For years at the Center for Science and Democracy (CSD), we have championed the need for federal agencies to adopt clear and equitable practices for engaging with the public. The public’s ability to weigh in on new rules and regulations proposed by agencies lies at the heart of a strong democracy. It offers a critical mechanism through which members of the public can have a direct say in the decisions our government is making. And it affords federal agencies the chance to consider the perspectives of people with diverse knowledge, backgrounds, and skillsets. We at CSD recently sent the White H ..read more

This blog post first appeared in Utility Dive on May 3, 2024. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission staff recently revealed that winter storms Gerri and Heather brought a grid operator to the brink of rolling blackouts sometime between January 10 and January 17, 2024. But instead of providing a detailed assessment of what went wrong, they primarily highlighted the absence of rolling blackouts and the incremental improvements that have been made since the dangerous grid failures of storms Elliott in 2022 and Uri in 2021. Gerri and Heather were two separate but ..read more

Every five years or so, Congress reauthorizes a comprehensive, multibillion-dollar law that has a major impact not only on farmers and ranchers—who make up less than 2 percent of the US population—but also on the environment, public health, and the economy. Generically called the “farm” bill, it is actually a farm and food bill that supports a wide range of programs, including ones that cover crop insurance, financial credit, and export subsidies for farmers, as well as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps. SNAP, which eats up 80 percent of the bi ..read more

As the grandson of Black farmers, sharecroppers, and farmworkers, I know firsthand how the injustices faced by small farmers and workers plague and hinder our food supply. My grandfather, Frederick Henry Blanding, was a third-generation farmer and descendant of slaves. During his lifespan, most people ate locally sourced and homegrown foods. While Granddaddy Frederick loved farming, he faced such severe discrimination and anticipated the endangered state of small farmers that he swayed my father and his siblings away from farming. He foresaw then what we know now: Our food and farming sys ..read more

I am into air quality. Especially when it means I can breathe outside because there is no pesticide drift, wildfire smoke, vehicle exhaust, or pungent odors. However, the reasons why I am into air quality are a bit contradictory. On the one hand, I am fascinated by air quality because I love working with sensors and monitoring equipment. I enjoy doing outreach and education about electronics with kids. I am also into open hardware and open data access. I have been collaborating for a few years with AirGradient and am part of a team of worldwide volunteer scientists who advocate for air quality ..read more

Me interesa mucho la calidad del aire. Especialmente cuando eso significa que puedo respirar afuera porque no nos están rociando con pesticidas, no hay humo de incendios forestales, ni gases de escape de vehículos ni olores repulsivos. Sin embargo, las razones por las que me importa la calidad del aire son un poco contradictorias. Por un lado, me fascina la calidad del aire porque me encanta trabajar con sensores. Disfruto haciendo divulgación y educación sobre electrónica con niños (y a veces no tan niños). También me gusta la electrónica abierta para que todos tengan acceso a la información ..read more

This article is republished from SciLight, an independent science policy publication on Substack. In December 2023, I moved from Washington, DC proper to the suburbs. My husband and I, and our two dogs and cat, simply needed more room than the single bedroom condo we could afford in the city. Six months later and we’re really happy with our new home, although suburban life is quite different. One of the ways that suburban life is different is the increased amount of solicitation. We’ve had numerous folks knock on our door to sell their wares or services. One solicitor, in particular ..read more

As the Biden administration works to finalize implementation guidance for the new clean hydrogen production tax credit, 45V, the fossil fuel industry and a select set of other industry actors are aggressively lobbying to loosen the rules—while everyone else is scrambling to stop them. Here’s why. First, the tax credit is generous. Extremely generous. Borderline obscenely generous. And there’s no funding cap. Meaning through 2042, as long as produced hydrogen is deemed eligible, there’s no limit to how deep into the public coffers eligible hands can reach. Second, because of the tax credit ..read more

You’ve likely heard of Big Oil, Big Pharma and Big Tobacco, and have a pretty good understanding of what they represent. But what do you think of when you hear the term “Big Ag”? For a long time, a villain that came to many people’s minds was Monsanto, but we stopped hearing about that company in 2018, after German pharmaceutical and chemical giant Bayer paid $66 billion to buy Monsanto and erase its much-reviled name. And therein lies a big part of the Big Ag problem: mergers and acquisitions across the food and agriculture industry have enabled big companies that touch every corner of our fo ..read more

The clock is ticking for the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA), which provides health screenings and compensation for people sickened by radiation from U.S. nuclear weapons production. RECA is set to expire on June 7; this would mean not only an end to life-saving health screenings and compensation, but also to the hopes of thousands of downwinders and uranium industry workers who have been unfairly excluded from the program for decades.   Last year, a wave of public attention and new findings helped propel RECA forward: “Oppenheimer” brought new attention to the Trinity Tes ..read more