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Blog Post | Consumer Tips, COVID-19

Purell is shipping to stores again; FDA steps up crackdown on methanol in sanitizer | Teresa Murray

Shortage of active ingredients for sanitizer could be linked to use of toxic ingredients

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News Release | CoPIRG | COVID-19

CoPIRG calls for Colorado to shut down, start over and do it right

Exactly five months after the first confirmed Colorado COVID case was announced, CoPIRG is calling for Colorado to shut down and start over. Since March 5, almost 48,000 Coloradans have contracted COVID-19, and 1,710 Coloradans have died from it and the number of deaths has been stubbornly consistent over the last few weeks.  

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News Release | CoPIRG | Consumer Tips

CoPIRG highlights free online resources consumers can use to fix their stuff at home

CoPIRG, Representative Brianna Titone, and Representative Jonathan Singer will host a webinar to give consumers resources they can use to fix the broken stuff they have at home and talk about Right to Repair, a policy reflected in HB20-1195 the Consumer Digital Repair Bill of Rights, which Representative Titone and Representative Singer sponsored this legislative session.

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News Release | CoPIRG | COVID-19

Colorado groups applaud Gov. Polis's mask wearing order

Seventeen health, medical, labor, and public interest organizations sent a letter to Governor Polis applauding his actions to require people to wear masks in indoor public spaces. The letter emphasized the importance of requiring mask wearing in Colorado to save lives. 

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Blog Post | COVID-19

Masks save lives - the Governor made the right call to require mask wearing | Danny Katz

Health experts highlight how wearing a mask is a simple action we can all take to save lots of lives in Colorado. We all need to do it. 

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News Release | CoPIRG Foundation | Transportation

RTD One of the Only Transit Agencies Nationally Operating Electric Buses

Denver’s transit agency, RTD, is one of the only large transit agencies in the country that has deployed electric buses in its fleet, reducing air pollution and saving money according to a new report on electric buses by CoPIRG Foundation, Environment Colorado Research and Policy Center, and Frontier Group. RTD currently has 36 electric buses. 

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News Release | Public Health

Landmark victory: EU bans bee-killing pesticides

In a historic vote today, the European Union (EU) passed a continent-wide restriction on the use of bee-harming pesticides. U.S. states should pass similar bans to protect our bees and our food.

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News Release | CoPIRG Foundation | Budget

Colorado Receives a “C+”, Ranks 20th in Country for Transparency of Government Spending

Colorado receives a “C+” for the level of transparency and ease of use of the state’s main website for accessing government spending data according to a new report by the CoPIRG Foundation and Frontier Group. Colorado received 78 out of 100 points, which ranked it 20th in the country for online government spending transparency. Colorado missed points around ease of use and the disclosure levels around economic development subsidies. 

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News Release | CoPIRG Foundation | Transportation

Rollback of Federal Clean Car Standards Bad for Colorado Wallets, Health

Coloradans have saved $550 million at the pump and avoided putting dangerous smog forming pollutants into our air since the federal government adopted clean car standards in 2012. Despite having huge benefits for Coloradan’s pocketbooks and Colorado’s air, the Trump administration intends to roll back the clean car standards.

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News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Public Health

Grieving parents & health advocates urge Lowe’s to pull deadly paint strippers from store shelves

U.S. PIRG Education Fund joins Safer Chemicals Healthy Families, and the Natural Resources Defense Council in calling on Lowe’s to stop selling paint strippers made with methylene chloride and the chemical NMP.

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Report | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Health Care

Making the Grade

When it comes to health care, there are few magic-bullet solutions for the many problems consumers face in the marketplace: insurers don’t compete for their business, leading to higher prices and lower quality. Important information about coverage is buried in the fine print, making it hard to know what’s really covered or which plan is right. And costs are continuing their unsustainable rise.

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Report | CoPIRG Foundation | Consumer Protection

Trouble in Toyland: 26th Annual Survey of Toy Safety

The 2011 Trouble in Toyland report is our 26th annual survey of toy safety. In this report, we provide safety guidelines for consumers when purchasing toys for young children and provide examples of toys currently on store shelves that may pose potential safety hazards.

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Report | CoPIRG Foundation | Safe Energy

The Other Side of the Street, Energy Cost Savings

However, thousands of Coloradans miss out on energy cost saving programs simply because of the side of the street that they live on.  To help homeowners and businesses with their bills, all electric utilities in Colorado should offer comprehensive energy efficiency programs by setting a target to reduce consumer energy demand by 10% by 2020.

