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Showing 164 results

Ben Somberg

Media Manager

Ben Somberg | September 20, 2012

Food Safety and Worker Safety Advocates Urge Vilsack to Withdraw Poultry Inspection Rule

A host of concerned groups and individuals wrote to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack today urging him to withdraw proposed changes to poultry inspection rules until food safety and worker safety concerns are addressed. The letter was signed by a range of food safety and worker safety groups and individual signers, including CPR Member Scholars […]

Ben Somberg | September 15, 2012

Key EPA Air Pollution Rule Runs Past 120 Day Deadline at White House

The Administration has just missed another deadline on issuing the final revised “boiler MACT” rule. The revised version of the rule will provide less pollution reduction than the original version, but is still expected to prevent thousands of deaths each year. The EPA had pledged for many months that the rule would be finalized in April. It […]

Ben Somberg | September 12, 2012

Bill Clinton: After Oklahoma City Bombing, I Promised Myself I Would Never Bash Government Bureaucrats

Former President Bill Clinton, campaigning for President Obama in Florida on Tuesday, the 9/11 anniversary, offered a passionate defense of government employees, the AP noted. I was curious about the whole quote, so I watched and wrote it out (via C-SPAN, at 34:55): On this day, of all days, we should know that there are […]

Ben Somberg | September 6, 2012

Romney Falsely Claims Health Benefits of Utility MACT Are Due to Bankrupting Coal Companies — Not Pollution Reduction Equipment

Mitt Romney added a new twist Tuesday to false right-wing claims about the EPA’s regulation limiting mercury and other pollutants from coal power plants.  EPA estimated that the “utility MACT” will have annual monetized benefits of $37-90 billion and costs of $9.6 billion. A critique we’ve heard over and over again from the industry and its supporters […]

Ben Somberg | August 27, 2012

Draft Republican Platform Cites Debunked Regulatory Costs Study, Suggests Rules be Only a ‘Helpful Guide’

A draft of the Republican party platform, posted by Politico on Friday afternoon, reveals that the party has incorporated some of the more absurd claims and proposals on regulations pushed by House Republicans and some more radical trade organizations.  The draft claims regulations cost $1.75 trillion each year – that’s from a discredited study sponsored […]

Ben Somberg | August 15, 2012

Obama Campaign Inches Closer to Asserting that Coal Does Not Kill People

Last week, President Obama’s campaign earned green criticism for airing a radio ad in Ohio that portrayed the President as pro-coal, and Mitt Romney as anti-coal. The ad asserted that Obama has been good for the coal industry, and then said: And Mitt Romney? He’s attacking the president’s record on coal. But here’s what Romney […]

Ben Somberg | July 18, 2012

White House Now Not Sure it is Interested at All in Public’s Ideas for Strengthening Existing Rules

The White House’s message on its program for retrospectively reviewing existing regulations just shifted a little further away from recognizing the need for protective regulations for health, safety, and the environment. First the White House said it was interested in “expanding” certain existing regulations, if appropriate. Then it said it was interested in hearing ideas […]

Ben Somberg | June 27, 2012

Safe Drinking Water Act Provides EPA Key Opportunity to Regulate BPA

Member Scholar Noah Sachs and Policy Analyst Aimee Simpson have sent a letter to the EPA nominating the chemical Bisphenol A (BPA) to be included on the “Fourth Contaminant Candidate List” for possible regulation. They write: Pursuant to the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996 (SDWA), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must compile […]

Ben Somberg | June 22, 2012

Summer is Here, and With it Another Missed Deadline for a Key Regulation

The EPA has quietly missed another deadline on issuing the final revised “boiler MACT” rule. The agency had pledged for many months that the rule would be finalized in April. Then, in an April 30th “status report” filing with the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, the agency said: “EPA intends to take final action on this […]