Blog Posts and Analysis

Banning Fracking Bans: The Paradox of Local Control

May 19, 2015 by Amanda Starbuck

UPDATE (June 3, 2015): On May 29, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed into law a bill prohibiting local cities and counties from banning fracking operations. The bill allows communities to issue “reasonable” restrictions dealing with traffic and noise, but all other oil and gas drilling operations will be regulated by the state. This means all drilling operations will be overseen by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, made up of three Republicans, two of whom have ties to the petroleum industry.

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There is a new paradox emerging in the fracking debate.  

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In Wyoming, Reporting Environmental Damage Could Land You in Prison

May 15, 2015 by Katie Vann

Concerned Wyoming residents who want to protect their state’s beautiful natural resources and keep their families safe from harmful contaminants have been silenced.

Earlier this year, the Wyoming legislature passed a bill making it a crime for citizens to collect information about the environment and report concerns to their state or federal government.

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UPDATE: Putting Profits Before People is the Real Tragedy

May 15, 2015 by Scott Klinger

UPDATE (5/15/2015): Amtrak announced yesterday that it would have Positive Train Control up and operating on its heavily traveled Northeast Corridor routes before the end of the year. Amtrak officials also told members of Congress that Positive Train Control has been installed in the area of Tuesday's crash, but it was still undergoing testing and had not yet been activated. 

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We Can Prevent Health Problems from Air Pollution by Strengthening Standards and Stopping Budget Cuts

May 13, 2015 by Ronald White

"My asthma is highly reactive to ozone. On days like this I can hardly walk across the room. My quality of life is trashed by ozone." This is just one of hundreds of personal stories about the devastating health impacts of air pollution that are posted on the American Lung Association’s State of the Air website.  

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Proposal Would Block Inverted Companies from Receiving Government Contracts

May 8, 2015 by Jessica Schieder

Corporations that have reclassified themselves as “foreign-owned” received approximately $1 billion in federal contracts over the last five years. These companies profit from American tax dollars despite avoiding U.S. taxes themselves.

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Ten Years after Toxic Chemical Settlement, DuPont Failing to Keep Its Promises

May 7, 2015 by Amanda Starbuck

UPDATE (Oct. 8, 2015): This week, one of the alleged victims of DuPont’s toxic cover-up won a settlement against the company. Jurors found that Carla Marie Bartlett contracted kidney cancer as a result of being exposed to C8 and awarded her $1.6 million. Kidney cancer is one of at least six diseases linked to toxic C8 exposure. The Ohio woman previously resided next to the same river that was contaminated by DuPont’s West Virginia Manufacturing plant.

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Procter & Gamble Receives an “F” in Chemical Transparency

May 1, 2015 by Amanda Starbuck

“Eco-friendly.” “Healthy.” “Responsible.” These are just a few of the labels used on household cleaning products to make them appear safe for consumers. But no one oversees how these terms are used or what they really mean. This becomes readily apparent when you scrutinize the ingredients on cleaning product labels to try to determine how safe and "green" they really are. One company – Procter & Gamble – is so bad at disclosing useful chemical information to consumers that it recently received an "F" from a national environmental health group.

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