Consumer

"The plastic shopping bag has long been hunted by state and local policymakers pushing for its extinction. But still it thrives, thanks to the deep-pocketed chemical industry that birthed it and the political influence of retailers and restaurants. Only eight states ban single-use plastic bags. Nearly twice as many have laws protecting them."

"Priscilla Graves is a hairstylist with 15 years’ experience straightening and coloring black women’s hair. She has endured bouts of dizziness, nausea and difficulty breathing from applying potent chemical straighteners, and regularly deals with distraught clients suffering alopecia and painful blisters after using dyes and lotions specifically marketed to African Americans."

"California has its eye on “forever chemicals,” and is taking a closer look at safer alternatives in common consumer products, including stain-resistant coatings for boots and food packaging items."

"Sustainability in fashion is a hot button topic, with retailers large and small racing to prove their green credentials, but the desire for new attire churns and the industry remains one of the world’s largest polluters as climate activists and watchdogs sound alarms."

"A retail ban on the sale of methylene chloride paint strippers takes effect Nov. 23, the EPA announced."

"Ford Motor’s latest offering seems like an oxymoron twice over: It’s a sport utility vehicle that’s electric … that’s a Mustang. It’s also Detroit’s biggest bet yet on a mass-market future for battery-powered cars."

"America’s government-backed national recycling awareness day is being used as cover by large corporations that are churning out enormous volumes of plastic that end up strewn across landscapes, rivers and in the ocean, critics have said."

"After two crazy months, we're done. The reporters of E&E News have completed the Electric Road Trip, an 8,000-mile journey in an electric car and an investigation into how electric transportation will change America. What did we learn?"