Fil d’Actualités

Caine’s new book depicts a small community in the glacier-fed Peruvian Highlands as it navigates climate change and social pressures.

At a recent Climate School event, speaker Memphis Washington discussed the Waterfront Alliance's climate resilience and environmental justice efforts in Coney Island.

Researchers have found that Earth’s underlying crust in the Turkana Rift region has been significantly thinned, presaging Africa’s eventual breakup—and with that finding, the researchers offer a new perspective on Turkana’s fossil record of human evolution.

‘FRESH’ and Affordable Foods Act is rotten to the core Anthony Lacey April 22, 2026 WASHINGTON – Rep. Kat Cammack (R-Fla.) today introduced a draft bill that would, if enacted, further hobble an already broken system that allows scores of food chemicals to come onto the market with little government oversight.The bill would gut rules on the information companies must provide the Food and Drug Administration when submitting a notice that a food chemical is “generally recognized as safe,” or GRAS. Known as the FDA Review and Evaluation for Safe, Healthy and Affordable Foods, or FRESH and Affordable Foods Act, the bill would:Preempt, retroactively and prospectively, all state food chemical laws, including those banning the toxic “forever chemicals” known as PFAS from food packaging and artificial dyes from school food. Allow new food chemicals linked to cancer and reproductive harm to be considered “safe.”Allow new food chemicals to be added to food without an affirmative finding of safety by the FDA.Retroactively approve all food chemicals currently considered GRAS.Allow new chemicals to be added to food if the FDA does not respond to a GRAS notice within 90 days. Allow new chemicals to be added to food as long as the food chemical company submits a “synopsis” of the chemical company’s safety conclusion.Allow new chemicals to be added to food without giving the FDA basic information, such as estimates of dietary exposure. Allow new chemicals reviewed by industry-funded expert panels – including the flavor industry’s notorious “expert” panel – to be automatically GRAS and used in food immediately. Allow companies to use food chemicals in new ways, without asking the FDA for approval. Allow chemicals to be added to food for two years after the FDA determines they are no longer safe, unless there is a severe and imminent risk of harm. “I did not think it was possible to make our food system even weaker, but this proposal does it,” said Melanie Benesh, the Environmental Working Group’s vice president for government affairs.Undermining food safetyUnder current law, chemical companies – not the FDA – decide whether a food chemical is safe. Since 2000, almost all new chemicals – nearly 99% –  have come onto the market through the GRAS loophole, an EWG analysis found. Currently, many though not all chemical companies wanting to bring a new chemical onto the market submit a GRAS notice to the FDA, and the FDA responds with a “no questions” letter. The FRESH and Affordable Act would undermine this already weak system by reducing the information food chemical companies must provide to the FDA and by enlisting industry-funded expert panels to deem food chemicals safe  as long as they are added to an FDA database. Experts could continue to have conflicts of interest as long as the divided loyalties are “managed.”“Blocking state action and further weakening FDA review of chemicals is the food industry’s dream come true: no state regulation, no federal regulation, no problem,” Benesh said.Making the system worseIn the absence of federal action, states have led the way, banning toxic chemicals linked to cancer and other health harms. “We need the FDA to ensure the safety of food chemicals, but this industry proposal would make our current system even worse,” Benesh said.“In addition to allowing new chemicals to be added to food without FDA review, the FDA does not regularly reconsider the safety of the chemicals we’re already eating,” she said. But the industry bill will not require the FDA to review a single food chemical for safety. “The funding proposed by this bill is a fig leaf,” she said. “This proposal will make our food less safe, not safer, by letting industry experts, not the experts we can trust, decide whether new food chemicals are safe and by failing to make sure the chemicals we’re already eating are safe. “Every parent should be outraged that the food brands that want their trust propose leaving them with no protection from toxic chemicals in the food they serve their families. Allowing chemicals linked to cancer to be added to food without FDA approval – or without even sharing basic information with the FDA – will not make America healthy.” ###The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization that empowers people to live healthier lives in a healthier environment. Through research, advocacy and unique education tools, EWG drives consumer choice and civic action. Areas of Focus Food Food Chemicals Press Contact Iris Myers iris@ewg.org (202) 939-9126 April 22, 2026

Once again, we honor Earth Day by sharing some amazing photos celebrating the beauty and magic of our planet, as captured by the Columbia community.