-SA 2.0 (Flickr)
Pruitt Needs to Go—But So Do Others in Pruitt’s Conflicted and Corrupt EPA
April 6, 2018 5:52 PM EDT
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt seems to have a penchant for scandalous behavior, from misuse of public funds to special deals with corporate lobbyists. It was hard to keep up this week with Pruitt press. Sometimes it is hard to remember that each of these inappropriate actions by the Administrator is connected to an action that undermines public health and safety protections, as described by my colleague Josh Goldman. Read more >
A Poisonous Frog in the Barrow: Department of Justice Actions Undermine Public Health and Safety
February 26, 2018 2:42 PM EDT
In my opinion, the quote of the week last week came from Chicago Tribune reporter Steve Chapman, who wrote, “Trying to point out the mistakes, transgressions and failures of the Trump administration is like trying to load frogs into a wheelbarrow. For every one you get, a dozen get away.” A particularly poisonous frog that the Administration just hatched is a seemingly obscure change in Department of Justice policy with regard to civil lawsuits brought by the government to enforce our fundamental laws. Read more >
Five Things You Should Know About EPA’s Proposed Giant Step Backward on the Safety of Chemical Facilities
May 17, 2018 5:18 PM EDT
As one of his first acts in office, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt decided to put on hold the implementation of new regulations to improve the safety of chemical facilities around the country. Those regulations, finalized in 2017, called for consideration of safer technologies, better information for communities and first responders that are on the front lines of accidents and other incidents, better planning for accidents and disasters, and improvements in response capabilities including coordination and practice sessions with local first responders. These changes were made to update the so-called Risk Management Plan rule, last significantly modified in 1996. Read more >