"The US Senate is poised to approve Donald Trump’s nomination of an industry lobbyist to lead the US Environmental Protection Agency’s chemical safety office."
Drinking water may be ubiquitous in the United States, but that doesn’t mean it’s always safe. To report the answer in your community, the latest Reporter’s Toolbox suggests exploring the Safe Drinking Water Information System, a federal government database mandated by the Safe Drinking Water Act. Here’s how to use it to identify whether your local systems meet its standards.
A simple query about harmful chemicals in airline attendant uniforms started sustainable fashion writer Alden Wicker down a reporting path that uncovered a long history of toxic fashion, took her to India and ultimately inspired her award-winning book, “To Dye For.” In this BookShelf interview, Wicker talks about the challenges, the surprises and the choices made in telling this little-known story.
"When Philadelphia filed a lawsuit last month alleging two prominent companies were engaged in a “coordinated campaign of deception” regarding the recyclability of their plastic film products, the city joined a growing group of state and local governments hoping litigation can help stem a rising tide of plastic waste."
"In the Philadelphia suburb of Wyncote, Pa., Michelle Lordi has taken notice of her higher gas bills. ... Now Lordi is making the connection between her higher gas bill and the nearby construction."
"After more than a century, these shellfish have reappeared along the Damariscotta River. Their return is a boon — and a warning of climate change."
"The water isn’t always brown, but Scarlet Weathers lives like it is. Not once has she drank the tap water from her kitchen sink in her house in Sweeny, Texas. She knows, like everyone else in the town, that it can’t be trusted. Even her small grandchildren have noticed it during bathtime. Why is the water brown?"
"For as long as 55-year-old Hopi Chairman Tim Nuvangyaoma has been alive, high-voltage power lines have cut across Hopi lands in northeast Arizona, carrying vast amounts of power long distances throughout the Southwest. But residents of the Hopi Reservation have never been connected to that grid."
"Arizona’s lax water laws let corporate farms pump unlimited groundwater to grow alfalfa for cattle overseas, even as local families spend their savings drilling new wells."
"Millions of women and children are at risk of losing food benefits during the shutdown. The USDA just killed the long-running survey that would track the fallout."
