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Lead in the Water

Lead in the Water

Lead is highly toxic, especially for children. Since the crisis in Flint, Michigan, many communities across the country have tested for and found lead in their drinking water - even in schools, where our children go to learn and play each day. Both state and city law require lead testing in Philadelphia schools, but the testing process has been slow and remains incomplete. Four years into the District's testing process, only 29% of public schools have been tested and the results posted publicly. And while District officials are required to post all results within 30 days, it's unclear if the information has properly been posted for public access. Still, the data that is currently available for 1,932 outlets in Philadelphia’s public schools reveals district-wide lead contamination.

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Progress Report: President Biden’s First Year

Global warming solutions

Progress Report: President Biden’s First Year

Following years of rollbacks, President Joe Biden began his term nearly a year ago amidst unprecedented environmental and public health challenges. Despite these obstacles, his administration has made significant strides toward restoring lost environmental protections and confronting daunting threats to our climate and public health, according to a new report by Environment America Research & Policy Center and U.S. PIRG Education Fund. 

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How Bees Make Thanksgiving Better

How Bees Make Thanksgiving Better

As family and friends gather this holiday season, it’s important to reflect on the many contributions bees make to hearty Thanksgiving feasts and thriving ecosystems. Bees face a number of challenges and many bee species are in decline, despite their important role in nature. In this factsheet, we review the many dishes that rely on bees and ways you can help save these vital pollinators.

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Healthier Holiday

Clean air

Healthier Holiday

This guide describes the potential health risks of cooking with gas and provides tips on how to mitigate those risks and keep your family safe during the holidays. 

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Trash in America

Recycling & compost

Trash in America

The United States produces too much waste. Natural resources are continually extracted to produce goods that are used in the U.S. — often only briefly — before they are thrown into landfills, incinerators or the natural environment. This system of consumption and disposal results in the waste of precious resources and in pollution that threatens our health, environment and the global climate. Because the costs of this system fall on society at large — not on the producers and consumers who drive it — there are few direct incentives for change.

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Green Scissors

Clean energy

Green Scissors

Every year, the federal government spends billions of taxpayer dollars on wasteful and environmentally harmful programs that are polluting our air and water and driving the climate crisis. Green Scissors is the definitive guide to polluter welfare in the federal budget.

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Safe for Swimming 2021 Edition

Clean water

Safe for Swimming 2021 Edition

The Clean Water Act, adopted in 1972, set the goal of making all of our waterways safe for  swimming. Nearly a half-century later, Amer icans visiting their favorite beach are still met all too  often by advisories warning that the water is unsafe for  swimming. And each year, millions of Americans are  sickened by swimming in contaminated water.

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