State Senator Gerald Long of Louisiana calls it “kind of a gentlemen’s agreement.”
For the generations since Mr. Long’s third cousin Huey P. Long was the governor, this state has relied on the oil and gas industry for a considerable part of its revenues and for tens of thousands of jobs. In return, the industry has largely found the state an obliging partner and staunch political ally as it has fought off curbs on its business.
Now, however, a panel of state appointees, created after Hurricane Katrina to be largely insulated from politics, showed just how insulated it was by upending the agreement.
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Sunday, September 1, 2013
Facing Fire Over Challenge to Louisiana’s Oil Industry
Radiation Near Japanese Plant’s Tanks Suggests New Leaks
A crisis over contaminated water at Japan’s stricken nuclear plant worsened on Saturday when the plant’s operator said it had detected high radiation levels near storage tanks, a finding that raised the possibility of additional leaks.
The operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, or Tepco, said it had found the high levels of radiation at four separate spots on the ground, near some of the hundreds of tanks used to store toxic water produced by makeshift efforts to cool the Fukushima Daiichi plant’s three damaged reactors. The highest reading was 1,800 millisieverts per hour, or enough to give a lethal dose in about four hours, Tepco said.
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14 Worker Struggles To Pay Attention To This Labor Day
Sure, to some people #LaborDayIs about barbecues and fashion rules. But #LaborDayIs also about, you know, labor. Today, workers across the country are struggling for decent wages, safe workplaces, affordable healthcare, and even basic civil rights. North Carolina’s Moral Monday
North Carolina's Moral Monday
Learn more about Moral Monday and check out some sweet protest photos. Oh and thanks to @sherierb for the thumbnail photo. The Wisconsin Solidarity Singers
The Wisconsin Solidarity Singers
After the huge protests in 2011 against Wisconsin’s new collective bargaining restrictions, Gov. Scott Walker and his allies changed the rules at the state Capitol Building in Madison, requiring protesters to have permits. His reasoning? Um, none. |
A Labor Day Opportunity
Ed. note: This is crossposted from Work in Progress, the official blog of the Department of Labor. See the original post here. Learn more about the history of Labor Day, and the history of the U.S. Department of Labor. Labor Day 2013 is special. This year marks the centennial of the U.S. Department of Labor – 100 years of working for America’s workers. And this past week, our nation reaffirmed the ideals of the 1963 March on Washington. This transformational event, exactly 50 years ago, was just as much about labor rights as it was about civil rights. For me, just like so many others then and now, these two movements are inextricably intertwined, their interests converging time and time again, their goals united in creating opportunity for all. Watch this video on YouTube For a guy like me who grew up in an immigrant family from Buffalo, the past few days have been pretty heady. At the Lincoln Memorial Wednesday, I couldn’t help but wonder if The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. ever imagined that half a century after he stood on these steps, another African-American man would stand there – as president? |
Study: Air Pollution Causes 200,000 Early Deaths in US
| Air pollution causes about 200,000 early deaths each year in the United States, according to a new study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Researchers at MIT’s Laboratory for Aviation and the Environment, say emissions from road transportation are the leading single cause of pollution, contributing 53,000 premature deaths, and that electrical power generation causes another 52,000. “In the past five to 10 years, the evidence linking air-pollution exposure to risk of early death has really solidified and gained scientific and political traction,” says Steven Barrett, an assistant professor of aeronautics and astronautics at MIT. “There’s a realization that air pollution is a major problem in any city, and there’s a desire to do something about it.” |
In California, Renewed Debate Over Home Care
An important struggle over home health care is playing out in California, the nation’s most populous state, including nearly five million residents age 65 and older. Unions and organizations representing the elderly have joined together to push for legislation that would license agencies, certify workers and create a publicly accessible caregiver registry. Home care agencies are pushing back, saying they favor regulation but oppose the measures under consideration. The legislation, Assembly Bill 1217, has already passed the State Assembly and was passed out of the State Senate’s appropriations committee on Friday. It will be up for a vote on the Senate floor next week. An estimated 1,400 home care agencies and 120,000 paid caregivers would be affected by the proposed legislation, which is essentially an effort to bring consumer protections to an industry that has been likened to the Wild West. “It’s just not right that I can check the license status of an air-conditioning repairman but I can’t do so for someone coming into my home to care for a loved one,” said Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal, a Democrat and the bill’s sponsor. |
American Thoracic Society Welcomes OSHA’s Proposed Lower Silica Exposure Standard
The American Thoracic Society welcomes today’s release by the Occupational Safety
and Health Administration (OSHA) of a proposed lower standard for crystalline silica exposure.
