tag:theconversation.com,2011:/nz/topics/regulation-1042/articlesRegulation – The Conversation2024-03-25T12:40:09Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2256112024-03-25T12:40:09Z2024-03-25T12:40:09ZAmazon, SpaceX and other companies are arguing the government agency that has protected labor rights since 1935 is actually unconstitutional<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582234/original/file-20240315-26-ku55bc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=76%2C35%2C2919%2C2092&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed in 1933 the law that led to the National Labor Relations Board's emergence.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/FDRSignsWagnerPeyserAct1933/61439bda58874be9b582a59e2875c561/photo?Query=fdr%20wagner%20act&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=1&currentItemNo=0">AP Photo</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/3175/Amazon_complaint.pdf?1711137053">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/3174/Space_X_complaint.pdf?1711136921">SpaceX</a>, <a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/3177/Starbucks_Brief.pdf?1711327299">Starbucks</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/10/starbucks-trader-joes-spacex-challenge-labor-board">Trader Joe’s have all responded</a> to allegations that they have violated labor laws with the same bold argument. The <a href="https://www.nlrb.gov/">National Labor Relations Board</a>, they assert in several ongoing legal proceedings, is <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/15/business/economy/amazon-labor-nlrb.html">unconstitutional</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/3174/Space_X_complaint.pdf?1711136921">SpaceX, for example, says</a> that the NLRB is engaging in “an unlawful attempt … to subject Space X to an administrative proceeding whose structure violates Article II, the Fifth Amendment, and the Seventh Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.”</p>
<p>If these companies prevail, the entire process for holding union elections and for prosecuting employers who break labor laws – in place since the <a href="https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/national-labor-relations-act">days of the New Deal</a> – could collapse. That would <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/10/starbucks-trader-joes-spacex-challenge-labor-board">leave U.S. workers more vulnerable to exploitation</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/301/1/">The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the board</a> nearly a century ago, soon after President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the law that created the NLRB and made clear that workers have the right to organize and bargain collectively. Justices have also rejected similar arguments in <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/295/602/#tab-opinion-1934749">cases involving other agencies</a>.</p>
<p>As a law professor who <a href="https://www.law.columbia.edu/faculty/kate-andrias">researches labor law and constitutional law</a> and a former labor organizer, I am deeply concerned, but not surprised, by these attacks on the federal agency that has protected U.S. workers’ right to organize unions and bargain collectively with their employers <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/national_labor_relations_act_nlra">since the 1930s</a>.</p>
<p>These corporations seem to believe they will find a sympathetic audience before the conservative justices that occupy six of the Supreme Court’s nine seats. In a series of prior cases, the conservative justices have already <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2021/20-1530">weakened administrative agencies</a> and <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2017/16-285">cut back on workers’ rights</a>.</p>
<h2>Growing support for unions</h2>
<p>The corporate attack on the NLRB also seems to be a response to <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/510281/unions-strengthening.aspx">growing support for unions among Americans</a>.</p>
<p>Workers at the companies that are challenging the NLRB’s constitutionality have all begun to organize unions in recent years, with numerous, high-profile, union-organizing wins. Workers across numerous sectors, including auto, education, health care and Hollywood, have <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/31/briefing/uaw-strike.html">recently held successful strikes</a>.</p>
<p>What’s more, the <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/society/jennifer-abruzzo-national-labor-relations-board/">NLRB has been more assertive in prosecuting employers</a> for violating workers’ rights, and it has been revising rules in ways that make it easier for workers to organize.</p>
<p>For example, it has made it possible for <a href="https://www.nlrb.gov/news-outreach/news-story/national-labor-relations-board-issues-final-rule-to-restore-fair-and">the unionization process to move faster</a> and has sought to <a href="https://www.nlrb.gov/news-outreach/news-story/nlrb-general-counsel-launches-new-10j-injunction-initiative-when-employers">quickly reinstate workers</a> who are illegally fired for organizing unions, rather than waiting years for litigation to play out.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583871/original/file-20240324-26-xwd6re.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="People in t-shirts that say 'Starbucks Workers United' t-shirts and face masks jump with joy." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583871/original/file-20240324-26-xwd6re.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583871/original/file-20240324-26-xwd6re.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583871/original/file-20240324-26-xwd6re.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583871/original/file-20240324-26-xwd6re.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583871/original/file-20240324-26-xwd6re.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583871/original/file-20240324-26-xwd6re.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583871/original/file-20240324-26-xwd6re.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In 2021, these Buffalo, N.Y., Starbucks employees were the first to win a union election at one of the chain’s stores.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/StarbucksUnion/f154ff4352bb4ba3b2b5838817b164dd/photo?Query=starbucks%20union&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=188&currentItemNo=64">AP Photo/Joshua Bessex</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The Supreme Court and big business</h2>
<p>This is not the first time that big business has tried to use constitutional law arguments in an effort to <a href="https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/nulr/vol118/iss4/3/">stop union organizing and limit workers’ rights</a>.</p>
<p>From the 1890s to the 1930s, during what is known as the “<a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1900-1940/198us45">Lochner era</a>,” corporations argued that laws protecting workers’ rights, including the right to organize unions or be paid a minimum wage, violated their “freedom to contract” and exceeded Congress’ power under the Constitution.</p>
<p>Back then, the Supreme Court routinely sided with business.</p>
<p>It struck down hundreds of laws, including <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1900-1940/261us525">minimum wage laws</a>, <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1900-1940/198us45">overtime laws</a> and <a href="https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/keating-owen-child-labor-act">laws prohibiting child labor</a>. It prohibited strikes, including in the <a href="https://www.history.com/news/labor-day-pullman-railway-strike-origins">railroad</a> and <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/259/344/">mining</a> industries. It allowed <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1900-1940/221us418">labor leaders to be jailed</a>.</p>
<p>These rulings helped corporations grow wealthier and more powerful.</p>
<p>Only after <a href="https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/320-the-turbulent-years">mass uprisings by over 1 million workers</a>, economic distress wrought by the Great Depression and overwhelming popular support for the New Deal did the Supreme Court finally change course, <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1900-1940/300us379">recognizing that it had made a mistake</a>.</p>
<p>During the New Deal, the justices ruled that Congress has the power under the Constitution to pass minimum labor standards and <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1900-1940/301us1">to create agencies, such as the National Labor Relations Board</a>, to protect workers and consumers.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582236/original/file-20240315-26-3abjp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="The nine members of the Supreme Court, as of 2024, seated and standing in a group." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582236/original/file-20240315-26-3abjp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582236/original/file-20240315-26-3abjp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582236/original/file-20240315-26-3abjp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582236/original/file-20240315-26-3abjp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582236/original/file-20240315-26-3abjp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582236/original/file-20240315-26-3abjp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582236/original/file-20240315-26-3abjp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Six of the the Supreme Court’s nine members are conservatives, leading to many pro-business rulings.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/united-states-supreme-court-associate-justice-sonia-news-photo/1431393388?adppopup=true">Alex Wong/Getty Images</a></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Letting agencies make decisions</h2>
<p>Now, nearly 100 years later, the NLRB’s foes contend that the labor board violates the <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/separation_of_powers">separation of powers</a> – the constitutional principle that the judicial, legislative and executive branches of government have distinct powers – because it mixes executive and judicial functions.</p>
<p>They also argue that the board is unconstitutional because presidents cannot fire the <a href="https://www.nlrb.gov/about-nlrb/who-we-are">NLRB’s members or administrative law judges</a> whenever they want.</p>
<p>And opponents of the NLRB claim that the <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/administrative_law_judge_(alj)">use of administrative law judges</a> – jurists who preside over and adjudicate cases regarding alleged violations of the law – violates the <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/right_to_jury_trial">constitutional right to a jury trial</a>. </p>
<p>But the Supreme Court has long permitted all of these features, <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1900-1940/301us1">not only for the NLRB</a> but for <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1900-1940/295us602">other government agencies</a> as well.</p>
<p>And for good reason.</p>
<p>No provision of the Constitution prohibits Congress from designing government agencies in this way. And Congress believed that these design choices would help the agency function well.</p>
<p>For example, by prohibiting presidents from replacing all of the NLRB’s administrative law judges for any reason or no reason at all, Congress sought to ensure independence of those judges.</p>
<p>Having each violation of law litigated before a federal jury, rather than administrative law judges deciding cases, could take a lot longer to resolve cases.</p>
<h2>Assessing what’s at stake</h2>
<p>If these corporations prevail with their constitutional challenges, the NLRB will no longer be able to function.</p>
<p>Currently, it can be <a href="https://rooseveltinstitute.org/publications/rebuilding-worker-voice-in-todays-economy">very difficult for workers to organize unions</a>, partly because of insufficient penalties and protections in labor law. But if the corporations win, there will no longer be an agency in place to safeguard workers’ rights to organize unions and to negotiate fair contracts with their employers.</p>
<p>Indeed, this threat goes beyond labor rights.</p>
<p>If the NLRB is found to violate the Constitution, other government agencies could be at risk as well, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Election Commission and the Federal Trade Commission. In my view, that would endanger investors, voters and consumers – all Americans.</p>
<p>There is reason to believe the Supreme Court could side with big business if a lawsuit challenging the board’s constitutionality reaches it.</p>
<p>The Supreme Court in its current configuration is <a href="https://minnesotalawreview.org/article/a-century-of-business-in-the-supreme-court-1920-2020/">more pro-business than it has been in a century</a>. The justices who make up its conservative majority have shown that they are willing to overrule long-standing labor precedents through decisions that have <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2017/16-1466">reduced union funding</a> and <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2020/20-107">restricted workers’ access to unions</a>.</p>
<p>The conservative justices have also indicated that they may limit the powers of <a href="https://www.govexec.com/management/2023/11/supreme-court-appears-ready-deal-another-blow-federal-agencies-administrative-powers/392348/">administrative agencies beyond the NLRB</a>. Most notably, the conservative majority on the court recently crafted a rule known as the “<a href="https://hls.harvard.edu/today/what-critics-get-wrong-and-right-about-the-supreme-courts-new-major-questions-doctrine/">major questions</a>” doctrine, which says Congress must set particularly clear rules when it authorizes agencies to regulate on matters of political or economic significance.</p>
<p>Using this doctrine, the court has overturned a Biden administration regulation designed to <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2021/20-1530">protect the environment</a> and has rejected its initial <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2022/22-506">student loan forgiveness program</a>.</p>
<p>The Supreme Court is hearing several other cases this year that threaten administrative agencies, including one that would allow courts to give <a href="https://www.scotusblog.com/2024/01/supreme-court-likely-to-discard-chevron/">less deference to reasonable agency rules</a> and one that <a href="https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/securities-and-exchange-commission-v-jarkesy/">challenges the use of administrative law judges</a> by the Securities and Exchange Commission.</p>
<h2>Seeing room for optimism</h2>
<p>There is no way to know for certain how the Supreme Court will rule on a case concerning the constitutionality of the NLRB or other federal agencies. There may not be enough votes to overturn years of well-established precedent, even among the conservative justices.</p>
<p>And on labor rights more generally, there is <a href="https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/nulr/vol118/iss4/3/">reason for optimism</a>.</p>
<p>Workers are organizing in greater numbers than they have in decades. History teaches that when there is sufficient popular support for unions and workers’ rights, and sufficient mobilization among workers, the <a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374532376/thewillofthepeople">Supreme Court sometimes backs off</a> and corporations give up their fight against workers’ rights. </p>
<p>Indeed, even Starbucks recently agreed <a href="https://fortune.com/2024/02/28/starbucks-workers-union-collective-bargaining-litigation-labor-relations-landmark-moment">to begin negotiating with its workers</a> after years of <a href="https://www.nrn.com/news/labor-board-claims-starbucks-refusing-negotiate-144-unionized-cafes">illegally – according to the NLRB – refusing to bargain</a> with them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225611/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Earlier in her career, Kate Andrias served as a law clerk to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, as Associate Counsel to President Barack Obama, and as an organizer with the Service Employees International Union. She frequently provides advice on policy initiatives to legislators and workers’ rights organizations and works on related litigation. </span></em></p>Nearly a century after the National Labor Relations Board’s creation, big corporations are arguing that it violates the US Constitution.Kate Andrias, Professor of Law, Columbia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2259862024-03-22T12:33:52Z2024-03-22T12:33:52ZEPA’s new auto emissions standard will speed the transition to cleaner cars, while also addressing consumer and industry concerns<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583580/original/file-20240321-17-nik9ky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=38%2C12%2C8588%2C5729&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Charging bays at the Electrify America indoor electric vehicle charging station in San Francisco.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/ElectricVehiclesFancyChargers/c523cbda2a68423595229884d4da249b/photo">AP Photo/Eric Risberg</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released <a href="https://www.epa.gov/regulations-emissions-vehicles-and-engines/final-rule-multi-pollutant-emissions-standards-model">strict new emissions limits</a> on March 20, 2024, for cars built from 2027 through 2032. The final rule for Multi-Pollutant Emissions Standards caps a process that started almost a year earlier, when the Biden administration first proposed groundbreaking regulations that would essentially require automakers to make a <a href="https://theconversation.com/boosting-ev-market-share-to-67-of-us-car-sales-is-a-huge-leap-but-automakers-can-meet-epas-tough-new-standards-203663">substantial pivot toward electrification</a>.</p>
<p>The original proposal met significant pushback from carmakers and unions, who argued that the industry <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/02/18/epa-electric-vehicles-car-rules/">needed more time to switch</a> from gas-powered cars to EVs. As a result, while the final target that this rule sets is very similar to the one that was initially proposed, the timetable in the final rule – especially in the earlier years – is relatively relaxed. </p>
<p>That means more carbon emissions in the short run. Politics is inevitably an important consideration in regulating major industries.</p>
<p>The new rule is projected to cut carbon dioxide emissions from passenger cars <a href="https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2024-03/420f24016.pdf">by nearly 50% in model year 2032</a> relative to existing standards. This requires a broad shift toward EVs, but automakers have many options for complying. </p>
<p>For example, they could emphasize producing battery-electric vehicles or more mixed fleets that include large shares of <a href="https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a45498641/types-of-hybrid-cars-pros-and-cons-explained/">hybrids and plug-in hybrids</a>, plus cleaner gas-powered cars. EPA projects that under the rule, in model years 2030-32, battery-electric vehicles may account for <a href="https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2024-03/420f24016.pdf">up to 56% of new cars</a>, up from <a href="https://apnews.com/article/epa-electric-vehicles-emissions-limits-climate-biden-e6d581324af51294048df24269b5d20a">7.6% in 2023</a>. </p>
<p>As a researcher who studies <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=h-2TvzUAAAAJ&hl=en">the electric vehicle industry and adoption of EVs</a>, I believe the new rule will nevertheless push electrification nationwide. There’s a lot of latent demand for this technology throughout the country, and this regulation will help bring that supply to broader populations. It also is likely to spur more installation of chargers and other supporting infrastructure.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/u_CCmb9pQ1o?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The new rule will help slow climate change and save billions of dollars in health care costs.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Impacts on consumers</h2>
<p>Traditionally, new fuel efficiency and emissions standards directly affect vehicle costs and often lead to higher prices at the dealership. However, the EPA projects that in the long term, driving electric vehicles, which <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/interactive/2023/electric-vehicle-charging-price-vs-gasoline/">cost less to fuel and maintain than gas-powered cars</a>, will save owners <a href="https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2024-03/420f24016.pdf">US$6,000 on average</a> over the life of a new car. </p>
<p>Moreover, EVs bring broader benefits, such as improved air quality and reduced greenhouse gas emissions, which benefit society as a whole. </p>
<p>Fossil fuel combustion generates many harmful pollutants, including fine particulates, which have been linked to <a href="https://theconversation.com/heart-attacks-cancer-dementia-premature-deaths-4-essential-reads-on-the-health-effects-driving-epas-new-fine-particle-air-pollution-standard-223057">a range of negative health effects</a>. The EPA estimates that air pollution reductions triggered by the new rule will generate <a href="https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2024-03/420f24016.pdf">US$13 billion in annual health benefits</a>.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/C4QmEsvutYQ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link\u0026igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<h2>Building confidence in batteries</h2>
<p>One important feature of the new rule is that for the first time, the EPA has set forth explicit requirements for monitoring and ensuring the durability of EV batteries. This step recognizes that battery longevity is a pivotal factor in EVs’ value proposition and environmental impact. </p>
<p>The regulations delineate two primary benchmarks: The battery must retain at least 80% of its original capacity at five years or 62,000 miles and at least 70% after eight years or 100,000 miles. These requirements will help to standardize the <a href="https://www.recurrentauto.com/research/how-long-do-ev-batteries-last">wide variability in battery degradation</a> between different vehicle models. </p>
<p>Importantly, the health of batteries must be tracked via a monitor in the car that measures what is known as the vehicle’s state of certified energy – the amount of battery capacity left at full charge after accounting for degradation – and displays it to the driver. EV owners will have constant information about the health of their battery, expressed as a percentage of what the battery had when it was brand new. This feature will be especially useful for people buying used EVs, since it will help them assess how much battery power the car still has at the time of purchase.</p>
<p>These and other battery durability and warranty requirements are likely to play a pivotal role in the EV market, influencing both manufacturers’ engineering choices and consumers’ purchasing decisions. By setting clear standards, the EPA is driving the industry toward more robust and reliable battery technologies, which could enhance the overall attractiveness of EVs and accelerate their market penetration.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583581/original/file-20240321-18-ge6th9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Biden speaks to reporters from the wheel of a new pickup truck." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583581/original/file-20240321-18-ge6th9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583581/original/file-20240321-18-ge6th9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583581/original/file-20240321-18-ge6th9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583581/original/file-20240321-18-ge6th9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583581/original/file-20240321-18-ge6th9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583581/original/file-20240321-18-ge6th9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583581/original/file-20240321-18-ge6th9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">President Joe Biden, a self-described ‘car guy,’ drives a Ford F-150 Lightning electric truck on May 18, 2021, in Dearborn, Mich.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/ElectricVehiclesFederalFleet/8d61a7311ee84326b163a1cbd0ac7219/photo">AP Photo/Evan Vucci</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>When is a plug-in running on electricity?</h2>
<p>Another item in the new regulations shows how the EPA has attempted to address manufacturers’ concerns. Since plug-in hybrids, or PHEVs, can run on either electricity or gasoline, regulators need some basis for determining how often they rely on one versus the other. The number that experts use in these situations, called the utility factor, is a calculation of <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/wevj14110301">what fraction of the time a PHEV drives on electricity</a>.</p>
<p>Many researchers had argued that the EPA had <a href="https://theicct.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/real-world-phev-us-dec22.pdf">overestimated the utility factor</a> and warned that inflating the extent to which PHEVs operated on electric power could lead to regulations that put too much priority on these vehicles. Under the newly finalized regulations, the agency has adjusted the calculation to reflect a better understanding of how these vehicles operate in the real world. </p>
<p>For example, the adjustment in the utility factor for a model like the Prius Prime, with a 48-mile electric range, reduces the assumption of electric travel from the previous 65%-70% to about 55%. Similarly, for the Jeep Wrangler 4xe, with a 21-mile range, the utility factor is adjusted from around 40% to 30%.</p>
<p>These changes provide a more accurate reflection of PHEVs’ contribution to reducing emissions, which helps ensure that the regulatory framework aligns better with actual usage patterns. And by modifying the utility factor, the EPA may nudge manufacturers toward prioritizing more efficient PHEVs or shifting their focus toward fully electric vehicles. </p>
<h2>A clear signal to carmakers</h2>
<p>Changing auto efficiency standards has traditionally meant making incremental improvements in vehicle technologies, such as increases in engine efficiency. This new rule is much more aggressive and has a clear goal of driving a major shift toward EVs and other clean car types. </p>
<p>These standards can help companies set goals for the future by providing clear targets. Failing to meet EPA rules can <a href="https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/clean-air-act-vehicle-and-engine-enforcement-case-resolutions">incur tough penalties</a>. </p>
<p>In my view, these standards are an important step in the right direction to achieve U.S. climate goals, and they will serve as a stick that complements the monetary carrots funded by the <a href="https://theconversation.com/big-new-incentives-for-clean-energy-arent-enough-the-inflation-reduction-act-was-just-the-first-step-now-the-hard-work-begins-188693">Inflation Reduction Act</a>, which authorized tax credits and subsidies for EVs and charging stations. The new rule may not be a perfect policy from a pure climate perspective, but given automakers’ concerns and the political sensitivity of this issue, I believe it hits the target.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225986/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alan Jenn receives or has received funding from the Department of Energy, the Sloan Foundation, and the Transportation Research Board. He was a contributing author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's 2021 Sixth Assessment Report.</span></em></p>The new rule isn’t a mandate for electric vehicles, but it will sharply increase their market share over the coming decade.Alan Jenn, Associate Professional Researcher in Transportation, University of California, DavisLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2170732024-03-21T12:22:54Z2024-03-21T12:22:54ZCalifornia is wrestling with electricity prices – here’s how to design a system that covers the cost of fixing the grid while keeping prices fair<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582593/original/file-20240318-22-5gynnv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1492%2C995&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">As more homes like these in Folsom, Calif., add solar power, electricity pricing becomes more complicated.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/CaliforniaSolarPanels/cda216b3bcfe42e9bf425a353b24f812/photo">AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Small-scale solar power, also known as rooftop or distributed solar, has grown considerably in the U.S. over the <a href="https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=60341">past decade</a>. It provides electricity without emitting air pollutants or climate-warming greenhouse gases, and it meets local energy demand without requiring costly investments in transmission and distribution systems. </p>
<p>However, its expansion is making it harder for electric utilities and power grid managers to design fair and efficient retail electricity rates – the prices that households pay.</p>
<p>Under traditional electricity pricing, customers pay one charge per kilowatt-hour of electricity consumption that covers both the energy they use and the fixed costs of maintaining the grid. As more people adopt rooftop solar, they buy less energy from the grid. Fewer customers are left to shoulder utilities’ fixed costs, potentially making power more expensive for everyone. </p>
<p>This trend can drive more customers to leave the system and raise prices further – a scenario known as the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/energyinnovation/2017/09/25/three-ways-electric-utilities-can-avoid-a-death-spiral/?sh=46108d9b758d">utility death spiral</a>. One <a href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w25087">2018 study</a> calculated that two-thirds of recent electricity distribution cost increases at California’s three investor-owned utilities were associated with the growth of residential solar. </p>
<p>With abundant sun and solar-friendly policies, California has <a href="https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=60341#:%7E:text=We%20estimate%20that%20the%20United,MW">36% of U.S. small-scale solar capacity</a>, much more than any other state. And the state is engaged in a heated debate over <a href="https://calmatters.org/california-divide/2023/07/electricity-bills/">pricing electricity</a> in ways designed to make energy less expensive for low-income households. </p>
<p>We study <a href="https://engineering.purdue.edu/Intel2Grid">energy markets</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=nKvcnXMAAAAJ&hl=en">public policy affecting energy and the environment</a>, and have analyzed various <a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10177234">retail electricity rate structures</a> and their economic impacts on power producers and consumers. Our key finding is that an income-based, fixed-charge rate structure of the type that California is currently considering offers the most efficient and equitable solution – if it is designed correctly.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_nT8Vld_uxQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The California Legislature approved fixed-rate electricity charges, based on income, in 2022. Now, state utility regulators are weighing a proposal that would formalize them.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Two-part power bills</h2>
<p>The debate over fixed charges began in 2022, when the California Legislature <a href="https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/utilities/bill-would-end-california-experiment-with-income-based-electric-bills">enacted an energy bill</a> that ordered state regulators to study income-based fixed charges and decide whether to adopt them by July 1, 2024. Then the state’s three largest utilities – Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas and Electric, and San Diego Gas & Electric – <a href="https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/-/media/cpuc-website/divisions/energy-division/documents/demand-response/demand-response-workshops/advanced-der---demand-flexibility-management/joint-ious-opening-testimony-exhibit-1.pdf">submitted a proposal</a> to the state Public Utilities Commission in mid-2023 that would separate retail bills into two parts: a fixed charge and a variable charge. </p>
<p>The fixed charge would be a preset monthly fee, independent of energy usage but tied to income levels, so wealthier customers would <a href="https://calmatters.org/commentary/2024/02/utility-bills-reform-income-based/">pay a larger share of grid maintenance costs</a>. The variable charge would be based on the amount of electricity consumed and would cover the actual costs of electricity production and delivery. </p>
<p>Historically, these actual costs have typically ranged between <a href="http://www.caiso.com/documents/2022-annual-report-on-market-issues-and-performance-jul-11-2023.pdf">4 to 6 cents per kilowatt-hour</a>. Today, the average residential rate in California <a href="http://www.caiso.com/documents/2022-annual-report-on-market-issues-and-performance-jul-11-2023.pdf">often exceeds 30 cents per kilowatt-hour</a> because it covers fixed costs as well as electricity use.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582626/original/file-20240318-26-e7mz10.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A white utility truck drives toward a transformer tower framed by hills." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582626/original/file-20240318-26-e7mz10.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582626/original/file-20240318-26-e7mz10.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582626/original/file-20240318-26-e7mz10.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582626/original/file-20240318-26-e7mz10.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582626/original/file-20240318-26-e7mz10.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582626/original/file-20240318-26-e7mz10.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582626/original/file-20240318-26-e7mz10.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Southern California Edison truck at a transformer tower in Sylmar, Calif. California utilities are burying thousands of miles of power lines in an effort to prevent a fraying grid from sparking wildfires.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/CaliforniaWildfiresUtility/65c4885a6bde436d9126f7b12b9d8959/photo">AP Photo/Christian Monterrosa</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Who benefits?</h2>
<p>A two-part billing system that separates fixed costs from variable usage charges offers potential benefits for both consumers and utilities.</p>
<p>For utilities, the fixed charge offers a stable revenue stream. The companies know how many households they serve, and they can plan on the fixed amounts that those households will pay each month. Households that go solar would still pay the fixed charge, since most of them draw electricity from the grid when the sun doesn’t shine. </p>
<p>This approach provides financial stability for the utility and access to the grid for all. Consumers would benefit because with a certain amount of income guaranteed, utilities could charge significantly less per kilowatt-hour for the actual electricity that households use. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/C1NgtK5O9lO/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link\u0026igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>One significant concern is that if electricity costs less, people may use more of it, which could undermine efforts toward energy conservation and lead to an increase in emissions. In our view, the way to address this risk is by fine-tuning the two-part billing structure so that it covers only a portion of the utilities’ costs through fixed charges and incorporates the rest into the variable usage rates. </p>
