Cross-posted from the Natural Resources Defense Council. Make no mistake about it: The Clean Air Act is under attack from Congress. Indeed, in the U.S. Senate voting is imminent on several amendments to a non-related small business bill that would ditch, delay, or dilute the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's ability to update and enforce air pollution standards. The good news is that those who pick polluters over the health of Americans are continuing to get pummeled on America's newspaper opinion pages. These pieces say it best: "An Assault on the Environment," Albany Times Union editorial The new House Republican majority likes to say that …

Plutonium* has escaped the fuel rods in the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and has now been found on the beach adjacent. Workers are struggling to keep radioactive wastewater from reaching the ocean, where radiation has already begun to spread. Rumor has it that the Japanese government is so frustrated with the performance of TEPCO, the power company responsible, that it's considering temporarily nationalizing it. Meanwhile, workers at the plant have to continuously douse the reactor cores and fuel rods with water, while simultaneously figuring out how to contain and dispose of the cooling water once it’s irradiated. If they …

Here’s a novel concept: Cause people to die, get charged with manslaughter. It doesn’t usually work that way with corporations, which apparently get all the benefits of being legally considered “people” with none of the consequences. But federal officials are looking into manslaughter charges for BP managers who presided over the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The explosion killed 11 workers -- not to mention causing a record-setting oil spill that ruined countless livelihoods. And according to anonymous sources, top executives may be held responsible, charged with either involuntary manslaughter or “seaman’s manslaughter” (which carries a steeper penalty). The case would depend …