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FDA has taken an important step by lowering the IRL for lead. It needs to use this IRL more strategically in establishing action levels for lead in juice and for other children’s foods. It should also use the 97.5th percentile of exposure in establishing IRLs for other toxic elements addressed in Closer to Zero. The post Over 7 million children exceed FDA’s new daily maximum intake level of lead first appeared on EDF Health.

Join the EDF Safer Chemicals team and our academic partners from the University of Maryland and the University of Rochester as we debut a new tool, the Cumulative Risk Assessment Framework, to support implementation of the Toxic Substances Control Act.

Tom Neltner, Senior Director, Safer Chemicals and Maricel Maffini, EDF consultant This blog is the fifth in our Broken GRAS series where we explore the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) system for novel chemicals added to food. In the spring, folks who ordered from a company that sells pre-assembled smoothies …

EDF’s new publication, Technologies for Climate-Resilient Fisheries, identifies four primary climate challenges for oceans and the technologies available to meet them.

Natural gas buyers have strong influence over supply chains, but have yet to expand contract terms to include emissions intensity. Investors can influence the market toward lower-emissions gas.

President Biden will make an appearance at the iconic Detroit Auto Show this week, where he’s sure to tout the historic jolt the Inflation Reduction Act will provide the electric car market. But the incentives of the IRA will reach beyond the Teslas, Mustang Mach-Es and Ford F-150 Lightnings that will get a significant boost …

This blog was coauthored by Maureen Lackner, Huong Nguyen and Aaron Wolfe. New EDF Economics Discussion Paper describes the instrument options available to policy makers in both oil and gas producing as well as importing countries. Policy makers around the world are increasingly recognizing the need to drastically reduce methane emissions in parallel with carbon …

Last week, President Biden signed into law the largest investment to combat climate change ever passed by Congress. The nearly $369 billion in climate and clean energy provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) include grants and tax credits that will bring down emissions and set the long-term investment certainty to secure the transition to …

The times demand nothing short of a comprehensive rethinking of how we use our quickly dwindling water resources — while we still have an opening to act.

Last week, Healthy Babies Bright Futures (HBBF) released a report investigating heavy metals levels in rice, cereals,  juices, and other common foods. It found no evidence that homemade baby food has lower heavy metal levels than store-bought brands. In fact, heavy metal levels varied widely by food type, not by how it was made. And,

President Biden’s $370-b plan is crucial; it is about US squaring up to threats of climate change, and promoting climate justice

New legislation shows that the U.S. is serious about reducing climate risks and expanding opportunities in rural communities. The post To address climate change, U.S. makes historic investment in rural America first appeared on Growing Returns.

With its $369 billion in climate and clean energy investments, the Inflation Reduction Act is the largest, most ambitious climate legislation Congress has ever passed.

By Neaaz Mozumder, Investment Stewardship Analyst, LGIM America and Andrew Howell, Director of Investor Influence, Environmental Defense Fund A year ago, LGIM America (LGIMA) and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) announced a partnership to help “turbocharge investor leadership on climate change” and reduce emissions across high-emitting industries. Our shared plan focused on encouraging business leaders to …

Exploring research findings of interviews and surveys with companies navigating internal and external obstacles on their path to net zero.

This post was authored by EDF policy experts. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Joe Manchin on July 27 announced the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 — an agreement that will improve Americans’ lives by fighting inflation, lowering healthcare costs, and making significant down payments on energy security and climate progress. If passed by …

This post was co-authored by Natalie Hurd, Western states climate policy intern at EDF. The Supreme Court’s recent ruling to constrain EPA’s ability to limit climate pollution from existing power plants took away a critical tool to fight climate change at the federal level, making state-level action more important than ever. On the West Coast …

Two new EDF studies suggest that tropical forest jurisdictions that engage in emissions trading for conserving their forests at large scales could generate significant revenues, and promote more ambitious, but attainable, climate goals.

Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the coal industry and its allies to curtail the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to tackle climate pollution from existing fossil fuel power plants. This setback makes action in Michigan and in states across the country – where governors and regulators have powerful tools to …

Tom Neltner, Senior Director, Safer Chemicals This is the third in our Unleaded Juice blog series exploring how the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sets limits for toxic elements like lead, arsenic, and cadmium in food and the implications for the agency’s Closer To Zero program. FDA’s move to establish action levels on lead in juice …

Maria Doa, Ph.D., Senior Director, Chemicals Policy EPA has made the important and long-awaited decision to propose banning nearly all remaining uses of chrysotile asbestos in the United States. EDF submitted comments supporting this proposed ban (with some caveats) because of the high risk of cancer and fatal respiratory diseases for individuals who import, process,

By Christopher Free and Willow Battista Earlier this spring, 1.5 million livestock died in the Horn of Africa. The immediate culprit was a severe, prolonged drought spurred by the growing effects of climate change. It’s a sign of weakening food systems in a warming world. But while land-based food systems are carbon-intensive and increasingly unstable,

Dr. Beia Spiller is a Fellow and Transportation Program Director at Resources for the Future. She had previously served as a Lead Senior Economist at EDF. This post is the final in a series dedicated to the future of the electricity sector and new scholarship supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Each post is …

Scientists agree that agricultural soils can be part of the climate solution, but their estimates about how much soils could slow warming vary widely. The post Scientists agree: Soil health matters but climate mitigation potential still uncertain first appeared on Growing Returns.

By Larissa Koehler and Alice Henderson This week, the Environmental Protection Agency is hearing from scientists, mothers, healthcare professionals, public health and environmental advocates – including EDF – and many others who submitted comments in support of California clean truck standards. As EPA works toward finalizing federal heavy-duty emission standards proposed earlier this year, the …