<p>Put another way, combining a lower fixed charge with a higher variable charge would ensure that utilities can still cover their fixed costs effectively, while encouraging mindful energy use among consumers. Ensuring affordable electricity for consumers, fair cost recovery for utilities and overall fairness and efficiency in the energy market requires striking a delicate balance.</p>
<p>Another argument from critics, often labeled “<a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3GDHaOJeIp/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==">energy socialism</a>,” asserts that higher-income households might end up <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/06/california-income-based-electricity-fees-2025">subsidizing excessive electricity use</a> by lower-income households under the income-based rate structure. In our view, this perception is inaccurate. </p>
<p>Wealthy households would pay more to maintain the grid, via larger fixed charges, than poorer households, but would not subsidize lower-income households’ energy use. All income groups would pay the same rate for each additional kilowatt-hour of electricity that they use. Decisions on energy use would remain economically driven, regardless of consumers’ income level. </p>
<p><iframe id="WCZvM" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/WCZvM/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>Fixed fees are too big</h2>
<p>While our research supports California utilities’ approach in principle, we believe their proposal has shortcomings – notably in the proposed income brackets. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2023/06/20/california-electricity-bills-income-based/70331875007/">As currently framed</a>, households with annual incomes between US$28,000 and $69,000 would pay a fixed fee of $20 to $34 per month. Households earning between $69,000 and $180,000 would pay $51 to $73 per month, and those earning more than $180,000 would pay $85 to $128. </p>
<p>The middle-income bracket starts just above California’s <a href="https://statisticalatlas.com/state/California/Household-Income">median household income</a>. Consequently, nearly half of all California households could find themselves paying a substantial monthly fee – $51 to $73 – regardless of their actual electricity usage. </p>
<p>It could be hard to convince consumers to pay significant fixed fees for intangible services, especially middle-income residents who have either gone solar or may do so. Not surprisingly, the proposal has encountered considerable <a href="https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2023/05/08/the-income-graduated-fixed-charges-in-california-will-harm-customers-with-low-electric-bills/">pushback from the solar industry</a>. </p>
<h2>Finding the sweet spot</h2>
<p>In response to public outcry, California lawmakers recently introduced <a href="https://legiscan.com/CA/text/AB1999/id/2908602">Assembly Bill 1999</a>, which would replace the income-graduated fixed-charge requirement with fixed charges of $5 per month for low-income customers and up to $10 per month for others. In our view, this reaction goes too far in the other direction. </p>
<p>Capping fixed charges at such low levels would force utilities to hike their energy use rates to cover fixed costs – again, risking the death spiral scenario. Our research indicates that there is a <a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10177234">range for the fixed charge</a> that would cover a reasonable share of utilities’ fixed costs, but is not high enough to burden consumers.</p>
<p>Without utility cost data, we can’t pinpoint this range precisely. However, based on <a href="https://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Efile/G000/M520/K533/520533300.PDF">estimates of utilities’ costs</a>, we believe the caps proposed in AB 1999 are too low and could end up unfairly burdening those the bill aims to protect.</p>
<p>In our research, based on a hypothetical case study, we found a sweet spot in which fixed charges cover about 40% of utilities’ fixed costs. Charges at this level provide maximum benefit to consumers, although they reduce energy producers’ profits. </p>
<p>Our findings are similar to an <a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10177234">alternative proposal</a> jointly presented by <a href="https://www.turn.org/">The Utility Reform Network</a>, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization, and the <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/">Natural Resources Defense Council</a>, an environmental advocacy group. This plan suggests a two-part rate structure with an average fixed charge of about $36 per month. Low-income households would pay $5 per month, and those earning over $150,000 yearly would pay about $62.</p>
<p>We believe this proposal moves in the right direction by ensuring fair contributions to grid costs, while also encouraging efficient energy use and investment in clean energy infrastructure. It could act as a guide for other U.S. states searching for methods to balance utility fixed-cost recovery with fair pricing and continued growth of small-scale solar power.</p>
<p><em>This article has been updated to remove unsubstantiated information about the 2019 Saddleridge wildfire in California provided by AP in a photo caption.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217073/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>California is considering a controversial proposal for utilities to charge customers for electricity based partly on household income. Two scholars explain how this approach could benefit everyone.Yihsu Chen, Professor of Technology Management in Sustainability, University of California, Santa CruzAndrew L. Liu, Associate Professor of Industrial Engineering, Purdue UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2253442024-03-18T17:38:17Z2024-03-18T17:38:17ZDonor-advised funds: US regulators are scrambling to catch up with the boom in these charitable giving accounts<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582340/original/file-20240316-18-84zsoq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C817%2C4767%2C3172&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">DAFs more or less operate as a mini foundation.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/golden-piggy-bank-and-golden-coins-3d-render-royalty-free-image/1484749250?adppopup=true">Wong Yu Liang/Moment via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/a-short-history-of-the-fast-and-furious-rise-of-dafs">revolution in charitable giving</a> is underway due to the growth of donor-advised funds in the United States.</p>
<p>Known widely as DAFs, these <a href="https://www.nptrust.org/what-is-a-donor-advised-fund/">financial accounts are designated for charitable giving</a>. Donors can get an immediate tax deduction by putting money or other assets into the accounts, and advise the accounts’ managers to give away the money at a later date.</p>
<p>After years of concerns about how quickly the money reserved for charity gets distributed and whether donor-advised funds need to operate more transparently, <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/11/14/2023-24982/taxes-on-taxable-distributions-from-donor-advised-funds-under-section-4966">proposed new federal regulations</a> are now pending. Though the regulations would not create new requirements for how rapidly these funds distribute money, they do provide some new guidelines for what <a href="https://www.nptrust.org/what-is-a-donor-advised-fund/grantmaking-rules/">uses for DAFs are allowed</a> by law.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://fisher.osu.edu/people/mittendorf.3">an accounting researcher</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/donor-advised-funds-charities-with-benefits-74516">who studies DAFs</a>, I believe these new changes may mark the start of what could become a series of reforms.</p>
<h2>Nearly $230 billion</h2>
<p>DAFs have been <a href="https://cof.org/sites/default/files/documents/files/DAF-timeline.pdf">around since the 1930s</a> but got off to a slow start. After decades of being concentrated in community foundations, DAFs became more widely accessible with the introduction of <a href="https://www.investmentnews.com/industry-news/news/fidelity-charitable-reveals-record-year-in-philanthropic-giving-249461">Fidelity Charitable</a> – a DAF-sponsoring organization tied to Fidelity Investments – in 1991.</p>
<p>Many more DAF sponsors <a href="https://www.thinkadvisor.com/2023/07/20/5b-in-giving-shows-rapid-rise-of-donor-advised-funds-schwab-charitable/">connected to investment companies</a> have since emerged. </p>
<p>Because donors <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/articles/managing-wealth/080216/donoradvised-funds-benefits-and-drawbacks.asp">get tax breaks when they put money in them</a> and can then wait a long time before distributing it to nonprofits, DAFs essentially operate as <a href="https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxvox/should-congress-curb-donor-advised-funds">streamlined foundations</a>.</p>
<p>DAFs are not, however, subject to the same restrictions.</p>
<p>Foundations have to disclose their donors to the public and also have to distribute minimum amounts for charitable use each year. <a href="https://www.givedirectly.org/donor-advised-funds/">DAFs face</a> <a href="https://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/behind-the-debate-examining-the-measures-of-daf-payout/">neither requirement</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/daf-grants-to-charities-totaled-52-billion-in-2022-report-finds">DAFs held nearly US$230 billion in assets by the end of 2022</a> and distributed some $52 billion to charities that year. Those are significant sums as giving of all kinds <a href="https://theconversation.com/us-charitable-donations-fell-to-499-billion-in-2022-as-stocks-slumped-and-inflation-surged-207688">totaled about $500 billion that year</a>.</p>
<p>As of 2023 there were about <a href="https://www.nptrust.org/reports/daf-report/">2 million donor-advised funds</a>, according to the National Philanthropic Trust.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582341/original/file-20240316-22-v60hk0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Set of diverse hands and payment methods. Arms with cash, credit cards, banknotes, wallet, putting coins into piggy bank. Hand drawn vector illustration isolated on light background, flat cartoon style." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582341/original/file-20240316-22-v60hk0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582341/original/file-20240316-22-v60hk0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582341/original/file-20240316-22-v60hk0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582341/original/file-20240316-22-v60hk0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582341/original/file-20240316-22-v60hk0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582341/original/file-20240316-22-v60hk0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582341/original/file-20240316-22-v60hk0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">There are few DAF regulations in place, but that could soon change.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/illustration/set-of-diverse-hands-and-payment-methods-royalty-free-illustration/1491990624?adppopup=true">Olena Zagoruyko/iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>40% don’t distribute a dime</h2>
<p>Critics of DAFs say that the government should require them to <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/7/25/8891899/john-arnold-billionaire-criticism-donor-advised-funds-silicon-valley-philanthropic-loophole">regularly disburse at least some of their charitable funds</a>.</p>
<p>Foundations have faced that kind of obligation for more than five decades. They must pay out at least <a href="https://www.nptrust.org/donor-advised-funds/daf-vs-foundation/">5% of their assets</a> each year – although some of that money can be used to pay for their operations or even be set aside in a donor-advised fund.</p>
<p>Supporters of DAFs counter that the payout rate for those accounts is already much higher than the foundation floor of 5%. It <a href="https://www.givechariot.com/post/breaking-down-the-donor-advised-fund-market-in-2022">hovers around 20%</a>.</p>
<p>However, that statistic applies to all the money held in DAFs, not what happens with each one of them. <a href="https://johnsoncenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/DAFRC_Executive_Summary_Key_Findings.pdf">And almost 40% of them don’t distribute any money at all</a> in a given year. </p>
<h2>Calling for change</h2>
<p>Other changes have been proposed over the years, including:</p>
<ul>
<li><p><a href="https://inequality.org/great-divide/private-foundations-dafs-2021/">Not letting foundations count money they put in a DAF</a> toward their annual 5% payout requirement.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/an-unlikely-event-the-israel-hamas-war-could-finally-spark-daf-reform">Introducing new disclosure requirements</a> because currently the public, the charity that gets money from a DAF and even the IRS have <a href="https://apnews.com/article/silent-donor-tim-sanders-daf-privacy-9e499583181ed0c8b7d6685fbea31ecb">no way of knowing</a> for sure who originally provided those funds.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/donor-advised-funds-let-wall-street-steer-charitable-donations/">Reining in</a> the <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/the-wall-street-takeover-of-charity">commercial investment companies</a> that have been at the center of much of the growth in DAFs, by limiting the fees they can earn or <a href="https://ssir.org/articles/entry/the_problem_with_donor_advised_fundsand_a_solution">restricting the ties</a> between them and their affiliated charities.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>IRS regulations</h2>
<p>The IRS released <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/11/14/2023-24982/taxes-on-taxable-distributions-from-donor-advised-funds-under-section-4966">proposed new DAF regulations</a> at the end of 2023, and gave the <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/document/IRS-2023-0053-0001/comment">public an opportunity comment</a> on them.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/proposed-irs-regulations-of-donor-advised-funds-fall-short-critics-say">proposed regulations</a> <a href="https://nonprofitlawblog.com/proposed-donor-advised-fund-regulations-what-is-a-donor-advised-fund/">would clarify what constitutes a DAF</a>, who is considered a fund’s adviser, and restrictions on DAF disbursements.</p>
<p>Though largely focused on definitions, these proposed regulations are not without teeth. Nor <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/proposed-irs-regulations-of-donor-advised-funds-fall-short-critics-say">have they been immune to controversy</a>.</p>
<p>The proposed regulations would identify certain distributions as taxable and declare that donors are not the only parties considered DAF advisers – the <a href="https://www.mcguirewoods.com/client-resources/alerts/2024/2/donor-advised-funds-proposed-regulations/">donors’ personal financial advisers</a> are, too. This means the financial advisers, like donors, cannot receive any benefits from a DAF.</p>
<p>In identifying taxable distributions, the regulations include the possibility that funds used to support <a href="https://www.taxnotes.com/research/federal/other-documents/public-comments-regulations/nonprofits-group-targets-trouble-spots-donor-advised-fund-regs/7j6vy#7j6vy-0000011">lobbying or activities tied to political campaigns</a> could lead to penalties for both the donor and the fund’s manager. And <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4744533">evidence suggests</a> DAFs are commonly used to support lobbying.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.mossadams.com/articles/2024/01/proposed-regulations-on-donor-advised-funds">tax would be levied on the DAF totaling 20% of the distribution and another 5%</a> charged to a participating fund manager.</p>
<p>By including <a href="https://www.investmentnews.com/regulation-and-legislation/news/industry-awaits-an-answer-on-proposed-donor-advised-fund-regulations-250293">a donor’s personal financial adviser</a> in the group considered advisers to the DAF, investment fees paid to such financial advisers for their services would become <a href="https://www.cadwalader.com/brass-tax/index.php?nid=79&eid=336">impermissible “excess benefit” transactions</a>. As such, the proposed new rules would require the <a href="https://www.mcguirewoods.com/client-resources/alerts/2024/2/donor-advised-funds-proposed-regulations/">repayment of their compensation plus a 25% penalty</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/roundtable-submits-comment-letter-on-proposed-rules-for-donor-advised-funds/">Some DAF proponents</a> have objected to the proposed regulations. A key concern they’ve expressed has to do with what the regulations could mean for <a href="https://www.sifma.org/resources/submissions/irs-proposed-rule-taxes-on-taxable-distributions-from-donor-advised-funds/">financial advisers</a>. </p>
<p>Since financial advisers often oversee investments of both the donor and the donor’s charitable funds, such dual advisory roles may be eliminated by the threat of penalties. </p>
<h2>Changes possible in Congress</h2>
<p>Additional, bigger, changes could occur in the near future through legislation.</p>
<p>Possibilities include requiring DAFs to disclose donors and connect them with distributions so <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/an-unlikely-event-the-israel-hamas-war-could-finally-spark-daf-reform">the public can follow the money</a> or <a href="https://acceleratecharitablegiving.org/reforms/">delaying tax benefits</a> when donations to DAFs are not immediately distributed to charities to encourage donors with DAFs to dispatch their gifts quickly.</p>
<p>Although legislation aimed at requiring faster payouts was <a href="https://nonprofitquarterly.org/do-donor-advised-funds-require-regulatory-attention/">first proposed in 2014</a>, few lawmakers have made it a priority.</p>
<p>The most recent bill, the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/legalindustry/ace-act-legislation-would-significantly-affect-donor-advised-funds-2021-11-11/">Accelerating Charitable Efforts Act</a>, was first proposed by <a href="https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/king-grassley-introduce-legislation-to-ensure-charitable-donations-reach-working-charities">Sens. Angus King and Chuck Grassley</a> in 2021. It did not <a href="https://www.investmentnews.com/industry-news/news/daf-payout-bill-stalls-in-congress-229779">amass enough support</a> to garner a vote. At this point, it is <a href="https://inequality.org/research/donor-advised-fund-blocking-reform/">unclear whether the lawmakers will reintroduce</a> that measure.</p>
<p>But <a href="https://blog.candid.org/post/donor-advised-funds-daf-growth-popularity-in-philanthropy/">as DAFs play an ever larger</a> role in charitable giving, I believe that Congress will eventually have to take action if it wants to meaningfully regulate this new charitable environment.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225344/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brian Mittendorf does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Big changes would require an act of Congress but lawmakers have not stepped up. And there’s been pushback against new rules the IRS has proposed for these accounts reserved for giving.Brian Mittendorf, Professor of Accounting, The Ohio State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2217202024-03-11T21:26:04Z2024-03-11T21:26:04ZAllergen warning: “Vegan” foods may contain milk and eggs<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570731/original/file-20240112-29-t9z77z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C0%2C989%2C667&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">When buying pre-packaged foods, consumers with allergies rely on the declarations in the list of ingredients to identify safe foods.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The popularity of vegan diets continues to increase around the world. Indeed, in 2023, the vegan food market grew to <a href="https://www.expertmarketresearch.com/reports/vegan-food-market">more than US$27 billion</a>.</p>
<p>The term “vegan” usually refers to foods that contain no animal ingredients (meat, poultry, eggs, milk, fish, seafood).</p>
<p>While some consumers consider them to be healthier, vegan foods are also an interesting alternative for consumers concerned about the environment, sustainable development, and animal welfare.</p>
<p>But another type of consumer may be turning to these products for a completely different reason: people who are allergic to proteins of animal origin, such as cow’s milk and eggs.</p>
<p>In view of this, <a href="https://parera.ulaval.ca">our research group</a>, a leader in food allergen risk analysis in Canada, decided to explore <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13223-023-00836-w">the following two questions</a>:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Do consumers who are allergic to animal proteins consider vegan products to be safe?</p></li>
<li><p>And, if so, are these products truly safe for them?</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>What’s in it for consumers with allergies?</h2>
<p>The answers to these questions are crucial for people with food allergies who risk suffering potentially severe reactions (anaphylaxis) from consuming these products.</p>
<p>Food allergies affect around <a href="https://www.jaci-inpractice.org/article/S2213-2198(19)30912-2/fulltext">six per cent of Canadians</a>, including 0.8 per cent who are allergic to eggs, and 1.1 per cent to milk.</p>
<p>Despite the fact that different forms <a href="https://foodallergycanada.ca/living-with-allergies/allergy-treatments-and-therapies/treatments-and-therapies/">of immunotherapy or allergen desensitization</a> have shown promising results, the most effective strategy for avoiding allergic reactions is still to refrain from eating foods that may contain allergens.</p>
<p>When buying pre-packaged foods, consumers with allergies rely on declarations in the list of ingredients to identify foods that are safe for them. Regulatory authorities who are responsible for the quality and safety of food recognize the importance of accurate ingredients declarations for allergic consumers. Thus, it is <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/food-nutrition/food-labelling/allergen-labelling.html">mandatory</a> to list every allergen that has been voluntarily added to a pre-packaged food item.</p>
<p>However, when it comes to ingredients that may be unintentionally present — for example, as due to cross-contact during food processing — there is a regulatory gap. These ingredients are generally identified with the warning “may contain,” which is used (or sometimes <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2213219818300102">overused</a>) voluntarily and randomly by food processors.</p>
<p>Furthermore, the term “vegan” is neither standardized nor defined in Canadian regulations. In fact, <a href="https://inspection.canada.ca/food-labels/labelling/industry/composition-and-quality/eng/1625516122300/1625516122800?chap=2">the Canadian Food Inspection Agency</a> notes that, with regard to the use of the term “vegan,”</p>
<blockquote>
<p>…companies can apply additional criteria or standards that take account of other factors in addition to the ingredients of the food.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>However, details or examples of these elements are not provided. This lack of a precise regulatory definition prevents the implementation of compliance requirements.</p>
<p>Yet, most <a href="https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/search/site?search_api_fulltext=vegan">recalls</a> of products marketed as “vegan” are due to the presence of undeclared ingredients of animal origin, in particular milk and eggs.</p>
<h2>What do consumers with food allergies say?</h2>
<p>In this context, and as part of a <a href="https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-2583779/v1">survey</a> of consumers with allergies conducted in collaboration with <a href="https://foodallergycanada.ca">Food Allergy Canada</a>, we asked participants who indicated that they were allergic (or were the parents of a child who was allergic) to eggs or milk if they bought products marketed as “vegan.”</p>
<p>Of the 337 respondents, 72 per cent said they sometimes included these products in their purchases, 14 per cent said they always did, and 14 per cent never.</p>
<p>These <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13223-023-00836-w">results</a> suggest that these consumers do, indeed, consider the claim “vegan” as an indicator of the absence of animal proteins — an absence which, again, is not supported by any regulatory requirement or definition.</p>
<p>Since the absence of these ingredients is not guaranteed, these consumption habits could put people who are allergic to eggs and/or milk at risk.</p>
<p>An education campaign to clarify that the term “vegan” is an indicator of dietary <em>preferences</em> and not <em>risks</em> would therefore be important for this community.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569134/original/file-20240112-29-5nq5bg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="dark chocolate" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569134/original/file-20240112-29-5nq5bg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569134/original/file-20240112-29-5nq5bg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569134/original/file-20240112-29-5nq5bg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569134/original/file-20240112-29-5nq5bg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569134/original/file-20240112-29-5nq5bg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569134/original/file-20240112-29-5nq5bg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569134/original/file-20240112-29-5nq5bg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some dark chocolate bars marketed as ‘certified vegan’ contain milk proteins.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Do vegan products contain ingredients of animal origin?</h2>
<p>The fact that 86 per cent of survey respondents buy “vegan” products suggests that the incidence of allergic reactions linked to these foods is potentially rare.</p>
<p>We therefore <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13223-023-00836-w">analyzed</a> the egg and milk protein content of “vegan” and “plant-based” products marketed in Québec.</p>
<p>A total of 124 products were analyzed for the presence of egg (64) and/or milk (87) proteins.</p>
<p>Egg protein was not detected in any samples, but five samples contained milk proteins: these included four dark chocolate bars marketed as “certified vegan” and a supermarket brand chestnut cake.</p>
<p>These five products declared the potential presence of milk with a warning, “may contain milk.”</p>
<p>We used the concentrations of milk proteins quantified in these products, combined with the quantities of the food that would be consumed in a single eating occasion, to calculate an exposure dose, in milligrams of allergen protein. We then estimated the probability of these doses provoking a reaction in the allergic populations concerned by using <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278691520307213">correlation models</a>. Our results show that the calculated doses could trigger reactions in six per cent of milk-allergic consumers, for the chocolate bars, and one per cent, for the cake.</p>
<h2>How can consumers with food allergies protect themselves?</h2>
<p>Although this level of risk may be perceived as low, it is likely to vary without notice. And this will remain the case until regulatory requirements are put in place.</p>
<p>In fact, rather than attributing it to the presence of a “vegan” or “plant-based” claim, this level of risk most likely reflects <a href="https://www.cell.com/heliyon/pdf/S2405-8440(22)02590-7.pdf">good allergen management practices</a>, characteristic of the North American food manufacturing sector.</p>
<p>Thus, even if a statement “may contain milk” seems contradictory in a “vegan” or “plant-based” product, people allergic to milk should interpret it as an indication that this product may pose a risk to their health.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221720/count.gif" alt="La Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Samuel Godefroy's research activities are funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Foreign Agriculture Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, R-Biopharm GmbH and R-Biopharm Canada Inc. He acts as an expert advisor to members of the food and beverage industry, international organizations (the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and the World Bank), international food regulatory bodies such as the China National Centre for Food Safety Risk Assessment and consumer organizations such as Food Allergy Canada. Godefroy is Chairman of the Board of the Global Food Regulatory Science Society (GFoRSS).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jérémie Théolier et Silvia Dominguez ne travaillent pas, ne conseillent pas, ne possèdent pas de parts, ne reçoivent pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'ont déclaré aucune autre affiliation que leur poste universitaire.</span></em></p>Vegan foods are considered by most consumers to have no ingredients of animal origin, but they may actually contain milk proteins.Silvia Dominguez, Professionnelle de recherche en sciences des aliments, Université LavalJérémie Théolier, Professionel de recherche en sciences des aliments, Université LavalSamuel Godefroy, Professeur titulaire - Sciences des aliments, Université LavalLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2246652024-03-05T12:46:21Z2024-03-05T12:46:21ZEurope’s tech industry is lagging behind the US – but it gives the continent a chance to write the rules of the game<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579147/original/file-20240301-16-17taok.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C24%2C8192%2C5432&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The US largely dominates the technology landscape.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/kazan-russia-oct-31-2021-facebook-2066815178">Sergei Elagin/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Europe invests a lot in research, and publishes and patents many ideas. But it <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/european-rd-review-finds-lagging-high-tech-performance-despite-major-science-investment">fails to compete</a> with the US and China when it comes to translating its innovation effort into large, global technology firms. The seven largest US tech companies, Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla, are <a href="https://www.euronews.com/business/2023/12/21/why-cant-european-tech-firms-compete-with-their-us-counterparts">20 times bigger</a> than the EU’s seven largest, and generate more than ten times more revenue.</p>
<p>That isn’t to say Europe has no tech <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/craigsmith/2023/02/14/europes-venture-capital-scene-is-narrowing-the-gap-with-the-us-despite-global-investment-slowdown/">success stories</a>. The world leader in music streaming is Spotify, a <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/eamonnforde/2022/01/19/spotify-comfortably-remains-the-biggest-streaming-service-despite-its-market-share-being-eaten-into/">Swedish company</a>. Dutch company ASML produces the <a href="https://www.theverge.com/23578430/chip-war-chris-miller-asml-intel-apple-samsung-us-china-decoder">world’s most advanced</a> computer chips, and Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk is <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/184617f3-9a88-4d23-8e23-d1a08d5577dd">leading</a> the extremely profitable market for weight-loss drugs.</p>
<p>European start-ups are also actually a <a href="https://news.crunchbase.com/venture/europe-leads-us-startup-vc-gray-equidam/">better deal</a> for venture capitalists on average than US ones. But they rarely develop into major global players. The main reason for this is that Europe regulates more.</p>
<p>Research has found that Europeans are <a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.20162015">less optimistic</a> than Americans about social mobility, want to <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/705551">redistribute income</a> more than they do in the US, and have a more cautious relationship to <a href="https://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/scpwps/ecb.wp2270%7E9c72a27c18.en.pdf">owning risky assets</a>. This leads to some <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/securing-europes-competitiveness-addressing-its-technology-gap#/">very predictable outcomes</a>. Environmental, inequality and life expectancy metrics perform better in Europe, while the US does better on purely economic indicators.</p>
<p>This is not necessarily bad news. In the competition to define the rules of the technological game, combining the huge US tech ecosystem and the European obsession for regulation may be the best chance to protect consumers, freedom of expression, accountability and transparency around the world.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="EU flags in front of European Commission in Brussels on a sunny day." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578982/original/file-20240229-28-6si2fv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578982/original/file-20240229-28-6si2fv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578982/original/file-20240229-28-6si2fv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578982/original/file-20240229-28-6si2fv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578982/original/file-20240229-28-6si2fv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578982/original/file-20240229-28-6si2fv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578982/original/file-20240229-28-6si2fv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Europe has the chance to write the global rules for the tech industry according to its own values.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/eu-flags-front-european-commission-brussels-162128453">symbiot/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The world leader in regulation</h2>
<p>The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6983504/">faster to expedite</a> its approval of new drugs than the European Medicine Agency. Pharmaceutical firms are also allowed a larger profit: drugs in the US are on average more than <a href="https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR2956.html">three times more expensive</a> than in the rest of the OECD. </p>
<p>So it makes sense for pharmaceutical companies to develop their products in the US first. The same is true if you want to develop a new synthetic meat, a modified crop, or a product linked to Artificial Intelligence (AI). </p>
<p>Europe could grow faster by changing its model. But ask European leaders which precise regulation they are happy to relax, and you will hear a deafening silence. </p>
<p>Britain is perhaps the best illustration. A large part of the Brexit project was to simplify European rules that were perceived as excessive. However, the UK is yet to make any major regulatory change eight years after the referendum, and the government <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/07c98087-3914-4107-a6ee-56cc4086459e">shows no interest</a> in changing tack.</p>
