EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced on March 12, 2025, that the agency will undertake 31 sweeping deregulatory actions targeting decades of environmental and public health protections. Zeldin described it as “the biggest deregulatory action in U.S. history” and “the greatest and …
Lee ZeldinEPAEnvironmental Protection Agency (EPA)Donald TrumpNancy Beck+2 moreepaenvironmental-rollbackclimate-crisispollutionpublic-health+4 more
On March 24, 1989, the Exxon Valdez oil tanker ran aground in Prince William Sound, Alaska, spilling 11 million gallons of crude oil and devastating 1,300 miles of coastline. Beyond the immediate environmental catastrophe, Exxon’s response established a template for corporate liability evasion …
On December 3, 1984, a catastrophic gas leak at Union Carbide’s pesticide plant in Bhopal, India killed an estimated 3,800 people immediately and up to 16,000 in the following weeks. Hundreds of thousands suffered long-term health effects. The disaster exposed how multinational corporations …
Union Carbide CorporationWarren AndersonIndian governmentU.S. chemical industryChemical Manufacturers Associationenvironmentalcorporate-negligencepollutionpublic-healthinternational+1 more
On December 11, 1980, President Jimmy Carter signed the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), commonly known as Superfund. While the law represented a landmark response to Love Canal and thousands of toxic waste sites nationwide, industry lobbying had …
Jimmy CarterChemical Manufacturers AssociationAmerican Petroleum InstituteU.S. Chamber of CommerceInsurance industry lobbyistsenvironmentalsuperfundtoxic-wasteregulatory-capturecorporate-lobbying+1 more
On August 7, 1978, President Jimmy Carter declared a federal health emergency at Love Canal, a neighborhood in Niagara Falls, New York built atop a toxic waste dump. The disaster exposed how Hooker Chemical Company had knowingly sold contaminated land for housing development while concealing the …
Hooker Chemical CompanyOccidental PetroleumNiagara Falls Board of EducationLois GibbsJimmy Carter+1 moreenvironmentalpollutioncorporate-coveruptoxic-wastepublic-health+1 more
On October 18, 1972, Congress overrode President Nixon’s veto of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments, known as the Clean Water Act. The overwhelming bipartisan override (52-12 in the Senate, 247-23 in the House) represented a rare defeat for industrial polluters who had lobbied …
Richard NixonEdmund MuskieAmerican Petroleum InstituteChemical Manufacturers AssociationNational Association of Manufacturers+1 moreenvironmentalclean-water-actregulatory-capturecorporate-lobbyingpollution+1 more