Earlier today, the Environmental Protection Agency took the unusual action of issuing a motor vehicle recall for nearly 500,000 Volkswagen and Audi sedans that used software to circumvent emissions tests. In light of this development, our colleagues at Consumer Reports have suspended their rating for two of the cars involved in the recall. [More]
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EPA Wants Car Companies To Test Gas Mileage In Real World
By 7.15.14
Over the last few years, car makers have had to fork over more than $500 million in refunds to customers because of exaggerated fuel economy estimates on new vehicle stickers. In an effort to provide more accurate mileage information to consumers, the Environmental Protection Agency wants car companies to do their mpg testing on the road instead of in the lab. [More]
Ford To Reimburse 200,000 Drivers For Another Batch Of Bad MPG Ratings
By 6.13.14
Less than a year after being slapped on the wrists for posting inaccurate MPG info on its cars, Ford could be on the hook for more than $100 million in payments to around 200,000 drivers of several additional vehicle models that were sold with overstated fuel economy ratings. [More]
Makers Of d-Con Rat Poison Agree To Pull 12 Potentially Dangerous Products
By 6.2.14
For years, makers of mouse and rat poisons in the U.S. have been phasing out in-home rodenticides that use toxic pellets without a so-called “bait station” to contain them, allowing to pellets to scatter around a house, making their way into the mouths of curious kids. In fact, only one company has balked at pulling these potentially dangerous products from shelves; unfortunately, that company is the nation’s largest maker of rat poison. [More]
Flea Collar Makers Agree To Eventually Phase Out Collars Containing Toxic Chemical
By 3.14.14
Facing a lawsuit for allowing manufacturers to produce flea collars containing a pesticide that is a known neurotoxin and carcinogen, the folks at the Environmental Protection Agency, along with two major pet product companies, have agreed to phase out these controversial collars over the next few years. [More]
EPA Sued In Effort To Remove Potentially Toxic Chemicals From Fido’s Flea Collar
By 2.7.14
It is the worst when our furry friends pick up fleas and then bring them into our homes. Except, it’s really not quite the worst. What’s worse? When the flea collar you buy for Fido damages your child’s brain with neurotoxins. [More]
EPA Finds Soup Can From 1997 In Fridge (Which Means No One Stole Guy’s Lunch 16 Years Ago)
By 10.18.13
No one likes cleaning the refrigerator — all those weird coagulations of gunk and crusty debris at the bottom of a seemingly bottomless chasm in between drawers are enough to put off even the most stalwart cleaners. The Environmental Protection Agency is back to work cleaning up the world, but even it has realized it’s been avoiding a nearer cleaning task after finding a 16-year-old can of soup in a fridge at its D.C. headquarters.
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EPA Revises Fuel Mileage Numbers For Ford C-Max In Wake Of Consumer Reports Test
By 8.15.13 — Updated: 8.16.13
Back in December, our pals at the not-so-secret above-ground Consumer Reports auto-testing facility called into question the 47 miles per gallon (highway and city combined) number touted by Ford for its C-Max Hybrid, saying their tests showed a still-respectable but lower-than-advertised 37 mpg. Now, only a mere eight months later, the EPA is also saying that number should be lower. [More]
Transocean Pleads Guilty, Agrees To Pay $1.4 Billion To Settle Charges Related To Gulf Oil Spill
By 1.3.13
Transocean, the offshore drilling company that operated, on BP’s behalf, the ill-fated Deepwater Horizon rig whose collapse resulted in multiple deaths and untold amounts of oil being released into the Gulf of Mexico, has agreed to plead guilty to violating the Clean Water Act and to pay a total of $1.4 billion in civil and criminal fines and penalties. [More]
Ford & EPA Try To Figure Out Why C-Max, Fusion Aren’t Getting Advertised MPG
By 12.14.12
Following last week’s announcement that Consumer Reports’ real-world fuel-economy testing of Ford’s C-Max and Fusion hybrid vehicles showed these cars are not getting the 47 mpg touted by the car maker, both Ford and the Environmental Protection Agency have said they are looking into the matter. [More]
EPA Announces New Fuel Efficiency Standards American Automakers Must Institute By 2025
By 8.28.12
While many American automakers are already shifting toward more fuel-efficient vehicles to please consumers aiming to save at the gas pump, the White House has made an official move in that direction. A new rule announced by the Environmental Protection Agency and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today says the U.S.’ fleet of vehicles must average 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. [More]
Supreme Court Limits EPA's Ability To Enforce Clean Water Act
By 3.21.12
Earlier today, the Supreme Court issued a ruling in a case that has been a hot-button topic for both environmentalists and advocates for the rights of land owners. In the end, the Supremes came down on the side of landowners, allowing them to take legal steps to void Environmental Protection Agency compliance orders. [More]
EPA Announces New Standards To Reduce Mercury Contamination From Power Plant Emissions
By 12.21.11
This morning, the Environmental Protection Agency announced its new Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, a set of national regulations aimed at reducing power plant emissions of mercury and toxic air pollution like arsenic, acid gas, nickel, selenium, and cyanide. [More]
White House Wants Your Car To Get 54.5 MPG By 2025
By 11.16.11
Earlier today, the White House — along with the EPA and DOT — formally announced their proposal to improve fuel economy over the next decade and a half, with the goal of achieving fuel efficiencies equivalent to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. [More]
GM, Chrysler, Toyota Warn That Higher-Ethanol Gas May Void Warranties
By 7.5.11
Even though gasoline containing upward of 15% ethanol content (E15) hasn’t come on the consumer market, the government has already finalized the labels that will be affixed to pumps carrying the fuel, a sign of E15 will likely make it to your local gas station at some point. Now Bloomberg reports that nine automakers, including GM, Chrysler and Toyota have warned regulators that putting E15 in your tank may void your vehicle’s warranty. [More]
New Fuel-Economy Stickers Actually Display Car's Fuel Economy
By 5.25.11
The U.S. Department of Transportation and Environmental Protection Agency have rolled out the biggest redesign of the car window stickers that display a vehicle’s estimated fuel efficiency since the labels were introduced. The new stickers, designed to be easier to read and to provide more information about fuel savings and costs, will be required for all 2013 cars. [More]
Radiation Found In US Milk Supply In Trace Amounts
By 3.31.11
Great, now kids have a new excuse for not drinking their milk: US milk samples from Spokane, Washington have tested positive for a radioactive iodine blown over from Japan, the EPA announced Wednesday. The amounts are small, only 0.8 pico-curies, according to tests taken March 25 by the agency, and are 5,000 times below the FDA’s “intervention level.” [More]
Nissan Leaf Scores 99 MPGe EPA Rating
By 11.23.10
People have been wondering how the EPA would rate the Nissan Leaf. The normal “miles per gallon” didn’t make sense because the car uses electricity, not gas. The results are finally in, and the vehicle has scored a 99 MPGe. That stands for “Miles Per Gallon equivalent.” [More]