<p>In the US, innovation has gone hand in hand with <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv24w62m5">market concentration and market power</a>. When companies have high market power, they may have fewer incentives to innovate. They also start to gain <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4390776">political power</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Assorted app icons representing some of the major big tech companies in the US, including Meta, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Twitter, as seen on an iPhone screen." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578985/original/file-20240229-30-iujk0s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578985/original/file-20240229-30-iujk0s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578985/original/file-20240229-30-iujk0s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578985/original/file-20240229-30-iujk0s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578985/original/file-20240229-30-iujk0s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578985/original/file-20240229-30-iujk0s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578985/original/file-20240229-30-iujk0s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The US is home to tech giants including Alphabet, Amazon, Apple and Meta.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/portland-usa-apr-21-2022-assorted-2148379161">Tada Images/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This is where the role of Europe as an independent regulator is very important. The largest companies <a href="https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-eu/tiktoks-compliance-with-the-dma">tend to abide by EU law </a>because they want to keep access to the EU. They also have a tendency to offer the same products all over the world, which means European rules <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-usb-c-charger-rule-shows-how-eu-regulators-make-decisions-for-the-world-184763">apply to everyone</a>.</p>
<p>European rules have clear objectives. The EU’s <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3783436">Digital Markets Act</a>, which <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_22_6423">comes into force</a> in March 2024, establishes rights and rules for large online platforms – so-called <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_23_4328">“gatekeepers”</a> such as Google, Amazon or Meta – to prevent them from abusing their market power.</p>
<p>Europe is also credible when it comes to protecting consumers, citizens and transparency. It cannot be suspected of favouring European tech champions, because there are none. Europe can, for instance, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/eu-opens-formal-proceedings-against-tiktok-under-digital-services-act-2024-02-19/">judge Tiktok</a> based on whether it breaches child protection rules, and not based on fears that a Chinese company is taking market share away from a European one. </p>
<h2>Technology and democracy</h2>
<p>Perhaps the best example of the benefits of old regulating Europe and unleashed America is the current race for AI. The US is positioned as the market leader in AI technology, which can power products and applications such as image generators, voice assistants and search engines. <a href="https://www.goldmansachs.com/intelligence/pages/ai-investment-forecast-to-approach-200-billion-globally-by-2025.html">Roughly half</a> of the world’s investment in AI currently happens in the US. </p>
<p>At the same time, Europe has already taken several steps to regulate. The EU’s <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-countries-strike-deal-ai-law-act-technology/">Artificial Intelligence Act</a>, for example, defines <a href="https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/regulatory-framework-ai">different levels</a> of transparency and the auditing of algorithms depending on how dangerous they could become.</p>
<p>Europe will certainly not win the global innovation race for AI. But it has the chance to <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/59b9ef36-771f-4f91-89d1-ef89f4a2ec4e">write the global rules</a> according to its own values. This means it can make companies liable for the actions of their AI tools and transparent on the data used for training them. It also means it can require a company’s AI algorithms to be audited.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="TikTok app logo on a smartphone screen and flags of China and United States." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578988/original/file-20240229-22-cklp59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578988/original/file-20240229-22-cklp59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578988/original/file-20240229-22-cklp59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578988/original/file-20240229-22-cklp59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578988/original/file-20240229-22-cklp59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578988/original/file-20240229-22-cklp59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578988/original/file-20240229-22-cklp59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Short-form video hosting service TikTok is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/stone-uk-october-25-2019-tiktok-1541597285">Ascannio/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But for the EU to write the new rules of AI, western companies must win the innovation race. The main competitor is China, where companies are given massive access to government data, including facial recognition. The Chinese government can largely <a href="https://academic.oup.com/restud/article/90/4/1701/6665906">choose its champions</a> by deciding who gets access to data. </p>
<p>China’s concerns about regulation could not be further away from those in Europe. China is not interested in improving transparency and fair political competition – it wants to use data to promote the policies of the <a href="https://www.economist.com/china/2023/04/18/can-xi-jinping-control-ai-without-crushing-it">Chinese Communist Party</a>, and discipline and foster the national economy.</p>
<p>Far from a competition between Europe and the US for tech dominance, western democracies should see their different approaches as a unique opportunity to promote their shared values. In that context, the lack of large, global European tech leaders might actually be a blessing.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224665/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Renaud Foucart does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The lack of large, global European tech leaders might actually be a blessing.Renaud Foucart, Senior Lecturer in Economics, Lancaster University Management School, Lancaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2244712024-02-28T12:34:27Z2024-02-28T12:34:27ZWhat’s next for $25B supermarket supermerger after FTC sues to block it, saying it could raise prices<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578386/original/file-20240227-26-jz6nu4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=970%2C550%2C2646%2C1491&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Shoppers select items at a large Kroger supermarket in Atlanta in 2022.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/shoppers-are-seen-in-a-kroger-supermarket-on-october-14-in-news-photo/1244106504?adppopup=true">Elijah Nouvelage/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The Federal Trade Commission announced on on Feb. 26, 2024, that it’s suing to prevent <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/02/ftc-challenges-krogers-acquisition-albertsons">Kroger’s attempt to acquire Albertsons</a>. The US$25 billion deal, first announced in 2022, would combine Cincinnati-based Kroger, already the <a href="https://www.foodindustry.com/articles/top-10-grocers-in-the-united-states-2019/#gsc.tab=0">largest traditional U.S. supermarket chain</a>, with Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons, which is currently the fourth-biggest. The Conversation asked <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=wI3ku0oAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Christine P. Bartholomew</a>, a professor at the University at Buffalo School of Law who researches consumer protection, to explain what’s at stake and why the government opposes this merger.</em></p>
<h2>Which supermarkets belong to the two companies?</h2>
<p>The proposed merger involves more than <a href="https://thehill.com/business/4489557-ftc-state-ags-sue-to-block-kroger-albertsons-merger/">5,000 stores in 48 states</a>. Millions of their customers, whose shopping routines could be affected if the deal goes through, may not recognize these brand names because they shop at supermarket chains large and small that the companies have acquired in recent decades through previous mergers. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.thekrogerco.com/about-kroger/history/">Kroger has 28 subsidiaries with nearly 2,800 supermarkets</a>, including Harris Teeter, Dillon’s, Smith’s, King Soopers, Fry’s, City Market, Owen’s, JayC, Pay Less, Baker’s Gerbes, Pick‘n Save, Metro Market, Mariano’s Fresh Market, QFC, Ralphs and Fred Meyer.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.albertsonscompanies.com/about-aci/overview/default.aspx">Albertsons owns and operates more than 2,200 supermarkets</a> through its many brands. They include Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw’s, Acme, Tom Thumb, Randalls, United Supermarkets, Pavilions, Star Market, Haggen, Carrs, Kings Food Market and Balducci’s. </p>
<h2>Why does Kroger want to acquire Albertsons?</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/business/us-sues-to-halt-merger-of-kroger-and-albertsons-parent-companies-of-marianos-and-jewel-osco/3366312/">companies argue that they need to join forces</a> to compete against even bigger online and big box retailers. Over the last two years, Walmart and Costco have <a href="https://www.grocerydive.com/news/kroger-albertsons-merger-2023-pardon-the-disruption/696308/">gained market share</a> while other chains have held steady or lost ground. Discount and alternative format stores, like Aldi and Costco, are also placing competitive pressure on these stores, along with stiff competition from dollar stores, one of the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/10/14/1129014897/kroger-and-albertsons-plan-merger-to-combine-2-largest-supermarket-chains">fastest-growing segments of U.S. retail</a>.</p>
<p>If the merger goes through over the federal government’s opposition, the new company would cement its position, ensuring it has the largest market share for grocery purchases after Walmart.</p>
<p>By getting even bigger, Kroger and Albertsons contend, these already huge supermarket chains <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/us-government-kroger-albertsons-merger-bad-grocery-shoppers-107593123">would gain more bargaining power</a>, enabling them to charge lower prices, earn higher profits and spur more innovation. While that might sound like a good thing, they have provided few details on how these gains would be realized.</p>
<h2>What could go wrong?</h2>
<p>The government is getting involved out of concern that this merger could deny many shoppers the benefits of competition.</p>
<p>If the deal goes through, Walmart plus the combined Kroger and Albertsons company would <a href="https://ilsr.org/statement-kroger-albertsons-merger/">control 70% of the grocery market</a> in more than 160 cities. Its dominance could empower the enlarged company to drive up prices at a time when <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/02/02/grocery-price-inflation-biden/">consumers are already feeling the pinch</a>.</p>
<p>History has taught me and other scholars who study grocery store mergers to be <a href="https://www.promarket.org/2023/11/22/why-the-kroger-albertsons-merger-is-a-mess-for-consumers/">skeptical</a> about claims that adding more stores into ever-larger companies will lower prices and enhance competition.</p>
<p>When the <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/reports/do-retail-mergers-affect-competition%C2%A0-evidence-grocery-retailing/wp313.pdf">FTC assessed the impact of 14 mergers in the supermarket industry</a>, it found that though companies in virtually every merger promised lower prices, those promises only came true in less than half the deals. </p>
<p>The proposed merger could possibly harm workers too, the government contends. The FTC warns that the <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/02/ftc-challenges-krogers-acquisition-albertsons">merger could restrain wages, reduce benefits and weaken worker protections</a> for the 720,000 employees working for supermarkets owned by the two companies. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.axios.com/2024/02/27/price-food-us-inflation-data-groceries">Grocery expenses gobble up almost 11.3%</a> of consumers’ disposable income. Even small price increases for eggs, milk and other groceries that most Americans regularly purchase can strain household budgets.</p>
<p>The FTC’s warning echoes the sentiment of many members of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, which has <a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/unions-praise-ftc-lawsuit-blocking-kroger-albertsons-merger-2024-02-26/">opposed the deal</a> since it was announced.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578381/original/file-20240227-16-8iokvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A group of people protest while holding red and white anti-merger pro-labor signs aloft." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578381/original/file-20240227-16-8iokvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578381/original/file-20240227-16-8iokvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578381/original/file-20240227-16-8iokvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578381/original/file-20240227-16-8iokvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578381/original/file-20240227-16-8iokvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578381/original/file-20240227-16-8iokvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578381/original/file-20240227-16-8iokvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Unionized grocery store workers rally to oppose the proposed Kroger-Albertsons merger outside a Ralph’s supermarket in Los Angeles on April 13, 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/unionized-grocery-store-workers-rally-to-oppose-the-news-photo/1251799980?adppopup=true">Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How will the courts decide?</h2>
<p>The central question in the case will be whether the proposed merger violates the <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/18">Clayton Act</a>. This <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/clayton-antitrust-act.asp">1914 law bars mergers</a> that “may be substantially to lessen competition, or to tend to create a monopoly.”</p>
<p>Proof that mergers would result in higher prices isn’t necessary. Rather, there need only be an appreciable danger that the level of competition will decline. <a href="https://nz.finance.yahoo.com/news/us-ftc-announce-suing-block-164053955.html">The initial proceeding is administrative</a>, meaning it would be heard by an in-house administrative judge.</p>
<p>This judge will consider the impact of the merger on competition among supermarket chains, looking at variables such as whether it would increase market concentration and prices while undermining quality and innovation. </p>
<p>If the FTC and state attorneys general succeed in making that case, then Kroger and Albertsons have two choices.</p>
<p>They could argue that any such harm is offset by aspects of the merger that might boost competition in other ways and prove their claims that the merger would <a href="https://www.albertsonscompanies.com/newsroom/press-releases/news-details/2022/Kroger-and-Albertsons-Companies-Announce-Definitive-Merger-Agreement/default.aspx">lower prices for shoppers</a>.</p>
<p>Alternatively, the companies can try to refute any evidence from the FTC supporting its claims that the merger would restrict competition among supermarket companies.</p>
<p>To make their case, Kroger-Albertsons would likely point to its <a href="https://ir.kroger.com/news/news-details/2023/Kroger-and-Albertsons-Companies-Announce-Comprehensive-Divestiture-Plan-with-CS-Wholesale-Grocers-LLC-in-Connection-with-Proposed-Merger/default.aspx">plan to sell off 413 of the supermarkets they currently own</a> across the United States to C&S Wholesale Grocers. The plan, announced in 2023, also calls for the sale of some distribution centers, private labels and other assets to help competition in places like California, Washington and Oregon.</p>
<p>These steps raise key questions that are hard and complicated to answer. For example, which markets could be harmed by a merger? Would the proposed plan to sell off some assets protect consumers who shop in those areas? </p>
<p>The administrative judge will also need to assess the potential impact on workers. </p>
<p>Afterward, the case could go to a U.S. District Court for further review, meaning that resolving this dispute could take several more years.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578380/original/file-20240227-22-ko67ie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Man in suit and tie stands at a podium in front of a map with photos of supermarkets on it." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578380/original/file-20240227-22-ko67ie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578380/original/file-20240227-22-ko67ie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578380/original/file-20240227-22-ko67ie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578380/original/file-20240227-22-ko67ie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578380/original/file-20240227-22-ko67ie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578380/original/file-20240227-22-ko67ie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578380/original/file-20240227-22-ko67ie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser announces the filing of a lawsuit to block the merger on Feb. 14, 2024.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/Grocery%20Store%20Merger%20Lawsuit/d1058b41b38140f4bf4d02a088125fca?Query=kroger%27s&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=2047&currentItemNo=4">AP Photo/David Zalubowski</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What other litigation is going on?</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kroger-albertsons-ftc-sues-to-block-merger/">state attorneys general</a> representing consumers in eight states – Arizona, California, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon and Wyoming – joined this federal lawsuit. So has the District of Columbia’s attorney general.</p>
<p>And the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/01/15/1224401179/kroger-albertsons-merger-grocery-lawsuit-washington">Washington</a> and <a href="https://coag.gov/2024/colorado-attorney-general-phil-weiser-files-lawsuit-to-block-proposed-kroger-albertsons-merger/">Colorado</a> attorneys general have also each filed suit in their own states to block the merger. Those cases are pending in state courts, and both will need to be litigated regardless of what happens with the FTC’s action.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://coag.gov/app/uploads/2024/02/2024-02-14-Complaint-Public.pdf">Colorado complaint may add additional antitrust</a> concerns for the Kroger and Albertsons deal because it includes allegations that the companies have colluded to suppress workers’ benefits and wages. If proved, such conduct violates antitrust laws.</p>
<p>Even if the FTC is not successful, the enlarged supermarket company could face lingering antitrust scrutiny because it would still have to address Washington’s and Colorado’s merger challenges. And even if those challenges fail, the companies will have to respond to the Colorado attorney general’s allegations of collusion.</p>
<p><em>This article has been updated to correct a statement about market share for grocery stores in more than 160 cities. That figure includes Walmart, as well as the proposed Kroger-Albertsons company.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224471/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christine P. Bartholomew does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Turning two big supermarket companies into one even larger one could harm consumers and workers, the government says.Christine P. Bartholomew, Professor of Law, University at BuffaloLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2234042024-02-23T12:57:14Z2024-02-23T12:57:14ZNanotechnology promises to help farmers cut pesticide use – but could also make chemicals more toxic<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576824/original/file-20240220-23-kaqnct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Nano-enabled pesticides may be efficient but could be hazardous to the surrounding environment beyond target crop pests. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/farmer-agronomist-spraying-pesticide-on-field-1843140232">NataliAlba/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Nanotechnology has pervaded numerous industrial sectors over the past decades. Although many of us may not be aware of it, nanomaterials are now embedded within <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-guide-to-the-nanotechnology-used-in-the-average-home-59312">many of the the products</a> we use in our daily lives. <a href="https://www.azonano.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=5829">Recent developments</a> suggest that agriculture could be next in line. </p>
<p>Pesticide products based on nanoscale materials – nano-enabled pesticides – are currently heralded as a promising new solution that could enhance the protection of crops from pests and disease, while posing minimal risk to the environment.</p>
<p>But, together with a team of environmental scientists, we argue in this <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.3c10207">new study</a> that despite <a href="https://www.azonano.com/news.aspx?newsID=38847">claimed sustainability benefits</a>, adding nanomaterials to this equation is likely to do more harm than good. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.nanowerk.com/spotlight/spotid=7853.php">High expectations and bold promises</a> of enhanced efficiency and sustainability have surrounded nanotechnology since its initial large-scale commercialisation two decades ago. There is little doubt that nanotechnology has delivered on some of these criteria. Spectacular examples include <a href="https://theconversation.com/five-ways-nanotechnology-is-securing-your-future-55254">applications in solar cells</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/lithium-air-a-battery-breakthrough-explained-50027">batteries</a> that help society transition away from fossil fuels. </p>
<p>At the same time, there is <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-nanotechnology-is-more-than-just-a-buzzword-97376">ample evidence</a> of cases where the prefix “nano” has been over-hyped for <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-bs-and-the-science-of-nanotechnology-97317">marketing</a> rather than scientific purposes. These range from overpromised efficacy of nanoparticles for <a href="https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/nanoparticles-mix-it-reality">cancer-targeting applications</a> to downright scams where nano-products are sold under the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2021/12/28/feds-crack-down-on-nano-silver-covid-treatmentonly-the-latest-unproven-cure/?sh=5071fdbf3bbf">claim of curing COVID</a>. </p>
<p>More importantly, there are instances where the <a href="https://theconversation.com/nanomaterials-are-changing-the-world-but-we-still-dont-have-adequate-safety-tests-for-them-101748">risks</a> of nanomaterials to human and environmental health outweigh their benefits. Concerns regarding genotoxicity – or damage to DNA – recently resulted in a <a href="https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/news/titanium-dioxide-e171-no-longer-considered-safe-when-used-food-additive">ban of titanium dioxide nanoparticles</a> for use as food colourants in the EU. </p>
<p>Pesticides of any class warrant particular caution when it comes to risks to human health and the environment. In contrast to the majority of chemicals we produce, pesticides are designed to be toxic and are purposefully released to the environment. </p>
<p>Only a small fraction of pesticide applied reaches the pests being targeted under conventional agricultural practices – on average that volume ranges from <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10668-011-9325-5">less than 1%</a> up to <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Wenjun-Zhang-10/publication/323302056_Global_pesticide_use_Profile_trend_cost_benefit_and_more/links/5a8cda3fa6fdcc786eafe3d7/Global-pesticide-use-Profile-trend-cost-benefit-and-more.pdf">approximately 25%</a>. The remaining fraction of applied pesticides often ends up <a href="https://phys.org/news/2021-03-global-farmland-high-pesticide-pollution.html">polluting soils, groundwater and surface water</a>. This poor efficiency represents a significant loss from both an economic and environmental perspective. It’s a waste. </p>
<h2>The promise of nano-enabled pesticides</h2>
<p>Nano-enabled pesticides claim to address this lack of efficiency. Packaging pesticide molecules in nanoscale carriers – less than <a href="https://youtu.be/38Vi8Dm0kdY?feature=shared">one hundredth of the size of a grain of sand</a> – could make pesticides stick or adhere better to crops. It could also improve their absorption into the tissues of pests.</p>
<p>The nanoscale carriers can be tailored to release the pesticide molecules they carry more slowly or restrict their release to occur only under the desired conditions. Consequently, nano-enabled pesticides could be equally or even more effective than conventional pesticide products when applied in lower volumes and less frequently. This cuts the amount of pesticide being released into the surrounding environment.</p>
<p>But reducing volumes is only part of the solution. As illustrated in our paper, many of the properties that improve the performance of nano-enabled pesticides in pest control may equally exacerbate their impacts on organisms other than the pests being targeted. Plainly put, little is gained from lowering levels of pollution, when the pollutants themselves are more harmful. </p>
<p>To illustrate, nano-enabled pesticides that are more readily taken up in the tissues of targeted pests can often be assumed to be more readily taken up by other organisms as well. Similarly, using nanoscale carriers to extend the durability of pesticides after application also increases the time pesticides will pollute the soil and freshwater. This has an impact on aquatic life, pollinators and natural predators of pest organisms. </p>
<p>The nanoscale carriers that are used may affect the environment as well. In a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749123008965?via%3Dihub">study published last year</a>, we demonstrated that nanoscale carriers can adversely affect freshwater zooplankton in the long term. The behaviour of nanomaterials in the environment also tends to be less well known and harder to predict than for conventional chemicals. Due to their minuscule size, accurate routine monitoring of nanomaterial residues in the environment or on food is unfeasible. </p>
<h2>Proceed with caution</h2>
<p>The first nano-enabled pesticides have already entered the market in <a href="https://farmtario.com/news/vive-crop-protection-receives-first-canadian-product-registration/">Canada</a> and the <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/vive-crop-protection-receives-epa-approval-for-the-worlds-first-three-way-biological-chemical-and-allosperse-fungicide-301286798.html">US</a>. More products and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-020-0110-1">other regions</a> such as the EU are likely to follow soon. </p>
<p>For better or worse, the agricultural sector could be on the cusp of a new era for pesticides. By acting now, regulators can prevent nano-enabled pesticides from becoming a regrettable path in the future of farming. Our paper outlines the benefits of nano-enabled pesticides, but emphasises their environmental risks and how these should be assessed.</p>
<p>While our role as environmental scientists is to improve our understanding of these consequences, we urge regulators to consider these risks when evaluating whether nano-enabled pesticides should be bought to market. </p>
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<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Martina G. Vijver receives funding from European Union's ERC-consolidator grant agreement No 101002123.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tom Nederstigt does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Nano-enabled pesticides could pose huge risks and they aren’t being regulated effectively enough yet.Tom Nederstigt, Postdoctoral research fellow, Leiden UniversityMartina G. Vijver, Professor of Ecotoxicology, Leiden UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2236102024-02-22T13:43:36Z2024-02-22T13:43:36ZEPA has tightened its target for deadly particle pollution − states need more tools to reach it<p>Tens of millions of Americans, including many Texans like me, live in counties that will soon be <a href="https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2024-02/table_annual-pm25-county-design-values-2020-2022-for-web.pdf">violating air pollution particle standards</a> for the first time. It’s not that our air is getting dirtier – it’s because the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency just <a href="https://www.epa.gov/pm-pollution/final-reconsideration-national-ambient-air-quality-standards-particulate-matter-pm">tightened its cap</a> on the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GH000711">deadliest air pollutant: fine particulate matter</a>, or PM2.5.</p>
<p>The EPA acted because the Clean Air Act requires it to periodically <a href="https://www.epa.gov/criteria-air-pollutants/process-reviewing-national-ambient-air-quality-standards">review existing standards</a> for six major air pollutants to ensure that the targets protect public health. Its <a href="https://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/isa/recordisplay.cfm?deid=354490">2022 scientific review</a> showed that fine particles increase rates of illnesses and death even when inhaled at levels below existing standards. </p>
<p>The EPA estimates that meeting its new standard would yield up to US$77 in health benefits for each $1 of control costs and would <a href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-finalizes-stronger-standards-harmful-soot-pollution-significantly-increasing">save up to 4,500 lives in 2032</a>. </p>
<p>Now, states must develop plans that meet the standard. As an atmospheric scientist who has <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=U4vSW6MAAAAJ&hl=en">studied air pollution</a> for a quarter century, I’m concerned that a lack of detailed measurement data will leave many states flying blind. </p>
<p>Furthermore, the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2024-02/naaqs_pm_reconsideration_ria_final.pdf">regulatory analysis</a> that the EPA issued alongside its rule focused only on a narrow set of local control options, neglecting some of the most important upwind sources of particulate matter. That myopic approach could lead to plans that save fewer lives – and at higher costs – than states could achieve with better data and more comprehensive strategies. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GVBeY1jSG9Y?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Fine particle pollution contributes to many deadly diseases, including heart attack, stroke, lung disease and cancer.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What’s in a particle?</h2>
<p>The EPA’s <a href="https://www.epa.gov/pm-pollution/final-reconsideration-national-ambient-air-quality-standards-particulate-matter-pm">new standard</a> limits PM2.5, the smallest regulated particles, to 9 micrograms per cubic meter of air. This is the midpoint of a <a href="https://casac.epa.gov/ords/sab/r/sab_apex/casac/ar?session=32311776731473">recommended range</a> from the agency’s Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee and a 25% cut from the prior cap. This new cap is <a href="https://www.airclim.org/air-quality-standards-worldwide">among the toughest in the world</a>.</p>
<p>Although federal standards lump all fine particles together as a single pollutant, they’re more like a stew of ingredients. Some, like sea salt, dust and black carbon, are emitted to the air directly as particles. Others, like sulfate, nitrate and ammonium, start out mainly as gases that interact in the atmosphere to form particles downwind. Organic carbon, the leading type of PM in many regions, originates as both gases and particles that react in complex ways.</p>
<p>Countless natural sources such as trees and soils, and human-made ones such as vehicles, factories and fertilizers, add various mixes of these ingredients to the stew.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576853/original/file-20240220-26-1zrtec.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Graphic comparing PM2.5 to human hair and beach sand grains" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576853/original/file-20240220-26-1zrtec.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576853/original/file-20240220-26-1zrtec.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576853/original/file-20240220-26-1zrtec.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576853/original/file-20240220-26-1zrtec.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576853/original/file-20240220-26-1zrtec.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576853/original/file-20240220-26-1zrtec.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576853/original/file-20240220-26-1zrtec.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fine particulates (red dots) are 2.5 microns in diameter – far smaller than the width of a human hair.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.epa.gov/system/files/images/2022-04/particulate-size.gif">USEPA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>States operate <a href="https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2023-06/PM_2022.pdf">more than 1,000 monitors</a> that measure the total amount of PM in the air. Unfortunately, only about 150 of those monitors are sophisticated versions called speciation monitors that <a href="https://www.epa.gov/amtic/chemical-speciation-network-csn">measure what the PM is made of</a> – information that’s critical for developing effective controls. Thousands of counties don’t even have a total PM monitor, despite satellite evidence showing that <a href="https://www.rff.org/news/press-releases/new-satellite-data-show-twice-as-many-americans-live-in-counties-not-meeting-fine-particulate-air-quality-standards-than-previously-thought/">many would exceed the new standard</a>.</p>
<p>When the EPA first regulated fine particles separately from coarse ones, known as PM10, in the late 1990s, it <a href="https://www.gao.gov/assets/rced-99-215.pdf">developed a plan</a> to routinely measure the content of PM at over 300 metropolitan sites. It also funded <a href="https://cfpub.epa.gov/si/si_public_record_report.cfm?Lab=NERL&TIMSType=PUBLISHED+REPORT&actType=Product&dirEntryId=161403&displayIt=Yes&searchAll=Climate+and+Modeling&showCriteria=0&sortBy=revisionDate&startIndex=51&subject=Climate+Change+Research">temporary Supersites</a> at which scientists intensely studied particles in eight of the most polluted cities.</p>
<p>When I worked on reducing particle pollution for Georgia’s air agency in the early 2000s, those speciation monitors and the <a href="https://cfpub.epa.gov/si/si_public_record_report.cfm?dirEntryId=66293&Lab=NERL">Atlanta Supersite</a> provided crucial data to inform our efforts. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576871/original/file-20240220-18-k88ayo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Diagram of PM2.5 formation in the air." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576871/original/file-20240220-18-k88ayo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576871/original/file-20240220-18-k88ayo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=341&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576871/original/file-20240220-18-k88ayo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=341&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576871/original/file-20240220-18-k88ayo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=341&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576871/original/file-20240220-18-k88ayo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576871/original/file-20240220-18-k88ayo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576871/original/file-20240220-18-k88ayo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Three major emissions form inorganic fine airborne particulate matter: nitrogen oxides (NOx), largely from cars and trucks; sulfur dioxide (SO2) from power plants and factories; and ammonia (NH3) from agriculture. Sunlight and chemical reactions in the atmosphere convert the emissions to new chemical species that can combine to form tiny particles known as PM2.5.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://energy.mit.edu/news/regulating-particulate-pollution-novel-analysis-yields-new-insights/">MIT Energy Initiative</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Now, about half of the speciation monitors are gone for lack of funding, and the EPA hasn’t announced a follow-up to its Supersite program. The agency’s inspector general <a href="https://19january2021snapshot.epa.gov/sites/static/files/2015-12/documents/pmreport20030930.pdf">warned as far back as 2003</a> that better measurements were needed to inform timely reductions of PM. Instead, Congress cut EPA’s budgets in the early 2000s, driving the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10962247.2014.956904">closure of dozens of monitors</a> after the size of the network <a href="https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2022-08/PM_2021.pdf">peaked in 2005</a>.</p>