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Report | CoPIRG Foundation | Food

Apples to Twinkies

The rise in childhood obesity has many causes, but one of the most important is the increased prevalence of high-fat, heavily sweetened junk food.  And shockingly, American taxpayers are spending billions to subsidize junk food ingredients, making the problem worse.

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Report | CoPIRG Foundation | Budget, Financial Reform, Tax

Tax Shell Game

Abuse of tax havens inflicts a price on other American taxpayers, who must pay higher taxes—now or in the future—to cover the government’s revenue shortfall, or must deal with cuts in government services.

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Blog Post | Transportation

Millennials Want More Public Transportation

A new poll shows that access to public transportation is “very important” for Millennials in considering where to live and where to work.  The results support our research over the past few years that found Millennials are driving less than older generations and are more prone to walk, bike, or take transit to get where they need to go.

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Blog Post | Transportation

Communities Roaring for More TIGER Grants | Sean Doyle

Across the country, municipalities are looking for more transportation funding, particularly for public transportation. A recent poll from Politico magazine found that among mayors, aging and deteriorating transportation infrastructure was the most often cited concern. Enter TIGER grants.

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Blog Post | Consumer Protection

We went to a VW Dealership today | Danny Katz

Today, I went to a VW dealership with one of the 482,000 VW owners who unknowingly purchased a “clean” diesel vehicle that was designed to get away with violating the law. I went there to encourage dealerships to join with VW customers and call on VW to give people their money back for these misleading vehicles.

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Blog Post | Public Health

Meet the [antibiotic-free] Chef: Hosea Rosenberg, BlackBelly | Anya Vanecek

Recently, I sat down with Chef Hosea Rosenberg, owner of BlackBelly restaurant in Boulder, CO, to find out why antibiotic-free meat was as good for business as it is for public health.

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Blog Post | Consumer Protection

CFPB Adds Consumer Stories to Public Complaint Database | Ed Mierzwinski

Today, the CFPB took a step to make its excellent public database of consumer complaints even better, by adding complaint narratives (stories), but only with the consumer's consent. It's a step we've long urged. It will enrich our research into the marketplace, help consumers make choices and help good-actor firms avoid bad practices by others.

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Blog Post

You’re not crazy: your appliances were built to fail you

Why appliances aren’t built to last, and how the E.U. is changing that. 

Blog Post

7 types of ingredients to avoid in your personal care routine

A scorecard released by U.S. PIRG Education Fund found that many popular cosmetic brands score poorly on ingredient safety and disclosure. While companies and governments need to take action to protect consumers, in the meantime, you can take steps to keep your personal care routine safe.

News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund

Lawmakers and public push Whole Foods to put “Planet Over Plastic” at upcoming annual meeting

AUSTIN, Texas --  U.S. PIRG Education Fund , Environment America Research & Policy Center, and Student PIRG sent 59,000 petitions and a letter signed by more than 40 state lawmakers Thursday to Whole Foods urging the company to commit to a comprehensive plan for phasing out single-use plastic packaging from its stores. This follows a March 2021 letter signed by more than 130 advocacy and community groups calling on the national supermarket chain to adopt a bold response to the plastic pollution crisis.

News Release

Statement: Landmark FTC report calls for action on Right to Repair

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a report today on manufacturers' use of restrictive repair tactics that have kept consumers from repairing their own products.

Report | U.S. PIRG Education Fund

Looking Inward

We surveyed nearly 1,000 personal care products from 26 popular cosmetics companies and scored them on ingredient safety and disclosure. The major takeaway: most companies need to do a lot more to inform their customers about what ingredients are in their products.

  • COVID-19 CONSUMER TIPS
    Avoid online scams, protect your credit and more. We have assembled a set of consumer tips and guides, and will add more in the days to come.
    OUR TIPS
  • THE FIX IS IN
    Our survey shows that independent shops are struggling to access parts, service information and repair software which is necessary to fix phones — which manufacturers won’t let these independent shops have.
    OUR REPORT
  • FOOD RECALL FAILURE
    Will your supermarket warn you about hazardous food? Our survey grades 26 of the largest grocery stores in the country to determine the efficacy of their policies and practices notifying consumers about food recalls.
    OUR REPORT
  • CHAIN REACTION V
    The overuse of antibiotics contributes to antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which can cause life-threatening infections in people. Our report ranks restaurant chains on their policies relating to antibiotic use in their beef supply chains.
    SEE THE GRADES

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