New Flame Retardants, Replacements, Pose Same Problems As Predecessors
Concerns about toxic flame retardants in furniture have led to changes, but they have yet to make most furniture much safer.
Source: Huffington Post, 11/29/2012
Public
Sec. of State Candidate Has Major Financial Stake in Canada Tar Sands
"Susan Rice, the candidate believed to be favored by President Obama to become the next Secretary of State, holds significant investments in more than a dozen Canadian oil companies and banks that would stand to benefit from expansion of the North American tar sands industry and construction of the proposed $7 billion Keystone XL pipeline. If confirmed by the Senate, one of Rice's first duties likely would be consideration, and potentially approval, of the controversial mega-project."
Source: OnEarth, 11/29/2012
"EPA Halts Federal Contracts For BP"
"The Obama administration put a temporary stop to new federal contracts with British oil company BP on Wednesday, citing the company's 'lack of business integrity' and criminal proceedings stemming from the Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010. The action by the Environmental Protection Administration won't affect current contracts, but prevents BP and its affiliates from new government contracts 'until the company can provide sufficient evidence to EPA demonstrating that it meets federal business standards,' the agency said."
Source: AP, 11/29/2012
Open-Source Background on Federal BioWatch Program
Referenced from "DHS and CDC Refuse To Give House Panel Docs on Failed BioWatch Program," SEJ WatchDog TipSheet, November 28, 2012.
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GOPers Attack EPA's Jackson for Alias E-Mail Account
Critics say Jackson's use of an e-mail account using her dog's name is an effort to hide agency business. Agency officials maintain the practice is innocent.
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DHS and CDC Refuse To Give House Panel Docs on Failed BioWatch Program
After wasting billions of taxpayer dollars on a non-working program aimed at protecting the US public from biological attack, the Department of Homeland Security and Centers for Disease Control may be refusing to give documents on the program to House Energy Committee investigators.
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Undercover Muckraking a Lonely, Dangerous Job
Humaneitarian's Caroline Abels relates the story of today's muckrakers going undercover in investigations of American factory farms conducted by the Humane Society of the U.S.
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Obama Signs Whistleblower Bill
President Obama on November 27, 2012, signed into law a bill beefing up previously flimsy protections for federal employee whistleblowers who disclose waste, fraud, and abuse. The legislation was supported by good-government watchdog groups.
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Access to Fracking Info — Still Bad — Improved by Non-Gov Web Initiatives
A geeky nonprofit watchdog group has done what government and private industry have failed to do; the group, SkyTruth, has made data about the ingredients in fracking fluid easily accessible to the public.
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"Washington State Confronts Ocean Acidification"
"Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire (D) ordered state agencies on Tuesday to take steps to address the ocean’s increasing acidity, making it the first state to adopt a policy to take on what scientists describe as a growing environmental concern."
11/28/2012
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