<p>The composition of particles has changed dramatically since then as <a href="https://www.epa.gov/transportation-air-pollution-and-climate-change/smog-soot-and-other-air-pollution-transportation">vehicles have gotten cleaner</a>, <a href="https://www.epa.gov/power-sector/latest-emission-comparisons-pollution-controls">power plant emissions have plummeted</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06522-6">wildfires have intensified</a>. EPA tightened the PM2.5 standard in <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2016-04/documents/2012_aqi_factsheet.pdf">in 2012</a> and again this year, so it’s more important than ever to know what these particles are made of now. </p>
<p>Many counties whose PM levels exceed the new standard lack speciation monitors and have never been the focus of an intensive scientific field study. Others lack sufficient data to develop a comprehensive plan.</p>
<h2>A Texas illustration</h2>
<p>My home state of Texas illustrates the data void. In the early 2000s, Houston <a href="http://dept.ceer.utexas.edu/ceer/texaqs/superfacts.html">hosted a Supersite</a> and various <a href="https://csl.noaa.gov/projects/2006/">other</a> <a href="https://www2.acom.ucar.edu/campaigns/discover-aq-houston">temporary</a> <a href="https://earth.gsfc.nasa.gov/acd/campaigns/tracer-aq">studies</a>. Today, our only <a href="https://gispub.epa.gov/air/trendsreport/2023/#pm2_5_composition">remaining speciation monitor</a> sits near the refinery-lined Houston Ship Channel, but our highest PM is measured <a href="https://www17.tceq.texas.gov/tamis/index.cfm?fuseaction=report.view_site&CAMS=1052">18 miles away</a>, where a busy interstate loop transects trendy neighborhoods near a concrete plant.</p>
<p>That data gap pales in comparison to the ones facing Hidalgo, Cameron and Webb counties along the Texas-Mexico border, home to the cities of McAllen, Brownsville and Laredo. Like Houston, their total particulate levels fall between the new and old standards. However, their particle pollution has never been analyzed in a major field study, and there’s no speciation monitor within <a href="https://tceq.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=ab6f85198bda483a997a6956a8486539">over 100 miles</a>.</p>
<p>This isn’t just a Texas problem.</p>
<p><a href="https://www3.epa.gov/airquality/greenbook/map/mappm25both.pdf">Several regions</a> of California, Pennsylvania, Utah and Ohio, along with small portions of Alaska, Arizona, Idaho and Oregon, violated previous PM standards, so those states have some experience developing PM control plans. The new limit will require them to redouble their control efforts. </p>
<p>However, <a href="https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2024-02/table_annual-pm25-county-design-values-2020-2022-for-web.pdf">various counties in 18 other states</a>, including Colorado, Florida, Michigan, Mississippi and Tennessee, have PM levels that fall between the previous and new standards. They will likely need to develop plans for the first time.</p>
<p>Cities such as Nashville, Tennessee; Kansas City, Kansas; Fort Lauderdale and Pensacola in Florida; and Hattiesburg and Gulfport in Mississippi also exceed the new standards but lack speciation monitors.</p>
<p><iframe id="ENtxQ" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/ENtxQ/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>A need for broader controls</h2>
<p>Lacking better data, states may fall back on the types of strategies outlined in the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2024-02/naaqs_pm_reconsideration_ria_final.pdf">EPA’s regulatory analysis</a>. The agency suggested that states focus on controlling <a href="https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2024-02/naaqs_pm_reconsideration_ria_final.pdf">local sources that directly emit particles</a>, such as road dust, agricultural dust and cooking emissions.</p>
<p>But this approach neglects particles that form from gases emitted far upwind. For example, ammonia from agriculture reacts with sulfur dioxide from coal burning and nitrogen oxides from various sources to form ammonium, sulfate and nitrate, which are among the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/EDE.0000000000000297">leading components of particulate matter</a>. </p>
<p>Controlling ammonia is one of the <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2296406-cutting-ammonia-emissions-may-be-the-best-way-to-reduce-air-pollution/">most cost-effective opportunities</a> to <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/es060379a">improve air quality</a>. Reducing emissions of this <a href="https://www.clean-air-farming.eu/en/activities/abatement-measures">long-neglected pollutant</a> will require better practices for managing livestock, fertilizers and manure on farms.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577079/original/file-20240221-24-lwmpu1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Aerial view of a large power plant with tall smokestacks" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577079/original/file-20240221-24-lwmpu1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577079/original/file-20240221-24-lwmpu1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577079/original/file-20240221-24-lwmpu1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577079/original/file-20240221-24-lwmpu1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577079/original/file-20240221-24-lwmpu1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577079/original/file-20240221-24-lwmpu1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577079/original/file-20240221-24-lwmpu1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The W.A. Parish coal-fired power plant in Fort Bend County, Texas, just west of Houston, is one of the largest SO2 emitters in the U.S. Three of its four units lack scrubbers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:W.A._Parish_Generating_Plant_Aerial.jpg">RM VM/Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Sulfur dioxide has <a href="https://www.epa.gov/air-trends/sulfur-dioxide-trends">already been slashed</a> but could be cut further by requiring outdated coal-fired power plants that still lack sulfur scrubbers – a technology <a href="https://lawcat.berkeley.edu/record/1111495">mandated at new plants since 1979</a> – to install them, switch to natural gas or retire. Nitrogen oxides can be reduced by replacing old trucks and installing industrial controls. Controlling all of these gases requires help from upwind counties but can achieve broader progress than local dust controls alone.</p>
<p>With growing shares of particulate matter coming from natural sources and wildfires, states will need all the help they can get to meet the tough new standard. Better data and upwind controls of ammonia and other gases can help states save lives and meet standards as cost-effectively as possible.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223610/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daniel Cohan has previously received research grants from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and serves on its Board of Scientific Counselors but is writing in a personal capacity. He worked from 2004-2006 for the Georgia Environmental Protection Division and has previously received research funding from the Texas Air Quality Research Program.</span></em></p>Reducing particle pollution can save thousands of lives, but states need more data to inform better controls. An atmospheric scientist explains what data and actions are needed.Daniel Cohan, Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rice UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2159982024-02-14T13:24:03Z2024-02-14T13:24:03ZDon’t let ‘FDA-approved’ or ‘patented’ in ads give you a false sense of security<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557351/original/file-20231102-29-y77wkb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=10%2C0%2C7156%2C4764&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Is that really a stamp of approval?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/approved-concept-rubber-stamp-with-fda-and-pills-on-royalty-free-image/1186545957">iStock/Getty Images Plus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If you’ve ever reached for a bottle of moisturizer labeled “patented” or “FDA approved,” you might want to think twice. In a <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4366900">recent study</a> of hundreds of advertisements, I found that supplements and beauty products often misleadingly use these terms to suggest safety or efficacy.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://law.indiana.edu/about/people/details/mattioli-michael.html">law professor</a>, I suspect this is confusing for consumers, maybe even dangerous. Having a patent means only that you can stop others from making, using, selling or importing your invention. It doesn’t mean the invention works or that it won’t blow up in your face.</p>
<p>“FDA approved,” meanwhile, means <a href="https://www.fda.gov/drugs/development-approval-process-drugs">a product’s benefits have been found to outweigh its risks</a> for a specific purpose – not that it’s of high quality or low risk in general.</p>
<h2>Led astray by the label</h2>
<p>I wanted to know whether companies exploit these sorts of misunderstandings, so I analyzed hundreds of ads from print, television and social media that mention patents or FDA approval. I found that advertisers throw these terms around in confusing ways. </p>
<p>For example, I found an ad for a probiotic supplement stating, “The proof is in the patent”; an ad for an earwax removal product stating its “patented formula is safe, effective, and clinically proven”; and an ad for a headache remedy that made the words “FDA approved” a bold visual focal point. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1312044681551917058"}"></div></p>
<p>Here’s the concerning part: I looked at all kinds of products and found that these terms appear most often in ads for things you eat or rub onto your skin, such as supplements, insecticides, toothpaste and lotions. </p>
<p>That’s probably no coincidence. Products like this aren’t tightly regulated, yet consumers want to know they’re safe. It seems likely that advertisers are name-dropping the government to make people think just that.</p>
<h2>Risks to consumers − and to innovation</h2>
<p>One danger is clear: Ads with vague references to government authorities could dupe consumers into thinking products are safer or more effective than they actually are. In fact, there’s some evidence <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/archinternmed.2011.396">this is already happening</a>.</p>
<p>Another risk is that this creates perverse incentives for business. Companies could chose to forgo actual innovation, focusing instead on securing dubious patents or regulatory nods to <a href="https://www.voguebusiness.com/beauty/how-patents-became-the-beauty-industrys-secret-weapon">keep up in the advertising race</a>. </p>
<p>These practices could distort competition, burden government agencies with frivolous patent applications and deter new entrants from competing in markets where they can’t employ similar advertising tactics. </p>
<h2>Questions remain</h2>
<p>Even though my study has shed light on how often these tricky advertising methods are used, it leaves some big questions unanswered. What exactly makes consumers <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2016.1179367">respond so favorably</a> to terms like “patented” or “FDA approved”? And who is most likely to be confused by these tactics? </p>
<p>As a next step, I plan to conduct comprehensive surveys of consumers, along with in-depth interviews, to explore how these labels resonate emotionally. I hope to coordinate with researchers from psychology and media studies. Research along these lines could offer policymakers the robust evidence they need to make changes to the law.</p>
<p>What might those changes look like? For one thing, the law could make it easier for groups of consumers to sue in federal courts over misleading ads. The Federal Trade Commission could also place more of a burden on companies to prove their ads are honest. These changes could make a big difference in ensuring companies persuade shoppers without confusing them. </p>
<p>At a time when ads are everywhere and Americans are losing trust in institutions – and each other – the stakes for truthful product claims are high.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215998/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Mattioli does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Most people don’t know what these labels really mean − and advertisers take advantage of that fact.Michael Mattioli, Professor of Law and Louis F. Niezer Faculty Fellow, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2220952024-02-12T16:31:43Z2024-02-12T16:31:43ZForever chemicals in ski wax are being spread on snowy slopes<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574955/original/file-20240212-16-zludm6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A study of the Austrian slopes has found that forever chemicals in ski wax end up on the slopes, in soil and snow.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/skiing-jumping-skier-extreme-winter-sports-1187224183">Artur Didyk/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Every February half-term, I think back to the French ski trips I went on as a teenager. I remember the freshness of the cold, crisp air as I snow-ploughed my way down the slopes. Escaping to somewhere seemingly so pristine felt like a world away from where I grew up in London. </p>
<p>Back then, I never considered that snow could be a potential source of exposure to a harmful chemical. However, recent evidence suggests that persistent, synthetic chemicals are being transferred into snow and soil from waxes applied to the surfaces of skis to enhance performance.</p>
<p>Nicknamed forever chemicals, per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of more than <a href="https://www.oecd.org/chemicalsafety/portal-perfluorinated-chemicals/aboutpfass/">10,000 different chemicals</a>, many of which have been used since the 1950s. They repel water and oil so they make great waterproof coatings for clothing, greaseproof paper and construction materials. </p>
<p>Some act as surfactants, allowing different liquids to mix more easily. Many resist high temperatures, so they’re ideal for making non-stick frying pans and firefighting foams. </p>
<p>Certain PFAS are used in ski wax applied to skis and snowboards as lubrication. By making surfaces of ski kit more slippery, skiers can speed up and make smoother turns as they travel from piste to piste. A <a href="https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2023/EM/D3EM00375B">new study</a> has found high PFAS concentrations in ski waxes and in the snow and soil sampled from popular skiing areas in Austria.</p>
<h2>The problem with persistence</h2>
<p>PFAS are organoflourine compounds – their super strong carbon-flourine bonds make them incredibly stable. Because PFAS don’t <a href="https://echa.europa.eu/hot-topics/perfluoroalkyl-chemicals-pfas">break down easily</a>, they can persist inside our bodies or in the environment for <a href="https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/Documents/Environmental%20Health/PFAS%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf">many years</a>. </p>
<p>A single dose of perfluorooctanoic acid or PFOA, one of the most well-studied PFAS, could take between three and seven years to reduce by half inside the body – that means it could take 100 years to eliminate 99.9% of that dose. </p>
<p>Some PFAS can be toxic to humans and wildlife, with links to <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/ebiom/article/PIIS2352-3964(23)00397-3/fulltext#:%7E:text=This%20study%20supports%20the%20hypothesis,plastic%20packaging%2C%20etc.">cancers</a>, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412022003117">developmental</a> and <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36334833/#:%7E:text=Conclusion%3A%20Based%20on%20the%20evidence,in%20odds%20ratio%20for%20infertility">reproductive problems</a>, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1438463918300476?via%3Dihub">hormone disruption</a>, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013935123003171#:%7E:text=May%202023%2C%20115525-,Exposure%20to%20high%20levels%20of%20PFAS%20through%20drinking%20water%20is,based%20study%20in%20Ronneby%2C%20Sweden">diabetes</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/etc.4890;%20https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144795">obesity</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Woman in yellow jackets applies wax to four yellow skis laid out on wooden table" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574960/original/file-20240212-28-bro51v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574960/original/file-20240212-28-bro51v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574960/original/file-20240212-28-bro51v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574960/original/file-20240212-28-bro51v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574960/original/file-20240212-28-bro51v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574960/original/file-20240212-28-bro51v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574960/original/file-20240212-28-bro51v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The presence of PFAS in ski wax is widely understood - now research shows that the chemicals transfer from ski wax to the environment and end up in snow and soil on the white slopes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/japanese-senior-woman-waxing-skis-1620325474">Rammy_Rammy/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A slippery slope?</h2>
<p>The presence of PFAS in ski waxes is not a new discovery. In 2010, a Swedish study, found high levels of various PFAS in ski wax and in the blood of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1021/es9034733">ski-waxing technicians</a>. </p>
<p>The fascinating thing about the new study is the potential for these chemicals to transfer into the environment from recreational and professional skiing equipment. She reveals that PFAS levels in the snow and soil from skiing areas are consistently higher than in those from the control sample collected away from skiing areas, indicating that skiing can act as a source. </p>
<p>The researchers highlight how the PFAS profiles (the combination of different PFAS found in each sample) differed between locations and sample types. This variability was attributed to differences between ski waxes that had been manufactured at different times or in different places. </p>
<p>I would suggest that additional sources of PFAS are likely in these areas, particularly as PFAS were still sometimes detected in areas of no skiing. They are present in some waterproof clothing, which is worn in abundance by skiers, and in food packaging, paints and cabling – all of which will be found in these areas. These products are likely to display different PFAS profiles. </p>
<p>The new study highlights the difficulty of assessing PFAS globally. There are so many different individual PFAS chemicals. So much so that there’s still uncertainty over the true number that <a href="https://time.com/6281242/pfas-forever-chemicals-home-beauty-body-products/">exist</a>. With PFAS in so many products, it’s hard to identify a singular source.</p>
<p>With so many PFAS in circulation, it’s hard to know which ones to test for. The researchers in the new study searched for 34 PFAS chemicals – that’s no easy task. For every PFAS measured, analysis takes more time and money and gets more complicated.</p>
<p>The sum of the concentrations of these 34 PFAS represented less than 1% of the total organofluorine present in the same samples, so the true PFAS concentration could be even higher. </p>
<h2>A class-based approach</h2>
<p>Historically, individual chemicals have been banned depending on toxicity, persistence and resistance to degradation. This has invariably led to the replacement of banned chemicals with structurally similar ones. </p>
<p>Assessing 10,000 PFAS individually would be impossible. PFAS display varying levels of toxicity and persistence with some breaking down <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yrtph.2022.105226">quite readily</a>, but in recent years, environmental chemists have called for PFAS to be regulated together as a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1039%2Fd0em00147c">group or class</a>. </p>
<p>The European Chemicals Agency is considering a <a href="https://echa.europa.eu/-/echa-publishes-pfas-restriction-proposal">proposed restriction</a> to ban the manufacture and use of PFAS, with some exemptions for essential use where no alternatives exist. If accepted by member states, it could prove a significant step towards the beginning of the end for forever chemicals. Meanwhile, UK legislation <a href="https://www.dwi.gov.uk/pfas-and-forever-chemicals/">falls behind</a> by focusing on individual PFAS, with delays in implementing new restrictions. </p>
<p>Interestingly, PFAS-containing waxes were banned by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation at the start of the 2023 – 2024 season. Norwegian Olympic silver medallist Ragnhild Mowinckel was disqualified last October for competing with fluorinated wax. </p>
<p>But a ban that only applies to professional competition won’t stop PFAS chemicals from reaching the slopes. A ban on the manufacture of PFAS-containing products is crucial. Only then can we prevent PFAS reaching the mountains, and even with a comprehensive ban now, PFAS already in the snow won’t disappear within my lifetime.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daniel Drage has previously worked on projects funded by the Natural Environment Research Council and the Environmental Protection Agency of Ireland. He is a Lecturer in Environmental Health at the University of Birmingham, and an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Queensland (Australia). </span></em></p>Synthetic chemicals found in ski wax have been found in the snow and soil on ski slopes and could pose a toxic threat to the environment.Daniel Drage, Lecturer in Environmental Health, University of BirminghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2230572024-02-08T13:39:27Z2024-02-08T13:39:27ZHeart attacks, cancer, dementia, premature deaths: 4 essential reads on the health effects driving EPA’s new fine particle air pollution standard<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574202/original/file-20240207-27-6crply.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=37%2C7%2C5002%2C3347&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Large industrial facilities like this oil refinery outside Houston are major sources of fine particulate air pollution.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/CongressClimateEnvironmentalJustice/c07295f82f9646db873f5d96baf4f089/photo">AP Photo/David J. Phillip</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has <a href="https://www.epa.gov/pm-pollution/final-reconsideration-national-ambient-air-quality-standards-particulate-matter-pm">announced a new standard</a> for protecting the public from fine particulate air pollution, known as PM2.5 because the particles are smaller than 2.5 millionths of a meter. These minute particles can penetrate deeply into the body and have been linked to many serious illnesses. </p>
<p>The new rule sets an annual limit of 9 micrograms per cubic meter of air, down from the previous level of 12 micrograms. States will be required to meet this standard and to take it into consideration when they evaluate applications for permits for new stationary air pollution sources, such as electric power plants, factories and oil refineries.</p>
<p>Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA is required to set air pollution standards at levels that <a href="https://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/summary-clean-air-act">protect public health</a>. In the four articles that follow, scholars wrote about the many ways in which exposure to PM2.5 contributes to cardiovascular disease, lung cancer, other illnesses such as dementia, and premature deaths.</p>
<h2>1. An alarming array of health effects</h2>
<p>Scientists have known since the 1993 <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1056/NEJM199312093292401">Six Cities Study</a>, which showed that people were dying faster in dirty cities than in clean cities, that exposure to PM2.5 increased the risk of lung cancer and heart disease. Subsequent research has linked fine particulates to a much broader range of health effects. </p>
<p>Once a person inhales PM2.5, “it causes an inflammatory response that sends signals <a href="https://theconversation.com/fine-particle-air-pollution-is-a-public-health-emergency-hiding-in-plain-sight-106030">throughout the body</a>, much as a bacterial infection would,” wrote public and environmental health scholars <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=1h3u230AAAAJ&hl=en">Doug Brugge</a> of the University of Connecticut and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=SDWANZEAAAAJ&hl=en">Kevin James Lane</a> of Boston University. “Additionally, the smallest particles and fragments of larger particles can leave the lungs and travel through the blood.” </p>
<p>In Brugge and Lane’s view, evidence that PM2.5 could affect brain development, cognitive skills and children’s central nervous systems is particularly notable. They termed fine particle pollution an urgent global health threat. </p>
<p>“Developed countries have made progress in reducing particulate air pollution in recent decades, but much remains to be done to further reduce this hazard,” they observed. “And the situation has gotten dramatically worse in many developing countries – most notably China and India, which have industrialized faster and on vaster scales than ever seen before.”</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/fine-particle-air-pollution-is-a-public-health-emergency-hiding-in-plain-sight-106030">Fine particle air pollution is a public health emergency hiding in plain sight</a>
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<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/279226940" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">PM2.5 particles are small enough to evade many of the body’s defenses.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>2. Aging the brain</h2>
<p>Medical researchers are looking closely at air pollution as a possible accelerator of brain aging. University of Southern California preventive medicine specialist <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=jxckDOcAAAAJ&hl=en">Jiu-Chiuan Chen</a> and his colleagues have found that older women who lived in locations with high levels of PM2.5 suffered <a href="https://theconversation.com/air-pollution-may-contribute-to-alzheimers-and-dementia-risk-heres-what-were-learning-from-brain-scans-148776">memory loss and Alzheimer’s-like brain shrinkage</a> not seen in women living with cleaner air.</p>
<p>Chen and his colleagues compared brains scans taken at five-year intervals of older women who lived in areas with varying levels of air pollution.</p>
<p>“When we compared the brain scans of older women from locations with high levels of PM2.5 to those with low levels, we found dementia risk increased by 24% over the five years,” Chen wrote. </p>
<p>More alarmingly, “(T)hese Alzheimer’s-like brain changes were present in older women with no memory problems,” Chen noted. “The shrinkage in their brains was greater if they lived in locations with higher levels of outdoor PM2.5, even when those levels were within the current (2021) EPA standard.”</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/air-pollution-may-contribute-to-alzheimers-and-dementia-risk-heres-what-were-learning-from-brain-scans-148776">Air pollution may contribute to Alzheimer’s and dementia risk – here's what we're learning from brain scans</a>
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<h2>3. Disadvantaged communities have dirtier air</h2>
<p>As researchers in environmental justice have shown, facilities such as factories and refineries often are concentrated in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color. This means that these areas are exposed to higher pollution levels and face heavier related health burdens.</p>
<p>Regulations put in place under the Clean Air Act have greatly reduced levels of harmful air pollutants across the U.S. over the past 50 years. But when University of Virginia economist <a href="https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=xw8Ml0QAAAAJ&hl=en">Jonathan Colmer</a> and public policy scholar <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Z1sqTysAAAAJ&hl=en">Jay Shimshack</a> analyzed data tracing PM2.5 concentrations at more than 8.6 million distinct U.S. locations from 1981 through 2016, they found that the areas that were most polluted in 1981 <a href="https://theconversation.com/fine-particle-air-pollution-has-decreased-across-the-us-but-poor-and-minority-communities-are-still-the-most-polluted-143650">remained the dirtiest nearly 40 years later</a>.</p>
<p>“In 1981 PM2.5 concentrations in the most polluted 10% of census tracts averaged 34 micrograms per cubic meter,” the authors reported. “In 2016 PM2.5 concentrations in the most polluted 10% of census tracts averaged 10 micrograms per cubic meter. PM2.5 concentrations in the least polluted 10% of census tracts averaged 4 micrograms per cubic meter.” In other words, while all areas had cleaner air, people in the most polluted areas still were exposed to PM2.5 levels more than twice as high as people in the cleanest zones.</p>
<p>“For decades, federal and state environmental guidelines have aimed to provide all Americans with the same degree of protection from environmental hazards,” Colmer and Shimshack note. “The EPA’s definition of environmental justice states that ‘no group of people should bear a disproportionate share of the negative environmental consequences.’ On this front, our research suggests that the United States is falling short.”</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/fine-particle-air-pollution-has-decreased-across-the-us-but-poor-and-minority-communities-are-still-the-most-polluted-143650">Fine-particle air pollution has decreased across the US, but poor and minority communities are still the most polluted</a>
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<h2>4. Fine particle pollution hurts wildlife too</h2>
<p>Like the proverbial canaries in coal mines, wild animals can show effects of exposure to pollution that offer broader warnings. One example is wildfires, which produce high levels of gases and particulate matter.</p>
<p>Cornell University conservation biologist <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ykHYzwEAAAAJ&hl=en">Wendy M. Erb</a> was studying wild orangutans in Indonesian Borneo when that island suffered large-scale wildfires. Orangutans are semi-solitary animals that communicate with each other through long, booming calls in the tropical forests where they live. </p>
<p>During the fires and for several weeks after the smoke cleared, Erb and her colleagues found that four male orangutans they were following <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-see-how-smoke-affects-endangered-orangutans-we-studied-their-voices-during-and-after-massive-indonesian-wildfires-208153">called less frequently than usual</a> – about three times daily instead of their usual six times. “Their voices dropped in pitch, showing more vocal harshness and irregularities,” Erb reported. “Collectively, these features of vocal quality have been linked to inflammation, stress and disease – including COVID-19 – in human and nonhuman animals.”</p>
<p>Erb hoped to see further study of how toxic smoke affects wildlife. “Using passive acoustic monitoring to study vocally active indicator species, like orangutans, could unlock critical insights into wildfire smoke’s effects on wildlife populations worldwide,” she observed.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/to-see-how-smoke-affects-endangered-orangutans-we-studied-their-voices-during-and-after-massive-indonesian-wildfires-208153">To see how smoke affects endangered orangutans, we studied their voices during and after massive Indonesian wildfires</a>
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<p><em>Editor’s note: This story is a roundup of articles from The Conversation’s archive.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223057/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
On Feb. 7, 2024, the EPA strengthened the federal limit for annual levels of fine particulate air pollution, or PM2.5. Many serious health effects have been linked to PM2.5 exposure.Jennifer Weeks, Senior Environment + Cities Editor, The ConversationLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2205362024-02-06T13:31:20Z2024-02-06T13:31:20ZDietary supplements and protein powders fall under a ‘wild west’ of products that necessitate caveats and caution<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573557/original/file-20240205-19-q8vbm4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C14%2C4927%2C3272&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Dietary supplement labels can be misleading.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/only-natural-for-her-royalty-free-image/1068340648?phrase=dietary%2Bsupplements">Charday Penn/iStock via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Dietary supplements are a big business. The industry made <a href="https://www.ibisworld.com/industry-statistics/market-size/vitamin-supplement-manufacturing-united-states/">almost US$39 billion in revenue</a> in 2022, and with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1060028019900504">very little regulation and oversight</a>, it stands to keep growing. </p>
<p>The marketing of dietary supplements has been quite effective, with 77% of Americans reporting feeling <a href="https://www.crnusa.org/resources/2022-crn-consumer-survey-dietary-supplements-0">that the supplement industry is trustworthy</a>. The idea of taking your health into your own hands is appealing, and supplements are popular with athletes, parents and people trying to recover more quickly from a cold or flu, just to name a few.</p>
<p>A 2024 study found that approximately 1 in 10 adolescents have used <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.50940">nonprescribed weight loss and weight control products</a>, including dietary supplements. </p>
