Health and Public Safety
July 3, 2014 -
Most Southern states have opted not to expand the Medicaid health care program for the poor and disabled under the Affordable Care Act. A new report breaks down exactly what that means in terms of the impact on Southerners' health and quality of life.
June 26, 2014 -
North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory gave a radio interview last week in which he made a number of misleading claims about coal ash and his administration's response to Duke Energy's toxic pollution. With the issue still at the top of the legislature's agenda, we examine those claims and set the record straight.
June 23, 2014 -
A new report looks at industrial pollution releases into the nation's rivers and finds that waterways across the South face especially toxic contamination -- and would benefit from efforts to strengthen the Clean Water Act.
June 20, 2014 -
The North Carolina Senate is considering a bill to address Duke Energy's coal ash pollution, but it fails to go far enough to protect communities from the health hazards of the toxic waste.
June 9, 2014 -
Last year a photo of an abortion-rights protester being handed a plate of cookies by North Carolina's governor went viral. Last week she responded by taking McCrory some pastries herself -- cupcakes designed to draw attention to the state's coal ash pollution problem.
June 9, 2014 -
Scientists say water samples from a Texas man's well show identical chemical signatures from nearby gas drilling operations -- the first time a conclusive link has been found between fracking and aquifer contamination.
June 5, 2014 -
The EPA unveiled a rule this week requiring power plants to stop using the Earth's atmosphere as an open sewer for dumping carbon pollution. While the rule doesn't go far enough to halt dangerous global warming, it will reduce health-damaging pollution and save thousands of lives -- but some states vow to fight it.
