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Earthjustice
Vice President of Litigation for Healthy Communities at the environmental law group Earthjustice; former senior advisor to the administrator for Environmental Justice at the Environmental Protection Agency
PROFILE
Lisa Garcia
Guest
FROM Lisa Garcia
To the Point
Public Health and Public Accountability The Environmental Protection Agency was established during the Nixon Administration 45 years ago to protect human health and the environment, but recent cases from Michigan to West Virginia to California have raised questions about whether it's up to the job. It's accused of dragging its feet and failing to warn the public about poisoned water supplies and massive emissions of greenhouse gases. Does it lack authority, resources and leadership -- or simple competence?
To the Point
Coal, Clean Air and Presidential Power Mercury, which damages the brains and nervous systems of children from the time they're in the womb, is just one of the toxic pollutants from coal-fired power plants. New EPA regulations would require high-tech scrubbers to limit emissions. Arguments before the US Supreme Court today pitted the coal industry against the Environmental Protection Agency. Twenty states joined the opposition to power-plant regulation, while 17 other states said it's needed. But does the Clean Air Act require the agency to balance the potential health benefits against the cost of the technology? Did the justices provide any clues about rulings to come on Obamacare and actions against climate change?
Recommended
To the Point
Is the threat from Russia missing from the Russia meddling probe? There's much being made about the Trump administration's possible ties with Russia. But the bottom line is Russia's effort to influence American democracy. Do the President and his aides care enough to take action before voters go back to the polls?
To the Point
What happens when America retreats from the world? Is President Trump taking his "America First" agenda to extremes, withdrawing the country from the international stage on trade and climate change, distancing America from its traditional allies across the Atlantic and even threatening to physically isolate the country through the building of a wall along its southern border? León Krauze guest hosts.
To the Point
Who's to blame for the opioid crisis? Some of the lawyers who took on Big Tobacco are now going after Big Pharma. It’s all about the deadly epidemic of opioid use. Are the drug companies to blame? What about the users? Later, on today’s Talking Point: making sense of Britain’s upset election.