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Safer Alternatives to Toxics

 

What's New

House Introduces Chemical Security Bill
The chemical security bill, H.R. 5577, was introduced on March 11th by the House Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson, with 18 original co-sponsors from the committee. Because the bill was “marked up” in the Homeland Security Committee before its formal introduction, our focus has now turned to the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

PIRG activists from across the country met with members of the E&C committee to urge co-sponsorship, including an in-person meeting with Rep. Tammy Baldwin (Wis.) led by WISPIRG student Andrew Sellers, and a meeting with E&C committee vice-chair Diana DeGette’s (Colo.) office at which CoPIRG students Dan Omasta and Katie Crowe presented 400 postcards in favor of chemical security to the staffer.  

Overview

The soil underneath a local soccer field. The river that runs through the center of your town or city. The air circulating above a factory or industrial complex. All are important components of our communities—and all are extremely vulnerable to toxic contamination.

Across the country, U.S. PIRG is running many successful campaigns to keep our communities safe. In Massachusetts, we’re championing the Safer Alternatives Initiative, a series of bills aimed at monitoring, reducing and replacing industrial toxics released into the state’s ground, air and water. Elsewhere, in states like Illinois, Connecticut and Washington, we’re leading state-based campaigns to phase out the release of PBDE’s—some of the most toxic byproducts manufactured—into the environment. At the federal level, U.S. PIRG is backing the Kids Safe Chemical Act, a bill that will protect public health by reforming the way our country deals with toxic chemicals.

There is simply no excuse, rationalization or justification adequate to allow our neighborhoods to become polluted by toxic waste. That’s why we’re fighting to make sure our environment is safe, healthy and secure.


Every year thousands of tons of toxic pollution is released into our environment. That’s why we’re working to substitute, replace, and eliminate industrial toxics.