In a sense, the TSCA was always a bit behind the game – it was constructed as an inherently reactive rather than proactive policy. The primary reason for this is obvious: tens of thousands of environmental chemicals had already been on the market, in their various forms, prior to it even entering its nascent stages. Largely as a result, members of Congress only found it feasible to establish some sort of general public oversight over the daunting number of chemicals in commerce.

In what was seemingly his former life, Florida Governor Charlie Crist instructively warned that “the conditions of weather and rising water levels will have the most profound impact on [his] state than any other.” Being a low-elevation peninsula, surrounded by both the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Gulf of Mexico to the west, sea level rise undoubtedly represents the state’s biggest threat.

Water is a lost issue in the contemporary environmental debate. The issues that dominate are climate disruption, biodiversity loss and destruction of the ozone layer. These are all often thought of global issues and global problems. Society as a whole has a moral obligation to stop them. Water, on the other hand, is a local issue, [...]

This post is coming a bit late as I have had no internet access over the past few days. Luckily, I’ve had the good sense to take copious notes to help remember all of the amazing things that I have been up to. With some more luck, I will catch up on my trip so [...]

I arrived safely last night, India time of course, after travelling for twenty-two hours straight plus a ten and a half hour time difference. There are many occasions where I’ve travelled before and found it hard to reconcile where I actually am based on sight alone. There is no question I’m in India right now. [...]

I had posted a version of this on March 20th, promising to journal my first-hand experience with the issues I love to write about. Well, after a long delay, each day for the next two weeks I will post a journal entry that represents one day of my trip.

For a few years, I had greatly admired Jeffrey Sachs. By no means is he a household name as of yet despite penning two bestsellers, “Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Plant” and “The End of Poverty.” He is considered to be the leading international economic advisor of his generation, possibly the most influential living [...]

According to my good friend Rand Paul, the Deepwater Horizon disaster was an accident and accidents happen.

Let’s get one thing straight. This was no accident.

Currently the Obama administration has a task force looking into this policy dilemma. It will be interesting to see what they come up with, as it seems that despite bipartisan support, a passing a comprehensive and smart bill originating in the House and Senate is asking for too much.

Alarming as it may sound, when it comes to the vast majority of the over 81,000 chemicals we can encounter in our daily lives, not only do chemical manufacturers know almost nothing about their associated human and environmental hazards, but federal regulations require almost nothing in terms of pre-marketing test data, labeling, or even the full public disclosure of ingredients.