Federal investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board concluded that the horrific gas pipeline explosion that killed 8 people in the Bay Area city of San Bruno was the result of a “litany of failures” by Pacific Gas and Electric.
Investigators charged PG&E with " poor record-keeping, inadequate inspection programs, and an integrity management program without integrity." According to internal PG&E documents and emails released in the investigation, PG&E had ample warning that the gas lines welds may have had dangerous flaws.
Seems these days, there are a zillion Big Business leaders, their puppets in Congress and legions of corporate cheerleaders crying wolf over the regulations that keep you, me and our fellow countrymen safe from unchecked corporate greed. The latest example of this is a study by the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), the largest trade association representing the electric utility industry, which concluded that the looming Environmental Protection Agency rules for power plants will create an economic “train wreck.”
By Nathanael Greene, Posted on the Natural Resources Defense Council's Switchboard blog. August 16, 2011
An economic analysis done for 11 northeast and mid-Atlantic states shows that a clean fuels standard (CFS) is a winning idea for the region. It could save consumers in the region billions, bring in billions more in revenue for these states, and create up to 50,000 jobs per year – dramatically increasing the region's self-sufficiency.
Some hotel guests may be getting a better night sleep these days, but at the expense of the housekeepers who clean their rooms. In what has been called an “amenities arms race,” many hotels now use luxury mattresses that weigh more than 100 pounds. Multiply those 100 pounds by the 16 to 25 beds the typical housekeeper must make up daily. Add to that the extra pillows to be fluffed, thick duvets and decorative bed skirts to be changed, without any reduction in the number of rooms each worker is required to clean. It’s not hard to see how this workload can lead to debilitating, often permanent, back, arm and shoulder, and rotator cuff injuries.
By George Black. Posted on OnEarth.org. July 28, 2011.
If you’re tired of beating your head against the wall of climate denial, try something simple: hard facts.
Amid the white noise of cyberspace, here’s a new website that’s really worth looking at: www.crywolfproject.org. I’ll get to the particulars in a moment, but what I especially like about the project is that it helps cut through the confusion about why we appear to be losing ground in the fight for public concern about climate change.
Last November, the New Jersey Star Ledger published an editorial celebrating the success of their state’s paid family leave law. I missed it when it first came out, but its key point deserves to be highlighted.