<p>Notably, that systematic review found that nonprescribed diet pill use was significantly higher than the use of nonprescribed laxatives and diuretics for weight management. These types of unhealthy weight control behaviors are associated with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2005.05.019">both worsened mental health and physical health outcomes</a>. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://som.cuanschutz.edu/Profiles/Faculty/Profile/29092">licensed clinical social worker</a> specializing in treating anxiety disorders and eating disorders and a <a href="https://www.acsh.org/profile/katie-suleta">biomedical research director</a>, we’ve seen firsthand the harm that these supplements can do based on unfounded beliefs. The underregulated market of dietary supplements is setting consumers up to be misled and potentially seriously harmed by these products. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">How the use of an over-the-counter herbal supplement took a deadly turn for a lawmaker’s wife.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>The wild west</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.fda.gov/food/information-consumers-using-dietary-supplements/questions-and-answers-dietary-supplements">Food and Drug Administration</a> specifies that supplements must contain a “dietary ingredient” such as vitamins, minerals, herbs, amino acids, enzymes, live microbials, concentrates and extracts, among others. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, manufacturers can claim that a product is a supplement even when it doesn’t meet those criteria, such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/popularly-known-as-gas-station-heroin-tianeptine-is-being-sold-as-a-dietary-supplement-with-deadly-outcomes-221379">products containing the drug tianeptine</a>, a highly addictive drug that can mimic the biological action of opioids. Some of these products are labeled as dietary supplements but are anything but. </p>
<p>Products containing <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-dangers-and-potential-of-natural-opioid-kratom-87581?gclid=Cj0KCQiAn-2tBhDVARIsAGmStVk6onJqs6vRIbYthHTDhpjDVyKF812Ks5A3nan-g5kKtZT3Q2Auc9UaAua2EALw_wcB">kratom, a substance with opioidlike effects</a>, which are sold over the counter in many gas stations, <a href="https://www.fda.gov/news-events/public-health-focus/fda-and-kratom#">claim to be herbal supplements but are mislabeled</a>.</p>
<p>Under <a href="https://ods.od.nih.gov/About/DSHEA_Wording.aspx">a 1994 law</a>, dietary supplements are classified as food, not as drugs. This means dietary supplements are not required to prove efficacy, unlike drugs. Regulators also don’t take action on a product <a href="https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R43062.pdf">until it is shown to cause harm</a>.</p>
<p>However, <a href="https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/dietary-supplements">the FDA’s website states that</a> “many dietary supplements contain ingredients that have strong biological effects which may conflict with a medicine you are taking or a medical condition you may have. Products containing hidden drugs are also sometimes falsely marketed as dietary supplements, putting consumers at even greater risk.”</p>
<p>In other words, supplements are regulated as food instead of drugs, even though they can interact with medications and may be laced with hidden drugs not included on the label.</p>
<p>Manufacturers of <a href="https://www.fda.gov/food/food-labeling-nutrition/label-claims-conventional-foods-and-dietary-supplements">dietary supplements can make claims</a> about their products that fall into three categories: health claims, nutrient content claims and claims about the product’s function, structure or both, <a href="https://www.health.harvard.edu/alternative-and-integrative-health/the-arguments-against-dietary-supplements">all without needing to provide supporting evidence</a>.</p>
<p>Misbranding and false advertising <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15563650.2022.2036751">are rampant with dietary supplements</a>, including false claims of <a href="https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/products-claiming-cure-cancer-are-cruel-deception">curing cancer</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.26040">improving immune health</a>, <a href="https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-takes-action-against-17-companies-illegally-selling-products-claiming-treat-alzheimers-disease">improving cognitive functioning</a>, <a href="https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/watch-out-false-promises-some-dietary-supplements">improving fertility</a>, <a href="https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/watch-out-for-bogus-supplement-claims">improving cardiovascular health</a> and, of course, <a href="https://dos.ny.gov/news/nys-division-consumer-protection-warns-consumers-health-and-weight-loss-scams">promoting weight loss and weight control</a>. </p>
<h2>The FDA is cracking down</h2>
<p>You can find supplements that claim to be good for just about every health condition, concern or goal, so it should be no surprise that there are supplements marketed for weight loss.</p>
<p>In August 2021, the <a href="https://www.fda.gov/drugs/frequently-asked-questions-popular-topics/questions-and-answers-about-fdas-initiative-against-contaminated-weight-loss-products">FDA cracked down</a> on some of these weight loss products because of the presence of undeclared drugs. For example, of the 72 products recalled, <a href="https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/fda-drug-safety-communication-fda-recommends-against-continued-use-meridia-sibutramine">the drug sibutramine, sold as Meridia</a>, was found in 68 of them. </p>
<p>While the FDA may take further action beyond the recalls, the agency <a href="https://www.fda.gov/drugs/frequently-asked-questions-popular-topics/questions-and-answers-about-fdas-initiative-against-contaminated-weight-loss-products">acknowledged that it is not able to test</a> every weight loss supplement for contamination with drugs.</p>
<p>These crackdowns demonstrate some progress, though several issues remain. Warning label placement, ingredients and beliefs based on misleading or false advertising <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2023.109673">are still highly problematic</a>. </p>
<p>Some weight loss supplements may have FDA warnings on them. Of those that do, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2021.101504">the disclaimers are rarely displayed</a> on the front of the product label, so consumers are less likely to see them.</p>
<p>Ingredients in weight loss supplements can and do have adverse effects. They have caused people to be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMsa1504267">admitted to the emergency room</a> for cardiovascular and swallowing problems, including in young, seemingly healthy people. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Dangers may lurk within the ingredients of some dietary supplements.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Eating disorders</h2>
<p>Mental health concerns and <a href="https://theconversation.com/eating-disorders-among-teens-have-more-than-doubled-during-the-covid-19-pandemic-heres-what-to-watch-for-201067">eating disorders are on the rise</a>. As a result, researchers are examining unhealthy weight control behaviors, including the use of dietary supplements and how accessible they are to adolescents and children.</p>
<p>People who have eating disorders often suffer related health issues such as <a href="https://eatingdisordersreview.com/bone-loss-in-anorexia-nervosa-mechanisms-and-treatment-options/">bone loss, osteoporosis</a> and vitamin deficiencies. In response, their doctors may prescribe dietary supplements like <a href="https://doi.org/10.1097/YCO.0000000000000653">calcium, vitamin D</a> and <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-45378-6_23">nutritional supplement shakes</a>. But these are not the dietary supplements of concern.</p>
<p>The concern is with supplements that promote weight loss, muscle building or both.</p>
<p>People with eating disorders may be attracted to dietary supplements that claim quick and pain-free weight loss or muscle gain. Additionally, dietary supplement users may struggle with an increase in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10640266.2020.1712637">compulsive exercise</a> or <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2018.09.437">other unhealthy weight control behaviors</a>.</p>
<p>Diet pill and supplement use has also been associated with increased risk for <a href="https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2019.305390">developing eating disorders and disordered eating</a>, as well as low self-esteem, depression and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.20520">substance use</a>. While dietary supplements do not solely cause eating disorders or disordered eating, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-022-01364-z">they are one contributing factor</a> that may be addressed with preventive measures and regulations.</p>
<h2>The allure of protein powders and fitness supplements</h2>
<p>Protein powders and other fitness supplements also have wide appeal. Research shows that <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2024/01/10/weight-loss-products-adolescents/">girls are more at risk than boys</a> for using weight loss supplements. But a growing problem in boys is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1542/pir.2021-005452">the use of fitness supplements</a> such as protein powder and <a href="https://www.webmd.com/vitamins-and-supplements/creatine">creatine products</a>, a compound that supplies energy to the muscles.</p>
<p>Use of fitness supplements <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2019.03.005">sometimes signifies a preoccupation</a> with body shape and size. For example, a 2022 study found that protein powder consumption in adolescence was associated with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2022.101778">future use of steroids in emerging adulthood</a>.</p>
<p>Protein powders make claims of building lean muscles, while creatine boasts providing energy for short-term, intense exercise.</p>
<p>Protein itself is not <a href="https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/ExerciseAndAthleticPerformance-HealthProfessional/">harmful at recommended doses</a>. However, protein powders may contain unknown ingredients, such as <a href="https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/the-hidden-dangers-of-protein-powders">certain toxins or extra and excessive sugar</a>. They can also be <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/childrens-health/protein-powder-for-kids#safety">dangerous when used in excess</a> and to replace other foods that possess vital nutrients. </p>
<p>And while creatine can usually be safely used in adults, overuse can <a href="https://www.verywellhealth.com/creatine-uses-side-effects-and-more-7556683">lead to health problems</a> and is <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/01/02/507478762/is-the-warning-that-creatines-not-for-teens-getting-through">not recommended for minors</a>. Ultimately, the impact of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/21/well/family/teenage-boys-supplements-protein-creatine.html">long-term use of these supplements</a>, especially in adolescents, is unstudied.</p>
<h2>Possible solutions</h2>
<p>One proposed regulation by <a href="https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/striped/">researchers at Harvard University</a> includes <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/amj.2022.12">taxing dietary supplements</a> whose labels tout weight loss benefits. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/striped/out-of-kids-hands/">Another policy recommendation</a> involves banning the sale of dietary supplements and other weight loss products to protect minors from these underregulated and potentially dangerous products. </p>
<p>In 2023, <a href="https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/features/new-york-diet-supplements-ban/">New York successfully passed legislation</a> that banned the sale of these products to minors, <a href="https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/wellness/story/bills-seek-ban-sale-diet-pills-children-parents-89945169">while states</a> including Colorado, California and Massachusetts have considered or are considering similar action. </p>
<p>Ultimately, medical professionals recommend that parents and caregivers encourage their children to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/21/well/family/teenage-boys-supplements-protein-creatine.html">get protein and vitamins from whole foods</a> instead of turning to supplements and powders. They also recommend encouraging teens to focus on balanced nutrition, sleep and recovery, and a variety of resistance, strength and conditioning training.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220536/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Although most Americans believe dietary supplements are safe, these products often make health claims that are unproven or downright false.Emily Hemendinger, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical CampusKatie Suleta, PhD Candidate in Medicine and Health, George Washington UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2222562024-02-01T13:33:05Z2024-02-01T13:33:05ZAre social media apps ‘dangerous products’? 2 scholars explain how the companies rely on young users but fail to protect them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572539/original/file-20240131-19-ltvgx5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4929%2C3283&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The CEOs of Discord, Snap, TikTok, X and Meta prepare to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Jan. 31, 2024.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/jason-citron-ceo-of-discord-evan-spiegel-ceo-of-snap-shou-news-photo/1975356383">Alex Wong/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>“You have blood on your hands.”</p>
<p>“I’m sorry for everything you have all been through.”</p>
<p>These quotes, the first from Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaking to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and the second from Zuckerberg to families of victims of online child abuse in the audience, are highlights from an extraordinary day of <a href="https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/committee-activity/hearings/big-tech-and-the-online-child-sexual-exploitation-crisis">testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee </a>about protecting children online. </p>
<p>But perhaps the most telling quote from the Jan. 31, 2024, hearing came not from the CEOs of Meta, TikTok, X, Discord or Snap but from Sen. Graham in his opening statement: Social media platforms “as they are currently designed and operate are dangerous products.”</p>
<p>We are <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=yu4Ew7gAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate">university researchers</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=AkbGPz4AAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate">who study</a> how social media organizes news, information and communities. Whether or not social media apps meet the legal definition of “<a href="https://dictionary.findlaw.com/definition/unreasonably-dangerous.html">unreasonably dangerous products</a>,” the social media companies’ business models do rely on having millions of young users. At the same time, we believe that the companies have not invested sufficient resources to effectively protect those users.</p>
<p>Mobile device use by children and teens <a href="https://www.edweek.org/leadership/kids-screen-time-rose-during-the-pandemic-and-stayed-high-thats-a-problem/2023/02">skyrocketed during the pandemic and has stayed high</a>. Naturally, teens want to be where their friends are, be it the skate park or on social media. In 2022, there were an estimated 49.8 million users age 17 and under of YouTube, 19 million of TikTok, 18 million of Snapchat, 16.7 million of Instagram, 9.9 million of Facebook and 7 million of Twitter, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0295337">according to a recent study</a> by researchers at Harvard’s Chan School of Public Health. </p>
<p>Teens are a significant revenue source for social media companies. Revenue from users 17 and under of social media <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0295337">was US$11 billion</a> in 2022, according to the Chan School study. Instagram netted nearly $5 billion, while TikTok and YouTube each accrued over $2 billion. Teens mean green.</p>
<p>Social media poses a <a href="https://www.psychiatrist.com/news/surgeon-general-advisory-social-media-poses-profound-risk-of-harm-to-kids/">range of risks for teens</a>, from exposing them to harassment, bullying and sexual exploitation to encouraging eating disorders and suicidal ideation. For Congress to take meaningful action on protecting children online, we identify three issues that need to be accounted for: age, business model and content moderation.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Following vigorous prompting from Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologized to families of victims of online child abuse.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>How old are you?</h2>
<p>Social media companies have an incentive to look the other way in terms of their users’ ages. Otherwise they would have to spend the resources to moderate their content appropriately. Millions of underage users – those under 13 – are an “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/25/technology/instagram-meta-children-privacy.html">open secret</a>” at Meta. Meta has <a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2022/06/new-ways-to-verify-age-on-instagram/">described some potential strategies</a> to verify user ages, like requiring identification or video selfies, and using AI to guess their age based on “Happy Birthday” messages. </p>
<p>However, the accuracy of these methods is not publicly open to scrutiny, so it’s difficult to audit them independently.</p>
<p>Meta has stated that <a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2023/11/online-teen-safety-legislation-is-needed/">online teen safety legislation is needed</a> to prevent harm, but the company points to app stores, currently dominated by Apple and Google, as the place where age verification should happen. However, these guardrails can be easily circumvented by accessing a social media platform’s website rather than its app.</p>
<h2>New generations of customers</h2>
<p>Teen adoption is crucial for continued growth of all social media platforms. The <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-facebook-files-11631713039?mod=bigtop-breadcrumb">Facebook Files</a>, an investigation based on a review of company documents, showed that Instagram’s growth strategy relies on teens helping family members, particularly younger siblings, get on the platform. Meta claims it optimizes for “meaningful social interaction,” prioritizing family and friends’ content over other interests. However, Instagram allows pseudonymity and multiple accounts, which makes parental oversight even more difficult.</p>
<p>On Nov. 7, 2023, <a href="https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2023-11-07_-_testimony_-_bejar.pdf">Auturo Bejar</a>, a former senior engineer at Facebook, testified before Congress. At Meta he surveyed teen Instagram users and found 24% of 13- to 15-year-olds said they had received unwanted advances within the past seven days, a fact he characterizes as “likely the largest-scale sexual harassment of teens to have ever happened.” Meta has since <a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2024/01/introducing-stricter-message-settings-for-teens-on-instagram-and-facebook/">implemented restrictions</a> on direct messaging in its products for underage users.</p>
<p>But to be clear, widespread harassment, bullying and solicitation is a part of the landscape of social media, and it’s going to take more than parents and app stores to rein it in.</p>
<p>Meta recently announced that it is aiming to provide teens with “<a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2024/01/teen-protections-age-appropriate-experiences-on-our-apps/">age-appropriate experiences</a>,” in part by prohibiting searches for terms related to suicide, self-harm and eating disorders. However, these steps don’t stop online communities that promote these harmful behaviors from flourishing on the company’s social media platforms. It takes a carefully trained team of human moderators to monitor and enforce terms of service violations for dangerous groups.</p>
<h2>Content moderation</h2>
<p>Social media companies point to the promise of artificial intelligence to moderate content and provide safety on their platforms, but AI is not a silver bullet for managing human behavior. Communities adapt quickly to AI moderation, augmenting banned words with purposeful misspellings and creating backup accounts to prevent getting kicked off a platform.</p>
<p>Human content moderation is also problematic, given social media companies’ business models and practices. Since 2022, <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2024/01/25/tech-layoffs-2023-list/">social media companies</a> have implemented massive layoffs that struck at the heart of their trust and safety operations and weakened content moderation across the industry. </p>
<p>Congress will need hard data from the social media companies – data the companies have not provided to date – to assess the appropriate ratio of moderators to users.</p>
<h2>The way forward</h2>
<p>In health care, professionals have a duty to warn if they believe something dangerous might happen. When these uncomfortable truths surface in corporate research, little is done to inform the public of threats to safety. Congress could mandate reporting when internal studies reveal damaging outcomes. </p>
<p>Helping teens today will require social media companies to invest in human content moderation and meaningful age verification. But even that is not likely to fix the problem. The challenge is facing the reality that social media as it exists today thrives on having legions of young users spending significant time in environments that put them at risk. These dangers for young users are baked into the design of contemporary social media, which requires much clearer statutes about who polices social media and when intervention is needed.</p>
<p>One of the motives for tech companies not to segment their user base by age, which would better protect children, is how it would affect advertising revenue. Congress has limited tools available to enact change, such as enforcing laws about advertising transparency, including “know your customer” rules. Especially as AI accelerates targeted marketing, social media companies are going to continue making it easy for advertisers to reach users of any age. But if advertisers knew what proportion of ads were seen by children, rather than adults, they may think twice about where they place ads in the future.</p>
<p>Despite a number of high-profile hearings on the harms of social media, Congress has not yet passed legislation to protect children or make social media platforms liable for the content published on their platforms. But with so many young people online post-pandemic, it’s up to Congress to implement guardrails that ultimately put privacy and community safety at the center of social media design.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222256/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joan Donovan is on the board of Free Press and the founder of the Critical Internet Studies Institute.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sara Parker works for the Media Ecosystem Observatory at McGill University. Their work is largely funded by the Government of Canada. </span></em></p>As legislators rail against social media companies, the companies continue to put millions of young people at risk. Here’s how − and what can be done about it.Joan Donovan, Assistant Professor of Journalism and Emerging Media Studies, Boston UniversitySara Parker, Research Analyst at the Media Ecosystem Observatory, McGill UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2205682024-01-18T13:28:25Z2024-01-18T13:28:25ZUS law permits charities to encourage voting and help voters register, making GOP concerns about this assistance unfounded<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569650/original/file-20240116-27-7pcz6q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1375%2C1184%2C3166%2C1954&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Volunteers register voters in Santa Fe, N.M. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/volunteers-register-voters-at-a-table-set-up-at-a-fourth-of-news-photo/997809612?adppopup=true">Robert Alexander/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>U.S. charities <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/501">aren’t allowed to campaign for or against specific political candidates</a>. But they can <a href="https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-tege/rr2007-41.pdf">legally engage</a> in nonpartisan <a href="https://www.eac.gov/sites/default/files/electionofficials/QuickStartGuides/Voter_Education_EAC_Quick_Start_Guide_508.pdf">voter education</a> and candidate-neutral efforts to get out the vote, as well as voter registration drives.</p>
<p>I’m an <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=2057780">expert on charitable tax law</a> who used to work at the Internal Revenue Service. </p>
<p>While <a href="https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/event/oversight-subcommittee-hearing-on-growth-of-the-tax-exempt-sector-and-the-impact-on-the-american-political-landscape/">testifying before a House subcommittee</a> in December 2023, I explained that these electoral-related activities are consistent with a healthy democracy and <a href="https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Hackney-Testimony.pdf">don’t violate any U.S. laws</a>. </p>
<h2>Voter assistance</h2>
<p>Some nonprofits like the <a href="https://www.lwv.org/elections/increasing-voter-registration">League of Women Voters</a> have engaged in these nonpartisan efforts for decades. Others, like <a href="https://www.nonprofitvote.org/">Nonprofit Vote</a> and <a href="https://www.rockthevote.org/">Rock the Vote</a>, seek to motivate people of color and young voters to cast their ballots.</p>
<p>It’s hard to find data on how much charitable money funds these causes. But there’s no shortage of conjecture about its possible impact.</p>
<p>The Republican Party has long seen nonpartisan voter registration and get-out-the-vote campaigns as being somehow tied to the Democratic Party or more helpful for turning out votes for Democratic candidates than Republican hopefuls. As far back as the 1960s, Republican representatives accused the <a href="https://capitalresearch.org/article/the-ford-foundation-the-1967-cleveland-mayoral-election-and-the-1969-tax-reform-act/">Ford Foundation of using voter registration</a> in what they alleged was a partisan manner. </p>
<p>Today, <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/the-house-gop-wants-to-probe-nonprofits-both-left-and-right-have-pushed-back">Republican objections</a> <a href="https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/UPDATED-RFI-on-501c3-and-c4-Activities-FINAL.docx87.pdf">and concerns</a> are getting louder. There are <a href="https://tenney.house.gov/media/press-releases/congresswoman-tenney-reintroduces-end-zuckerbucks-act">GOP efforts underway</a> to make some of these donations illegal. </p>
<h2>Charity constraints</h2>
<p>Because it’s against the law for charities to overtly engage in political activity, any direct politicking tied to these nonpartisan registration drives could <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/501">jeopardize their tax-exempt status</a>.</p>
<p>These “organizations may encourage people to participate in the electoral process through voter registration and get-out-the-vote drives, conducted in a non-partisan manner,” the <a href="https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-tege/rr2007-41.pdf">Internal Revenue Service states</a>. “On the other hand, voter education or registration activities conducted in a biased manner that favors (or opposes) one or more candidates is prohibited.”</p>
<p>In practice, that means it’s OK if a charity sets up a voter registration booth at a state fair and registers anyone who comes to the booth, regardless of their political leanings. But if a charitable organization runs a phone bank that encourages people to vote only if they agree with a particular candidate’s position, that would break the law.</p>
<p>The Americans who can <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-the-charitable-deduction-an-economist-explains-162647">deduct their contributions to charities</a> from their taxable income – an option generally available today for only the highest earners – can’t do that with the money they <a href="https://blog.turbotax.intuit.com/tax-deductions-and-credits-2/are-your-political-campaign-contributions-tax-deductible-11380/">donate to political candidates</a>.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/300126510">Center for American Progress</a>, a progressive think tank, isn’t allowed to endorse President Joe Biden’s reelection bid. Nor is <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/237327730">The Heritage Foundation</a>, a conservative think tank, at liberty to urge voters to support his Republican rival.</p>
<p>Although <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/300126510">both of these groups produce political analysis</a>, they <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/237327730">are charities</a> and must comply with section <a href="https://www.501c3.org/what-is-a-501c3">501(c)(3)</a> of the tax code.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Professor Philip Hackney testifies before the House Ways and Means oversight subcommittee on Dec. 13, 2023.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Johnson amendment</h2>
<p>This restriction, on the books since 1954, is known as the <a href="https://theconversation.com/trump-says-the-irs-regulates-churches-too-much-heres-why-hes-wrong-77605">Johnson amendment</a> because of Lyndon B. Johnson’s insistence on its passage when he was serving in Congress.</p>
<p>Former President Donald Trump tried and failed to get rid of the Johnson amendment for churches and other houses of worship, which the U.S. government <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-a-church-that-can-depend-on-the-eye-of-the-beholder-or-paperwork-filed-with-the-irs-130517">lumps together with all other charities</a>. </p>
<p>House Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republican lawmakers would like to go even further than Trump’s proposed change. They have backed the <a href="https://slate.com/business/2023/11/mike-johnson-speaker-johnson-amendment-religious-leaders-taxes.html">Free Speech Fairness Act</a>, <a href="https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/trends-and-policy-issues/protecting-johnson-amendment-and-nonprofit-nonpartisanship">which would practically eliminate restrictions on politicking</a> for not just churches but all charities.</p>
<p>Some conservative preachers, meanwhile, have been <a href="https://www.keranews.org/politics/2022-11-03/many-churches-use-their-pulpit-to-support-or-oppose-political-candidates">flouting the Johnson amendment</a> without eliciting much of a <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2022/10/30/johnson-amendment-elections-irs/">response from the IRS</a>.</p>
<h2>Republican lawmakers</h2>
<p>At the same time Republicans are trying to significantly weaken restrictions on the use of charitable money for politicking, they are also calling out nonpartisan voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts as unfair uses of tax-deductible charitable dollars.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/event/oversight-subcommittee-hearing-on-growth-of-the-tax-exempt-sector-and-the-impact-on-the-american-political-landscape/">House Ways and Means subcommittee hearing</a> in which I testified focused on the role that some nonprofits are playing in American politics.</p>
<p>Republicans expressed their concerns that charities are engaging in voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts in communities that might boost the electoral chances of Democratic candidates. Because contributions to charities can be tax deductible, those lawmakers said they are concerned that the federal government is thus being used to further Democratic interests.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/1/7/21055340/mind-the-gap-silicon-valley-donors-democrats-2020-plan-140-million">Some of them highlighted a memo</a> from <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/mind-the-gap/C00683649/summary/2022">Mind the Gap</a>, a Democratic <a href="https://www.fec.gov/press/resources-journalists/political-action-committees-pacs/">super PAC</a>. According to the memo, donating to charities for voter registration in the 2020 election cycle was “the single most effective tactic for ensuring Democratic victories.”</p>
<p>But as political scientists Daron R. Shaw and John R. Petrocik have observed, seven decades of survey data and election returns “<a href="https://www.nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/does-high-voter-turnout-help-one-party">suggest that turnout has no systematic partisan consequences</a>.” </p>
<h2>‘Zuckerbucks’ contributions</h2>
<p>Republican lawmakers are particularly incensed by the over <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/08/zuckerberg-2020-election-republicans/">US$400 million in contributions Mark Zuckerberg</a> and his wife, <a href="https://www.techandciviclife.org/100m/">Priscilla Chan</a>, made to two charities to make grants to state and local election administrations to aid those authorities during the COVID-19 crisis.</p>
<p>Conservatives have dubbed this support aimed at ensuring a well-run election system “<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-united-states-government-and-politics-78e0e0d548df9023aeac1c9c690b48f8">Zuckerbucks</a>.” A Republican bill pending in Congress <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/end-zuckerbucks-gop-bill-aims-to-ban-mark-zuckerberg-style-election-funding">would outlaw this kind of spending</a> in the future.</p>
<p>And more than 20 Republican-led states have already <a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-united-states-government-and-politics-78e0e0d548df9023aeac1c9c690b48f8">barred this private spending on elections</a> within their borders.</p>
<p>However, the Federal Elections Commission, which is responsible for this kind of oversight, has found no cause for concern. In a rare unanimous decision in 2022, three Republican and three Democratic commissioners <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/08/zuckerberg-2020-election-republicans/">determined that all complaints of violations of campaign finance law</a> in the case of the Zuckerberg grants were without merit.</p>
<h2>Concerns moving forward</h2>
<p>As I advised House lawmakers, I believe that drafting any restrictions on the nonprofit sector requires proceeding with great care. Charities make up a part of civil society – a place outside of government and business – where we all have an opportunity to generate important information, develop our opinions and share those with government representatives. </p>
<p>In my view, Congress needs to assess whether any cure it seeks to implement will be better or worse than the disease that it thinks afflicts the U.S. electoral system. Clamping down on nonpartisan voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts seems to me to be misguided at best.</p>
<p>Congress can, if it wishes to take action, appropriate more funds to ensure that all local and state authorities have the money they need for a well-run election system. That could eliminate the need for donors to step in.</p>
<p>In any case, Congress can help by supporting increases in the IRS budget, especially for the tax agency’s capacity to enforce compliance with the laws pertaining to tax-exempt organizations.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220568/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Philip Hackney is a member of the Democratic Party. </span></em></p>A professor of nonprofit law explains why drafting any restrictions on charities requires proceeding with great care.Philip Hackney, Associate Professor of Law, University of PittsburghLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2053712024-01-10T13:32:18Z2024-01-10T13:32:18ZA Supreme Court ruling on fishing for herring could sharply curb federal regulatory power<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568288/original/file-20240108-19-gqgax9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C0%2C2986%2C1998&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Two cases centered on Atlantic herring could have widespread impacts on federal regulation.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/herring-is-seen-as-it-is-loaded-onto-a-lobster-fishing-boat-news-photo/1159494297">Joe Raedle/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Supreme Court heard oral argument on Jan. 17, 2024, in two cases that center on fisheries management, but could have broad impacts on federal regulatory power.</p>
