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What was the cost, in dollar terms, of the nine lives lost in the DC Metro crash on Monday? And how does that compare to what the cost would have been to prevent the accident, or lessen the severity of it? Should we do a cost-benefit analysis to determine the best policy? Edward Tenner's post […]

Andrew Freedman of washingtonpost.com’s Capital Weather Gang has a nifty catch: the Heartland Institute, the people cluttering up my newspaper this week with climate-change-denying ads, have officially changed tack on their lobbying policy. Back in March, the group told Freedman: “Our purpose is to bring scientists, economists, and policy experts together to address issues overlooked […]

Today CPR releases Reauthorizing the Chesapeake Bay Program: Exchanging Promises for Results (press release, full report). For years, the jurisdictions within the Chesapeake Bay watershed (the states and Washington D.C.) have essentially not faced consequences for failing to meet pollution-reduction targets. It’s not surprising that the Chesapeake Bay has languished. What the new CPR report […]

On Tuesday, Representatives Henry Waxman and Bart Stupak sent a letter to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg asking the agency to re-examine its assessment that bisphenol A (BPA) does not pose health risks to consumers. The FDA responded that it was already planning on doing so, and that a new decision would be released within “weeks, […]

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported on Saturday, and the Washington Post on Sunday, about a meeting of industry groups in Washington last week to devise a plan to respond to criticisms of Bisphenol A (BPA). From the Post: Manufacturers of cans for beverages and foods and some of their biggest customers, including Coca-Cola, are trying to […]

On Tuesday, CPR Member Scholar Catherine O’Neill testified about mercury pollution from chlor-alkali plants at a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection. At least one in ten women of childbearing age in the United States has blood levels of mercury that threaten the neurological health of […]

CPR President Rena Steinzor and Policy Analyst Matt Shudtz submitted formal comments this week to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) with policy recommendations for separating science from politics. Back on March 9, President Obama issued a memorandum on scientific integrity, which outlined broad principles on the subject and requested that […]

With Cass Sunstein’s confirmation hearing for “regulatory czar” set for today, CPR Member Scholars Catherine O’Neill and Amy Sinden have an op-ed on the subject in this morning’s Philadelphia Inquirer — “The cost-benefit dodge.” They write:  Beginning in the Reagan administration, any regulation with a significant impact has had to pass through Information and Regulatory […]

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will mix it up with Jon Stewart on the Daily Show tomorrow (Thursday) night. CNN.com reports: Interior spokeswoman Kendra Barkoff told CNN that Salazar is looking forward to talking about “his work implementing President Obama’s vision for building a clean energy economy and his efforts to protect America’s treasured landscapes. Time […]