In a floor speech Monday, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, directly addressed Chief Justice John Roberts, urging him in a sharply partisan tone to keep the law, passed in 2010, in place.

“I trust that he will be a chief justice for all of us and that he has a strong institutional sense of the proper role of the judicial branch,” said Leahy. “The conservative activism of recent years has not been good for the court. Given the ideological challenge to the Affordable Care Act and the extensive, supportive precedent, it would be extraordinary for the Supreme Court not to defer to Congress in this matter that so clearly affects interstate commerce.”

Analysis: In secret, justices to decide on fate of law

It is unusual for a member of Congress to tell the high court how it should vote on a case during the weeks that the justices are crafting their opinion. Oral arguments were held in late March, and the court has been quietly working behind the scenes. An opinion is expected by late June. The Vermont Democrat attended the three-day oral arguments at the Supreme Court.

Leahy offered tepid praise for Robert’s leadership but was critical of the chief justice’s fellow conservative benchmates.

“I was struck by how little respect some of the justices showed to Congress, and of how dismissive they were of the months of work in hearings and committee actions and debate of amendments and motions and points of order on the Senate and House floors before the measure was enacted.”

Leahy was also tough on his GOP colleagues.

He pointed out that Republican opponents lost in Congress in 2008, saying that helped lead to passage of the ACA two years later with the strong backing of Obama.

“Now they want conservative activists on the Supreme Court to intervene and turn their policy disagreements into law by reading them into the Constitution. That is wrong.”

The chairman gave no direct indication whether he thought the law was in danger of being overturned by the court, which has 5-4 conservative majority.

The high court is certain to have no response to the statements of Leahy or any other lawmaker.

The court will next be heard on the health care law when a ruling is issued, the timing of which will not be announced in advance.

Release Date: 02/23/2012Contact Information: Rodriguez, 212-637-3664, rodriguez.elias@epa.gov; Brenda Reyes, 787-977-5869, reyes.brenda@epa.gov

(New York, N.Y.) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has reached a legal agreement with the Battery Recycling Company, Inc. requiring it to take multiple actions to reduce the spread of lead contamination from its Arecibo, Puerto Rico facility. As part of an ongoing investigation of the facility, the EPA identified violations of federal regulations governing the proper handling of hazardous materials. The agreement announced today requires the company to take immediate steps to address the environmental violations and prevent releases of lead and other pollutants from the site. The company will invest more than $3 million in facility upgrades and will undertake three environmental projects to benefit the community. The Battery Recycling Company has agreed, at this time, to pay a $112,500 penalty for alleged violations of the hazardous waste law. The EPA is working cooperatively with the Puerto Rico Environmental Quality Board on making improvements at the facility that will benefit the Arecibo community.

Lead is a toxic metal that can have serious, long-term health consequences for adults and children. Even at low levels, lead can cause I.Q. deficiencies, reading and learning disabilities, impaired hearing, reduced attention spans, hyperactivity and other behavioral problems in children.

“Lead is a dangerous toxin that can affect a child’s ability to learn. We need to do everything possible to protect the children of Arecibo from being exposed to lead. This agreement reached by the EPA and Arecibo Battery Recycling does just that. It will also help protect the health of the workers at the plant and all people living near the facility,” said Judith A. Enck, the EPA Regional Administrator.

The EPA inspections identified significant violations of federal air, water and hazardous waste regulations. The air and water violations were addressed in previous EPA orders issued to the company. The agreement announced today addresses the hazardous waste violations under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.

The Battery Recycling Company, Inc. is a lead smelter that recycles used motor vehicle batteries and produces approximately 60 tons of lead per day. Throughout 2010 and 2011, the EPA conducted a series of inspections of the facility to determine its compliance with federal laws and regulations. The facility was found to generate lead-contaminated dust during battery processing, lead smelting and refining operations, and the storage and handling of waste. Workers have also carried lead dust on their clothes and equipment into their cars and homes, putting their families and others at risk.

Under the agreement announced today, Battery Recycling will completely enclose the lead recycling processing areas and run all emissions through dust collection systems. The company will also finish building a new dust collection system to capture lead dust within the work area. Trucks and automobiles leaving the facility will be washed and inspected to reduce the spread of lead dust. Facility roads will be paved and pavements will be cleaned, in many cases, at least twice each day.

Battery Recycling has also agreed to fund the following local projects:

· Purchase of a vacuum sweeper vehicle to clean facility roadways of lead dust or other pollutants. It will improve the collection of dust and dirt and the proper disposal of the waste. The project is estimated to cost a minimum of $180,000.

· Purchase special equipment to compress dust from collection storage bins into pellets for easier handling. The project is estimated to cost a minimum of $150,000

· Provide assistance to local high schools in Puerto Rico to improve environmental education involving the safe handling and disposal of old chemicals. The project is estimated to cost a minimum of $150,000

The order announced today is the latest in a series of actions the EPA has taken to protect people’s health and the environment in Arecibo. Under previous agreements with the EPA, Battery Recycling improved existing employee changing areas, installed a decontamination station for vehicles entering and leaving facility processing areas, and trained employees to ensure that “clean” and “dirty” lockers and changing areas are kept separate and used in a way that minimizes contamination between the areas. Battery Recycling is now also required to follow a standard operating procedure manual for continuously monitoring compliance with previous orders.