<p>The question at the core of <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2023/22-451">Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo</a> and <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2023/22-1219">Relentless Inc. v. Department of Commerce</a> is whether the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the National Marine Fisheries Service and following the <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/resource/document/magnuson-stevens-fishery-conservation-and-management-act">Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act</a>, can require commercial fishers to pay for onboard observers whom they are required to take on some fishing voyages. In both cases, the plaintiffs assert that the Commerce Department has exceeded its legal authority. That claim turns on how much deference the court should give the agency’s interpretation of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. </p>
<p>The plaintiffs are challenging a nearly 40-year-old doctrine of federal administrative law, known as Chevron deference for the <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/467/837">1984 case</a> in which it was set forth. This tenet provides that when a federal statute is silent or ambiguous about a particular regulatory issue, courts <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/chevron_deference">defer to the implementing agency’s reasonable interpretation of the law</a>. </p>
<p>In other words, if the agency and federal courts disagree about the “best” interpretation of a federal law, the courts cannot force the agency to accept their version of what the statute means or allows, so long as the agency’s own interpretation is reasonable.</p>
<p>During oral argument, the justices voiced concerns about issues including legal stability, past rulings and the proper relationship between federal courts and federal agencies. They also expressed differing views about how statutory interpretation actually works in practice. Several justices asked whether overruling Chevron would reopen prior decisions to new challenges. </p>
<p>Justice Neil Gorsuch, one of the Chevron doctrine’s most prominent critics, worried instead that deferring to regulators created legal instability by allowing agencies to change the law, flip-flopping when presidential administrations changed. Liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan most clearly supported relying on agencies’ expertise, particularly in highly technical situations. </p>
<figure>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The Loper Bright and Relentless cases challenge the power of the federal regulatory state.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Who pays for fishing monitors?</h2>
<p>Under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, eight regional <a href="https://www.fisherycouncils.org/about-the-councils">Fishery Management Councils</a> regulate fisheries in federal waters that lie more than 3 nautical miles from shore. When these fisheries are overharvested or in danger of becoming so, these councils create <a href="https://masglp.olemiss.edu/fisherymanagement/part9/">management plans</a> that are designed to end overfishing and bring the stock back to health. The National Marine Fisheries Service reviews the plans and publishes regulations to carry out those that it approves.</p>
<p>The law makes clear that these plans can require fishing boats to carry <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/topic/fishery-observers">observers who monitor their catch</a>. These trained biological technicians collect data on what the vessel catches, what it throws back and how its fishing affects protected species such as marine mammals and sea turtles.</p>
<p>However, the law does not state whether federal regulators can require the fishing industry to pay for these observers. The general background presumption in federal regulatory law is that regulated entities pay their own compliance costs. As an example, since 1990 the North Pacific Fishery Management Council has required the industry to <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/alaska/fisheries-observers/north-pacific-observer-program">partially fund its fishery observer program</a> for groundfish and halibut through <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/alaska/commercial-fishing/observer-fee-collection-and-payment-north-pacific-groundfish-and-halibut">fees</a>. </p>
<h2>Targeting Chevron deference</h2>
<p>Loper Bright and Relentless Inc. are fishing boat owners who are challenging <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/02/07/2020-00881/magnuson-stevens-fishery-conservation-and-management-act-provisions-fisheries-of-the-northeastern">2020 regulations</a> that require Atlantic herring fishers <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/new-england-mid-atlantic/fisheries-observers/industry-funded-monitoring-northeast">to pay some costs for observers</a> on their boats. The Atlantic herring monitoring program seeks to put observers on 50% of fishing trips, with the National Marine Fisheries Service paying part of the cost and fishers paying the rest. </p>
<p>The companies complain that observers can cost up to $710 per day and reduce owners’ profits by up to 20%. The challengers in the Relentless Inc. case have fish-freezing equipment onboard their boats that enables them to stay longer at sea. Longer voyages mean they must pay more for the required herring monitors, even though on many days they will not be fishing for herring. Federal courts of appeals ruled in favor of the National Marine Fisheries Service in both cases.</p>
<p>The companies originally challenged multiple aspects of the 2020 regulations. However, the Supreme Court agreed to address only one question that each petition raised: whether the court should overrule the Chevron decision, or at least clarify that when a law is silent about an agency’s powers, federal agencies receive no deference from the courts when they interpret the scope of their own regulatory authority. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568294/original/file-20240108-21-hjx07l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Gorsuch, seated, gestures during testimony." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568294/original/file-20240108-21-hjx07l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568294/original/file-20240108-21-hjx07l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568294/original/file-20240108-21-hjx07l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568294/original/file-20240108-21-hjx07l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568294/original/file-20240108-21-hjx07l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568294/original/file-20240108-21-hjx07l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568294/original/file-20240108-21-hjx07l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, shown during his confirmation hearing on March 22, 2017, argued in a 2022 dissenting opinion that Chevron deference ‘deserves a tombstone no one can miss.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/SupremeCourtAbortionWhatJusticesSaid/7e5ff111125e438d9156e9a50db33b62/photo">AP Photo/Susan Walsh</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Who decides what the law means?</h2>
<p>The Supreme Court created Chevron deference in a 1984 air pollution case, <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/467/837/">Chevron USA Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council Inc.</a> The case centered on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s interpretation of the term “stationary source” in the Clean Air Act. </p>
<p>The EPA had decided that a “source” could be a facility that contained many individual sources of air pollutant emissions. This meant, for example, that a factory with several smokestacks could be <a href="https://www.epa.gov/history/bubble-policy#:%7E:text=Under%20EPA's%20%22bubble%20policy%2C%22,or%20better%20than%20previous%20limits.">treated as a single source</a> for regulatory purposes, as if it were enclosed in an imaginary bubble. </p>
<p>This approach benefited industry: A facility could reduce emissions from the sources that were cheapest to upgrade and let its expensive-to-fix sources keep polluting, so long as its overall emissions under the “bubble” met the Clean Air Act’s requirements. Environmentalists sued, arguing that every individual smokestack or pollution source needed to be regulated.</p>
<p>In upholding the EPA’s decision, the court created a two-step test for deciding whether to defer to a federal agency’s interpretation of a statute that it administers. In Step 1, the court asks whether Congress directly addressed the issue in the statute. If so, then both the court and the agency have to do what Congress directs. </p>
<p>In Step 2, however, if Congress is silent or unclear, then the court should defer to the agency’s interpretation if it is reasonable, because agency staff are presumed to be experts on the issue. Justice John Paul Stevens <a href="https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1461&context=faculty_scholarship">reportedly told his colleagues</a>, “When I am so confused, I go with the agency.” </p>
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<h2>Curbing the administrative state</h2>
<p>Chevron deference has given federal agencies considerable flexibility to use statutes to <a href="https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R44954.pdf">address new and emerging problems</a> that Congress did not anticipate. </p>
<p>For example, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service now lists species for protection under the federal Endangered Species Act <a href="https://www.fws.gov/sites/default/files/documents/foreseeable-future-solicitor-memo-2009-01-16.pdf">based on “foreseeable” risks</a> to the species from climate change, even if most actual impacts are decades or even a century away. Similarly, courts deferred to the Department of Labor during the COVID-19 pandemic when it <a href="https://www.sullcrom.com/insights/blogs/2022/July/Fifth-Circuit-Rules-That-COVID19-Does-Not-Satisfy-the-Natural-Disaster-Exception-to-the-Warn-Acts-Notice-Requirement">protected workers from mass layoffs without warning</a>. </p>
<p>However, some members of the current Supreme Court – as well as <a href="https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R44954.pdf">some federal appellate judges</a> – have criticized Chevron deference for two key reasons. </p>
<p>First, the doctrine gives executive branch agencies authority to interpret federal law. However, since the Supreme Court’s 1803 decision in <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/5/137/">Marbury v. Madison</a>, it has been the duty of courts – not federal agencies – to say what the law is. Justices <a href="https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1029&context=vlr">Neil Gorsuch, Clarence Thomas</a>, <a href="https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/LSB/LSB10204">Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh</a> have all indicated that they think Chevron deference allows federal agencies to usurp this core judiciary function.</p>
<p>Second, Chevron deference also arguably allows federal agencies to grab more regulatory authority than Congress intended them to have, usurping the legislative branch’s responsibility to make law and delegate authority. The current Supreme Court is particularly interested in <a href="https://www.skadden.com/insights/publications/2023/09/quarterly-insights/the-evolving-landscape-of-administrative-law">policing these alleged power grabs</a>. </p>
<p>Justices have stated this concern most obviously in the recently articulated “<a href="https://hls.harvard.edu/today/what-critics-get-wrong-and-right-about-the-supreme-courts-new-major-questions-doctrine/">major questions doctrine</a>,” which holds that agencies may not regulate on questions of “vast economic or political significance” <a href="https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF12077">without clear directions from Congress</a>. This doctrine effectively limits the situations to which Chevron deference applies: The agency gets zero deference if it is trying to do something really new or disruptive without express authorization from Congress.</p>
<p>Litigation under the Magnuson-Stevens Act is <a href="https://law.fsu.edu/sites/g/files/upcbnu1581/files/JLUEL/jluel-v32n2-05-craig-danley.pdf">relatively rare</a>, and the Supreme Court has never before decided a case under this law. The fact that it chose to take these cases suggests to me that Chevron deference is about to die, or at least be substantially modified. </p>
<p>If that happens – especially with a gridlocked Congress – federal agencies’ authority will increasingly be limited to powers that Congress explicitly gave them, sometimes decades ago, and to whatever courts consider the “plain meaning” of the words Congress used. Such a result would reduce agencies’ abilities to deal effectively with contemporary needs and problems in areas ranging from health care to environmental protection, workplace safety and artificial intelligence.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205371/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robin Kundis Craig does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>An important but controversial legal doctrine, known as Chevron deference, is at issue in two fishing cases. The outcome could affect many sectors across the nation.Robin Kundis Craig, Robert C. Packard Trustee Chair in Law, University of Southern CaliforniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2201402023-12-21T22:00:50Z2023-12-21T22:00:50ZACT’s attempt at regulatory reform in NZ has failed 3 times already – what’s different now?<p>As part of its coalition deal with National, the ACT Party is preparing to resurrect its “regulatory responsibility” legislation for the fourth time. This is despite the idea having been <a href="https://www.parliament.nz/en/site-search?term=regulatory+standards+bill">consistently rejected</a> since 2007. </p>
<p>As ACT’s coalition partners decide whether to allow its Regulatory Standards Bill to succeed this time, they need to reflect on that historical context. </p>
<p>ACT’s definition of “regulation” goes beyond parliamentary laws to include all forms of regulation at all levels of government. Its bill requires new (and eventually all) such regulation to adhere to principles and processes, also defined by ACT. It would also allow the courts to issue declarations of non-compliance. </p>
<p>The proposal is an extension of the neoliberal rhetoric of “best practice regulation”, including regulatory impact assessments and statements, which has become embedded in government practice since the 1990s. It has been endorsed by both National-led and Labour-led governments.</p>
<p>The 1999-2008 Labour government embraced the notion of “risk-tolerant regulation”. Essentially a market-based approach, it spanned a spectrum from no regulation or self-regulation to co-regulation with government. Hands-on regulation was a last resort.</p>
<p>This minimalist approach assumed businesses would honestly and rigorously monitor themselves, and report on their compliance based on those loosely framed principles. Government agencies, meanwhile, would limit regulation based on risk assessments and cost-benefit analyses.</p>
<p>The risk side has carried a high price over the past 30 years. Light-handed regulation or self-regulation helped deliver the <a href="https://www.eastonbh.ac.nz/2010/02/social-security-and-acc-2/">leaky buildings crisis</a>, the <a href="https://pikeriver.royalcommission.govt.nz/Volume-One---Proposals-for-Reform">Pike River mine tragedy</a>, workplace deaths in forestry and on farms, <a href="https://oag.parliament.nz/2011/treasury/part2.htm">finance company collapses</a>, <a href="https://www.consumer.org.nz/articles/rest-homes/investigations">unsafe aged care</a> and <a href="https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/improvements-confirmed-adventure-activity-sector">dangerous adventure tourism</a>, among other failures.</p>
<h2>A brief history of ‘meta-regulation’</h2>
<p>The origins of ACT’s latest push for regulatory reform lie as far back as the 1980s and 1990s, when the Labour finance minister, Roger Douglas, and his National Party successor, Ruth Richardson, ushered in core pieces of legislation: the Reserve Bank Act 1989, State Sector Act 1988, Public Finance Act 1989 and Fiscal Responsibility Act 1994. </p>
<p>A Regulatory Responsibility Act was the missing piece. In my 2015 book <a href="https://www.bwb.co.nz/books/the-fire-economy/">The FIRE Economy</a>, I explained its significance as “meta-regulation”. In effect, it was designed to regulate the way governments regulate. It institutionalised a pro-corporate approach of self-regulation, light-handed regulation, or no regulation at all.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/nz-election-2023-labour-out-national-in-either-way-neoliberalism-wins-again-214723">NZ election 2023: Labour out, National in – either way, neoliberalism wins again</a>
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<p>The neoliberal Business Roundtable think tank (now the New Zealand Initiative) began pushing the idea of an “economic constitution” in the early 1990s. A 2001 report for the Roundtable by former Treasury director Bryce Wilkinson, titled <a href="https://www.nzinitiative.org.nz/reports-and-media/reports/constraining-government-regulation/">Constraining Government Regulation</a>, contained a draft Regulatory Responsibility Bill. </p>
<p>This required all future laws and regulations to comply with a selective list of libertarian principles. These encompassed aspects of the rule of law, protection of individual liberties and property rights, and restrictions on the imposition of taxes and charges. </p>
<p>It also sought to embed “good law-making processes”, including cost-benefit analyses and prioritising non-regulatory options. Public entities would have to review their relevant laws for compatibility with the principles. </p>
<p>Significantly, it also empowered the courts to review legislation. Individuals could ask the courts to declare that new laws breached these regulatory standards, and after ten years could seek a judicial declaration on pre-existing laws.</p>
<h2>The bill that wouldn’t die</h2>
<p>ACT adopted the Roundtable’s draft bill, which was <a href="https://bills.parliament.nz/v/Bill/f0b2b8de-a5d7-4b33-8c59-e52cedf60493?Tab=history">drawn from the ballot</a> in the name of party leader Roger Douglas after the 2006 election. (Douglas had by then left the Labour Party to co-found ACT in 1993.)</p>
<p>Labour <a href="https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/sc/make-a-submission/document/48SCCOregulatoryresp200708101/regulatory-responsibility-bill">blocked the bill at the select committee</a> stage. But the committee’s report created a platform in 2009 for new ACT leader Rodney Hide, then in government as minister for regulatory reform, to set up a <a href="https://www.treasury.govt.nz/publications/commissioned-report/report-regulatory-responsibility-taskforce">Regulatory Responsibility Taskforce</a> to advance the bill.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/return-of-the-consultocracy-how-cutting-public-service-jobs-to-save-costs-usually-backfires-218990">Return of the ‘consultocracy’ – how cutting public service jobs to save costs usually backfires</a>
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<p>A renamed <a href="https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/sc/make-a-submission/document/49SCCO_SCF_00DBHOH_BILL10563_1/regulatory-standards-bill">Regulatory Standards Bill</a> was introduced in 2011. Constitutional experts attacked its selective principles, and objected that judicial declarations of non-compliance with those principles would potentially involve judges in making political decisions. </p>
<p>The bill was also silent on Te Tiriti o Waitangi/the Treaty of Waitangi. The Legislative Advisory Committee opposed it. And the Treasury used the same <a href="https://www.treasury.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2011-03/ris-tsy-rbr-mar11.pdf">regulatory impact process</a> ACT’s bill championed to oppose it. </p>
<p>Arguing the bill lacked necessary broad-based support, and that compliance costs would exceed benefits, Treasury favoured the alternative of strengthening the parliamentary review process. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/hansard-debates/rhr/combined/HansDeb_20210804_20210804_32">third attempt</a> to introduce the bill, by ACT leader David Seymour in 2021, fell at the first reading, although National (by then in opposition) supported it.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/three-parties-two-deals-one-government-the-stress-points-within-new-zealands-coalition-of-many-colours-217673">Three parties, two deals, one government: the stress points within New Zealand's 'coalition of many colours'</a>
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<h2>Time to draw a line</h2>
<p>Considering this history, it is likely the same grounds for opposing ACT’s regulatory responsibility campaign will be rehearsed in select committee once again. </p>
<p>The potentially significant budgetary impacts of a proposed ministry of regulation, reviews and repeals of existing regulation and revisions of the current regulatory toolkit are also uncosted (despite ACT’s insistence on “fiscal responsibility”). </p>
<p>There is some irony, too, in ACT’s <a href="https://www.act.org.nz/act_to_police_red_tape_and_regulation_in_government">election promise</a> to rein in “knee-jerk, populist laws”. The coalition government is implementing its 100-day plan with little pretence of “good regulatory” process, or even select committee hearings. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-neoliberalism-a-political-scientist-explains-the-use-and-evolution-of-the-term-184711">What is neoliberalism? A political scientist explains the use and evolution of the term</a>
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<p>Already, the dual Reserve Bank objectives, fair pay agreements, smoke-free and employment laws – which all originally went through the regulatory impact assessment and statement process – have been repealed under urgency. </p>
<p>The government has also refused to release a <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/calls-for-government-to-publish-suppressed-report-before-forcing-mps-to-vote-on-ditching-ev-subsidies-as-labour-mps-urge-christopher-luxon-to-repay-his-subsidy/QRJCMFLID5HNXF25TCKD7JDSFE/">draft regulatory impact statement</a> for its bill to repeal the Clean Car Discount Act (which has implications for New Zealand’s ability to achieve its climate goals) until after parliament votes.</p>
<p>ACT’s Regulatory Standards Bill may yet meet trenchant and terminal opposition again. But perhaps its introduction will lead to a broader revisiting of the neoliberal model of “meta-regulation”, and how it has served Aotearoa New Zealand over the past 40 years.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220140/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jane Kelsey received a Marsden Fund grant in 2009 to examine embedded neoliberalism in Aotearoa New Zealand, including the neoliberal regulatory regime and the Regulatory Responsibility Bill.</span></em></p>The ACT Party’s Regulatory Standards Bill will likely meet the same opposition it has in the past. And it will be a test of the new government’s commitment to genuine regulatory standards.Jane Kelsey, Emeritus Professor of Law, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata RauLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2194062023-12-10T22:09:09Z2023-12-10T22:09:09ZDigital ID will go mainstream across Australia in 2024. Here’s how it can work for everyone<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564405/original/file-20231207-23-kahv7b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C0%2C2904%2C1634&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/woman-in-black-shirt-standing-in-front-of-black-metal-screen-Jlqm6p_nntk">Simon Lee / Unsplash</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In a world promising self-driving cars and artificial general intelligence, the prospect of a new form of digital identity verification can feel … less than exciting.</p>
<p>And yet digital identity is about to be unleashed in Australia and around the world. In 2024, many years before most of us experience the joy of commuting in our fully autonomous car, new forms of digital ID will profoundly change how we engage with government and business. For example, digital ID may remove the pain of handing over physical copies of your driver’s licence, passport and birth certificate when renewing your Working with Children Check or setting up a new bank account.</p>
<p>How can we gain the benefits of digital ID – convenience, efficiency, lower risk of cybercrime – while minimising the attendant risks, such as privacy leaks, data misuse, and reduced trust in government? </p>
<p>In <a href="https://jmi.org.au/news/facial-verification-tech-in-nsw-digital-identity-new-report-unveils-path-to-enhanced-governance-and-training">a new paper</a> released today by the Human Technology Institute, we propose legal and policy guardrails to improve user safeguards and build community trust for the rollout of digital ID in New South Wales. While the paper focuses on NSW, it contains ten principles to support the development of any safe, reliable and responsible digital identity system.</p>
<h2>Across Australia, governments are kickstarting digital identity initiatives</h2>
<p>Some forms of digital identification already operate in Australia at scale. For example, the <a href="https://www.idmatch.gov.au/">Document Verification Service</a> was introduced as early as 2009 to automate checking of important documents such as passports. </p>
<p>Last year this service was used <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Legal_and_Constitutional_Affairs/IDVerificationBills23/Report/Chapter_1_-_Introduction">more than 140 million times</a> by roughly 2,700 government and private sector organisations. A limited form of facial verification technology was used well over a million times.</p>
<p>A key problem, however, is that Australia has not had an effective legal framework to govern even the existing digital ID system. This is starting to change. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-national-digital-id-scheme-is-being-proposed-an-expert-weighs-the-pros-and-many-more-cons-214144">A national digital ID scheme is being proposed. An expert weighs the pros and (many more) cons</a>
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<p>In June this year, the federal government released a <a href="https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/criminal-justice/files/national-strategy-for-identity-resilience.pdf">national strategy for digital identity resilience</a>. In its final sittings for 2023, the Australian Parliament <a href="https://ministers.ag.gov.au/media-centre/delivering-strong-safeguards-identity-verification-services-07-12-2023">passed the Identity Verification Services Bill 2023</a>, which provides some important protections for privacy and other rights. </p>
<p>Also in December, the government proposed a second law, the <a href="https://ministers.ag.gov.au/media-centre/strengthening-australias-digital-id-system-30-11-2023">Digital ID Bill 2023</a>. This bill would provide rules for a major expansion of Australia’s system of digital identification.</p>
<p>Notwithstanding this recent flurry of activity in the federal government, NSW has long been Australia’s leading jurisdiction in this area. It announced its <a href="https://www.nsw.gov.au/customer-service/media-releases/nsw-government-unveils-future-of-digital-identity">Digital ID program</a> in April 2022 and has quietly worked to put in place the key elements of what could become a world-leading digital ID system, with strong community safeguards.</p>
<h2>What is a ‘digital identity’, and what are the risks?</h2>
<p>The technologies at the heart of digital ID are powerful and carry risks. </p>
<p>In particular, facial verification technology matches an individual’s face data against a recorded reference image. It may also incorporate “liveness detection”, which checks that the face to be verified belongs to a genuine individual requesting a service in real time (as opposed to a photograph, for example). </p>
<p>NSW’s digital identity initiative uses both these technologies.</p>
<p>Overall, digital identity should mean <em>less</em> of our personal information is collected and used by third parties. For example, when someone enters a pub and a bouncer asks for ID, the only information the bouncer needs to know is that the patron is over 18. The bouncer doesn’t need other personal information on their licence, such as their address or organ donor status. </p>
<p>Good design and regulation would ensure the digital ID service can verify someone’s age without disclosing other sensitive data.</p>
<p>On the other hand, these technologies use sensitive personal information and this brings risks when they are used to make decisions that affect people’s rights. Errors may result in an individual being denied an essential government service. </p>
<p>Because a digital ID system would by its nature collect sensitive personal information, it also poses risks of identity fraud or hacking of personal information.</p>
<h2>Making digital ID safe</h2>
<p>There must be robust safeguards in place to address these risks.</p>
<p>Accountable digital identity systems should be voluntary, not compulsory. They need to ensure citizens have options for choice and consent, and should be usable and accessible for everyone. </p>
<p>Digital ID also needs to be safe. It should protect the sensitive personal information of users and make sure this data is not used for other, unintended purposes like law enforcement.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-national-digital-id-is-here-but-the-governments-not-talking-about-it-130200">Australia's National Digital ID is here, but the government's not talking about it</a>
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<p>To achieve these aims, we recommend that NSW Digital ID be grounded in legislation that enshrines:</p>
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<li><p><strong>user protections</strong>, including providing for privacy and data security of all users</p></li>
<li><p><strong>performance standards</strong>, ensuring that digital identity performs to a high standard of accuracy and be fit for purpose, with public reporting by the responsible government agency or department on relevant independent benchmarking and technical standards compliance</p></li>
<li><p><strong>oversight and accountability</strong>, with both internal and external monitoring, and clear redress mechanisms</p></li>
<li><p><strong>interoperability</strong> with other government systems.</p></li>
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<p>These principles are not specific to NSW. They are relevant and transferable to other jurisdictions looking to develop digital identity systems. </p>
<p>Whether Australia’s digital identity transformation is a success depends on how digital identity systems are established in law and practice. It is crucial that robust governance mechanisms are in place to ensure digital identity systems are safe, secure and accountable. Only then will Australians embrace and trust the digital transformation that is afoot.</p>
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<p><em>HTI’s work to develop independent expert advice outlining a governance framework and training strategy for NSW Digital ID was funded by a <a href="https://jmi.org.au/2022-policy-challenge-grant-winners/">James Martin Institute Policy Challenge Grant</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219406/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Edward Santow works for the UTS Human Technology Institute. The Institute has received a funding grant from the James Martin Institute for Public Policy to support the project mentioned in this article. Prof Santow also serves as an independent member of the NSW Government's AI Review Committee, which has provided some advice on the NSW Government's use of digital identification.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lauren Perry works for the UTS Human Technology Institute. The Institute has received a funding grant from the James Martin Institute for Public Policy to support the project mentioned in this article</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sophie Farthing works for the UTS Human Technology Institute. The Institute has received a funding grant from the James Martin Institute for Public Policy to support the project mentioned in this article. </span></em></p>2024 will see a massive expansion in Australia’s digital ID system. Good tech and strong guardrails will make Australia a world leader in this important area.Edward Santow, Professor & Co-Director, Human Technology Institute, University of Technology SydneyLauren Perry, Responsible Technology Policy Specialist - Human Technology Institute, University of Technology SydneySophie Farthing, Head, Policy Lab, Human Technology Institute, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2180052023-12-05T13:19:06Z2023-12-05T13:19:06Z‘Inert’ ingredients in pesticides may be more
toxic to bees than scientists thought<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563090/original/file-20231203-27-yyo7nl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3048%2C2162&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A honeybee approaches a sunflower at Wards Berry Farm in Sharon, Mass.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/sharon-ma-a-honeybee-buzzes-a-sunflower-in-bloom-at-wards-news-photo/1242574226">John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Bees help pollinate over a third of the world’s crops, contributing <a href="https://www.ipbes.net/article/press-release-pollinators-vital-our-food-supply-under-threat">an estimated US$235 billion to $577 billion</a> in value to global agriculture. They also face a myriad of stresses, including pathogens and parasites, loss of suitable food sources and habitat, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-air-pollution-is-making-life-tougher-for-bugs-213122">air pollution</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/bees-face-many-challenges-and-climate-change-is-ratcheting-up-the-pressure-190296">climate-driven weather extremes</a>.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-46948-6">recent study</a> has identified another important but understudied pressure on bees: “inert” ingredients in pesticides. </p>
<p>All pesticide products in the U.S. contain <a href="https://www.epa.gov/ingredients-used-pesticide-products/basic-information-about-pesticide-ingredients">active and inert ingredients</a>. Active ingredients are designed to kill or control a specific insect, weed or fungus and are listed on product labels. All other ingredients – emulsifiers, solvents, carriers, aerosol propellants, fragrances, dyes and such – are considered inert.</p>
<p>The new study exposed honeybees to two treatments: the isolated active ingredients in the fungicide <a href="https://www3.epa.gov/pesticides/chem_search/ppls/007969-00199-20221130.pdf">Pristine</a>, which is used to control <a href="https://agriculture.basf.us/content/dam/cxm/agriculture/crop-protection/products/documents/BASF_Pristine_Almonds_TIB_medres.pdf">fungal diseases in almonds</a> and <a href="https://www3.epa.gov/pesticides/chem_search/ppls/007969-00199-20221130.pdf">other crops</a>, and the whole Pristine formulation, including inert ingredients. The results were quite surprising: The whole formulation impaired honeybees’ memory, while the active ingredients alone did not. </p>
<p>This suggests that the inert ingredients in the formula were actually what made Pristine toxic to bees – either because the inerts were toxic on their own or because combining them with the active ingredients made the active ingredients more toxic. As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=B1qAtjIAAAAJ&hl=en">social scientist focusing on bee declines</a>, I believe that either way, these findings have important implications for pesticide regulation and bee health. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Threats to bees include single-crop agriculture, habitat loss, air pollution and pesticide exposure.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>What are inert ingredients?</h2>
