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Schools serving up to 14 million students may be contaminated with unsafe concentrations of PCBs leaching from caulks, sealants, and other aging building materials.

Drinking water, lakes and rivers in Iowa and across the Corn Belt are in serious trouble because of polluted farm runoff. To tackle the problem, for decades we've taken the approach favored by agricultural interests – making federal tax dollars available for conservation practices that curb runoff, encouraging farmers to adopt those practices, then hoping enough of them volunteer to do the right

The cost to taxpayers of providing crop insurance to farmers has more than tripled since 2001, rising from an average of about $3 billion a year in 2001-2003 to more than $10 billion a year in 2012-2014. The increase is largely the result of sharp jumps in the cost of subsidizing both farmers' premiums and the companies that sell crop insurance.

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.

As Congress prepares to reauthorize a six-year transportation bill worth close to $300 billion, a first ever investigation of metro area transportation spending by the Environmental Working Group found that commuters in 176 metropolitan areas paid a total of $20 billion more in federal gas taxes than they received in federal highway trust fund money for both transit and highways from 1998 through

Milk from cows raised in some parts of California may expose infants and children to more of a toxic rocket fuel chemical than is considered safe by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the State of Massachusetts, according to unreleased tests by state agriculture officials and independent laboratory tests commissioned by Environmental Working Group (EWG).

Drinking water for more than 20 million Americans is contaminated with a toxic legacy of the Cold War: Perchlorate interferes with normal thyroid function, may cause cancer and persists indefinitely in the environment, but is currently unregulated by state or federal authorities.