Author: KJ McElrath

EPA Head Pruitt Picks Corporate Trial Lawyer for the Fossil Fuel Industry as Agency’s Top Cop

EPA Head Pruitt Picks Corporate Trial Lawyer for the Fossil Fuel Industry as Agency’s Top Cop

Posted by | Jun 15, 2017 | , |

Since the beginning of Trump’s tragicomic Reign of Error, he has made it his mission to appoint people to head federal agencies who are hell-bound and determined to destroy those same agencies and thwart their purposes at ever turn. Case in point: former Oklahoma Attorney General and State Senator Scott Pruitt, who opposes (among other things) environmental regulations and the EPA’s “activist agenda” – and is a climate denier to boot.  Who better for Trump to head the EPA? Well, hold on to your hats: Pruitt has chosen the fossil fuel industry’s go-to guy when those pesky “Big Gummint”...

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Republican Secrecy Sets America Down a Dangerous Path

Republican Secrecy Sets America Down a Dangerous Path

Posted by | Jun 15, 2017 | |

In the months since the Trump Administration took over, corruption has risen to levels not seen since the 1920s. Furthermore, they aren’t even attempting to hide it anymore. Although it is not the first time the GOP-controlled Congress has attempted to shove bills through in the dead of night, the recent drive to pass the latest “Trumpcare” scheme through the Senate lends a whole new definition to the word “egregious.” Opportunities to read the bill and comment have been denied not only to the constituents these people are supposed to represent, but to Congressional Democrats as well. The bill...

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Puerto Rico Voted Overwhelmingly For Statehood – Why That Doesn’t Matter Much

Puerto Rico Voted Overwhelmingly For Statehood – Why That Doesn’t Matter Much

Posted by | Jun 14, 2017 | , |

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is in deep economic trouble, due largely to decades of well-meaning, but ultimately misguided U.S. policy – and exacerbated by the reckless behavior of financial institutions such as Santander and UBS. One way out for the island would be bankruptcy – but because Puerto Rico is not a state, its communities are ineligible for such protection under U.S. bankruptcy law. A recent attempt to pass a bill that would have allowed Puerto Rico to file for bankruptcy was shot down by the GOP-controlled Congress last year. It goes without saying that any such bill...

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DuPont Has Been Replacing C8 With GenX. Now North Carolina Water Supplies are Contaminated

DuPont Has Been Replacing C8 With GenX. Now North Carolina Water Supplies are Contaminated

Posted by | Jun 13, 2017 | , , |

In 2009, DuPont began replacing the chemical PFOA – better known as C8 – with a new concoction known as “GenX” after the company was given the go-ahead by the Environmental Protection Agency. The new chemical, now used in the manufacture of non-stick cookware, is touted by DuPont’s corporate offspring Chemours as a “more sustainable solution” with a “favorable toxicological profile and very rapid bioelimination.” Of course, the few health studies on the effects of GenX appear to have been generated by the manufacturers – and we know what those are worth. Larry Cahoon, who teaches biology at the...

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Wells Fargo Rated the Least Respected Corporation in America

Wells Fargo Rated the Least Respected Corporation in America

Posted by | Jun 13, 2017 | , |

A recent survey of money managers over a six-week period by Barron’s published a survey of 100 U.S. companies,  ranking them from the most to the least respected. Leading the list were tech companies, such as Google parent Alphabet and Apple as well as online retailer Amazon. At the bottom of the heap is (drum roll, please) Wells Fargo. Considering Wells Fargo’s shenanigans in recent years, this comes as little surprise. Back in the spring of 2014, as the largest mortgage servicing company in the nation, Wells Fargo was caught with its pants down when it was discovered to...

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