Public Health

Articles & Analysis

President Obama: You Had Me Until Fracking

Third-Party Audits Aren't a Panacea for Increasing Safety

The third-party audit system, in which private companies take over responsibility for inspecting worksites and production facilities, has been shown to expose Americans to significant health and safety risks while eating, working, and breathing.

Rushing To a Full Stop: Obama Gets It Right When He Talks About the Keystone Pipeline

(Jessica Randall 01/18/12; 1 comment)

Grade Inflation Really Matters If It Means You Catch Listeria

(Jessica Randall 01/11/12; 1 comment)

The Keystone Pipeline: The Mirage of Jobs

(Sofia Plagakis 12/22/11; 14 comments)

House Attack on Public Protections Continues with Passage of the REINS Act

WASHINGTON, Dec. 7, 2011—The House today passed the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Geoff Davis (R-KY), represents an extreme attack on safeguards that protect our environment, food, children's toys, workplaces, health, civil rights, and economy.

House Passes Regulatory Accountability Act in Attempt to Make It More Difficult to Protect the Public

WASHINGTON, Dec. 2, 2011—Today, the House passed the so-called Regulatory Accountability Act (RAA), which was sponsored by Reps. Lamar Smith (R-TX) and Collin Peterson (D-MN). The bill, if passed by the Senate and signed by President Obama, would make it far more difficult to protect the public from environmental, health, safety, and economic hazards.

Regulatory Accountability Act Threatens Essential Public Protections

For the past six decades, our nation's system of public protections has developed safeguards that protect us from health and safety threats. Now, however, the misleadingly titled Regulatory Accountability Act could turn this system on its head, allowing more special interest influence and inviting endless rounds of litigation.

Communities Across the Nation Struggle to Combat Air Pollution

Though the Clean Air Act and rules from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have reduced national air pollution levels, hundreds of communities around the country still struggle with dangerously poor air quality. Released on Nov. 7, Poisoned Places: Toxic Air, Neglected Communities is an investigative journalism project that raises awareness about these communities. The project includes a series of in-depth stories and an interactive mapping tool that raise important questions at a time when Congress is seeking to weaken the act and its enforcement.