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Nationwide sampling by a coalition of public interest groups* found dangerous levels of arsenic on the surface of “pressure treated” wood purchased at The Home Depot and Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse. These twin giants of the home improvement industry aggressively promote their concern for the environment, but they stack their shelves with highly hazardous lumber infused with the arsenic

Chlorinating tap water is a critical public health measure that saves thousands of lives each year by reducing the incidence of waterborne disease. But chlorination is no substitute for cleaning up America's waters.

Sources of drinking water for almost 7 million Californians and unknown millions of other Americans are contaminated with a toxic legacy of the Cold War: A chemical that interferes with normal thyroid function, may cause thyroid cancer and persists indefinitely in the environment, but is unregulated by the state or federal government.

Lead is the most prevalent contaminant at Superfund sites across the country (EPA 2001a). The highly toxic metal triggers more Superfund cleanups than any other industrial chemical or waste product in the environment. Lead is considered the number one environmental threat to children's health by the federal government, and at very low levels is linked to subtle developmental delays and reduced I.Q

Diazinon is one of a class of pesticides called organophosphates (OPs), chemicals that were originally developed by the German company I.G. Farben as nerve gases during World World II.

The production of electricity causes more damage to the environment than any other single human activity. Electricity production is now the largest single use of energy in the United States. Electricity generation is responsible for 69 percent of the sulfur dioxide and 32 percent of the nitrogen oxide emissions that foul the air and cause acid rain. Electricity use accounts for 35 percent of U.S

Congress is now considering giving a handful of the largest farms in the country an enormous “bumper crop” in farm subsidies right before the election. The only farms that will be eligible for the extra subsidies are a few thousand of the very largest farms and agribusinesses in the nation.

When you want to know what's in your tap water, look at your local water utility's website. You'll find the source of the water and any chemical pollutants remaining after treatment.

In March 2009 corn ethanol producers asked for help from the federal government to expand their industry. Growth Energy, a consortium of ethanol producers, petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to allow 50% more ethanol in gasoline than is currently permitted, requesting approval for E15 fuel (a mixture of gasoline with 15% ethanol) (Growth Energy 2009).

The story of Anniston is a cautionary tale. Monsanto's internal documents, many of which are being posted here for the first time for the world to finally see, uncover a shocking story of corporate deception and dangerous secrets. As The Washington Post revealed [Monsanto Hid Decades of Pollution" (front page, Jan. 1, 2002) and "In Dirt, Water and Hogs, Town Got Its Fill of PCBs" (Jan. 1, 2002).]

U.S. taxpayers doled out more than $6.4 billion in subsidies to the commercial fishing industry between 1996 and 2004, possibly accelerating the ongoing collapse of fish stocks worldwide and adding to the devastation of large ocean fish species.

As Congress and the incoming Obama administration plan the nation's next major investments in green energy, they need to take a hard, clear-eyed look at Department of Energy data documenting corn-based ethanol's stranglehold on federal renewable energy tax credits and subsidies. Solar, wind and other renewable energy sources have struggled to gain significant market share with modest federal

Compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs uses 75 percent less energy than its incandescent counterpart, lasts up to 10 times longer than an incandescent bulb. But all CFL bulbs aren't equal. Some have lower mercury content than others, and some last much longer. Unfortunately, you can't tell the best of the best by their labels - or the U.S. government Energy Star logo. Some Energy Star labelled

Fish is loaded with valuable nutrients, including protein, iron, omega-3 fatty acids, which reduce harmful cholesterol, lower blood pressure and prevent blood clots, and selenium, a trace mineral that helps the body prevent cellular damage. But some ocean-dwelling fish also contain high levels of mercury, a powerful neurotoxin that is especially dangerous to the fetus and infants.

The Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 mandates a dramatic increase in the use of biofuels in transportation. The RFS mandates significant increases in biofuels – corn, advanced, cellulosic and biodiesel. A “conventional biofuel” is ethanol derived from corn. “Advanced biofuels” are renewable fuels derived from feedstocks other than corn and that

With no assessment of health risks to infants, federal regulators have approved a hormone-disrupting pesticide, triclosan, for use in 140 different types of consumer products including liquid hand soap, toothpaste, undergarments and children's toys. This exposure has been allowed despite the fact that the chemical ends up in mothers' breast milk and poses potential toxicity to fetal and childhood

When the Bush administration and Congress required gasoline refiners to blend in 15 billion gallons of corn-based ethanol by 2015, they made the impossibly rosy assumption that American farmers would always enjoy good weather. But as every farmer knows, years with perfect growing conditions are uncommon and getting more rare.

Oil and gas companies in Colorado are injecting wells with millions of gallons of unknown fluids that contain dozens of dangerous chemicals linked to respiratory, neurological, cardiovascular, immune, and other disorders, including cancer.

Since the Sagebrush Rebellion of the late 1970s, industries that profit by taking resources from Western public lands – logging, oil and gas drilling, and mining – have stirred up opposition to increased environmental regulation by painting their critics as outsiders – do-gooders from Washington, D.C., trampling on the Rocky Mountain West's proud heritage and hardscrabble economy.

At the request of a chemical industry lobbyist, the Environmental Protection Agency removed the chair of an expert peer review panel charged with setting safe exposure levels for a toxic fire retardant that contaminates human blood and breast milk, according to documents obtained by EWG.

Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent every year to make America's roads safer, yet this investment is failing to ensure the safety of all of us who engage in the most basic form of transportation — walking. Millions of Americans walk — to school, to work, to the store, or just around the block for a little bit of exercise. Our findings indicate that from 1986 to 1995, approximately 6,000

Section 404 of the federal Clean Water Act gives the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers responsibility for protecting rivers, lakes, streams and wetlands from the effects of dredging, draining and filling. The Corps' primary procedure for regulating these activities is the issuance of permits for a range of activities that alter these water bodies and related wetlands. To lighten its workload, the Corps

Last year, the House of Representatives passed the most sweeping bill to weaken Federal protection of wetlands ever considered by Congress. This bill passed as part of H.R. 961, a comprehensive rewrite of the Clean Water Act that would also dismantle most federal protections for the nation's rivers, lakes and streams, jeopardizing drinking water supplies and harming the economies of many

In 1993, fourteen people were made ill from routine application of methyl bromide in strawberry fields adjacent to subdivisions in Castroville, California. In 1995, residents of this same subdivision were poisoned again, after methyl bromide was applied to the same fields. In both cases, injury occurred even though all required actions to reduce human exposure to methyl bromide were employed