WASHINGTON, March 20, 2018 –In June 2017, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt and his entourage took a trip to Italy, which cost taxpayers $120,000. This is just the latest example of his profligate spending that has triggered investigations by the EPA inspector general and a House oversight committee. Mamma mia, that’s a lot of […]
Environmental Working Group
Posted inCalifornia
In a First, California Moves to Protect People from Toxic PFAS Chemicals in Carpets
March 14, 2018 – In a groundbreaking move, California has proposed that carpets and rugs containing the stain-resistant fluorinated chemicals known as PFAS[1] should be considered a priority product under the state’s Safer Consumer Products program. This could lead to the development of safer alternatives to the use of these potentially harmful chemicals in carpets […]
Posted inUncategorized
In Pompeo, Trump Taps First Known Climate Denier For Secretary of State
WASHINGTON, March 14, 2018 – If CIA Director Mike Pompeo becomes the next Secretary of State, he will be the first known climate denier to serve as the nation’s chief diplomat. With Pompeo installed alongside Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt, two admitted deniers of the overwhelming evidence of climate change will head agencies that […]
Posted inCalifornia
California Governor Signs Major Reform of Kids’ Lead Testing Program Into Law
SACRAMENTO, Calif. Oct. 5, 2017 – Today Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law sweeping legislation that will mean hundreds of thousands more at-risk California children would be tested for lead poisoning each year. The law will bring major improvements to a long-struggling program that researchers estimate fails to identify almost two-thirds of lead-poisoned children in […]
Posted inLife
Top Chefs Urge Congress to Protect 40 Million Americans From Hunger
WASHINGTON, Oct. 5, 2017 – As Congress begins debate on food and farm policy, some of the nation’s top chefs gathered on Capitol Hill today to urge lawmakers to protect the nation’s most effective anti-hunger program from budget cuts. Award-winning chefs from celebrated restaurants in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and other cities from […]
Posted inUS
White House War on Transparency Continues with CDC Media Blackout
WASHINGTON, Sept. 13, 2017 – The Trump administration’s ongoing war on freedom of information has opened on a new front: barring employees of the nation’s health protection agency from answering even “the most basic of data requests” from journalists without clearance. An internal email from the public affairs office at the Centers for Disease Control and […]
Posted inEnviro
Trump, Pruitt Slash EPA Staff to 30-Year Lows as Drinking Water, Climate Change Crises Mount
Sept. 6, 2017 – By October of this year, the staff at the Environmental Protection Agency will be reduced to levels not seen since the Reagan administration, 30 years ago, according to a report by Brady Dennis with the Washington Post. The dramatic reduction in staff will almost certainly include career scientists and other staff who […]
Posted inUS
Pruitt’s EPA Cedes Pesticide Oversight to Agriculture Department
WASHINGTON, Aug. 24, 2017 – Internal Environmental Protection Agency documents show that Administrator Scott Pruitt has effectively relinquished the EPA’s oversight of pesticide safety to the Department of Agriculture, said Scott Faber, EWG’s senior vice president of government affairs. More than 700 pages of emails and other records show that Pruitt and other EPA officials consulted […]
Posted inLife
Using Private Wells: A Drinking Water Safety Guide
Aug. 14, 2017 – Nearly one in seven Americans get their drinking water from private wells. Federal and state governments set legal limits for contaminants in public water systems, but those laws don’t cover private wells. If you’re one of the 44 million people relying on a private well for drinking water, here’s what you […]
Posted inCalifornia
Report: Shell and Dow Hid Cancer-Causing ‘Garbage’ in Pesticide, Contaminating Drinking Water for Millions in CA
SAN FRANCISCO, April 14, 2017 – For decades, Shell and Dow hid a highly potent cancer-causing chemical in two widely used pesticides, contaminating drinking water for millions of people in California and beyond, according to lawsuits detailed in a new report from EWG. The chemical 1,2,3-trichloropropane, or TCP, was formerly an unwanted and ineffective byproduct […]
Posted inCalifornia
Report: Banned for Decades, Dangerous Monsanto Chemical Remains in Thousands of Schools – including California
WASHINGTON October 5, 2016 – Up to 14 million students in 26,000 U.S. schools could be exposed to unsafe levels of a notorious class of chemicals banned almost 40 years ago, according to a recent study by scientists at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The chemicals, known as PCBs, are leaching from […]