Top 10 worst environmental stories of 2010

The Environmental Working Group polled its staff and came up with the environmental happenings they thought had the worst impact last year. Here are the results:

1. BP's Gulf oil spill was the top environmental disaster of 2010, with slow response, use of dispersants, and secrecy about what's in the dispersants.

2. Congress failed to ban Bisphenol A, an endocrine-disrupting chemical, in baby bottles and children's sippy cups.

3. Brazilian Blowout, a hair-straightening product, is shown to have high levels of toxic formaldehyde despite the company's insistence that it's "formaldehyde free."

4. The climate change bill dies in the U.S. Senate, due to vocal and persuasive arguments by climate change skeptics and protectors of the energy status quo.

5. Chromium-6, a carcinogen, was found in tap water samples in 31 of 35 cities tested by the Environmental Working Group.

6. California's "Green Chemistry" rule is gutted, when regulators announced weak rules for carrying out the state's pioneering law designed to reduce the use of toxic substances in consumer products and shift toward safer alternatives.

7. Texas, Ohio, and other states approved the use of hydraulic fracturing to extract natural gas from deep rock formations beneath school property, because they were tempted by the revenue they could gain by leasing mineral rights to drilling companies.

8. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration hasn’t adopted sunscreen rules that would ensure that sunscreens are safe, effective, and don't make exaggerated claims, despite the fact that the agency has been working on the rules for 32 years.

9. Congress failed to revise the Toxic Substances Control Act, the 1976 environmental law that is inadequate and has never been updated.

10. Congress reauthorized the tax credit that pays gas refiners 45 cents a gallon to blend corn ethanol into gasoline and the excise tax that blocks imports of cheaper Brazilian ethanol made from cane sugar.

See the Environmental Working Group’s article for more information on these environmental disasters.

Let’s hope that 2011 is a better year for the environment and consumers.