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News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

House Committee report confirms Equifax botched data security and response

Today, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee released the results of its investigation into the 2017 Equifax data breach. Mike Litt, consumer campaign director for the U.S. PIRG Education Fund, issued the following statement, which includes steps that consumers can take to protect themselves from identity theft.

News Release | U.S. PIRG | Consumer Protection

New Report: As Senate confirms Kraninger to head CFPB, state and local authorities can fill the void to protect consumers

Below is a press release for our report showing how states can fill the void in consumer protections at the CFPB, following Kathy Kraninger's confirmation as director this afternoon.

News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Public Health

New car seats made without toxic flame-retardant chemicals

Car seats are supposed to keep our youngest children safe. But though they may protect infants and toddlers during accidents, car seats have a history of containing toxic flame-retardant chemicals.

That’s finally changing.

Today, a coalition of groups including U.S. PIRG Education Fund and the Ecology Center’s “Healthy Stuff” program released test results on car seats in a new report, Hidden Hazards:Flame Retardants and PFAS in Children’s Car Seats. The authors collaborated with researchers from Indiana University and the University of Notre Dame.

News Release | U.S. PIRG | Consumer Protection

The Marriott breach: why it’s bad and what you can do to protect yourself

Today, Marriott announced a data breach affecting up to 500 million customers of Marriott’s Starwood hotel properties. Mike Litt, consumer campaign director for the U.S. PIRG Education Fund, issued the following statement and steps consumers can take to protect themselves.

News Release | U.S. PIRG | Antibiotics

Poultry giant Sanderson Farms to end preventative use of medically-important antibiotics

Today, Sanderson Farms, Inc., the third-largest chicken producer in the United States, announced that it will stop using medically-important antibiotics to prevent disease in its chickens by March 1, 2019. Instead, as recommended by medical professionals, Sanderson Farms will only use the drugs to treat sick animals or to control a disease outbreak.

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News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

House Committee report confirms Equifax botched data security and response

Today, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee released the results of its investigation into the 2017 Equifax data breach. Mike Litt, consumer campaign director for the U.S. PIRG Education Fund, issued the following statement, which includes steps that consumers can take to protect themselves from identity theft.

News Release | U.S. PIRG | Consumer Protection

New Report: As Senate confirms Kraninger to head CFPB, state and local authorities can fill the void to protect consumers

Below is a press release for our report showing how states can fill the void in consumer protections at the CFPB, following Kathy Kraninger's confirmation as director this afternoon.

News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Public Health

New car seats made without toxic flame-retardant chemicals

Car seats are supposed to keep our youngest children safe. But though they may protect infants and toddlers during accidents, car seats have a history of containing toxic flame-retardant chemicals.

That’s finally changing.

Today, a coalition of groups including U.S. PIRG Education Fund and the Ecology Center’s “Healthy Stuff” program released test results on car seats in a new report, Hidden Hazards:Flame Retardants and PFAS in Children’s Car Seats. The authors collaborated with researchers from Indiana University and the University of Notre Dame.

News Release | U.S. PIRG | Consumer Protection

The Marriott breach: why it’s bad and what you can do to protect yourself

Today, Marriott announced a data breach affecting up to 500 million customers of Marriott’s Starwood hotel properties. Mike Litt, consumer campaign director for the U.S. PIRG Education Fund, issued the following statement and steps consumers can take to protect themselves.

News Release | U.S. PIRG | Antibiotics

Poultry giant Sanderson Farms to end preventative use of medically-important antibiotics

Today, Sanderson Farms, Inc., the third-largest chicken producer in the United States, announced that it will stop using medically-important antibiotics to prevent disease in its chickens by March 1, 2019. Instead, as recommended by medical professionals, Sanderson Farms will only use the drugs to treat sick animals or to control a disease outbreak.

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Result | Food

Researching How Tax Dollars Become Twinkies

U.S. PIRG research found that since 1995, $17 billion in agricultural subsidies have gone to corn syrup and other junk food ingredients. That’s enough to buy 2.8 billion Twinkies, and vastly more than has gone to apples and other fresh fruits and vegetables.

Report | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Transportation

Paying for Electric Buses

Most of America’s school and transit buses run on diesel, a highly-polluting fuel, but there is a better option. All-electric buses are here, and they’re cleaner, healthier and save money for transit agencies, school districts and bus contractors to run in the long-term.

Report | U.S. PIRG Education Fund

A Citizen's Guide to Reducing Energy Waste

The future is here—but we’re living in the past.

Clean energy from the sun and wind can provide for our energy needs without the global consequences of pollution, yet we’re still producing and consuming virtually all of our energy in ways that do lasting damage to our environment, our health and our climate. To make matters worse, much of the dirty energy we produce goes to waste.

Report | Higher Ed

ACCESS DENIED: The New Face of the Textbook Monopoly

Across institutions and majors, an average of 32% of courses included access codes among the required course materials. At institutional bookstores, the average cost of an access code sold solo – i.e., not bundled with a textbook or primary course material of any form – was $100.24.

Report | Higher Ed

ACCESS DENIED: The New Face of the Textbook Monopoly

Across institutions and majors, an average of 32% of courses included access codes among the required course materials. At institutional bookstores, the average cost of an access code sold solo – i.e., not bundled with a textbook or primary course material of any form – was $100.24.

Report | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

Equifax Breach: One Year Later

A year ago tomorrow, Equifax announced that hackers had breached its system and accessed the data of nearly 150 million U.S. consumers. To mark the anniversary of that notorious announcement, we are releasing a report containing suggestions on how state and federal authorities and consumers can safeguard personal information.

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Blog Post | Consumer Protection

Update to How You Can Change Your Experian Credit Freeze PIN | Mike Litt

Our consumer campaign director provides an update to how you can change your Experian credit freeze PIN after a security flaw was discovered two weeks ago.

Blog Post | Safe Energy

#EEDay2018 - States Can Lead | Abe Scarr

The cheapest, cleanest energy is the energy we don’t use in the first place. Whether you care about improving air quality, fending off the worst impacts of global warming, or simply saving money, energy efficiency and conservation are critical.

Blog Post | Higher Ed

LibreTexts wins inaugural Open Textbook Pilot grant | Kaitlyn Vitez

Big news (and savings) for students.

Blog Post | Transportation

To Drive or Not to Drive? Changing Transportation Habits in a Car-Centric Country | Matt Casale

Here's a guest post from our friend Meryl Compton at Frontier Group. Meryl writes about the challenges of deciding whether or not to ditch a car in a car-centric country.

Blog Post | Health Care

Yes Doctor, But How Much Will It Cost? Potential Benefits of Health Care Price Transparency | Elizabeth Ridlington

Here are two things you probably don’t know about colonoscopies. First, they’re one of the most commonly performed screening exams. Millions of us get colonoscopies each year, but we don’t like to talk about it. Second, you probably don’t know how much a colonoscopy costs, even if you are a patient who has scheduled an exam. That’s because colonoscopies are like most health care services: patients don’t know the cost in advance of receiving care.

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We Found Lead In Fidget Spinners

Our research reveals some fidget spinners sold at Target could contain as much as 300 times the federal limit for lead in children's products.

Learn more

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Why are health experts alarmed?

More than 93% of doctors are concerned about the overuse of antibiotics on factory farms, yet factory farms still use up to 70% of all antibiotics sold in the U.S.

Learn Why
Reclaim our Democracy

Our democracy is based on the principle of one person, one vote, but our research shows the increasing dominance of big money in our elections.

Get the facts
PROTECT YOURSELF

We've created consumer tips to help protect you from unfair bank fees, identity theft, loan rip-offs and more.

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