<p>Inert ingredients have a variety of functions. They may extend a pesticide’s shelf life, reduce risks for people who apply the pesticides or help a pesticide work better. Some inerts, called adjuvants, help pesticides stick to plant surfaces, reduce pesticide drift or help active ingredients better penetrate a plant’s surface. </p>
<p>The “inert” label is a colloquial misnomer, though. As <a href="https://www.epa.gov/ingredients-used-pesticide-products/basic-information-about-pesticide-ingredients">the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency notes</a>, inerts aren’t necessarily inactive or even nontoxic. In fact, pesticide users <a href="https://doi.org/10.1289%2Fehp.118-a168">sometimes know very little</a> about how inerts function in a pesticide formula. That’s partly because they are regulated very differently than active ingredients. </p>
<h2>Measuring bee effects</h2>
<p>Under the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/summary-federal-insecticide-fungicide-and-rodenticide-act">Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act</a>, or FIFRA, the EPA oversees pesticide regulation in the U.S. To register a pesticide product for outdoor use, chemical companies must provide <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2016-07/documents/guidance-exposure-effects-testing-assessing-risks-bees.pdf">reliable risk assessment data</a> on the active ingredients’ toxicity for bees, including the results of an acute honeybee contact test. </p>
<p>The acute contact test tracks how honeybees react to a pesticide application over a short period of time. It also aims to establish the dose of a pesticide that will kill 50% of a group of honeybees, a value known as the LD50. To determine the LD50, scientists apply the pesticide to bees’ midsections and then observe the bees for 48 to 96 hours for signs of poisoning. </p>
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<p>In 2016, the EPA <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2016-07/documents/guidance-exposure-effects-testing-assessing-risks-bees.pdf">expanded its data requirements</a> by requiring an acute honeybee oral toxicity test, in which adult bees are fed a chemical, as well as a 21-day honeybee larval test that tracks larval reaction to an agrochemical from the egg to their emergence as adult bees. </p>
<p>These tests all help the agency determine what potential risk an active ingredient may pose for honeybees, along with other data. Based on the information from these varied tests, pesticides are labeled as nontoxic, moderately toxic or highly toxic. </p>
<h2>A chemical black box</h2>
<p>Despite this rigorous testing, much remains unknown about how safe pesticides are for bees. This is particularly true for pesticides that have sublethal or chronic toxicities – in other words, pesticides that don’t cause immediate death or obvious signs of poisoning but have other significant effects.</p>
<p>This lack of knowledge about sublethal and chronic effects is problematic, because bees can be repeatedly exposed over long time spans to pesticides on floral nectar or pollen, or to pesticide contamination that builds up <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0009754">in beehives</a>. They even may be exposed <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/aesa/saaa041">through miticides</a> that beekeepers use to control Varroa mites, a <a href="https://www.ars.usda.gov/pacific-west-area/tucson-az/carl-hayden-bee-research-center/research/varroa/varroa-overview/">devastating bee parasite</a>.</p>
<p>Complicating the issue, symptoms of sublethal exposure are often more subtle or take longer to become apparent than acute or lethal toxicity. <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.5772/62487">Symptoms might include</a> abnormal foraging and learning ability, decreased egg laying by the queen, wing deformation, stunted growth or decreased colony survival. The EPA doesn’t always require chemical companies to perform the tests that could detect these symptoms.</p>
<p>Inert ingredients add another level of mystery. While the EPA reviews and <a href="https://www.epa.gov/ingredients-used-pesticide-products/basic-information-about-pesticide-ingredients">must approve all inert ingredients</a>, it does not require the same toxicity testing as for active ingredients. </p>
<p>This is because under FIFRA, inert ingredients are protected as trade secrets, or <a href="https://www.epa.gov/ingredients-used-pesticide-products/basic-information-about-pesticide-ingredients">confidential business information</a>. Only the total percentage of inert ingredients is required on the label, often lumped together and described as “other ingredients.”</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563091/original/file-20231203-27-omw458.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A box shows that a pesticide has 0.375% active ingredients and 99.625% 'other' ingredients." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563091/original/file-20231203-27-omw458.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563091/original/file-20231203-27-omw458.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=167&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563091/original/file-20231203-27-omw458.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=167&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563091/original/file-20231203-27-omw458.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=167&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563091/original/file-20231203-27-omw458.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=210&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563091/original/file-20231203-27-omw458.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=210&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563091/original/file-20231203-27-omw458.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=210&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sample pesticide ingredient label from an EPA training guide, showing that just 0.375% of ingredients are disclosed and tested for bee safety.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-labels/label-review-training-module-3-special-issues-page-34">EPA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Sublethal weapons</h2>
<p>A growing body of evidence suggests that inerts are not as harmless as the name suggests. For example, exposure to two types of adjuvants – organosilicone and nonionic surfactants – can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0040848">impair honeybees’ learning performance</a>. Bees rely on learning and memory functions to gather food and return to the hive, so losing these crucial skills can endanger a colony’s survival. </p>
<p>Inerts can also affect bumblebees. In a 2021 study, exposure to alcohol ethoxylates, a coformulant in the fungicide Amistar, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-00919-x">killed 30% of the bees exposed to it</a> and caused a number of sublethal effects.</p>
<p>While some inerts may be nontoxic on their own, it’s hard to predict what will happen when they are combined with active ingredients. Research has shown that when two or more agrochemicals are combined, they can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03787-7">become more toxic for bees</a> than when applied on their own. This is known as <a href="https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/chemicals/synergism.html">synergistic toxicity</a>. </p>
<p>Synergism can also occur when inerts are combined with pesticides. Another 2021 study showed that adjuvants that were nontoxic on their own caused <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s41348-021-00541-z">increased colony mortality when combined with insecticides</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563093/original/file-20231203-17-uekt6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A bee in flight, covered with yellow pollen grains." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563093/original/file-20231203-17-uekt6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563093/original/file-20231203-17-uekt6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563093/original/file-20231203-17-uekt6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563093/original/file-20231203-17-uekt6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563093/original/file-20231203-17-uekt6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=635&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563093/original/file-20231203-17-uekt6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=635&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563093/original/file-20231203-17-uekt6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=635&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A sweat bee (<em>Halictus ligatus</em>) covered with pollen.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/dJ9ZZ4">Sam Droege, USGS/Flickr</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A better testing strategy</h2>
<p>Mounting evidence on the toxicity of inerts points to three key changes that could better support bee health and minimize bees’ exposure to potential stressors. </p>
<p>First, environmental risk assessments for pesticides could test the whole pesticide formulation, including inert ingredients, to provide a more complete picture of a pesticide’s toxicity to bees. This is already done <a href="https://www.epa.gov/pollinator-protection/pollinator-risk-assessment-guidance">in some cases</a> but could be required for all outdoor uses where bees are at risk of exposure.</p>
<p>Second, inerts could be identified on product labels to enable independent research and risk assessment. </p>
<p>Third, more testing could be required on pesticides’ long-term sublethal effects on bees, such as learning impairment. Such research would be especially relevant for pesticides that are applied to blooming crops or flowers that attract bees.</p>
<p>Researchers and environmental groups have been arguing for changes like these since <a href="https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.9374">at least 2006</a>. However, because pesticide regulation is dictated by federal law, changes require congressional action. This would be challenging politically, since it would increase the regulatory burden on the chemical industry. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, rising concerns about <a href="https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ento-011118-111847">bumblebee declines</a> and beekeepers’ significant <a href="https://beeinformed.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BIP-2022-23-Loss-Abstract.pdf">annual colony losses</a> make a strong case for a more precautionary approach to pesticide regulation. With a growing world population and <a href="https://theconversation.com/cop28-7-food-and-agriculture-innovations-needed-to-protect-the-climate-and-feed-a-rapidly-growing-world-218414">food supplies under increasing stress</a>, supporting bees’ contribution to agriculture is more important then ever.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218005/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennie L. Durant has worked as a Science and Technology Policy Fellow with the Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in USDA's Office of Pest Management Policy.</span></em></p>Inert ingredients are added for purposes other than killing pests and are not required under federal law to be tested for safety or identified on pesticide labels.Jennie L. Durant, Research Affiliate in Human Ecology, University of California, DavisLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2137542023-09-27T20:05:29Z2023-09-27T20:05:29ZEven if Qantas is fined hundreds of millions it is likely to continue to take us for granted<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550516/original/file-20230927-25-ha0bmh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=119%2C724%2C3161%2C1670&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As Qantas faces up to tough questioning from a Senate committee and a claim from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) for as much as <a href="https://www.bandt.com.au/qantas-should-be-fined-hundreds-of-millions-if-found-guilty-of-misleading-ads-accc/">A$600 million</a> for allegedly selling tickets on more than <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/accc-takes-court-action-alleging-qantas-advertised-flights-it-had-already-cancelled">8,000</a> “ghost flights” it had already cancelled, its customers might be thinking things are about to get better. </p>
<p>But there are reasons to think they won’t. At the heart of both the ACCC’s <a href="https://www.bandt.com.au/qantas-should-be-fined-hundreds-of-millions-if-found-guilty-of-misleading-ads-accc/">lawsuit</a>, and the airline’s separate refusal to quickly refund hundreds of millions of dollars worth of <a href="https://www.afr.com/rear-window/qantas-grand-theft-klepto-20230829-p5e0g8">credits</a> for flights cancelled during COVID, lies the indifference to customers typical of a duopolistic market.</p>
<p>Qantas does face competition on international routes, although the government’s action in denying Qatar Airways extra landing rights has <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-will-putting-the-interests-of-qantas-ahead-of-qatar-airways-cost-1-billion-per-year-and-a-new-wave-of-protectionism-of-legacy-carriers-212495">constrained</a> that competition.</p>
<p>But, with only one exception – Virgin – it faces very little competition within Australia, given the limited offerings by airlines such as Rex and Bonza.</p>
<p>On Wednesday former ACCC Chair Rod Sims told the <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Commonwealth_Bilateral_Air_Service_Agreements/cbasa">Senate inquiry into air service agreements</a> Qantas was able to use its leading market position to charge higher prices than it would otherwise have been able to.</p>
<p>One could put it more generally: Qantas had the power to treat customers worse than it would otherwise have been able to.</p>
<hr>
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<hr>
<h2>What the ACCC alleges</h2>
<p>The ACCC alleges Qantas engaged in false, misleading or deceptive conduct in breach of the Australian Consumer Law in 2022 by selling tickets for flights that had already been cancelled, and by falsely representing to consumers who already had tickets that their flights had not been cancelled.</p>
<p>Under the law, where liability for “misleading or deceptive conduct” is concerned, the reasons for the conduct don’t matter, meaning all that is likely to matter is whether the commission’s claims about Qantas’s conduct are true.</p>
<p><a href="https://gibbswrightlawyers.com.au/publications/misleading-deceptive-conduct">Section 18</a> of the Australian Consumer Law simply says:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>a person must not, in trade or commerce, engage in conduct that is misleading or deceptive or is likely to mislead or deceive.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>For online bookings, the commission is suggesting Qantas may have made several misleading representations, including indicating flights were available when they were not, confirming bookings for flights that were not available, and displaying unavailable flights on customers’ “manage booking” pages.</p>
<p>While the ticket contracts may have included disclaimers, these would be unlikely to have force in the face of Section 18. The law does not permit contractual language to exclude liability for contraventions of this provision. </p>
<p>A disclaimer can be relevant to the factual question of whether a party was misled but, given <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1369118X.2018.1486870">98%</a> of online consumer contracts are unread, it’s unlikely Qantas would be able to rely on disclaimers to claim customers weren’t misled.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/booking-customers-on-cancelled-flights-how-could-qantas-do-that-212793">Booking customers on cancelled flights – how could Qantas do that?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Even if the commission is successful in getting the Federal Court to award a penalty amounting to hundreds of millions, such a fine is likely to be manageable for Qantas given its <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-24/qantas-profit-2023-annual-results-alan-joyce/102763766">$1.7 billion</a> 2022-23 profit.</p>
<h2>Qantas ill-prepared for questions</h2>
<p>At Wednesday’s Senate hearing Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson and Chairman Richard Goyder were not prepared to answer several questions, asking for them to be put on notice.</p>
<p>They also passed up the opportunity to provide the committee with a written statement addressing the <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Commonwealth_Bilateral_Air_Service_Agreements/cbasa/Terms_of_Reference">formal topic</a> of its inquiry which was the impact of government decisions about landing rights on competition in the aviation industry and the cost of living pressures on Australian families and businesses.</p>
<p>Pressed on whether Qantas would publish a redacted version of its representations to the government about foreign airlines’ bids for landing rights, Hudson declined, although she said Qantas would provide them in confidence. </p>
<p>Goyder told the hearing Qantas had “genuine contrition for where we are at” but had “sound commercial reasons” for many of the decisions it took during the years since the outbreak of COVID, including what the High Court subsequently found was an <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-13/high-court-rules-in-qantas-twu-battle-over-ground-crew-staff/102848684">illegal decision</a> to sack 1,700 ground staff.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/high-court-ruling-vindicates-sacked-qantas-workers-but-doesnt-stop-the-outsourcing-of-jobs-in-the-future-213452">High Court ruling vindicates sacked Qantas workers but doesn't stop the outsourcing of jobs in the future</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What matters to Qantas is slots</h2>
<p>While there is little that can be done to make Qantas more responsive to its customers while it dominates the domestic aviation market, <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/ACCC%20submission%20in%20response%20to%20the%20Aviation%20White%20Paper%20terms%20of%20reference%20-%20March%202023.pdf">freeing up landing slots</a> at airports would help loosen that dominance.</p>
<p>The current rules allow incumbent airlines such as Qantas to apply for more slots at airports such as Sydney than they will require, so long as they use them 80% of the time.</p>
<p>In a report to the government in 2021 former Productivity Commission chief Peter Harris recommended overhauling the system at Sydney Airport to make it <a href="https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/sydney-airport-demand-management-review.pdf">easier</a> for new entrants to get slots.</p>
<p>Among the recommendations was an independent audit of cancellations by a “reputable, unconflicted auditor”.</p>
<p>The government has yet to respond to the report, although when releasing the government’s aviation green paper earlier this month, Transport Minister Catherine King indicated she soon would.</p>
<p>Implementing needed reforms to free up slots at key airports would help to promote better consumer outcomes. However, profound change in Australian air travel seems unlikely for the foreseeable future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213754/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mel Marquis has in the past collaborated with the ACCC on unrelated matters. He has no involvment or interest in the pending litigation discussed in this article.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Neerav Srivastava does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The only thing Qantas seems to fear is losing landing slots. It’s time to reallocate the slots it doesn’t use.Mel Marquis, Deputy Associate Dean and Senior Lecturer in Law, Monash UniversityNeerav Srivastava, PhD Candidate and Teaching Associate, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2089232023-08-16T12:26:33Z2023-08-16T12:26:33ZMichigan pipeline standoff could affect water protection and Indigenous rights across the US<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542481/original/file-20230813-175390-x00yus.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=6%2C0%2C4446%2C2884&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A ferry arrives at Mackinac Island in the Straits of Mackinac, Michigan's largest tourist draw.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/Travel-Trip-MackinacIsland/9896e61c897e4175ba9ce529bd127562/photo">AP Photo/Anick Jesdanun</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Should states and Indigenous nations be able to influence energy projects they view as harmful or contrary to their laws and values? This question lies at the center of a heated debate over <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/egle/about/featured/line5/overview">Enbridge Energy’s Line 5 pipeline</a>, which carries oil and natural gas across Wisconsin and Michigan. </p>
<p>Courts, regulatory agencies and political leaders are deciding whether Enbridge should be allowed to keep its pipeline in place for another 99 years, with upgrades. The state of Michigan and the <a href="http://www.badriver-nsn.gov/">Bad River Tribe</a> in Wisconsin want to <a href="https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/MIEOG/2020/11/13/file_attachments/1600920/Notice%20of%20%20Revocation%20and%20Termination%20of%20%20Easement%20%2811.13.20%29.pdf">close the pipeline down immediately</a>.</p>
<p>My expertise is in Great Lakes water and energy policy, environmental protection and sustainability leadership. I have analyzed and taught these issues as a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=YKC4V5gAAAAJ&hl=en">sustainability scholar</a>, and I have worked on them as the National Wildlife Federation’s <a href="https://nwf.org/greatlakes">Great Lakes regional executive director</a> from 2015 until early 2023. </p>
<p>In my view, the future of Line 5 has become a defining issue for the future of the Great Lakes region. It also could set an important precedent for reconciling energy choices with state regulatory authority and Native American rights.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OCW6fiNSXjs?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Tribal leaders and Native community members explain what the Straits of Mackinac mean to their cultures.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A Canadian pipeline through the US Midwest</h2>
<p>Line 5, built in 1953, runs 643 miles from Superior, Wisconsin, to Sarnia, Ontario. It carries up to 23 million gallons of oil and natural gas liquids daily, produced mainly from <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/tar-sand">Canadian tar sands in Alberta</a>. </p>
<p>Most of this oil and gas goes to refineries in Ontario and Quebec. Some remains in the U.S. for propane production or processing at refineries in Michigan and Ohio.</p>
<p>Controversy over Line 5 centers mainly on two locations: the Bad River Band Reservation in Wisconsin, where the pipeline crosses tribal land, and the Straits of Mackinac (pronounced “Mackinaw”) in Michigan. This channel between Michigan’s upper and lower peninsulas connects Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541274/original/file-20230804-17305-8y9tf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Map showing the Line 5 route across Wisconsin and Michigan and through the Straits of Mackinac." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541274/original/file-20230804-17305-8y9tf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541274/original/file-20230804-17305-8y9tf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=596&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541274/original/file-20230804-17305-8y9tf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=596&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541274/original/file-20230804-17305-8y9tf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=596&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541274/original/file-20230804-17305-8y9tf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=749&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541274/original/file-20230804-17305-8y9tf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=749&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541274/original/file-20230804-17305-8y9tf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=749&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline from Superior, Wisconsin, to Sarnia, Ontario, is part of a larger regional pipeline network.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.enbridge.com/projects-and-infrastructure/public-awareness/line-5-michigan/about-line-5">Enbridge</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Line 5 crosses through the open water of the straits in twin pipelines that rest on the lake bottom in some stretches and are suspended above it in others. The route lies within an easement <a href="http://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/michigan/files/201409/1953-04-23_Lakehead_Pipe_Line_Company_Easement_through_the_Straits_of_Mackinac.pdf">granted by the state of Michigan in 1953</a>. </p>
<p>The Straits of Mackinac are one of the most iconic settings in the Great Lakes. They include <a href="https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/the-straits-of-mackinac-connecting-people-places-and-so-much-more-msg20-nelson20">hundreds of islands and miles of shorelines</a> rimmed with forests and wetlands. Scenic Mackinac Island in Lake Huron, a <a href="https://www.michigan.org/city/mackinac-island">popular resort area</a> since the mid-1800s, is Michigan’s top tourist destination. </p>
<p>The straits also have long been <a href="https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/travel/michigan/2017/03/07/restoring-mackinac-islands-native-american-history/98809484/">spiritually important for Great Lakes tribes</a>. Michigan acknowledges that the Chippewa and Ottawa peoples <a href="https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/03/treaty-rights-line-5-oil-pipelines-controversial-history/">hold treaty-protected fishing rights</a> that center on the Mackinac region.</p>
<h2>The Line 6b spill</h2>
<p>In 2010, another Enbridge pipeline, Line 6b, <a href="https://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/2020/07/10-years-ago-kalamazoo-river-oil-spill-was-an-awakening-in-pipeline-debate.html">ruptured near the Kalamazoo River in southern Michigan</a>, spilling over 1 million gallons of heavy crude. Line 6b is part of a parallel route to Line 5, and the cleanup continues <a href="https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-environment-watch/10-years-later-kalamazoo-river-spill-still-colors-enbridge-pipeline">more than a decade later</a>. </p>
<p>The spill, and Enbridge’s <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/26062012/dilbit-diluted-bitumen-enbridge-kalamazoo-river-marshall-michigan-oil-spill-6b-pipeline-epa/">slow, bungled response and lack of transparency</a>, led to scrutiny of other Enbridge pipelines, <a href="https://www.nwf.org/%7E/media/pdfs/regional/great-lakes/nwf_sunkenhazard.ashx">including Line 5</a>.</p>
<p>In a 2014 analysis, University of Michigan oceanographer <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=wWTpqmEAAAAJ&hl=en">David J. Schwab</a> concluded that the Straits of Mackinac were the <a href="https://news.umich.edu/straits-of-mackinac-worst-possible-place-for-a-great-lakes-oil-spill-u-m-researcher-concludes/">“worst possible place</a>” for a Great Lakes oil spill because of high-speed currents that were unpredictable and reversed frequently. Within 20 days of a spill, Schwab estimated, oil could be carried up to 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the site into Lakes Michigan and Huron, fouling drinking water intakes, beaches and other critical areas.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ELlWwTF9PDs?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">This animated video created by David J. Schwab of the University of Michigan Water Center shows how an oil spill beneath the Straits of Mackinac could spread within the first 20 days.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This and other research intensified a burgeoning advocacy campaign by pipeline opponents, including <a href="https://www.oilandwaterdontmix.org/">regional and national environmental organizations</a>, <a href="https://earthjustice.org/feature/bay-mills-fighting-the-good-fight-to-protect-the-great-lakes-line-5-enbridge">Indigenous leaders and advocates</a>, and a newly formed network of <a href="https://glbusinessnetwork.com/">local and regional businesses</a>. </p>
<p>Pipeline supporters include the <a href="https://www.api.org/">American Petroleum Institute</a> and others in the fossil fuel industry, many <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2021/11/15/enbridge-line-5-shutdown-not-soon/6369707001/">conservative lawmakers</a>, several key <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-canada-pipelines-activists-idUSKBN2A11ED">labor unions</a> and the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-wisconsin-line-5-pipeline-1.6565809">government of Canada</a>. They argue that the current pipeline is safe, violates no federal laws and is a key piece of infrastructure that helps keep <a href="https://www.enbridge.com/projects-and-infrastructure/public-awareness/line-5-michigan/about-line-5">energy costs low</a>.</p>
<h2>Michigan revokes its easement</h2>
<p>After years of scrutiny, including the formation of the <a href="https://mipetroleumpipelines.org/">Michigan Pipeline Safety Advisory Board</a> and two <a href="https://mipetroleumpipelines.org/document/independent-risk-analysis-straits-pipelines-final-report">expert reports</a> commissioned by the state, analyses showed that Enbridge was <a href="https://www.mlive.com/news/2017/06/line_5_unsupported_spans.html">violating provisions of its easement</a>. Most notably, the section of Line 5 that ran under the straits lacked proper anchors and coating, <a href="https://michiganlcv.org/line5/">increasing the threat of a rupture</a>. The state concluded that the easement <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/public_trust_doctrine#:%7E:text=Public%20trust%20doctrine%20is%20a,waters%2C%20wildlife%2C%20or%20land.">violated the public trust doctrine</a> – the idea that government should protect certain natural resources, including waterways, for public use.</p>
<p>State reports concluded that the highest risk for rupture was from <a href="https://mipetroleumpipelines.org/document/independent-risk-analysis-straits-pipelines-final-report">anchor strikes</a>. Environmental nongovernment organizations found that Line 5 had already leaked <a href="https://www.nwf.org/-/media/Documents/PDFs/Press-Releases/2020/11-20-20-Line-5-Report">more than 1 million gallons</a> of oil and natural gas liquids. On April 1, 2018, a boat anchor struck the pipeline and <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2019/05/15/mackinac-enbridge-oil-pipeline-anchor-damage/3679013002/">nearly ruptured it</a>, temporarily shutting it down. </p>
<p>In 2019, Gov. Rick Snyder was succeeded by Gretchen Whitmer, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/05/14/gretchen-whitmer-enbridge-line-5-pipeline-mackinac-time-bomb/">who pledged in her campaign to close Line 5</a>. Seeking to avert a shutdown, Enbridge proposed building a tunnel beneath the lake bed to <a href="https://www.michiganradio.org/environment-science/2018-12-19/mackinac-straits-corridor-authority-approves-enbridge-tunnel-agreements">protect the pipeline</a>.</p>
<p>But after more analysis and <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/06/19/whitmer-line-5-shut-down-after-significant-damage-anchor-support/3225987001/">another anchor strike</a> that temporarily shut down the pipeline again, Whitmer issued an order in November 2020 <a href="https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2020/11/enbridge-line-5-ordered-shut-down-by-michigan-gov-whitmer.html">revoking Enbridge’s easement</a> and giving the company six months to close Line 5. The state <a href="https://casetext.com/case/michigan-v-enbridge-energy-ltd-pship">sought a court order</a> to support its decision.</p>
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<h2>Challenging state and tribal authority</h2>
<p>Instead of accepting state orders, <a href="https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-environment-watch/enbridge-michigan-we-wont-shut-down-line-5">Enbridge resisted</a>. The company argued that Michigan lacked authority to tell it how to manage the pipeline; that the project had not required an easement in 1953; and that building the tunnel would mitigate any risks. </p>
<p>Enbridge <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DJAw1cNSvCRGxOwJlFl5-U95VVr1jbSV/view">sued Michigan in federal court</a>, arguing that pipeline safety regulation was a federal issue and that the state had no authority to intervene in what was essentially <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMuK5LDlsF4">international commerce</a>.</p>
<p>Enbridge also faced pressure from the <a href="http://www.badriver-nsn.gov/">Bad River Tribe</a> in Wisconsin, where some 12 miles of the pipeline runs through the Bad River Band reservation and across the Bad River. Enbridge’s easement on parts of the reservation expired in 2013, and in 2017 the tribal council <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/16012017/dakota-access-pipeline-standing-rock-enbridge-line-5-native-american-protest/">voted to evict Enbridge from their land</a>, calling the pipeline a threat to the river and their culture. </p>
<p>When Enbridge continued operating Line 5, the tribe <a href="https://www.wpr.org/sites/default/files/7-23-19_lawsuit.pdf">sued the company in federal court</a> in 2019, charging it with trespass, unjust enrichment and other offenses, and sought to get the pipeline closed. </p>
<p>Today, Michigan’s case against Enbridge is <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/ag/news/press-releases/2023/03/03/attorney-general-nessel-asks-court-of-appeals-to-move-enbridge-case-back-to-michigan">bogged down in jurisdictional battles</a>. But on June 16, 2023, the federal judge overseeing the Bad River case <a href="https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/bad-river-vs-enbridge-pipeline-lawsuit-decision.pdf">ruled largely in favor of the tribe</a> and ordered Enbridge to stop operating the pipeline on tribal land within three years. Enbridge vowed to appeal the ruling, but is also seeking permits for a <a href="https://www.wpr.org/judge-orders-enbridge-shut-down-part-wisconsin-oil-pipeline-3-years">41-mile reroute</a> of Line 5 around the reservation.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542373/original/file-20230811-15-nv1ukl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Trudeau and Biden shake hands at the entrance to a stone building." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542373/original/file-20230811-15-nv1ukl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542373/original/file-20230811-15-nv1ukl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542373/original/file-20230811-15-nv1ukl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542373/original/file-20230811-15-nv1ukl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542373/original/file-20230811-15-nv1ukl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542373/original/file-20230811-15-nv1ukl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542373/original/file-20230811-15-nv1ukl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, shown welcoming U.S. President Joe Biden to Ottawa on March 24, 2023, strongly supports Line 5, which carries Canadian oil and gas.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/BidenCanada/9c3b7f736a704947b4fc2b08c25532f6/photo">AP Photo/Andrew Harnik</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A national precedent</h2>
<p>Line 5 is more than a Midwest issue. It has become a focus for <a href="https://narf.org/bay-mills-line5-pipeline/">national activism</a> and is a <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-11-10/why-a-flowing-pipeline-has-canada-michigan-at-odds-quicktake?sref=Hjm5biAW">major diplomatic issue</a> between Canada and the U.S.
