We all need to know that antibiotics are going to be available for us when we face deadly infection. We all need to be assured that the world's financial institutions, with their seemingly endless power in the age of digital information, will be held to account for their actions if they try to put profitability ahead of fair practices. We need to make our transportation system make sense, economically and environmentally. These are problems that don’t respect many of the lines that currently divide our society. But more importantly, they’re problems we can solve, especially in an age of advancing technology and growing abundance. That’s why we’re building teams that can harness the research, political support and grassroots energy we need to win.
We know how to produce enough food to feed our country. Yet we are allowing large farming operations to misuse antibiotics to such an extent that these life-saving medicines are becoming ineffective. Now, antibiotic-resistant infections are on the rise, threatening the health of millions. It’s the 21st century — we have the know-how and the technology to raise enough food in a way that doesn’t put our health and life-saving medicines at risk. So we’re working with big restaurants to get them to eliminate meat raised with antibiotics from their supply chains. So far, we have gotten commitments from McDonald’s, Subway, KFC and many other chains to stop serving meat raised on our life-saving medicines. Now we’re focusing on state Capitols across the country, to pass laws to require that factory farms stop misusing our life-saving medicines.
In the wake of the Great Recession, we helped create the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — an agency devoted to creating and enforcing fair, clear and transparent rules to protect consumers in the financial marketplace. Since then, the Consumer Bureau has recovered nearly $12 billion for more than 29 million people wronged by companies that broke the law. But now, the Trump administration and some in Congress want to weaken or even eliminate the Consumer Bureau. We’re working to keep our watchdog on Wall Street, and to protect consumers.
Mounting scientific evidence shows that the combination of chemicals in Monsanto’s Roundup can cause cancer and other serious health problems. These chemicals are even starting to show up in our food, air and water. But Monsanto and others are doing everything they can to discourage decision-makers from doing a full and honest assessment of the risks of Roundup, even “ghostwriting” studies affirming Roundup’s safety. Now, we’re calling on cities and counties across the country to ban Roundup unless and until it’s proven safe.
More and more Americans are looking for more ways to get around, including public transportation, biking and ride-sharing. But despite this, we’re still spending billions of dollars on highway expansion projects, instead of repairing the ones we have or investing in other options. Through research and advocacy, we’re putting the spotlight on these boondoggles, and pushing for a 21st century transportation system.
Why on earth would any company use chemicals that can disrupt our hormones or cause cancer in the products we put on our bodies every day? That’s both dangerous and unnecessary. We shouldn’t have to worry about putting our health at risk every time we get ready in the morning. So we’re doing the research into these products and chemicals, shining a spotlight on our findings, and publicly calling on the biggest names in the personal care industry to pledge to be toxic-free.
Citizens United and other court decisions defined corporations as people and equated money with speech. That makes no sense. So we’re putting regular voters back in the driver’s seat of our democracy by increasing the influence of small donors in elections, overturning Citizens United, and modernizing our elections. We’ve already helped pass laws in Seattle, Portland, Ore., and some counties in Maryland. Now, we’re looking to make bigger changes at the state and national level.
If you’re interested in learning more about U.S. PIRG, fill out this form and we’ll send you additional information, and link you to our online application.
If you’re interested in learning more about U.S. PIRG, fill out this form. We’ll send you additional information, and link you to our online application.
NOT RIGHT NOW