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Areas of Focus
 

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Defining a True Safety Net for Struggling Farmers

With Congress in recess, talks on reshaping the federal Farm Bill, due for action in 2012, have been set aside while nervous lawmakers focus on the November elections.

Fight Back Against Dirty Energy’s PR Machine

The energy industry spends millions of dollars on lobbying and public relations to fend off pressure for necessary changes to their core businesses. The way to fight back is for local groups...

New “Chemical Safety” Bill Would Put People at Greater Risk

There's a growing consensus – except in the chemical industry and among its lobbyists and allies in Congress – that when it comes to protecting people and the environment from dangerous chemicals, the...

12 Chemical Facilities Putting the Most Americans at Risk

There are more than 12,000 chemical plants that put Americans at risk with large amounts of chemicals, and 89 of those endanger more than 1 million people. Unfortunately, those most at risk in the...

Robin Hood in Reverse

The House of Representatives will debate this week whether to cut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by $40 billion over the next 10 years – and eliminate food assistance for roughly...
Research

Public Energy Enemy No. 1

Duke Energy is the largest investor-owned electric utility in the U.S., serving 7.7 million customers in North and South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. But a deep dive into Duke's actions, portfolio and regulatory filings reveals another distinction: Considering its size, environmental record, puny investments in solar and wind power, and schemes to penalize customers who want to

It’s Only Fair: Protecting the Land in Return for Subsidies

The pending Senate version of the farm bill includes a provision to relink conservation compliance with crop insurance subsidies. Chairman Lucas's competing House version does not.

Research

California Drinking Water

The array of toxic pollutants in California drinking water could in combination cause more than 15,000 excess cases of cancer, according to a peer-reviewed study by scientists at Environmental Working Group – the first such study to assess the cumulative risk from carcinogenic drinking water contaminants.

Guest Blog: Toxic chemical reform must help, not hinder states and victims’ rights

In the United States, the framework for safeguarding people and the environment against the dangers of toxic chemicals comprises three mutually reinforcing legal systems: federal regulation, state and...

Chemical Agriculture on the Attack, Again

Keeping politicians on message can sometimes be difficult. That also holds true of corporate chiefs and movie stars. Even the most seasoned, media-savvy folks veer off their talking points on occasion...

Research

Iowa’s Private Wells Contaminated by Nitrate and Bacteria

Des Moines Water Works has struggled for years to provide safe drinking water to its customers, battling nitrate contamination from upstream farms. But contamination from agricultural practices may be even worse for the estimated 230,000 to 290,000 Iowans whose drinking water comes from private wells, an investigation by Environmental Working Group and Iowa Environmental Council finds.

It’s Time for a Mandatory National Registry of Fracking Chemicals

If oil and gas companies were injecting potentially toxic fluids into the ground near your home or your children's schoolyard, wouldn't you want to know about it?

Is Organic Really Better?

A new study published in the British Journal of Nutrition found that organic crops have higher concentrations of antioxidants, lower levels of cadmium and nitrates and fewer pesticide residues than...

Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells Spew Methane, Study Finds

If you think the risks associated with fracking for oil and gas disappear once a well stops producing and goes out of commission, think again. And that goes for conventional drilling technologies, too...

Obama and Vilsack Push For Conservation Compliance

The Obama Administration is ramping up efforts to link crop insurance subsidies with conservation requirements.

Crop Insurance: A never-ending disaster

As the cost of crop insurance has ballooned – from less than $500 million a year in the 1990s to more than $14 billion in 2012[1] – the program's most ardent defenders keep repeating the same mantra...

Bipartisan Coalition Would Link Land Conservation to Farm Subsidies

Seven U.S. senators last week called for re-linking the federal crop insurance program to conservation compliance during a House-Senate conference committee meeting on the 2013 farm bill. The ranking...

Stop Unrestrained Antibiotic Use Before It’s Too Late

It's just common sense: If you're not sick, your doctor doesn't prescribe you medicine. Why should the animals we eat be treated any differently?

Programs to Reduce Ag’s Water Use Must Be Strengthened, Not Cut

Since it was first authorized in the 1996 farm bill, USDA's Environmental Quality Incentives Program has grown into the single most important federal program that helps farmers and ranchers protect...

Unlimited Subsidies, High Prices Threaten “Prairie Potholes”

High crop prices combined with unlimited insurance subsidies are contributing to the rapid loss of wetlands and prairie grasslands in the “prairie pothole” region of North and South Dakota, Montana...
Research

The PFAS and the Furious

Rob Bilott's Exposure is a real-life whodunit, a page-turning courtroom drama, a David-and-Goliath story of one man against an industrial colossus and a shocking exposé of America's utterly broken environmental policy. You should also take this book personally – because the “exposure” of the title is yours.

Expert Panel Confirms that Fragrance Ingredient Can Cause Cancer

Last month (July 28) a committee convened by the National Academy of Sciences confirmed a federal interagency group's conclusion that styrene, a chemical building block used to produce a wide variety...

We Called It: Low Prices will lead to Big Payouts

Big agriculture payouts could be coming, courtesy of American taxpayers, who are forking over money through lavish new subsidy programs established in the recently passed farm bill.

Report Highlights Corn Ethanol’s Devastating Toll

Corn-based ethanol is a major cause of the water pollution that is ravaging the Mississippi River basin and the Gulf of Mexico, a report by the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) inspector...