Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV)

It was a dark day in the House of Representatives, today, as the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure passed a bill that would flush away decades of water safeguards and protections, along with our powerful federal system for ensuring that any waters in this country are safe to drink, fish, and swim in.

The legislation, HR 2018, takes one of our country's most important laws -- the 40-year-old Clean Water Act -- turns it on its head, shakes out its whole intent and purpose, and leaves it powerless to protect the people of this nation. Instead, the bill gives that power to the states, who proved long ago that they were unfit for the job. Without federal oversight, states let their rivers burn, lakes die, and streams become toxic industrial dumping grounds, while their citizens paid the price with their health. State protection sometimes amounted to just a warning: don't go near or swim in the water.

The FDA recently released new restrictions for sunscreen manufacturers. Photo courtesy of earthly delights.

New sunscreen rules keep consumers from getting burned
After 30 years of sitting in the sun, this week the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced new rules for sunscreen that help protect consumers from misleading claims, reports the New York Times. One of the rules requires “broad spectrum” sunscreens to protect against both UVA and UVB rays, which both cause cancer. A second rule bans sunscreen manufacturers from using the term “waterproof” or “sweatproof” as both of those claims are, well, false. Instead, manufacturers can specify the amount of time that sunscreen is water-resistant. Though other questions remain, such as the safety of nanoparticles in sunscreen, it’s nice to see that proper skin protection finally gets its day in the sun.

House of Representatives throws GE salmon off dinner table
Recently, the House voted to keep genetically engineered salmon out of U.S. waters by prohibiting the FDA from approving the fish for human consumption, reports the Associated Press. Made by AquaBounty, the salmon is engineered to grow twice as fast as the natural version. Though that sounds tasty on the surface, critics argue that the so-called “frankenfish” could cause allergies in humans and infiltrate—and eventually decimate—the wild salmon population, an argument that has garnered support from both sides of the political spectrum. This past May, Earthjustice petitioned the FDA to consider the environmental risks of GE salmon before approving its sale.

Smog over Los Angeles

It comes as no surprise: Americans overwhelmingly want clean air. We’re very pleased to see that our friends at the American Lung Association have concluded that 75 percent of American voters support the Environmental Protection Agency and their efforts to clean up smog pollution. The ALA released the results of a nationwide, bipartisan poll today that shows Americans really do want clean air and don’t believe that cleaning up smog pollution will impede economic recovery. Actually, most believe that clean air will create more jobs as a result fo clean air technologies and innovation.

The EPA has signaled plans to finalize smog limits in late July that could prevent up to 12,000 premature deaths, 2.5 million missed school or work days, 21,000 hospital and emergency room visits and 58,000 asthma attacks. The rule was to be finalized last year, but delays and attacks by polluters well-versed in spreading misinformation and inflammatory remarks pushed the EPA to hold off on protecting the public. If the opinion of Americans means anything, the agency will move swiftly to finalize the smog standard as they promised.

The report card was a jumble of Cs and Ds. As my coworker gazed over his kid's latest performance in school, a mixture of anger, disappointment, frustration, guilt and uncertainty flooded him. "Where did I go wrong?" he mumbled. No doubt his kid felt a mixture of emotion, too.

Report cards can be grueling for parents and kids alike. Poor performance in school is a hot button social issue, and one that's been studied and debated from many angles—but we may be giving short shrift to one of its roots: air pollution.

A research team led by the University of Michigan's Dr. Paul Mohai recently looked into the links between air pollution and academic success, and the results are alarming.