For merchants, accepting credit cards comes with a sense of mystery — they never know what swipe fees they will have to pay for processing that transaction. The Merchants Payments Coalition (MPC) has unveiled a new document that shows how MasterCard and Visa have worked with big banks on price-fixing those fees. Even though banks…
DetailsThe American Petroleum Institute (API) and other groups have appealed a D.C. Circuit Court decision rejecting a challenge to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) grant of partial waivers for use of the ethanol-gasoline blend, E15. “We’ve filed this petition because the D.C. Circuit incorrectly concluded that none of the 17 petitioners had standing to…
DetailsThe U.S. State Department released a draft supplemental environmental impact (SEIS) assessment of the Keystone XL pipeline last week, suggesting that the project will not have a huge impact on the environment, reports the Washington Post. From the report: “Based on information and analysis about the North American crude transport infrastructure (particularly the proven ability…
DetailsOn Feb. 22, 2013, NATO filed a supplemental set of comments asking the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products to review the recently approved Potential Tobacco Product Violation Report form and to consider making several changes to the form. FDA earlier received approval from the Office of Management and Budget to begin using a Potential Tobacco…
DetailsMillions of Americans continued to struggle to afford enough food in 2012, according to new food hardship data from the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC). More than one in six Americans (18.2 percent) said there had been times over the past 12 months that they didn’t have enough money to buy food that they…
DetailsAn anti-smoking group is reigniting its pressure on the FDA to study the safety, ingredients, and potential health impacts on consumers of electronic cigarettes. The Hill reports that the request from the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network comes after the release of a CDC study that found one in five U.S. adult cigarette smokers…
DetailsPrivate employers with 50 or more employees must display the updated Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) posting by March 8th, 2013. The poster, Employee Rights and Responsibilities Under the Family and Medical Leave Act, is available HERE. Just print and post. If you are a private employer with less than 50 employees, you are not…
DetailsSome health advocates are targeting sugar as the next bad thing to eradicate from our diet, Advertising Age reports. Big campaigns are coming that could make sugar public enemy number one. Industry experts point to new federal dietary guidelines due in 2015 that will likely contain lower estimates for sugar consumption. Anti-sugar advocates also want…
DetailsA sharp increase in ethanol-credit prices in the past few months has made the cost of complying with a federal mandate to use corn ethanol much more expensive, the Wall Street Journal reports. The price of each mandated credit passed $1 last week, up from just a few cents last year. The new expenses “will…
DetailsThe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released an annual report that tracks the fuel economy of vehicles sold in the United States, underscoring major increases made in vehicle efficiency, reducing oil consumption, and cutting carbon emissions. According to the report, EPA estimates that between 2007 and 2012 fuel economy values increased by 16%, while…
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