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Earth Day 2018: Free the Earth from Plastic Pollution

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Throughout the world, there is an ever-growing problem with plastics and Earth Day 2018 is poised to stop the growth and free the Earth from plastic pollution. That is the focus for Earth Day this year with a goal to end plastic pollution by Earth Day 2020, the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. The Earth Day website is full of ideas, projects, and education that provide tools to making this goal a reality.

Earth Day 2018

Earth Day began in 1970 when millions of people protested the harmful affects from 150 years of industrial development and pollution. Global awareness of the need to make changes was precipitated by a multitude of signs: deadly smog, a decline in biodiversity from pesticides and other pollutants, and a need to protect endangered species. The U.S. Congress and President Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency and passed laws such as the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act.

Since April 22, 1970, Earth Day has been an annual global event. In 2018, it’s expected 1 billion people in 192 countries will participate in this civic-focused day of action – the largest in the world. People come from various civic, political, corporate, governmental, and religious groups to do their part protecting “God’s greatest creations, humans, biodiversity and the planet we all live on,” a quote from Kathleen Rogers, president of Earth Day Network (EDN), the organization leading Earth Day globally.

The use and disposal of plastics have repercussions throughout the world and that is why Earth Day 2018 is targeting plastic pollution this year and ongoing until at least 2020. Plastics poison and injure marine life, disrupt human hormones, pollute oceans, water, and wildlife and as they slowly decompose, create serious problems globally. It is not overstating the danger of their exponential growth to proclaim plastics are threatening Earth’s survival.

End Plastic Pollution, the EDN multi-year campaign

The EDN goals for this campaign are: “ending single-use plastics, promoting alternatives to fossil fuel-based materials, promoting 100 percent recycling of plastics, corporate and government accountability and changing human behavior concerning plastics.”

The EDN End Plastic Pollution campaign has four primary components:

• Lead a grassroots movement to support the adoption of a global framework to regulate plastic pollution;
• Educate, mobilize, and activate citizens across the globe to demand that governments and corporations control and clean up plastic pollution;
• Promote local government regulatory and other efforts to tackle plastic pollution.
• Educate people worldwide to take personal responsibility for plastic pollution by choosing to reject, reduce, reuse and recycle plastics.

How can you help free the earth of plastic pollution?

Educate

Education is a priority to enlighten and pull together people throughout the world to solve this critical problem. From the earliest grades through university, there are lesson plans, activities, and a calculator of your plastic pollution footprint.

Get Involved

Sign up and join the world’s largest environmental movement and receive occasional update emails.

Donate

Support EDN and its mission to broaden, diversify, and mobilize the environmental movement throughout the globe.

Spread the word

Use your social media and other forums to educate and introduce others to ways we all can help clean up our beautiful planet.

If you as an individual or family have plans for an Earth Day activity, register here and “get on the map”. For organizations with a planned activity, register here.

 

 

Popcorn Lung in E-Cigarette Users A Possibility

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According to a Harvard study, a chemical, diacetyl, may cause a condition called Popcorn Lung in e-cigarette users. Popcorn lung was first observed in the early 2000s when workers at a microwave popcorn factory were sickened by breathing the chemical, used because of its buttery flavor.

Popcorn lung in e-cigarette users

E-cigarettes come in many flavors, making them appealing to teenagers as well as adults. Most users think these are a healthy substitute for smoking cigarettes. Unfortunately, they are misguided. The same chemical, diacetyl, that produced irreversible bronchiolitis obliterans and even death to workers in popcorn factories, is present in many of the flavored ‘juices’ of e-cigarettes.

Harvard researchers found that 39 of 51 e-cigarette brands contained diacetyl and, of the two other harmful chemicals present, 23 included 2,3 pentanedione and 46 contained acetoin. In total, approximately 92 percent of e-cigarettes tested had at least one of the three chemicals.

What is popcorn lung?

The scientific disease name, bronchiolitis obliterans, is actually a scarring of the lungs’ small air sacs. This scarring thickens and narrows the airways. Though the common disease name, popcorn lung, sounds harmless, it definitely is not. The devastating results are coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath – similar symptoms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) – and can lead to death.

Why is this legal?

Once the effects on popcorn workers were discovered, diacetyl was removed from popcorn products. However, until the May 5th announcement by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that they will extend their oversight on tobacco products to include e-cigarettes, there was no FDA oversight. This announcement means that in August key provisions of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act on sales, marketing, and manufacturing of e-cigarettes will be enforced, but there is a caveat. For three years manufacturers can test their products and complete FDA applications for review while their products can remain in the market.