“This needed adjustment is long overdue,” said Tee L. Guidotti, MD, MPH, chair of the Department of
Environmental and Occupational Health at the School of Public Health and Health Services of the George
Washington University Medical Center in Washington DC and a member of the American Thoracic
Society’s Environmental Health Policy Committee involved in the Society’s efforts to establish a lower
exposure standard. “The current OSHA standard of for respirable crystalline silica of 0.10 mg/m3 8 hour
time weighted average has remained the same for 40 years and has been shown in numerous studies not to be
protective.”
“We support the proposed lower standard of 0.05 mg/m3 time-weighted average for up to 10 hours during a
40 hour work week, which will protect hundreds and possibly thousands of workers from silica-related
health effects at almost no cost, as silica exposure can be easily prevented with simple and inexpensive
technology.”
Crystalline silica has long been recognized as a serious occupational health hazard, affecting workers in
industries such as granite workers, industrial sand workers and gold miners. Overexposure to respirable
crystalline silica can cause irreversible, progressive lung disease, known as silicosis, and is also associated
with lung cancer, chronic renal disease, and autoimmune disorders. It is estimated that 1.7 million U.S.
workers are regularly exposed to this serious health hazard and that about 200 workers die each year from
silicosis. As many as 7,300 new cases of silicosis occur annually among U.S. workers.
Exposure levels and death rates from silica-related diseases in the U.S. far exceed those of comparable
developed economies around the world. Silicosis has been virtually eliminated in the European Union with
the use of simple and inexpensive measures such as adequate ventilation, wetting rock before it is cut, and
banning sandblasting with silica sand in favor of readily available alternatives.
OSHA first submitted a draft revised standard on respirable crystalline silica to the Office of Management
and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs on February 14, 2011, but a review was not
completed until recently.
“The proposed revised standard should be implemented in conjunction with a mandated periodic surveillance
program to ensure that the measures taken to control exposure are adequate and to identify and mitigate
disease in those workers who are exposed,” said Dr. Guidotti. “Silicosis and the other diseases caused by
crystalline silica exposure are entirely preventable and this new lower standard is an important step toward
this goal.”
and Health Administration (OSHA) of a proposed lower standard for crystalline silica exposure.
“This needed adjustment is long overdue,” said Tee L. Guidotti, MD, MPH, chair of the Department of
Environmental and Occupational Health at the School of Public Health and Health Services of the George
Washington University Medical Center in Washington DC and a member of the American Thoracic
Society’s Environmental Health Policy Committee involved in the Society’s efforts to establish a lower
exposure standard. “The current OSHA standard of for respirable crystalline silica of 0.10 mg/m3 8 hour
time weighted average has remained the same for 40 years and has been shown in numerous studies not to be
protective.”
“We support the proposed lower standard of 0.05 mg/m3 time-weighted average for up to 10 hours during a
40 hour work week, which will protect hundreds and possibly thousands of workers from silica-related
health effects at almost no cost, as silica exposure can be easily prevented with simple and inexpensive
technology.”
Crystalline silica has long been recognized as a serious occupational health hazard, affecting workers in
industries such as granite workers, industrial sand workers and gold miners. Overexposure to respirable
crystalline silica can cause irreversible, progressive lung disease, known as silicosis, and is also associated
with lung cancer, chronic renal disease, and autoimmune disorders. It is estimated that 1.7 million U.S.
workers are regularly exposed to this serious health hazard and that about 200 workers die each year from
silicosis. As many as 7,300 new cases of silicosis occur annually among U.S. workers.
Exposure levels and death rates from silica-related diseases in the U.S. far exceed those of comparable
developed economies around the world. Silicosis has been virtually eliminated in the European Union with
the use of simple and inexpensive measures such as adequate ventilation, wetting rock before it is cut, and
banning sandblasting with silica sand in favor of readily available alternatives.
OSHA first submitted a draft revised standard on respirable crystalline silica to the Office of Management
and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs on February 14, 2011, but a review was not
completed until recently.
“The proposed revised standard should be implemented in conjunction with a mandated periodic surveillance
program to ensure that the measures taken to control exposure are adequate and to identify and mitigate
disease in those workers who are exposed,” said Dr. Guidotti. “Silicosis and the other diseases caused by
crystalline silica exposure are entirely preventable and this new lower standard is an important step toward
this goal.”
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