Today, FairWarning—a new non-profit online news journal focusing on stories involving worker and consumer protection issues—went live. On its first day, the site offered dozens of short news stories along with three longer investigative pieces.
FairWarning says its mission is “to arm consumers and workers with valuable information, and to spotlight reckless business practices and lax oversight by government agencies.” The organization says that the mainstream media is no longer able to play this “watchdog” role effectively due to shrinking budgets.
The publication’s first three investigative stories suggest that FairWarning will serve as a valuable resource to public interest organizations and policymakers interested in protecting the health and safety of workers and consumers. For example, one story investigates how General Motors and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) have failed to protect consumers from a line of older pickup trucks that frequently combust during accidents due to the faulty design of their gas tanks. It's particularly relevant given that some of the questions the story asks could just as easily be asked of NHTSA and Toyota regarding their response to the spate of unintended acceleration problems in Toyota’s cars.
A second story examines the all-terrain vehicle (ATV) industry’s inconsistent role in promoting stronger safety regulations for their products at both the state and federal levels. It's important news, and it may offer a preview of what the Consumer Product Safety Commission might expect if it decides to follow through with the Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that it announced last October for setting standards for a recreational off-road vehicles.
Showing 2,825 results
James Goodwin | March 24, 2010
Today, FairWarning—a new non-profit online news journal focusing on stories involving worker and consumer protection issues—went live. On its first day, the site offered dozens of short news stories along with three longer investigative pieces. FairWarning says its mission is “to arm consumers and workers with valuable information, and to spotlight reckless business practices and […]
Dan Rohlf | March 23, 2010
A small group of Senate Republicans – most from conservative western states – have introduced a bill (available via E&E, subs. required) that would require the federal government to annually disclose a list of attorney fee awards it has given to allow public interest plaintiffs to recover expenses when they have successfully challenged decisions of […]
Yee Huang | March 22, 2010
This post is the first in a monthly series on topics of international environmental law and environmental laws in other countries. Today’s post looks at the evolution of Australia’s water laws. Australia is one of the driest continents on the planet, making the country a necessary laboratory for innovative approaches to water management and governance. […]
Ben Somberg | March 19, 2010
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has recently proposed to weaken water quality standards in the state. As the Austin American-Statesman reported earlier this week, The proposal would draw new categories for Texas’ waterways, basing regulations on how much humans have contact with them. And it would raise the amount of allowable bacteria in the […]
Sidney A. Shapiro | March 19, 2010
The Workforce Protections Subcommittee of the House Education and Labor Committee held a hearing Tuesday on the Protecting America’s Workers Act of 2009, legislation that would, among other reforms, modernize workplace health and safety penalties. More than a decade ago, I testified at a similar hearing in the House of Representatives on the same subject. […]
Shana Campbell Jones | March 18, 2010
Tuesday, the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released an Interim Progress Report of the Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force, a group charged by President Obama in Executive Order 13514 to develop (by Fall 2010) […]
Yee Huang | March 17, 2010
This week Water Policy Report (subs. required) reported on EPA’s exercise of residual designation authority (RDA) over stormwater discharges and a pilot stormwater-reduction trading program in Massachusetts. Together, these actions have the potential to significantly reduce stormwater discharges into local waterways. If successful, this pilot trading program could be a template for similar trading programs […]
Ben Somberg | March 16, 2010
A few congressional hearings today we’re keeping an eye on: Catch Shares. The House Natural Resources’ Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife will discuss “catch shares” as a fisheries management policy. Previously, CPR Member Scholar Rebecca Bratspies discussed the limitations of catch shares, and in December applauded NOAA for moving forward cautiously. Protecting America’s Workers […]
Ben Somberg | March 15, 2010
A year after the contaminated drywall story went big, a “test trial” over damages from the material begins today in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. The court has posted documents regarding the case here, and outlets covering the case include the New Orleans Times-Picayune, Bradenton Herald, and Palm Beach Post.