The 2015 Harvard study concluded, “Because of the associations between diacetyl and bronchiolitis obliterans and other severe respiratory diseases observed in workers, urgent action is recommended to further evaluate this potentially widespread exposure via flavored e-cigarettes.”

While there are groups wanting more proof that there is actual danger, the American Lung Association thinks the danger is real, three years is too long, and the FDA should quickly require removing diacetyl and all other harmful chemicals from e-cigarettes.

Learn more

Even if you are still undecided about the effects of diacetyl in vaping, there are many other additives in e-cigarettes that are harmful, including nicotine, formaldehyde, carbonyl compounds, metals, propylene glycol, glycerol, fine particulate matter, and flavoring chemicals.

Here are two good links. For more public information on e-cigarettes and lung health and for a number of articles on how to quit – or help someone else quit – smoking.

Uber Self-Driving Car Kills Pedestrian

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The first case of a pedestrian killed by a self-driving car occurred in Tempe, Arizona. This technology is still in the experimental phase, however Uber self-driving cars are on the roads in Pittsburgh, San Francisco, and Toronto – as well as Tempe.

Are self-driving cars safer?

Increased safety was the initial premise for the existence of unmanned self-driving cars. One of the primary causes of automobile accidents is distracted driving. In a robotic car, that should not be a problem, but obviously there are issues to be addressed. Building systems to automatically react appropriately in unexpected situations is a difficult task.

What happened in Tempe?

In this case, the car did have a human in the car as a backup. It appears the car, a Volvo XC90, was going about 40 MPH on dry streets with clear weather at 10 p.m. on a Sunday. An investigation is ongoing since the safety driver did not appear impaired. The victim, a 49 year-old woman, was walking her bicycle in the street. Though this was the first accident involving a pedestrian, one of these autonomous vehicles collided with another car in March of 2017.

Safety measures in place

Because states are eager to encourage testing, there are few regulations in place – not only with Uber, but Waymo, Lyft and Cruise, owned by General Motors. Doug Ducey, governor of Arizona, said in 2017, “We needed our message to Uber, Lyft and other entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley to be that Arizona was open to new ideas.” Originally Arizona mandated a backup driver in the car, but recently that was changed to allow testing of unmanned self-driving cars. This leniency is to boost the economy by allowing a low regulatory environment.

California is on the cusp of allowing unmanned vehicles, but is still investigating the proposition. In its testing of manned self-driving cars, Waymo has produced statistics required by California. When a human has to take control, it’s called a disengagement. In just over a year, Waymo’s cars drove 350,000 miles with 63 disengagements. This averages approximately 5,600 miles between disengagement events, clearly demonstrating the need for more testing before widespread use of unmanned vehicles.

Michael Bennett, an associate research professor at Arizona State University, has been studying the reaction of the public to driverless cars and their artificial intelligence. His comment on the aftermath of the Tempe pedestrian incident reveal his conclusion, “We’ve imagined an event like this as a huge inflection point for the technology and the companies advocating for it. They’re going to have to do a lot to prove that the technology is safe.”

Who’s Fault is Injury from Self-Driving Car?

“Look for insurance companies to lobby for profound changes in state insurance requirements and state laws”, says Dallas lawyer, Ben DuBose. “However, in the Arizona Uber incident, there was a back-up driver in the car. So, there’s still a question of why the back-up driver didn’t disengage and potential liability for her. People will still need car auto insurance and will still have potential liability.”

At the same time, as we head into the self-driving car era, DuBose says to look for additional new legal theories to address the autonomous car features. Automobile manufacturers and software designers will face new product liability claims. As even Volvo Car Corp. Vice President, Anders Karrberg recently testified before Congress “[c]armakers should take liability for any system in the car. So we have declared that if there is a malfunction to the [autonomous driving] system when operating autonomously, we would take the product liability.”

Microsoft No Longer Forces Secrecy in Sexual Harassment Claims

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In December, Microsoft announced it will no longer force secrecy in sexual harassment claims through the contract clause called forced arbitration. Going forward, Microsoft’s contracts will have this section removed.

What is forced arbitration?

For too long women, and men, subjected to sexual harassment in the workplace have been unable to take the matter to trial due to this clause. This results in fewer public trials and smaller settlements for the victims as claims are mediated through a third party without the ability to go to court. Just as troubling, forced arbitration hides what may be a widespread or ongoing problem within an organization from public knowledge.

