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Oregon’s 2023 legislative session concluded with a wide-ranging drought package passing through the House and the Senate, enabling key investments necessary to building a water-secure future for Oregon’s communities and ecosystems.

By Michelle Allen, Manager, Community Engagement Recent high-profile chemical disasters in East Palestine, Ohio, and Deer Park, Texas, have highlighted the risks facing communities where the petrochemical industry operates, but not every spill or toxic pollution release makes headlines. By some counts, there is a chemical fire, explosion or release every other day in this …

PFAS is a group of synthetic chemicals used in industrial processes and consumer products, including water-repellent clothing, such as outdoor wear, and food packaging. Once these “forever chemicals” are produced and used, they often make their way into the environment and our bodies. Many pose serious threats due to their toxic effects (often at trace …

By Tom Neltner, Senior Director, Safer Chemicals Initiative, Environmental Defense Fund and Charlotte Brody, National Director, Healthy Babies Bright Futures Key Message The scientific consensus is that there is no known safe level of lead exposure, and that no environment or home is truly free of lead. With a few exceptions, we think it is …

Texas will create an interagency task force to evaluate infrastructure charging and capacity needs for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, a tremendous step forward in the state’s ongoing efforts to support the zero-emission vehicle industry. The taskforce is the result of a rider adopted in the state budget, which was signed into law earlier this month.

Deep Dive: Read our Deep Dives blog for an in-depth analysis on the data that drove the 2023 allocation of federal funding for lead service line replacements. What’s New: EPA recently estimated there are 9.2 million lead service lines (LSLs) in the nation’s drinking water infrastructure based on information reported by states and water utilities. This …

An estimated 9.2 million homes and buildings in the nation get their drinking water through a lead pipe, according to EPA’s April 2023 report. The agency estimated the number of lead service lines (LSLs) in each state to arrive at the country’s total.[1] Based on these estimates, each state was allocated a share of the …

By Lindsay Shigetomi It’s one thing to see electric trucks on the showroom floor, but it’s an entirely different feeling to see them out in the wild. Earlier this month, I attended a ribbon-cutting event in South El Monte, California — one of the largest freight hubs in America — to celebrate the roll-out of …

Last week Governor Hobbs and the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) released a new analysis of groundwater in the Phoenix metro area. News broke around the country with headlines questioning the viability of future development in the region. But, what does this new analysis actually mean for Arizona? Let’s dive in.  What does this …

Something exciting is happening in the medium- and heavy-duty vehicle industry. The trucks, buses and port vehicles that drive our economy are quickly heading toward a zero-emission future. Automakers and battery manufacturers are investing over $600 billion worldwide through 2030 to develop new electric cars, trucks and buses. This shift will benefit the communities and …

By Katelyn Roedner Sutter and Daniel Barad Last month, the California Air Resources Board unanimously voted to adopt the Advanced Clean Fleets Rule, which sets purchase requirements for private and government fleets to increasingly transition to zero-emission trucks, and sets a 100% sales requirement for manufacturers in 2036.  Advocates and communities across the board lauded …

Maricel Maffini, consultant, and Tom Neltner, Senior Director, Safer Chemicals What Happened A recent peer-reviewed publication criticized FDA’s criteria for identifying adverse health effects associated with exposure to pathogens, chemicals, or allergens in foods. The authors gave two recent examples of the agency dismissing health concerns: a toxin created in spoiled fish that caused temporary,

By Neda Deylami The newly passed Illinois EV Charging Act will address the residential charging access gap by requiring new homes to have basic electrical infrastructure to support future EV charging and giving renters and condo owners a right to charge. Study after study of electric vehicle owners has found that the vast majority charge …

Fred Krupp in TIME magazine on why new EPA standards will give consumers better and healthier choices for cars.

Maricel Maffini, consultant, and Tom Neltner, Senior Director, Safer Chemicals What Happened? On June 2, the European Commission, the executive body of the European Union (EU) responsible for proposing legislation and implementing decisions, announced it is preparing an initiative that “will impose a ban on the use of BPA [bisphenol A] in food contact materials …

Over the past year, leaders have responded to our call to act – a call that was supported by more than a hundred organizations around the country. Here are two major ways their efforts can prepare us for the next hurricane. The post Hurricane season is here again. And finally, leaders are addressing multiple flood risks. first appeared on Growing Returns.

By EDF’s Jose Ingles, Jimely Flores and Rod Fujita, and Joseph Warren, Stony Brook University Small fish have a big role. Fisheries for sardine, herring and anchovy species collectively produce more yield than any other fisheries worldwide and account for about one-third of total global catches arriving in ports. These fisheries span the globe and …

Last week Governor Hobbs and the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) released a new analysis of groundwater in the Phoenix metro area. News broke around the country with headlines questioning the viability of future development in the region. But, what does this new analysis actually mean for Arizona? Let’s dive in. What does this new …

Last week Governor Hobbs and the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) released a new analysis of groundwater in the Phoenix metro area. News broke around the country with headlines questioning the viability of future development in the region. But, what does this new analysis actually mean for Arizona? Let’s dive in.  What does this …

On May 19, Reps. Katie Porter, Steve Cohen, Nanette Diaz Barragán, Earl Blumenauer, and Raúl Grijalva issued a letter to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf calling on FDA to “act expeditiously to protect the public from the health risks posed …

EDF identified 10 cities in the U.S. with the most lead service lines (LSLs) based on numbers reported in 2021. These cities collectively have over one million LSLs, representing 12% of the 9.2 million EPA estimates are in the country.

It’s been two months since the debut auction of Washington’s cap-and-invest program — the nation’s most ambitious climate program to date — which puts a firm, declining limit on climate pollution across the state’s economy. Since then, state leaders have turned their attention to the next major decision facing the program: whether to link up …

EDF’s delegation to the climate talks taking place in Bonn, Germany from June 5 to June 15, 2023 give us some insights into the issues they're following.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s 2023 Agricultural Symposium, “The Changing Geography of Agricultural Production,” explored the factors driving changes in where and how agricultural commodities are produced, disruptions that are leading to further geographical differences, and the role of investments and farm policy in the years ahead. I had the honor of joining …

This blog was authored by Environmental Defense Fund economists, Karina French and Carolyn Kousky. See their report here.  South Carolina is no stranger to the devastating effects of extreme flooding, with hurricanes like Matthew and Florence leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. As the state faces escalating flood risk due to climate changes …