Consumer

"Here's how the fabric went from a "miracle" fiber to TikTok slang for fake."

"Even if you’re not wearing polyester now, it’s probably sitting somewhere in your closet — after all, it is the most ubiquitous fabric for textiles on Earth. Is that bad? 

Judging by social media, the answer is solidly “yes.” Influencers want you to know it’s a form of plastic, fashioned from melted crude oil or PET bottles and extruded into threads. That disgust factor (“ugh, I’m wearing plastic?”) might help explain why “polyester” is now trending as an insult on TikTok.

"More than 1,000 chemicals that migrate from packaging into food pose serious health risks, a new study shows. But the vast majority of chemicals lack enough information to tell if they’re safe."

"The Trump administration relied on flawed logic to justify scrapping vehicle emissions standards this year, making errors in how it accounted for fuel savings, the price of technology and mileage, according to a new study by a group of economists.

Correcting those errors would negate the economic benefits that the administration said would come from eliminating greenhouse gas emission standards for cars and trucks, according to the paper published Thursday in the journal Science.

"The Trump administration has rolled out several programs intended to pacify consumers frustrated with high beef prices and ranchers angered by beef imports."

"The Trump administration’s highly unusual deal to develop Venezuela’s vast oil resources would have the U.S. government collaborate with an influential and polarizing Venezuelan businessman."

"The EPA still has unfinished business on a handful of major air rules, which environmentalists fear will endanger Americans’ health and worsen the climate crisis."
 

"The Trump administration announced an agreement with the Venezuelan government on Friday to develop a vast amount of Venezuela's oil reserves.

The U.S. government says it is entering into a joint venture with a private Venezuelan company, according to an official who spoke to NPR on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly about the deal. The Trump administration says the U.S. would get 55% of the oil from the joint venture. That's equivalent to about 65 billion barrels of oil that's under the ground.

"The Trump administration is working to cut global health funding to developing nations by tens of billions of dollars by 2030, according to a new analysis of the secretive agreements U.S. officials have pursued with more than a dozen governments to date."

"Amid a busy season of summer food recalls and illnesses, sustainable farming advocates are warning that salmonella bacteria found in poultry is increasing strains most likely to cause illness, hospitalization and death, and that such bacteria are also increasingly resistant to antibiotic medicine."

"The Trump administration on Friday moved to relax fuel efficiency standards for medium- and heavy-duty commercial trucks."