Media Releases
New report: Food for thought: Are your groceries safe?
When the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recalled 225 varieties of bagged lettuce, spinach and salad products in December because of potentially deadly contamination, it took the FDA a week to post a public notice on its web site. While many stores quickly notify customers of recalls one way or another, they’re not required to, and their practices are neither uniform nor always timely.
Release: Consumer groups, health experts call for changes to accelerated drug approval in FDA reform bill
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee will mark up a discussion draft on the Food and Drug Administration’s user fee legislation next week. In response, U.S. PIRG joined over 35 health experts and other advocacy groups in a letter released on Friday recommending stronger enforcement of post-market clinical trials for accelerated approval drugs to better protect patients.
EPA opens applications, announces guidelines for $5 billion Clean School Bus Program
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is unveiling its historic, $5 billion Clean School Bus Program on Friday. This new program, created by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act signed into law by President Joe Biden last November, will help school districts replace polluting diesel buses with zero-tailpipe-emission, electric school buses.
Consumer advocacy groups launch campaign to get Columbia Sportswear to phase out toxic ‘forever chemicals’
U.S. PIRG Education Fund and NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) launched a campaign on Tuesday calling on outdoor gear and apparel brand Columbia Sportswear to phase out the use of PFAS in its products and supply chains. Last month, the company received low marks in a scorecard report released by the advocacy groups. The report found that Columbia Sportswear has failed to adopt policies that ban PFAS chemicals or provide up-to-date, publicly available information on any ongoing efforts to phase out these toxic chemicals from their products.
New report: Several major cities have banned abusive towing practices in the last year
Parkers have always run the risk of getting towed. But a new trend exacerbates that risk: Towing companies are giving private property owners kickbacks when the landowner notifies the companies about vehicles to tow -- whether the vehicle is defying parking regulations or not.
Interactive map shows widespread lead contamination in schools drinking water
Lead contamination of school drinking water is more pervasive than previously thought, according to testing data from across the nation published on Thursday by Environment America Research & Policy Center and U.S. PIRG Education Fund on a new interactive map. The groups urged public officials to take swift action to “get the lead out” of schools’ drinking water.
U.S. PIRG applauds Biden Administration’s actions on medical debt
Our statement on Vice President Kamala Harris' announced reforms to reduce the impact of medical debt on Americans’ finances.
New scorecard grades popular apparel brands on commitments to avoiding PFAS
U.S. PIRG Education Fund, Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. (NRDC) and Fashion FWD released a scorecard on Wednesday ranking popular retail and apparel brands on policy commitments to eliminate a dangerous class of toxic “forever chemicals,” known as PFAS, from their products.
EPA takes an important step to ban carcinogenic asbestos
EPA announced today new steps to ban chrysotile asbestos, the most common of six types of asbestos. Exposure to chrysotile and the other five types of asbestos can cause mesothelioma, a rare cancer of the chest and stomach lining, lung cancer and asbestosis, which causes permanent lung damage.