President Joe Biden, who has <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/03/08/974365298/biden-faces-balancing-act-advancing-clean-energy-alongside-labor-allies">worked to balance</a> his ties with organized labor and his support for a clean energy transition, has avoided taking a side to date. </p>
<p>To continue operating Line 5, Enbridge will have to convince the courts that its interests and legal arguments outweigh those of an Indigenous nation and the state of Michigan. Never before has an active fossil fuel pipeline been closed due to potential environmental and cultural damage. </p>
<p>The outcome could set a precedent for other pipeline and fossil fuel infrastructure battles, from the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/07/27/supreme-court-mountain-valley-pipeline/">mid-Atlantic</a> to the <a href="https://www.desmog.com/2023/07/20/tcenergy-gtn-pipeline-expansion-northwest-climate-change/">Pacific Coast</a>. Ultimately, in my view, Line 5 is an under-the-radar but critical proxy battle for how, when and under what authority the phasing out of fossil fuels will proceed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208923/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mike Shriberg previously served from 2015-2022 as the Great Lakes Regional Executive Director for the National Wildlife Federation, where his position included grant and donor funding to work on issues related to the Line 5 pipeline. He also served as a gubernatorial appointee under former Gov. Rick Snyder to the Michigan Pipeline Safety Advisory Board.</span></em></p>A pipeline that has carried Canadian oil and gas across Wisconsin and Michigan for 70 years has become a symbol of fossil fuel politics and a test of local regulatory power.Mike Shriberg, Professor of Practice & Engagement, School for Environment & Sustainability, University of MichiganLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2113692023-08-14T00:33:11Z2023-08-14T00:33:11ZDo we need a new law for AI? Sure – but first we could try enforcing the laws we already have<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542490/original/file-20230813-110155-2pufm4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=53%2C0%2C7168%2C4088&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/imagine-that-everyone-slave-advertised-world-2200571087">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Regulation was once a dirty word in tech companies around the world. They argued that if people wanted better smartphones and flying cars, we had to look past dusty old laws dreamed up in the pre-internet era.</p>
<p>But something profound is afoot. First a whisper, and now a roar: the law is back.</p>
<p>Ed Husic, Australia’s federal minister responsible for tech policy, is leading a once-in-a-generation review of Australian law, asking Australians how our law should change for the AI era. He recently <a href="https://www.minister.industry.gov.au/ministers/husic/transcripts/interview-hamish-macdonald-breakfast-abc-radio-national">told the ABC</a>, “I think the era of self-regulation is over.” </p>
<p>Sure, there were caveats. Husic made clear that regulation for AI should focus on “high-risk elements” and “getting the balance right”. But the rhetorical shift was unmistakable: if we had allowed the creation of some kind of digital wild west, it must end.</p>
<h2>Tech companies demand regulation – but why?</h2>
<p>One moment might sum up the dawn of this new era. On May 16, Sam Altman – chief executive of OpenAI, the company responsible for ChatGPT – declared in the US Congress, “regulation of AI is essential”.</p>
<p>On its face, this seems like a stunning transformation. Less than a decade ago, Facebook’s motto was “move fast and break things”. When its founder, Mark Zuckerberg, uttered those words he spoke for a generation of Silicon Valley tech bros who saw the law as a handbrake on innovation.</p>
<p>Reform is urgent, and so we need to seize this moment. But first we should ask why the tech world has suddenly become enamoured with regulation.</p>
<p>One explanation is tech leaders can see that, without more effective regulation, the threats associated with AI could overshadow its positive potential.</p>
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<p>We have recently had tragic reminders of the value of regulation. Think of OceanGate, the company behind the Titanic-seeking submersible that disintegrated earlier this year, killing everyone on board. OceanGate <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/titanic-expedition-company-ignored-calls-to-certify-submersible-amid-safety-fears-20230622-p5digy.html">avoided</a> safety certification because “bringing an outside entity up to speed on every innovation before it is put into real-world testing is anathema to rapid innovation”.</p>
<p>Maybe there has been a genuine change of heart: tech companies certainly know their products can harm as well as help. But something else is also at play. When tech companies call for governments to make laws for AI, there is an unstated premise: currently, there are no laws that apply to AI.</p>
<p>But this is plain wrong.</p>
<h2>Existing laws already apply to AI</h2>
<p>Our current laws make clear that no matter what form of technology is used, you cannot engage in deceptive or negligent behaviour.</p>
<p>Say you advise people on choosing the best health insurance policy, for example. It doesn’t matter whether you base your advice on an abacus or the most sophisticated form of AI, it’s equally unlawful to take secret commissions or provide negligent advice. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/calls-to-regulate-ai-are-growing-louder-but-how-exactly-do-you-regulate-a-technology-like-this-203050">Calls to regulate AI are growing louder. But how exactly do you regulate a technology like this?</a>
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<p>A significant part of the problem in the AI era is not the content of our law, but the fact it is not consistently enforced when it comes to the development and use of AI. This means regulators, courts, lawyers and the community sector need to up their game to ensure human rights and consumer protections are being enforced effectively for AI.</p>
<p>This will be a big job. In <a href="https://www.uts.edu.au/human-technology-institute/news/hti-submission-disr-discussion-paper">our submission</a> to the government’s AI review, we at the University of Technology Sydney Human Technology Institute call for the creation of an AI Commissioner – an independent expert advisor to government and the private sector. This body would cut through the hype and white noise, and give clear advice to regulators and to businesses on how to use AI within the letter and spirit of the law.</p>
<h2>Australia needs to catch up with the world</h2>
<p>Australia has experienced a period of extreme policy lethargy on the AI front. While the European Union, North America and several countries in Asia (including China) have been creating legal guardrails, Australia has been slow to act.</p>
<p>In this context, the review of regulation for AI is crucial. We shouldn’t mindlessly copy other jurisdictions, but our law should ensure parity of protection for Australians. </p>
<p>This means the Australian parliament should adopt a legal framework that is suitable for our political and legal system. If this means departing from the <a href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A52021PC0206">EU draft AI Act</a>, all well and good, but our law must protect Australians from the risks of AI at least as effectively as people are protected in Europe.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/eu-approves-draft-law-to-regulate-ai-heres-how-it-will-work-205672">EU approves draft law to regulate AI – here's how it will work</a>
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<p>Personal information is the fuel for AI, so the starting point should be to update our privacy law. The Attorney-General’s Department has published <a href="https://www.ag.gov.au/rights-and-protections/publications/privacy-act-review-report">a review</a> that would modernise our privacy law, but we are yet to see any commitment for change.</p>
<p>Reform is particularly urgent for high-risk uses of AI, such as facial recognition technology. A series of <a href="https://www.choice.com.au/consumers-and-data/data-collection-and-use/how-your-data-is-used/articles/facial-recognition-in-stadiums">investigations by CHOICE</a> has shown companies are increasingly using this tech in shopping centres, sports stadiums and in the workplace – without proper protection against unfairness or mass surveillance. </p>
<p>There are <a href="https://www.uts.edu.au/human-technology-institute/projects/facial-recognition-technology-towards-model-law">clear reform solutions</a> that enable safe use of facial recognition, but we need political leadership.</p>
<h2>Government needs to get AI right</h2>
<p>Government must also set a good example. The Robodebt Royal Commission showed in harrowing detail how the federal government’s automated system of recovering debts in the welfare system went horribly wrong, with enormous and widespread harm to the community.</p>
<p>The lesson from this experience isn’t that we should throw out all the computers. But it does show we need clear, strong guardrails that ensure government leads the way in using AI safely and responsibly.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211369/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Reform for artificial intelligence is urgent. If we cut through the hype and self-interest, Australian law can promote responsible and safe AI.Edward Santow, Professor & Co-Director, Human Technology Institute, University of Technology SydneyNicholas Davis, Industry Professor of Emerging Technology and Co-Director, Human Technology Institute, University of Technology SydneySophie Farthing, Head, Policy Lab, Human Technology Institute, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2084762023-08-09T14:31:07Z2023-08-09T14:31:07ZA ‘shadow economy’ of firms like hand car washes and nail salons is exploiting workers – and regulations are making things worse<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541785/original/file-20230808-25-2tqj1z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=28%2C28%2C3837%2C2556&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">elly johnson/unsplash</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Almost a million UK workers do not receive holiday pay and the UK continues to lag behind most European countries in <a href="https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/app/uploads/2023/04/Enforce-for-good.pdf">tackling the exploitation of these workers</a>.</p>
<p>Our research indicates this is because the UK’s regulatory framework for businesses is too permissive. Its complexity also gives certain types of business cover to flout the rules. And regulators just don’t have the resources to monitor these businesses properly and force them to abide by the rules. </p>
<p>The regulatory framework for UK businesses needs to be redesigned to suit the current economic environment of restricted resources for investigating and punishing businesses for unlawful activities.</p>
<p>The permissiveness of the current rulebook is clear among business types such as hand car washes, nail bars, food delivery, construction and those operating within the gig economy. Businesses in these sectors often exist in a “<a href="https://pr.euractiv.com/pr/shadow-economy-contributes-over-10-uk-gdp-155969">shadow economy</a>” , providing legal goods or services but operating out of sight of regulators. </p>
<p><a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0268580919836666">Research</a> demonstrates that, across the UK economy, <a href="https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/measuring-the-global-shadow-economy-9781784717988.html">2 million people</a>, or roughly 9% of the employed private sector working population, work in the shadow economy. Their employers often openly display non-compliance with the minimum wage, health and safety regulations, paid holiday requirements and broader employment standards for worker welfare. </p>
<p><a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1143364/uk-labour-market-enforcement-strategy-2022-2023.pdf">Successive</a> labour market <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/labour-market-enforcement-strategy-2021-to-2022">enforcement strategy documents</a> highlight business types such as hand car washes and nail bars as some of the most common to break these rules. These reports say enforcement agencies must act decisively because such problems are more or less universal.</p>
<p>For hand car washes, for example, regulatory complexity enables non-compliance because regulators are too stretched to police them properly. Businesses in this sector are more likely to copy each other. This creates an alternative regulatory environment where unlawful activity occurs in plain sight – on the side of the road or on our high streets.</p>
<h2>Investigating problematic businesses</h2>
<p>The Home Office’s Modern Slavery Prevention Fund <a href="https://bit.ly/WIPRCWSreportHOMSPF">recently supported our team</a> at the Work, Informalisation and Place Research Centre and the Responsible Car Wash Scheme in mapping, classifying and investigating the most visibly problematic businesses across the three local authority areas of Leicester, Norfolk and Suffolk. </p>
<p>We shared the 12 “riskiest” businesses with local agencies including police, local authority staff and voluntary and community partners. These companies were identified by our research as most likely to flout rules and regulations. We visited and assessed these firms against the <a href="http://www.rcws.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Code-of-Practice-version-for-print-and-distribution.pdf">Responsible Car Wash Scheme Code of Practice</a>. </p>
<p>The businesses were told the team would return for another assessment and were given a period of time to improve their practice. This was to allow owners to locate key documents such as insurance papers, trade effluent consents and employment contracts before our second visit. </p>
<p>But our team <a href="https://www.ntu.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0037/1876780/HOMSPF-Report-RCWS-WIP_NTU-Final-Report.pdf">recorded a significant level</a> of unlawful practice overall. There were also little, if any, attempts by these business owners to become compliant after our first visit. This mirrors our <a href="https://www.ntu.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0034/1782295/WIP_GLAA_RCWS-Report-CAN-HAND-CAR-WASHES-BE-IMPROVED.pdf">previous work on voluntary licensing</a> of hand car washes in Slough, Luton, Hillingdon and Watford.</p>
<p>In a second part of our Home Office funded work, we ran workshops to discuss these problems. We included key enforcement agencies and local partners such as trading standards, fire and rescue services, the UK National Crime Agency, and voluntary and community organisations. When we talked to them about the challenges of working with businesses, they often blamed non-compliance on the UK’s complicated regulatory environment. </p>
<p>A lack of legal recourse to easily compel businesses to operate lawfully was also seen as a key factor. When businesses are caught breaking the rules, they can often “phoenix”, relaunching with a new legal owner. This further restricts regulators from properly censuring these companies.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Back of man scratching head in front of white wall with " src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536061/original/file-20230706-20-8zbmnd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=179%2C67%2C7283%2C4540&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536061/original/file-20230706-20-8zbmnd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536061/original/file-20230706-20-8zbmnd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536061/original/file-20230706-20-8zbmnd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536061/original/file-20230706-20-8zbmnd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536061/original/file-20230706-20-8zbmnd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536061/original/file-20230706-20-8zbmnd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Trying to decipher complex regulations.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/businessman-looking-connection-between-two-things-1348095338">ra2 studio/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Building a better enforcement strategy</h2>
<p>The current government has been unable to address this issue. But the opposition may struggle to do much better without focused engagement. Our paper on <a href="https://academic.oup.com/cje/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/cje/bead007/7099480?utm_source=advanceaccess&utm_campaign=cje&utm_medium=email">the fragmentation of labour market enforcement in the UK</a> coincided with an event to mark the release of a report called <a href="https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/enforce-for-good/">Enforce for Good</a> by the Resolution Foundation. The keynote speaker <a href="https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/playing-by-the-rules/">at the event</a>, Labour party deputy leader Angela Rayner, outlined how an incoming Labour government would make labour market regulation less complicated and more effective.</p>
<p>Rayner talked about introducing a single enforcement body for labour market regulation in the party’s first 100 days of parliament, if it wins the next election. This is something <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/good-work-plan-establishing-a-new-single-enforcement-body-for-employment-rights">the current government</a> has also explored but not enacted.</p>
<p>A single enforcement body could help resolve some of the problems around non-compliance on workers rights in the shadow economy. But its power relations and status with other important organisations such as HMRC needs to be clarified from the outset. Guidelines for joint operations would be needed early on to ensure efficient collective action.</p>
<p>This attention to enforcement is a positive first step. But more systemic change is needed to tackle all forms of unlawful practice. Even then, some sectors such as hand car washes will require a more specific approach. </p>
<p>Our research indicates that the complex and fragmented nature of regulation and enforcement of businesses must end. This should form a cornerstone of any policy development by current and future governments.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208476/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rich Pickford has received funding from the AHRC, Home Office and the National Crime Agency in relation to work in this article. He runs Nottingham Civic Exchange a think tank based at Nottingham Trent University. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian Clark receives funding from The Art's and Humanities Research Council and the National Crime Agency in relation to the research in this article. Ian has also received funding from the Economic and Social Research Council and the Director of Labour Market Enforcement at the Department of Business and Trade. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alan Collins does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Enforcement of labour market regulation among small businesses such as hand car washes and nail salons is too complicated.Rich Pickford, Manager of Nottingham Civic Exchange, Nottingham Trent UniversityAlan Collins, Professor of Economics and Public Policy, Nottingham Trent UniversityIan Clark, Professor in Work and Employment, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2106052023-08-02T15:55:55Z2023-08-02T15:55:55ZThe British Miracle Meat: how banning repugnant choices obscures the real issue of poverty<p>A provocative Channel 4 satirical programme, <a href="https://www.channel4.com/programmes/gregg-wallace-the-british-miracle-meat">The British Miracle Meat</a>, has led to <a href="https://www.itv.com/news/2023-07-26/under-500-ofcom-complaints-for-gregg-wallaces-human-meat-mockumentary">hundreds of complaints</a> to media regulator Ofcom. The mockumentary depicts ordinary Britons facing the cost of living crisis selling thin slices of their tissue to an innovative factory that uses it to grow lab meat.</p>
<p>The show was inspired by Jonathan Swift’s satire <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1080/1080-h/1080-h.htm">A Modest Proposal</a> (1726), in which the author of Gulliver’s Travels suggests poor Irish people sell their children for food. The Channel 4 show’s creators wanted to <a href="https://metro.co.uk/2023/07/24/gregg-wallace-disgusts-viewers-with-human-meat-documentary-19185123/#:%7E:text=A%20Channel%204%20spokesperson">make viewers think</a> about the effects of the cost of living crisis, <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/tv/23184431/gregg-wallace-human-meat-programme/">as well as the future of food</a>.</p>
<p>Viewers were left baffled, however, seeing the show as <a href="https://www.itv.com/news/2023-07-26/under-500-ofcom-complaints-for-gregg-wallaces-human-meat-mockumentary">promoting cannibalism</a>. In the UK, it is illegal to sell <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2004/30">human organs and other tissues</a>. But in economics, we teach our students the theory of “<a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.21.3.37">repugnant markets</a>” – those in which disgust or distaste lead governments to ban certain transactions rather than tackling the underlying economic reasons for them.</p>
<p>If an individual chooses to do something extreme to make money, they must consider the alternative of living in poverty even worse. So why do we find the former less acceptable than the latter? Repugnant markets are typically forbidden by law and research by Nobel Prize winning economist <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2012/roth/facts/">Alvin Roth</a> shows it is because people tend to be more keen to make some voluntary transactions illegal than to think about the causes of these transactions, whether that’s poverty or discrimation.</p>
<h2>Repugnant markets</h2>
<p>Perhaps the most famous real-life example of a repugnant market is the French case of “dwarf-tossing” bans. <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/09/27/dwarf.throwing/index.html">In 1995</a>, Manuel Wackenheim, a French performer who measures 1.14 metres, was banned by local authorities from selling his services to bars and discotheques – he would allow customers to compete to throw him as far as they could. </p>
<p>There were no concerns about his safety – Wackenheim was using helmets and padded clothing. Rather, the French <a href="https://www.conseil-etat.fr/decisions-de-justice/jurisprudence/les-grandes-decisions-depuis-1873/conseil-d-etat-27-octobre-1995-commune-de-morsang-sur-orge-et-ville-d-aix-en-provence">Conseil d'État</a> and the United Nations Human Rights Committee <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2285348.stm">rejected his appeal</a> of the ban because they felt that allowing someone to let others toss him in exchange for money was “contrary to human dignity”. </p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.liberation.fr/societe/2014/01/30/manuel-wackenheim-cloue-au-sol_976662/">2014 interview</a> with French newspaper Liberation, Wackenheim – unemployed and living with his mother after losing the appeal – complained that no one cared about the fact that he suffered from discrimination and was rejected from every job he applied to. People only tried to protect him when he had finally found a way to pay his bills.</p>
<p>Underneath the initial shock about certain transactions, what people find repugnant in some markets seems to be what they reveal about poverty and the choices it forces people to make. For example, <a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.p20151034">a study shows</a> that encouraging people to participate in clinical trials is perceived as less ethical when the subjects are paid, and even less acceptable when poor people are offered a lot of money to join. </p>
<p>The logic seems to be that payments are only acceptable if they do not influence the choice to join the trial. But poverty forces people into dire situations all the time and little is done to help. For financial reasons, many people have to live somewhere with lower air quality, for example, which may <a href="https://www.oecd.org/env/tools-evaluation/thecostofairpollution.htm">cause health risks</a>.</p>
<p>There is also little done to counteract the pressure on poorer people to feed their children badly. For example, 13.5% of 10-11 year-olds <a href="https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN03336/SN03336.pdf">living in the least deprived areas</a> of the UK are obese, compared with 31.3% in the most deprived areas. This is a massive source of inequality, in terms of health and life expectancy, but also for future labour market outcomes – <a href="https://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/jel.20161309">obese people tend to face wage discrimination</a>. </p>
<p>Arguably, these choices made under the constraint of poverty are just as detrimental to health as <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6450354/">selling a kidney</a>. But because they do not involve money directly changing hands, many people aren’t as immediately driven to call for action from the government.</p>
<h2>The price of everything</h2>
<p>The same could be said for markets for pollution and environmental taxes, which put an explicit price on the right to pollute. This is another example of a “repugnant” market because it’s <a href="https://www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/WP49_carbon-trading-caney-hepburn.pdf">often perceived as unethical and unjust</a> to allow rich people to simply pay to be able to do things that cause pollution. </p>
<p>The standard economic approach to fighting climate change is to put a price on carbon that corresponds to its <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0095069617307131">social cost</a>. Governments, businesses and individuals must then pay for the cost their pollution imposes on society. But the <a href="https://ember-climate.org/data/data-tools/carbon-price-viewer/">current price of carbon</a> in the EU (around £80 per tonne of CO²) and <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/dfa3b6dc-e00c-4d9a-b155-a419845a39e4">in the UK</a> (around £45/t) only applies to a small subset of industries.</p>
<p>One reason is that paying for the right to pollute is often seen as a repugnant transaction. <a href="https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn00523/">Taxing aviation</a> for instance, would make flying much more expensive. This could mean poor people fly less or even completely stop. Yet, the wealthiest people would still be able to use their private jets, as long as they pay very high taxes for their journeys. The repugnant market here would allow people to pay for the right to pollute.</p>
<p>Of course, it could encourage calls for a <a href="https://www.greenpeace.org/international/act/ban-private-jets/">ban</a> on private jets. But once again, this would obscure the real problem – poverty – while the very wealthy could continue to spend their money on other <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/e72cf7c8-cfbe-47df-9d79-27edbda74c37">highly polluting modes of transport such as superyachts</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A plane flying with a city skyline surrounded by clouds in the distance." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540722/original/file-20230802-22-b12as9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540722/original/file-20230802-22-b12as9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540722/original/file-20230802-22-b12as9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540722/original/file-20230802-22-b12as9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540722/original/file-20230802-22-b12as9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540722/original/file-20230802-22-b12as9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540722/original/file-20230802-22-b12as9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A private jet flying above Dubai.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/private-jet-plane-flying-above-dubai-1164679735">Jag_cz/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It is possible to tax pollution and to <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-021-01217-0">use the proceeds to redistribute</a> from rich to poor. In a world where tax evasion and avoidance means <a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.20172043">the super wealthy contribute very little</a>, taxing carbon in this way could actually be a major source of government revenue and reduce inequality. In contrast, banning private jets may just displace pollution to other activities and deprive the government of much-needed revenue.</p>
<p>The economic case to allow poor people to sell their flesh for meat is the same as the one for letting rich people use their private jets. You probably don’t want to live in a society where some of us are so desperate for money that they are willing to sell part of their body. Similarly, you may not want to live in a society where fighting climate change means a share of the population can never go abroad while others travel the world in single occupancy planes. </p>
<p>If you find these transactions unacceptable, what you may actually dislike is the economic inequality that makes them possible, and that’s the problem the government should be doing more to solve.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210605/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Renaud Foucart does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Repugnance for certain activities tends to dictate government rules for markets but this can obscure real problems like poverty.Renaud Foucart, Senior Lecturer in Economics, Lancaster University Management School, Lancaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2063822023-08-02T12:31:43Z2023-08-02T12:31:43ZEver-larger cars and trucks are causing a safety crisis on US streets – here’s how communities can fight back<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540254/original/file-20230731-20-oaaqhv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=33%2C0%2C5501%2C3684&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Retractable bollards can be used to signal priority areas on streets for smaller vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/automatic-cylindrical-barriers-on-the-pedestrian-royalty-free-image/1185641332">Eugene Nekrasov/Getty images Plus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Deadly traffic incidents have <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/27/upshot/road-deaths-pedestrians-cyclists.html">declined in most developed countries</a> in recent years. But in the U.S. they’re becoming more common. Deaths in motor vehicle crashes <a href="https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/motor-vehicle/historical-fatality-trends/deaths-and-rates/#">rose more than 33%</a> from 2011 to 2021. Since 2010, pedestrian deaths nationwide <a href="https://www.ghsa.org/sites/default/files/2023-06/GHSA%20-%20Pedestrian%20Traffic%20Fatalities%20by%20State%2C%202022%20Preliminary%20Data%20%28January-December%29.pdf">have climbed a shocking 77%</a>, compared with a 25% increase in all other types of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15389588.2020.1829917">traffic fatalities</a>.</p>
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<p>Light trucks injure pedestrians <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0001-4575(03)00007-1">more severely than passenger cars in crashes</a>, and the size of <a href="https://www.carsized.com/en/">cars</a> and trucks sold in the U.S. <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2019/12/27/suvs-gm-ford-toyota-chevrolet/4408728002/">continues to swell</a>. Some current models, such as the Toyota Rav4, are one-third larger than they were 15 years ago. </p>
<p>Based on my experience researching <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=lfb0Tu4AAAAJ&hl=en">urban planning and street design</a> for the past three decades, I know that U.S. cities are primarily vehicle-centered rather than human-centered. Rules established in the 1920s govern how people use vehicles in public streets, and other governmental controls tell manufacturers how big those vehicles can be. </p>
<p>Today, these sets of rules have created public spaces where it is <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-us-cities-are-becoming-more-dangerous-for-cyclists-and-pedestrians-111713">safer to be inside a vehicle than outside</a>.</p>
<p>The U.S. has not moved as quickly as other countries to prioritize the safety of people outside of cars, especially as cars have grown larger and heavier. As a consequence, Americans are paying the price in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0361198120933636">lives lost</a>, skyrocketing public health costs and reduced mobility.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Large SUVs and trucks increase the risk of ‘frontover’ accidents, in which drivers strike someone in the vehicle’s large front blind zone.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Larger, heavier and deadlier</h2>
<p>Data clearly shows that <a href="https://www.bts.gov/content/new-and-used-passenger-car-sales-and-leases-thousands-vehicles">since 2008</a>, cars and trucks sold in the U.S. have been continually <a href="https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2022-12/420s22001.pdf">getting bigger</a>. The Department of Transportation’s corporate average fuel economy standards have constrained overall gasoline consumption but have also <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/cafe-loophole-could-lead-to-bigger-cars/2011/12/14/gIQA3bGLuO_blog.html">led to an increase in vehicle size</a>. </p>
<p>That’s because these standards have two sets of rules: one for cars and a looser set for light trucks. As a result, automakers have built more sport utility vehicles and light trucks, as well as cars designed to meet light truck standards, like the Subaru Outback. For almost a decade, they have increasingly moved away from producing small cars and sedans. </p>
<p>Modern auto showrooms are dominated by sport utility vehicles, minivans and pickup trucks. According to 2022 data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, three-quarters of new vehicles produced in the U.S. <a href="https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2022-12/420s22001.pdf">are light trucks</a>. </p>
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<p>Those large vehicles create severe safety hazards on neighborhood city streets for children or adults who might be walking or cycling. Because these vehicles are taller, they are more likely to strike people at higher points and produce <a href="https://www.iihs.org/news/detail/higher-point-of-impact-makes-suv-crashes-more-dangerous-for-cyclists">head or neck injuries</a> rather than leg injuries. Their larger frames worsen visibility for drivers, <a href="https://www.iihs.org/news/detail/suvs-other-large-vehicles-often-hit-pedestrians-while-turning">especially when a vehicle is turning</a>. </p>
<p>As a result, <a href="https://www.nsc.org/getmedia/6375cae2-00ca-4a6c-a205-b98a2ad6a8fd/future-mobility-full-report.pdf">transport agencies</a>, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/11/deadly-myth-human-error-causes-most-car-crashes/620808/">journalists</a> and public safety advocates are increasingly identifying <a href="https://www.iihs.org/topics/bibliography/ref/2249">large vehicles</a> as a significant <a href="https://data.bikeleague.org/new-nhtsa-data-vehicle-data-shows-popular-pickup-trucks-are-most-common-vehicles-in-pedestrian-and-bicyclist-deaths/">impediment</a> to creating communities with <a href="https://www.iihs.org/news/detail/suvs-other-large-vehicles-often-hit-pedestrians-while-turning">safer streets</a>. </p>
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<h2>A slow federal response</h2>
<p>Until now, the U.S. has not enacted regulations that require car manufacturers to <a href="https://www.governing.com/now/can-american-cars-be-made-safer-for-pedestrians">consider the safety of anyone outside of cars</a>. Now, however, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is proposing to add information to its crash test ratings measuring how well cars <a href="https://www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases/nhtsa-proposes-new-crashworthiness-pedestrian-protection-testing-program">protect pedestrians in crashes</a>. For example, bumpers and hoods could be redesigned to bend more easily and absorb more energy if a vehicle strikes a person.</p>
<p>But as currently proposed, pedestrian safety would not be factored into the overall five-star safety rating. A vehicle could receive a failing grade for protecting pedestrians yet still earn a five-star safety rating overall. </p>
<p>People deserve to safely travel on public streets and in parking lots. In my view, the quickest and most effective way to tackle car bloat is to transform social expectations for the shape and size of vehicles. Several European cities show how this kind of shift can happen.</p>
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<h2>A time for local action</h2>
<p>Amsterdam and Copenhagen are widely viewed as models for using public space in ways that prioritize people – but they weren’t always that way. Starting in the 1970s, grassroots movements in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/may/05/amsterdam-bicycle-capital-world-transport-cycling-kindermoord">both</a> <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-04-25/why-the-streets-of-copenhagen-and-amsterdam-look-so-different-from-ours">cities</a> pressed officials to reduce the dominance of cars and make streets safer for the public. These movements initially were slow to catch on but <a href="https://theconversation.com/return-of-the-child-friendly-city-how-social-movements-are-changing-european-urban-areas-203343">gained support</a> over time.</p>
<p>Today, similar initiatives are moving forward in cities across <a href="https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/us-traffic-fatalities-rising-what-would-it-take-save-lives">France</a> and Germany. Even traditionally car-centric European cities, such as Brussels and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/20/how-a-belgian-port-city-inspired-birminghams-car-free-ambitions">Ghent</a>, are increasingly adopting human-focused policies by designating where cars, especially large cars, can and cannot travel. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://www.dutchnews.nl/2015/04/dutch-university-appoints-american-as-its-professor-of-cycling/">visiting professor in the Netherlands</a>, a Fulbright scholar to Italy and a lecturer across Germany and Poland, I have seen the benefits of these initiatives close at hand. I’ve also learned that it will require public action to create support for such changes in the U.S. </p>
<p>The goal is to modify the design of neighborhood streets and parking areas in ways that prioritize pedestrians, bicycles and new forms of personal transport like <a href="https://nimbusev.com/">microcars</a>. Federal survey data shows that nearly half of trips that Americans drive are <a href="https://nhts.ornl.gov/vehicle-trips">shorter than four miles</a> (6.5 kilometers). Ideally, people can be discouraged from using large passenger vehicles for most of this type of travel. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pcVGqtmd2wM?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The 38,000 residents of Peachtree City, Ga., can drive registered golf carts on an alternative network of car-free paths around their community.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What communities can do</h2>
<p>Streets and roads are local public spaces. Therefore, local officials and citizens have important roles to play in mitigating escalating car size in their community. </p>
<p>Some policymakers are proposing to rein in large vehicles through tax policies, such as <a href="https://www.curbed.com/2023/06/new-york-suv-trucks-weight-based-fee.html">weight-based registration fees</a>. But measures like this won’t avert the emerging safety crisis in the near term. Rather, I believe this kind of broad cultural shift requires collective action, starting at the local level with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trip.2020.100199">street design reform</a>. </p>
<p>In my view, communities seeking to discourage the predominance of oversize vehicles and encourage use of smaller, lighter and slower vehicles could consider taking such steps as:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Creating prioritized parking spaces closer to stores for all forms of mobility that are narrow or <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-17/how-cities-could-push-back-on-pickups-and-suvs?sref=Hjm5biAW">less than 8 feet (2.5 meters) long</a>. </p></li>
<li><p>Using <a href="https://www.sociallifeproject.org/the-little-bollard-that-could-do-a-lot/">posts or bollards</a>, which can be removable, to limit vehicle access to commercial areas and neighborhoods where pedestrians, bikes and smaller cars get priority. </p></li>
<li><p>Radically <a href="https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2015/10/12/nine-foot-travel-lanes-in-practice">narrowing travel lanes on streets</a> to force traffic to slow down and free up space for wider sidewalks and bike lanes. </p></li>
<li><p>Limiting or ending vehicle access to <a href="https://momentummag.com/school-streets-programs/">streets near schools</a> and economically vibrant commercial districts, either permanently or at high-use times of day. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>How would such steps make people safer? Ask communities around Boston, which have cut several accident-prone <a href="https://www.memorialdrivealliance.org/faq">four-lane roads down to two lanes each</a>, reducing traffic speeds <a href="https://safercircleblvd.files.wordpress.com/2019/10/2017-12-29-evaluation-of-road-diets-in-massachusetts-in-2017-002.pdf">and crashes</a> and creating more green space. Or those in the Atlanta suburb of Peachtree City, which has used parking lots and street space to augment a network of more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) of paved paths for <a href="https://peachtree-city.org/216/Paths-Golf-Carts">walkers, bikers and registered golf carts</a>. </p>
<p>Repurposing space in streets and parking areas requires city governments and residents to emphasize the public right of way and view street space as a place to devise solutions. There is ample evidence that doing so will make U.S. communities safer.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206382/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kevin J. Krizek does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Cars are getting bigger on US roads, and that’s increasing pedestrian and cyclist deaths. A transport scholar identifies community-level strategies for making streets safer.Kevin J. Krizek, Professor of Environmental Design, University of Colorado BoulderLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.