Kids and Construction Workers Face Risks, but the Interior Department Is Down for Dogs
Poisons for kids. Trump draws a red line at poisoning Syrian children, but it’s another story for America’s kids. Two environmental groups have filed a complaint against Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency. Industry stooge and EPA head Scott Pruitt sided with an insecticide company when it came time to decide whether to ban the insecticide chlorpyrifos which lowers children’s IQs. Pruitt overruled the agency’s chemical safety experts.
Toxic air. The Trump administration says construction workers must keep breathing toxic air until Sept. 23. The Occupational Health and Safety Administration said April 6 that it will not enforce the air standard, intended to keep workers from developing fatal lung diseases, until the September date, ensuring more workers will get silica in their lungs and die early. More details are available at the Confined Space blog.
Dog-Friendly. Interior Department. Trump’s secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke, the guy who is presiding over Republican efforts to kill off our endangered species, has decided to make his department a more millennial-friendly place to work. Zinke told reporters he is going to let employees bring their dogs to work for a Puppy Day. Maybe Zinke should check with the Ag Department which made it more difficult to check the breeding history of those puppies by closing off online inspection reports. The USDA has said it is reviewing the records and reposting at least some of them. The Animal Legal Defense Fund went to court to try to get the records restored.
Ivory imports. Don Young, the same Republican congressman who helped make it legal for hunters to kill hibernating bears in Alaska, now wants to roll back U.S. restrictions on importing ivory. Young (R-Alaska) sponsored H.R. 226 which would relax limits imposed by former President Barack Obama on importing ivory.