CPR Member Scholar Holly Doremus blogs on the growing population of right whales: It's easy for environmentalists to get depressed, given the amount of bad news about climate change, species losses, and the like. But sometimes there is unexpectedly good news. This morning's New York Times has one of those stories. The Atlantic right whale, which not long ago was thought by many to be a lost cause, appears to be rebounding. Last year brought a record number of calves, and "probably for the first time since the 1600s, not one North Atlantic right whale died at human hands." Full text
Center for Progressive Reform Policy Analyst Shana Jones on the effects of perchlorate on breastfeeding mothers and babies: The truth hurts. Some of us accept the truth; some of us ignore it. All too often, industry-sponsored scientists take another approach to the truth: attack. A recent spat over a study finding that perchlorate blocks iodine in breast milk is an object lesson in what CPR Member Scholar Tom McGarity calls attack science. In October, I blogged about this study, which was the first to ask whether perchlorate inhibits iodine transport to breast milk. Perchlorate is a component of rocket fuel and munitions. Its known to cause thyroid problems by inhibiting how iodine is absorbed by the body. Iodine is essential to proper fetal and infant neurological development. According to the EPA, perchlorate has contaminated the drinking water of 16.6 million Americans to unsafe levels. (Click on the headline to read the full post.) Full text
Center for Progressive Reform Member Scholar William Buzbee blogs on the Supreme Court's decision in Summers vs. Institute, and its implications for future environmental and other citizen litigation: On March 3rd, the Supreme Court issued its much awaited decision in Summers v. Earth Island Institute. This was the latest in a series of cases dating to the early 1990s where the central question has concerned citizen standing: will the courts allow a citizen to stand before a court to argue that government or private action violates the law? In Summers, the environmentalists' challenge involved a few layers.... (To read the rest of this post, click the headline.) Full text
Center for Progressive Reform Member Scholar Robert L. Glicksman replies to Member Scholar William Buzbee's post on the Summers vs. Earth Island Institute decision: The decision in Summers represents the latest salvo in a continuing battle between those Supreme Court Justices who view the function of standing doctrine as ensuring that litigation before the federal courts is capable of being presented in an adversary context suitable for judicial resolution, and those who regard it as a fundamental bulwark against intrusion by the judicial branch on the prerogatives of the legislative and executive branches. As late as 1968, the Court remarked in a case called Flast v. Cohen that standing law does not by its own force raise separation of powers problems related to improper judicial interference in areas committed to other branches of the Federal Government. Justice Scalia, who wrote the majority opinion in Summers as well as in the Lujan case referred to in Bills post, has insisted... (To read the entire post, click on the headline above.) Full text
Center for Progressive Reform Policy Analyst Yee Huang blogs about the implications of state water law on bottled water operations. In the decade between 1994 and 2004, the bottled water industry enjoyed a meteoric rise as consumers flocked to their product, paying more per gallon than gasoline and neglecting a virtually free source of water -- the tap. Bottled water drinkers formed fierce allegiances to their favorite brands, elevating bottled water beyond a beverage to a symbol of refinement. More recently, opposition to bottled water has grown, built around an eclectic mix of advocates including activists, restaurateurs, and religious leaders. Proposals for bottled water operations evoke vocal protests in local communities. Production of bottled water requires large quantities of energy and generates tons of waste with long-term environmental impacts. (To read the entire blog entry, click on the headline.) Full text
CPR Member Scholar Holly Doremus blogs on the Obama Administration's announcement that it would review President Bush's "midnight regulation" weakening the requirement that agencies contemplating actions that might harm endangered or threatened species consult first with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and/or the National Marine Fisheries Service. Full text
Center for Progressive Reform media consultant Matthew Freeman blogs on President Obama's proposal to reinstate the long neglected polluter tax to fund -- and revivify -- Superfund. Full text
Center for Progressive Reform Policy Analyst Matthew Shudtz blogs about Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's decision to withdraw the Bush Administration's proposed oil shale leases for research, development, and demonstration. Full text
Center for Progressive Reform Policy Analyst James Goodwin blogs about the recent decision by the United States Supreme Court to not accept an appeal challenging the D.C. Court of Appeal's decision vacating the Bush Administration's weak regulatory plan for controlling air mercury emissions from power plants; this decision by the Supreme Court is just the latest in the long and twisting story of the federal government's inability to regulate this deadly pollutant. Full text
CPR Policy Analyst Yee Huang blogs on the significance of virtual water and water footprints. Full text