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3 Out of 4 Voters Agree: Cleaning Up Smog Aids America
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…
Read MoreTr-Ash Talk: W.V. Rep. McKinley Sells Out Constituents
Here we go again. Some of our elected leaders are once more maneuvering to block much-needed health protections against coal ash. Rep. David McKinley (R-WV) has sponsored a bill that would broadly remove federal authority for any regulation of coal ash ever. This bill, if enacted, also would conveniently protect his business interests. In April,…
Read MoreWhat's Asthma Like? Try Breathing Through a Straw
Sarah Bucic, props in hand, defends right to breathe before Congress
Read MoreMonday Reads: The Never Too Late For Love Edition
Two longtime bachelors are proving that it’s never too late to find love. Al (widowed) and Tex (serially dater) were getting up there in the years and were perhaps more than a bit rusty on the romance angle, neither having enjoyed the company of the fairer sex for decades. But when the lovely Patches and…
Read MoreClimate Change Debate Heats Up Within GOP
Despite the best efforts of the pollution lobby to end this debate within the Republican Party, it looks like climate change will become a major issue heading into the 2012 election season.
Read MoreHeight—Good For Basketball, Bad For Air
In the world of professional basketball, height is good. Look no further than Dirk Nowitzki, the 7-foot Dallas Maverick whose combination of stature, speed and shooting ability was a decisive factor in his team’s championship victory over the Miami Heat last night. Go Mavs. In the world of coal plant smokestacks, however, height is bad.…
Read MoreUnplugged: In Time for Summer, Energy Efficient Air Conditioning!
The Department of Energy today released stronger new energy efficiency standards for central AC units, furnaces and heat pumps. The new rules adopt levels recommended by a coalition of manufacturing, consumer and environmental groups, including Earthjustice, filed with the department in 2009. Reflecting the varying climates found across the U.S., the rules set up standards…
Read MoreFriday Finds: Deforestation Barbie
Greenpeace battles Barbie for bulldozing trees Mattel, the world’s biggest toy company by revenue, is under fire this week for using Barbie doll packaging that allegedly comes from Indonesian rainforests, reports the Christian Science Monitor. According to forensic testing commissioned by Greenpeace, Mattel and other toy companies used packaging made by Asia Pulp and Paper,…
Read MorePolluting Our Kids' Report Cards
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…
Read MoreCan I Get a Witness Who Cares About Kids' Health?
The hearing room on the 4th floor of the Dirksen Senate Office building was packed—so packed that some onlookers stood in the back of the room to see the action unfold. All had gathered earlier today for “Air Quality and Children’s Health,” a hearing before members of two subcommittees of the Senate Committee on Environment…
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