All Resources

WaterWebster.org

WaterWebster.org informs readers around the world of important drinking water and wastewater developments and helps ordinary people everywhere find solutions to their safe drinking water problems by connecting them to reports, research, maps and educational information, as well as news summaries and original reporting. Free of charge.

Toward a Just and Sustainable Solar Energy Industry

In January 2009, Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition (SVTC) released their report documenting and analyzing the environmental and health hazards of solar panel systems in a supposed "win-win" solution to global warming. Read the report for more information about the health and safety concerns as well as recommendations for building a just and sustainable solar energy industry.

Statement on Environmental Justice and Stimulus

This website offers a vision statement on Stimulating Environmental Justice: How the States Can Use Federal Recovery Funds to Build a Just and Sustainable Economy, as well as Recommendations and a state advocacy-focused Stimulus Resource Guide.

National Healthy Housing Policy Summit

Policies, programs and practices to create healthier housing for America's families.

The Price of Pollution: Cost Estimates of Environmentally Related Disease in Oregon

Oregonians spend at least $1.57 billion annually on preventable disease caused by pollution. Numerous studies have established the links between environmental pollution and disease and disability, such as the connection between air pollution and asthma, the connection between exposure to chemicals like benzene and the development of cancer. Typically, decision makers consider only the upfront costs of implementing environmental health protection measures designed to reduce pollution, ignoring the financial impacts of inaction. The Oregon Environmental Council evaluated recent data to determine the price of pollution in terms of avoidable health costs for several specific diseases in Oregon that are linked to pollution. Direct costs such as hospitalization and indirect costs such as special needs education were included in our evaluation. Per year cost estimates of specific diseases in Oregon that are attributable to pollution (in proportion to the environmentally triggered incidence of these diseases) include: • Adult + childhood asthma: 30.0 million • Childhood asthma: $27.7 million • Cardiovascular disease: $342.5 million • Adult + childhood cancer: $131.0 million • Childhood cancer: $9.2 million • Lead poisoning: $878.0 million • Birth defects: $2.8 million • Neurobehavioral disorders: $187.1 million

Oregon Environmental Council's Pollution in People Report

In 2007, ten Oregon women and men volunteered to have their bodies tested in a study of chemical pollution in Oregonians. These Oregonians represent a diverse group of people from rural and urban areas throughout the state. Unfortunately, one thing they probably share with all Oregonians is the unwelcome presence of toxic chemicals in their bodies.

Toward a Just & Sustainable Solar Energy Industry

This white paper on the solar energy industry (released January 17, 2009) outlines the health and safety issues faced by the solar photovoltaic industry. The report draws attention to the solar industry which is poised for exponential growth and is at the forefront of a multi-billion dollar "clean" and "green" movement. Yet, little attention is being paid to the impact on the environment and the health of those working in the industry. SVTC wants to see a solar industry that lives up to its green image, one that will reduce and eventually eliminate toxic chemicals used in production. We also hope the industry will become a source of safe green jobs from production to installation and recycling.

Regulating Emerging Technologies in Silicon Valley and Beyond

In an industrial gold rush that mirrors the semiconductor and biotech booms, Silicon Valley is rapidly emerging as the center for a host of new nanotechnologies. Nanotech is more than a single new industrial sector - it is transforming fields as diverse as electronics, medicine, environmental remediation, and solar energy, and it is already ubiquitous in a wide range of consumer products. This report provides a case study of the regulatory landscape faced by Santa Clara County in the 1980s and traces the clear and alarming parallels to today’s health and environmental regulations for nanotechnology.

Keeping Children Safe from Pesticides

The Red River Valley in Northwestern Minnesota and Eastern North Dakota is comprised of acres and acres of farm fields. Long a question of rural health is the issue of pesticide use. Keeping Children Safe from Pesticides is an online photo exhibit examining attitudes that women in three Red River Valley communities have about pesticide use. Questions arise in their minds about the long- and short-term health of themselves and of their children. Visit the website to see their images and thoughts about this emerging, thought provoking topic.

Richard Liroff, "Is Your Company Ready for CPR?"

A blog posted on February 19, 2009 at greenbiz.com, urges companies to get ready for Chemical Policy Reform and to join in progressive corporate/NGO efforts to accomplish it.