Cross-posted from CPR Blog, by Rena Steinzor Weâve written a great deal about Cass Sunstein, the Harvard law professor who is expected to get the nod to be the âregulatory czarâ for the Obama Administration.  In a nutshell, our concern is that Sunstein will stifle the efforts of health, safety, and environmental protection agencies to […]
February 7th marked the one-year anniversary of the explosion of the Imperial Sugar plant that killed 14 workers in Port Wentworth, Georgia. (This post has links to our coverage of the tragedy.) In the Associated Press, Russ Bynum checks up on explosion survivor Jamie Butler, who still needs painkillers, steroid injections, and daily physical therapy […]
by revere, cross-posted from Effect Measure The peanut butter with a side of salmonella story just keeps getting worse (other posts here, here, here, here, here, here). The toll so far is 8 dead, 575 confirmed salmonella cases (and undoubtedly many more never reported) and 1550 products recalled, one of the largest recalls in US […]
Bloggers discuss food: Andrew Schneider at Secret Ingredients points out that FDA can’t just shut down the facility responsible for salmonella-tainted peanut paste. Maryn McKenna has more bad news about the drug-resistant bacteria MRSA: now it’s been found in Belgian chickens. Tom Philpott at Gristmill attends the Seafood Summit and makes analogies (between land- and […]
We often link to Ken Ward Jr.âs excellent coverage of mining issues in the Charleston Gazette. He does a fantastic job exploring the many ways that decisions by mining companies and government bureaucrats affect the lives of mineworkers, their families, and mining communities. Celeste summed up our admiration for him a couple of months ago, […]
Revere points out that the peanut industry (and the food industry as a whole) is learning that poor regulation is bad for business. You might run your business according to the highest standards, thatâs not enough. If one of your competitors cuts too many corners and people die as a result, the entire industry will […]
Thereâs a new voice in the public health blogosphere: Target Population, a blog by students from the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services. The students are enrolled in Blogging Skills for Public Health, a class Celeste and I are teaching this semester. Although the blog is new, it already boasts several […]
It doesnât seem to have made the news yet, but President Obama has just taken a very important step for the health of our water, air, and workplaces. An executive order published in todayâs Federal Register revokes EO 13422, by which President Bush gave the White House the power to interfere with regulatory agenciesâ activities. […]
President Obama issued an order on Jan 30 signaling his desire to improve the manner in which the Office of Management and Budget reviews federal agencies’ regulatory initiatives. In his Memorandum to Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies, the President noted: “For well over two decades, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) at […]
The first piece of legislation President Obama signed into law was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which makes it easier for workers to fight pay discrimination. The Washington Postâs Richard Levy explains: The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act will give workers alleging pay discrimination more time to take their cases to court. It effectively reverses […]