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News Release | U.S. PIRG | Financial Reform

Joint Statement: Transfer of CFPB Consumer Response Unit Offers No Clear Benefit

This week, OMB Director Mick Mulvaney, now also acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, made several concerning "administrative changes," including to move the Consumer Response Office, responsible for handling consumer complaints and managing the Bureau's public consumer complaint database, which U.S. PIRG has relied on for 11 (so far) analytic studies of the consumer financial marketplace. We issued the following joint statement, along with Americans for Financial Reform and Consumer Action.

News Release | U.S.PIRG | Financial Reform

Statement on Equifax’s Lock & Alert Product Announcement

Our statement on the today's launch by Equifax of Lock & Alert, a service that will let consumers lock and unlock their Equifax credit reports indefinitely for free to stop new account identity theft. This service, similar to state mandated credit freezes, only blocks access to Equifax credit reports, not credit reports at the other two bureaus, Experian and TransUnion. U.S. PIRG's advice: Blocking access to your credit reports at all three national credit bureaus remains the best action consumers can take after the Equifax breach, whether they were affected by it or not.

Blog Post | Public Health

Carcinogens in our kids’ soccer fields? A local mom’s take | Dev Gowda

Leslie Billings, a Chicago mom, has been taking an active role in her community about the dangers of carcinogens in soccer fields’ artificial turf. CBS Chicago recently did a story featuring Leslie about parents investigating the safety of using tire materials in their kids' fields. Kids should be playing in safe and healthy environments, and parents shouldn’t have to worry about chemicals in the turf when they drop their kids off at soccer practice. Below is a snippet provided to me by Leslie:

News Release | U.S. PIRG | Financial Reform

U.S. PIRG Urges Consumers to Get Free Credit Freeze by January 31st Deadline

Ahead of three changes to what Equifax is offering consumers following its breach of 145 million consumer records, U.S. PIRG is urging consumers to get free credit freezes with Equifax by January 31st if they haven’t already.

News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Public Health, Antibiotics, Food

New Campaign Calls On McDonald’s To Hold The Antibiotics From Their Meat Supply Chain

The consumer and public health advocacy organization U.S. PIRG Education Fund is calling on McDonald’s to commit to a concrete timeline to phase out the routine use of medically important antibiotics in its beef and pork supply chains.

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News Release | Public Health, Consumer Protection

Agency votes to begin rulemaking process to protect American children, firefighters from hazardous flame retardant chemicals

Today, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) took three critical steps toward protecting consumers and firefighters from the hazards posed by a class of flame retardant chemicals (known as “organohalogens”). The CPSC directed the Commission’s staff to begin the rulemaking process to ban the sale of four categories of consumer products if they contain these chemicals. Once again, the CPSC has made an important action for consumers.

News Release | U.S. PIRG | Public Health

Report: EPA Considering Limiting Dicamba Herbicide, as More Farmers Report Crop Damage

Officials at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) allegedly suggested on a phone call that the agency is considering limiting the spraying of the dicamba herbicide. U.S. PIRG is in support of any EPA policy proposal that would limit or ban the use of this pesticide.

News Release | Consumer Protection

Today’s Equifax News Beyond Troubling, Investigations an Important Step - Congress Should Make Credit Freezes Free

Statement by Mike Litt at the U.S. PIRG Education Fund, on news that Equifax failed to fix its security vulnerabilities.

News Release | Public Health, Consumer Protection

Statement on Unilever Starting to Disclose Fragrances via SmartLabel

Statement from U.S. PIRG Education Fund Toxics Advocate Dev Gowda on Unilever Starting to Disclose Fragrances via SmartLabel

News Release | Public Health, Consumer Protection

High Levels of Lead Found in Fidget Spinners

WITI FOX6 News in Milwaukee recently tested certain fidget spinners for lead and according to the lab results, four fidget spinners bought from high-profile online and retail stores contained alarmingly high levels of lead. One fidget spinner contained a part that was found to be more than 400 times the legal limit for lead.

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Report | U.S. PIRG | Consumer Protection

We Urge CFPB To Provide Mobile Financial Protections

Along with the Center for Digital Democracy, our co-investigator on a series of projects related to "big data" and financial opportunity, we've filed detailed comments to the CFPB regarding the need for strong consumer protections as more and more consumers use mobile financial services. We argue that "mobile technologies and services pose both opportunities and risks to consumers, their privacy, and to the kinds and price of services they are offered."

Report | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Public Health

Weak Medicine

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria infect more than 2 million people per year in the United States, causing more than 23,000 deaths. State governments, the FDA and other branches of the federal government should take steps to protect human health from the antibiotic-resistant bacteria that can develop on factory farms.

Report | U.S. PIRG Ed Fund & Citizens for Tax Justice | Budget, Tax

Offshore Shell Games 2014

Tax loopholes encouraged more than 70 percent of Fortune 500 companies to maintain subsidiaries in offshore tax havens as of 2013, according to “Offshore Shell Games,” released today by the U.S. PIRG Education Fund and Citizens For Tax Justice. Collectively, the companies reported booking nearly $2 trillion offshore for tax purposes, with just 30 companies accounting for 62 percent of the total, or $1.2 trillion.

Report | WISPIRG Foundation | Transportation

Driving Wisconsin’s ‘Brain Drain’

How Outdated Transportation Policies Undermine Wisconsin’s Ability to Attract and Retain Young Talent for Tomorrow’s Economic Prosperity

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

The Unfriendly Skies

Consolidation in the airline industry, along with pressures created by new security rules and the recent high cost of aviation gasoline, has changed the way we fly. It seems as if every consumer has an airline travel story—how they were trapped on the tarmac, tricked by fees, missed their connection, or lost their bag.

What many consumers don’t know is that they do have a number of new rights as well as a right to complain, both to the airline and to the government.

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Blog Post | Public Health, Food

A nationwide call: KFC, help save antibiotics! | Anya Vanecek

Over eighty organizations and hundreds of consumers launched a call for KFC to switch to selling chicken raised without routine antibiotics.

Blog Post | Public Health

Five Things You Should Know About DuPont Chemical Company | Anna Low-Beer

DuPont Chemical Company knew it was polluting communities with a toxic chemical, but kept it quiet for decades. Here's what else you need to know about the industry giant.

Blog Post | Public Health

Is your daily routine toxic? | Anna Low-Beer

Because of a lack of regulation, many cosmetics and personal care products contain potentially toxic ingredients, like formaldehyde and lead acetate. What toxic chemicals might you encounter as you go about your daily routine?

Blog Post | Consumer Protection

30 Years of "Trouble in Toyland," 30 Years of Safety Improvements | Anna Low-Beer

Every year, U.S. PIRG Education Fund releases Trouble in Toyland, a report on toy safety which examines toys bought at major national retailers, looking for safety hazards including toxic toys, choking hazards, labeling violations, powerful magnets, and excessibely loud toys. We continue to find these hazards on store shelves, which indicates the need for continued vigilance and adequate enforcement of safety regulations. But despite lingering dangers, in the last 30 years, we've come a long way in terms of both policy and compliance with standards.

Blog Post | Consumer Protection

Industry Tries to Toy with our Toy Report | Dev Gowda

It's mid-November, which for the general American population means that pumpkin-spice everything is all the rage, but for U.S. PIRG Education Fund staff, it means that our annual Trouble in Toyland report release is just around the corner. Apparently, the Toy Industry Association is also aware of our upcoming toy safety report.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

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