By Beatrice Murch via Flickr
From the ACLU:
Flint’s poisoned children deserve the truth. They deserve to know exactly why their government failed them. And they deserve to know who is behind the Flint water crisis, one of our nation’s most severe, man-made public health disasters.
Photo courtesy of ecopolitology.org
From CredoAction.com:
A strong rule to limit carbon pollution from power plants is one of the most important things that President Obama can do to fight climate change.
![tarsands3[1]](https://illuminatebytanya.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/tarsands31.jpg)
From SumOfUs.org:
We have one last chance to officially tell President Obama not to approve the dirty Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.
Elk River, West Virginia; site of chemical spill. (Photo by kanawhavalleyparent.com)
A West Virginia public health official on whether the state’s tap water is safe to drink after last month’s chemical spill said:
Everybody has a different definition of ‘safe.’
(Sign this petition to help prevent spills from happening again!)
Photo by Center for Food Safety
From the Center for Food Safety:
Dow Chemical, the same company that brought us Dursban, Napalm, and Agent Orange, is now in the food business and is pushing for an unprecedented government approval: genetically engineered (GE) versions of corn and soybeans that are designed to survive repeated dousing with 2,4-D, half of the highly toxic chemical mixture Agent Orange.
Tanya’s Comments: A great video explaining tar sands and the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline. It will help you understand why preventing the use of the pipeline is important for the environment and the availability of fresh water.
Photo courtesy of https://secure.sierraclub.org
From Sierra Club:
On January 9, Freedom Industries, a largely unregulated chemical-storage company for Big Coal, spilled thousands of gallons of toxic chemicals into the Elk River and poisoned the water for 300,000 people. Hundreds of residents have flooded emergency rooms and thousands more were forced to wait in frigid temperatures for emergency bottled water.
Photo courtesy of awarenessmonths.com
In December of last year it was reported that triclosan and triclocarban, the main ingredients in anti-bacterial products such as hand sanitizers, is suspected of being dangerous to human health by the US FDA.
After years of mounting concerns that the antibacterial chemicals that go into everyday items like soap and toothpaste are doing more harm than good, the Food and Drug Administration said on Monday that it was requiring soap manufacturers to demonstrate that the substances were safe or to take them out of the products altogether (NY Times).
After a bit of my own research, I found that the term “mounting concerns” is putting it lightly.
Garbage found on a beach – courtesy of Mother Nature Network
It has long been known that plastic products dumped in the world’s oceans represent a deadly threat to marine life. Now, a new study shows that plastic garbage also injures and kills whales and dolphins, too.
According to Mother Nature Network:
Entanglement in plastic bags and fishing gear have long been identified as a threat to sea birds, turtles and smaller cetaceans. For large ocean-dwelling mammals, however, ingestion of such refuse is also emerging as a serious cause of disability and death, experts say.
In 2008, two sperm whales stranded on the California coast were found to have a huge amount — 450 pounds in one alone — of fish nets and other synthetic debris in their guts. One of the 50-foot animals had a ruptured stomach, and the other, half-starved, had a large plug of wadded plastic blocking its digestive tract. Seven male sperm whales stranded on the Adriatic coast of southern Italy in 2009 were stuffed with half-digested squids beaks, fishing hooks, ropes and plastic objects. In 2002, a dead minke whale washed up on the Normandy coast of France had nearly a tonne of plastic in its stomach, including bags from two British supermarkets.
Acidic lake waste water – courtesy of Black Tusk at Wikimedia Commons
From the Sierra Club:
“Coal-fired power plants produce more toxic waste than any other industry in the United States, including the chemical, plastic, and paint manufacturing industries. They spew millions of pounds of pollutants into our waters every year — and they’ll keep at it as long as Reagan-era EPA rules go unchanged.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s strongest proposed approach is sensible, affordable, and already being used by some coal plants. Limiting the amount of pollution in our water will save lives, prevent children from getting sick, and ensure our water is safe to drink and our fish safe to eat. It should be finalized and put into force as soon as possible.
Tell the EPA that we need the strongest possible safeguards against toxic wastewater. We can’t wait another 30 years to get this right!”
To sign this important petition, go to sierraclub.org.
Illuminate 
