According to the non-profit Environmental Working Group, California’s public water systems in the San Joaquin Valley and urban areas like LA and San Bernardino and San Mateo counties are contaminated with a very dangerous, cancer-causing chemical known as 1,2,3 trichloropropane (“TCP”). Evidently, the TCP is a remnant of a chemical…
Who is Donald Trump trying to impress with his demands to slash spending on scientists and scientific research, and his twitter-blizzard attacks on established science (climate change, as but one of many examples)? In the environmental field in which I work, the results of research studies done by federally-funded scientists…
One of the best things a parent can experience is seeing their child all dressed up and ready for prom. The dinner, the dance, and the pictures all remind us that our child is growing up. It’s an exciting time but it can also be a very dangerous one, especially…
Across the Chicagoland area red light cameras have been installed at hundreds of traffic signals. These red-light cameras are sold to citizens as a way to reduce traffic accidents and increase safety on the roadways. The problem is, the cameras aren’t making us safer. These cameras actually increase the likelihood…
Scott Pruitt has repeatedly stated that he’s cutting the EPA’s budget for Clean Air programs because those programs are not the EPA’s job and that he expects the states to do more to ensure clean air. This is a lie. Here’s what Scott Pruitt knows: (1) The states don’t have…
The politicians that we send to Washington enjoy the greatest healthcare in the world. If they or their spouses or kids get sick, they have immediate access to the finest doctors and hospitals, and the best and most advanced medicines, treatments, and therapies. They will never have to worry that…
What do you suppose happens when a town cuts its police force and no longer tries to catch people speeding on the most dangerous roads in the town? More speeding, more danger, right? In fact, if the town didn’t want to catch speeders any more on those roads, what is…
Chicago is a major hub for shipping and transportation. Large commercial tractor-trailer trucks, busses, and other large vehicles occupy many of the major tollways and expressways in the Chicago area on a daily basis. During your morning or afternoon commute you see these large trucks along the expressways. While these…
A recent article titled “Righting Civil Wrongs” sadly describes how the poor, minority residents of communities throughout the United States have been left with no choice but to sue their government (the US EPA, specifically). Years ago, these residents formally claimed that they were the victims of environmental racism because…
Will President Trump and the man he appointed to head the EPA, Scott Pruitt, rig our system for determining which sites are the most environmentally dangerous in the country by ignoring the threat of vapor intrusion that these sites pose to human beings living near them? Sadly, there are many…