The Washington Post’s Juliet Eilperin reports that a senior EPA official has told managers that they shouldn’t answer questions from reporters, congressional investigators, or the agency’s inspector general – instead, they should direct them to a press officer. (The group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility has more details.) Discouraging EPA employees from speaking with members of […]
By Michael Stebbins, orginally published at Scientists & Engineers for America Action Fund As the sweat-soaked crowd entered the Daughters of the American Revolution Constitution Hall, to hear Al Goreâs energy challenge they were greeted by a blast of air conditioning. Relief! Sweet ironic relief! DC is obscenely hot today, yet, thousands of people were lined […]
Starting in August, roughly 17,000 employees of the state of Utah will switch from five-day to four-day workweeks. Essential services like police and public schools wonât be affected, but an estimated 1,000 of the stateâs 3,000 buildings will be closed on Fridays. The state expects to save $3 million, and affected workers will pay for […]
The United Steelworkers, North America’s largest private sector union with 1.2 million members, and Unite the Union, the largest labor organization in the United Kingdom and Ireland with 2 million members, signed an agreement to create the world’s first global union called Workers Uniting. The announcement was made at the USW’s 2008 Constitutional Convention. In a […]
The State of Rhode Island’s efforts, which began in 1999, to force lead-paint manufacturers to clean-up contaminated homes received a mortal blow when the State’s Supreme Court reversed a lower court’s 2006 decision. (Full decision from 7/1/2008)  This early ruling was a result of the longest civil jury trial in Rhode Island history, with the decision going against the […]
In recent months, weâve learned about the Department of Defense hampering EPAâs chemical risk assessments and slowing the study of health effects from the TCE contaminating Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Now, the Washington Postâs Lyndsey Layton reports that DoD is refusing comply with EPA orders to clean up military bases where chemical contamination poses âimminent […]
As weâve noted before, research on nanotechnology safety has lagged behind the use of nanomaterials in consumer products. Three recent stories describe the potential rewards and risks of nanotechnology and some of the efforts to learn more about nanomaterialsâ effects on humans and our environment. Much of the use of nanotechnology in todayâs consumer products is […]
By Michael Stebbins, originally published at Scientists and Engineers for America Action Fund Last month I wrote about the White Houseâs apparent involvement in the denial of Californiaâs request for exemption from the Clean Air Act to set their own guidelines for the regulation of auto emissions standards. Now the House Oversight and Government Reform […]
On Saturday, Firedoglake hosted an online discussion on David Michaelsâ Doubt is Their Product: How Industryâs Assault on Science Threatens Your Health â and David was lucky to have the chat hosted by Jordan Barab, whose wonderful Confined Space blog provided so much inspiration for The Pump Handle. In his introduction, Jordan not only did a […]
Updated (6/19/08) below Just before last year’s holiday season, Charles Budds Bolchoz, 48; best friends Karey Renard Henry, 35, and Parish Lamar Ashley, 36; and company owner Robert Scott Gallagher, 49, lost their lives in a violent explosion at T2 Laboratories in Jacksonville, Florida (previous posts here, here). The firm manufacturered Ecotane®, a gasoline additive âmethylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonylâ (i.e., […]