Environment and Health
Let’s Sign the Tobacco Treaty
By 2005, the world’s first public health and corporate accountability treaty was taking effect to tackle the world’s leading preventable cause of death and disease: tobacco use. That treaty may be the least well-known tobacco milestone here in the United States, but it’s the most significant. For one, the global tobacco treaty may save 200 million lives by 2050 when it’s fully implemented. It also tackles head-on the type of corporate abuse that hooked generations on a deadly product with little or no accountability.
Health Care Is a Study in Greed
America’s No. 1 growth industry is health care. No one has yet found No. 2. This preeminent role is not due to deadly epidemics, environmental meltdown, or massive public education. It’s due to greed.
Utah v. Women
No one should be surprised by a proposed Utah law that would consider possible criminal prosecution and life imprisonment for women who suffer miscarriages in that state. Appalled maybe, but not surprised. It was just a matter of time.
Nuking Taxpayers
Taxpayers Are Getting Nuked
Compulsive gamblers are perpetually looking for the big score. Always thinking that the next card will draw that inside straight or the last card will turn their garbage into gold. Casinos have a name for these people–suckers. Well, Uncle Sam has pushed more than $8 billion into the pot, gambling on big returns from the nuclear power industry. Sadly, we know where this ends.
Big Pharma Divorces Billy Tauzin
Some marriages are made in heaven, some in hell. The matrimony of Billy Tauzin and Big Pharma was definitely hellish—especially for us innocent bystanders.
The Top 10 Reasons We Don’t Need More Nukes
While it’s certainly true that our energy needs require a diversity of solutions, nuclear power shouldn’t be in the mix. Solar, wind, and geothermal power, combined with energy efficiency, can overcome our reliance on fossil fuels, provide energy security, and mitigate the climate crisis. Here are the top 10 reasons why we shouldn’t build any more nuclear reactors.
Strange Snow Patterns Consistent with Climate Change
Freak snowstorms plunged the nation’s capital and the rest of the mid-Atlantic United States into utter chaos in February. The federal government shut down for nearly a week, many schools turned President’s Day into an unexpected 10-day-long “snowcation,” public transportation ground to a screeching halt, and suburban power outages drove some families to burn Freak snowstorms plunged the nation’s capital and the rest of the mid-Atlantic United States into utter chaos in February. The federal government shut down for nearly a week, many schools turned President’s Day into an unexpected 10-day-long “snowcation,” public transportation ground to a screeching halt, and suburban power outages drove some families to burn furniture in their fireplaces to keep warm.
Agribusiness Profits, Mutant Germs, and Us
For decades, we have benefited enormously from the healing wonders of antibiotics. These drugs save millions of lives that would otherwise be lost to microbial infections. But more and more of the antibiotics in America’s medical kit are proving to be ineffective against the plethora of germs that endanger us. Why? Too much of a good thing.
Warning: Consumer Products May Be Harmful to Your Health
A recent report by some of the nation’s leading public health professionals describes the toll that toxic chemicals are taking on our health and our budget. This report, called the Health Case for Reforming the Toxic Substances Control Act, summarizes the insidious contribution of environmental toxins to an array of chronic health problems.
