“The only safe amount of lead for children is zero,” said Jen Duggan, Vice President and Director of CLF Vermont. “This law puts Vermont ahead of every other state in protecting our kids from being poisoned. Lead has no place in our drinking water, and I’m so grateful for the work our legislative champions have done to get the lead out of schools and childcare centers.”
Stop plastic from harming our air, water, and health.
New England has a housing crisis – and it’s impacting our health. These are the findings of the latest County Health Rankings, a project of the University of Wisconsin and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The study found that housing affordability and quality are major influencers of health here in New England.
This commentary by a Vermont mom in Saint George is being published anonymously to protect the privacy of her child. No level of lead is safe. Vermont legislators are right now considering legislation that would require all schools and childcare centers to test for lead and fix the problem if it’s found. When our daughter… Continue reading Living with Lead Poisoning: One Mother’s Story
“Vermonters shouldn’t have to wonder if they’re being poisoned every time they turn on their tap,” said Jen Duggan, Vice President and Director of CLF Vermont. “Until the federal government wakes up and takes these toxic chemicals off the market, it’s up to states to protect us. This law is a huge first step in ensuring Vermonters have safe, clean drinking water.”
Here in New England, we rely too much on fracked gas to heat and power our homes and businesses. If we want to avoid a climate catastrophe, we need to end fossil fuel use by 2050.
Vermont is more than halfway through this legislative session, and there is still no clear path for funding. Our legislature has promised to fund clean water initiatives for years, yet they have kicked the funding can down the road again and again.
Plastics are everywhere, and they aren’t all recyclable. Until there’s a new system that creates a structure for using less plastic from the beginning, here’s a handy guide to what can and can’t go in the bin.
“For decades, the EPA has stood idly by while manufacturers produced poisonous PFAS chemicals that ended up in our drinking water,” said Jen Duggan, Vice President and Director of CLF Vermont. “It’s now up to state leaders to clean up this mess, and Vermont is clearly up to the challenge. This bill is a critical step forward in the process to repair the damage that has been done and prevent future harm from these toxic forever chemicals.”
American recycling is in a crisis. But this crisis is a chance to create a better system for tomorrow. Today’s products and their packaging are often made from plastic and designed for disposal. By holding the producers of those products accountable for their polluting products, we can create a system that’s better for our communities and better for our planet.