Emily Martin, general counsel and vice president for workplace justice at the National Women’s Law Center, said, “By doing this, Microsoft is saying that it’s going to take concrete steps to make its workplace culture more conducive to addressing and preventing harassment. That message is important above and beyond the impact on individuals whose contracts are about to change.”

Martin further stated, “While Microsoft apparently didn’t use these provisions across its workforce, some companies use them more indiscriminately across their workforces to bind lower-wage workers as well as higher-wage workers. By standing up and saying that it believes that these provisions aren’t fair to employees, Microsoft helps change the conversation in a way that has the potential to help a lot of people by increasing the pressure on companies to do the same.”

Will this change sexual harassment claims?

This is a step in the right direction, however approximately 60 million American workers have these arbitration clauses in their contracts, and according to a study by the Employment Rights Advocacy Institute for Law & Policy, 80% of America’s 100 largest companies use them.

While changing the clauses and culture in the large companies would make a huge impact, working in a small company may still bind employees to forced arbitration in the event of sexual harassment. These companies could be fearful of lawsuits that would put them out of business and are not nearly as visible as a company such as Microsoft. Therefore, they will probably not face media disapproval in the same way and are not willing to take their chances in a court of law just to avoid negative publicity. For them, the forced arbitration clause is an insurance policy.

Legislators see need for reform

In December 2017, a bipartisan group of lawmakers called for legislation to end forced arbitration for sexual harassment claims in the workplace. Rep. Cheri Bustos, a Democrat from Illinois sponsored two pieces of legislation: H.R.4734 and H.R.4570. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Democrat from New York, also backs the bill. Sen. Lindsey Graham, Republican from South Carolina, called on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to support the bill. Both bills were referred to the subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law.

 

Other blog post from DuBose Law Firm

Arbitration Agreements Change for Nursing Homes and Long Term Care Facilities

Texas Texting & Driving Law Takes Effect September 1!

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Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D- Laredo, fought for this day through five legislative sessions comprising ten years. The bill, with her sponsorship, finally passed both House and Senate and was signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott on June 6, 2017. Now there are only three states remaining without a texting while driving ban – Arizona, Missouri, and Montana. This issue’s long journey included passage of a bill by both the House and Senate in 2011, but a veto by former Gov. Rick Perry. In 2015 it passed the House, but fell short in the Senate.

Even before this law, there were restrictions on phone use in Texas, such as a ban in school zones, drivers under 18, and bus drivers with minor children on board. While waiting for a comprehensive Texas ban, more that 95 cities passed their own local ordinances banning some uses of phones while driving.

Texting ban too limited

Some say the law, as written, doesn’t cover enough distracted driving actions, such as applying makeup, eating, or using GPS. Even when the limited law is broken, the fine of $99 for a first offense and up to $200 for subsequent offenses may not be enough of a deterrent. Critics say the law may be hard to enforce and even confusing to law enforcement as they are only allowed to ticket a violator for texting, not other phone uses. Since using GPS on a phone is still legal, it may enable officers to stop motorists when they are legally using their phones. Even if texting, drivers could easily switch to a GPS app to avoid a ticket.

Sen. Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, pushed to amend the bill requiring police to actually witness a texting offense before initiating a traffic stop. Taylor stated, “I don’t think that makes me more less safe than someone eating a hamburger, putting makeup on, reading their newspaper on the steering wheel or reading a novel as they drive down the road. I’m much safer than those people.” Taylor’s amendment did not pass, however.

The ban will save lives

Zaffirini read to other senators the names of people injured or killed because of texting while driving, also noting police did not witness the accidents thus countering aspects of Taylor’s amendment. Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, agreed that, though the law may not stop texting while driving, it may cause hesitation. “If this saves the life of one teenager who decides ‘I’ll wait til I’m at the stoplight’ or, ‘I’ll wait until I pull into Sonic and then I’ll text,‘ then we’ve accomplished what we set to accomplish,” she said.

For Dallas attorney Ben DuBose, the law’s passage is a significant step in the right direction. “I’ve represented clients whose lives were nearly destroyed by distracted driving. “No law is perfect,” says DuBose, “but lives will be saved now that texting and driving is against the law in Texas.”

DuBose Law Firm, PLLC
principal office address:
4310 N. Central Expressway
Dallas, Texas 75206
Phone: 214.389.8199
Fax: 214.389.8399
Sponsored by Attorney Ben K. DuBose, licensed in TX, OK, PA