The Value of Knowing and Caring about What’s Actually in Legislation

It looks as though the Senate is likely to vote on TSCA reform this week and the propaganda machine is in full swing. Yesterday, I took a call from New York Times columnist Joe Nocera, thinking he was writing about the legislation and what the issues were. I didn’t realize he was actually writing a column about us, instigated, as he admits, by his “old friend” at the Environmental Defense Fund’s affiliate. The column is flat wrong, but it also provides an opportunity to talk about where we are and what’s at stake.

Last week, members of the Safer Chemicals Healthy Families coalition celebrated the more activist origins of Mothers Day by telling members of Congress that the best gift for moms (and the people who love them) would be to protect our families from toxic chemicals.

Just last week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee introduced a discussion draft called the Chemicals in Commerce Act, in an attempt to “reform” the outdated Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). After an initial analysis of the bill from our policy experts, it became clear that the bill does more to create rollbacks favored by […]

Making sense of the new House legislation Last Thursday, Representative Shimkus, Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy, unveiled new draft legislation called the Chemicals in Commerce Act. A more detailed analysis of the bill can be found here. The purpose of this blog, however, is to explore what […]

By Sarah Doll, Safer States Well, the chemical industry interests are reaching deep into their bag of tricks with the draft “Chemicals In Commerce Act” released by Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL) this week. Who do they think they’re fooling? This draft is a vehicle for more secrets, more safety data loopholes, and faster introduction of untested […]

Unfortunately, cancer is a disease that we are all connected to in some way. Many of us have faced cancer within our families, or personally. And even if you are a rare person who hasn’t in some way been touched by cancer, we all come in contact with cancer-causing chemicals every day.  While depressing, this […]

In honor of President’s Day, we decided to take a look back at where our past Presidents have stood on the toxic chemical issue. In some ways, each President in recent decades has taken steps to inch us closer to safer chemicals and healthy families, but as we all know, so much work is to […]

By Sarah Doll, National Director of Safer States Thank goodness for the states. This year, at least 33 states—more than half the nation—will stand up as defenders of public health. They are taking the toxic bull by the horns and consider policies addressing the untested and toxic chemicals in everyday products. Many toys, clothes, bedding, […]

Who knew that something as simple as washing your hands could be contentious? Triclosan, a chemical [a pesticide] is commonly used in anti-bacterial soaps, and has been under scrutiny from the public health and environmental community for it’s negative health and environmental impacts. The FDA recently announced that they would – finally – regulate the […]