To learn more about EPA’s efforts to reduce lead risks, visit: http://www.epa.gov/lead.

Follow EPA Region 2 on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/eparegion2 and visit our Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/eparegion2.

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As I lunch alfresco, right at the top of a loosely canopied area that could well be a small amphitheatre, enjoying an endive, walnut and pear salad, and some good coffee, I recall the most interesting experience of the past week, a wonderfully diverse dinner party on a closed balcony at a new friend’s home.

Sitting right at the centre of the large table, I found myself caught between different conversations taking place on either side of me, and often a third occurring diagonally, with the voice of the person on my left shooting across to the individuals seated on the opposite right. This is, of course, a natural phenomenon, but with no music, and surrounded by natter that was in fact quite interesting, even fascinating — comparing cultures and trying to outdo one another in peculiarity of rules and traditions — I was trying to engage in one discussion, when words from another would catch my attention, and I’d turn my head only to lose the thread of the discussion I was involved in, and then take a minute or two to get into the next one, if at all.

Dipping in and out, however, can be impractical and does not always work. But I confess that I can get easily distracted and can just as easily zone out of the present moment. At times, I was missing out on both or all three conversations occurring simultaneously. And when this happened, I did, in fact, take pleasure in accidentally being the observer, in not being a part of any discussion but watching facial expressions, laughter, boredom, things that are often so slight that they can be missed when one is fully engrossed in a conversation. Furthermore, sitting in the middle of a long table and not so intensely absorbed in the conversations around me, I could weave in and out and lose concentration without being noticed, a perfect solution for my (self-diagnosed and untreated) attention deficit disorder. This would have been far more favourable had the conversation at hand been less gripping.

About the food — well, there was plenty of it. Our hosts had googled vegetarian recipes and come up with a variety of dishes, from salads, hummus and other dips, home-made bread and soup to a tofu concoction and pasta. The fact that there were five children, all of different ages, made the dinner less formal — in fact, before I even entered the house, I had a go (somewhat feeble) at jumping on a pogo stick which one of their daughters was playing with outside — and a large party also meant that not taking a helping of the pasta or not finishing a specific dish went unnoticed (as did the odd yawn, of which there were many — I was, honestly, very tired).

Article continues below

Commitment is important — in fact, it’s essential — but it’s only the beginning. The key to successful dieting is bridging the gap between what you want to do and actually doing it. The desire is there; you just need a plan.

The scientifically proven tactics on these two pages will help you do just that. I say that with confidence — not only as a social psychologist who studies motivation, but also as someone who has benefited from these tricks firsthand.

Each one — especially #2 — helped me lose almost 50 pounds after my son was born three years ago.

Strategy #1: Be very specific

When we make goals that are vague, like “I want to lose weight,” we set ourselves up to fail.

Motivation happens when your brain detects a difference between where you are and where you want to be. When you are specific about your goal (I want to lose 10 pounds), that difference is clear, and your brain starts throwing resources (attention, memory, effort, willpower) at the problem.

A clear target looks something like this: “I want to weigh 135 pounds. I weigh 155 now, so that’s a difference of 20 pounds.”

Being specific gives you clarity because you’ve spelled out exactly what success looks like. That means more motivation — and better odds of success.

Health.com: “I did it!” Weight-loss success stories

Strategy #2: Create an OK-to-eat plan

Faced with unexpected temptations — the dessert menu, the catered work lunch — we end up eating things that sabotage our weight-loss goals. The best way to guarantee you make the right choices is to create an “if-then” plan:

“If the dessert menu arrives, I’ll order coffee.”

“If I am at a business lunch, I’ll have a salad.”

Studies suggest that coming up with safe-to-eat plans makes you two to three times more likely to reach your diet goals.

Health.com: Willpower secrets from the pros

Strategy #3: Track your success

To stay clear about that gap between where you want to go and where you are now, monitor your progress. Keep getting on that scale; mark the days you exercise on a calendar.

Another thing: When you think about the progress you’ve made, stay focused on how far you have to go, rather than how far you’ve come. If you want to drop 20 pounds, and you’ve lost 5 so far, keep your thoughts on the 15 that remain.

When we dwell too much on how much progress we’ve made, it’s easy to feel a premature sense of accomplishment and start to slack off.

Health.com: 25 ways to cut 500 calories a day

Strategy #4: Be a realistic optimist

As much as we want to believe otherwise, losing weight isn’t easy. It turns out that it’s important to accept this.

Believing you will succeed is key, but believing you will succeed easily (what I call “unrealistic optimism”) is a recipe for failure. Take it from the women, all obese, who enrolled in a weight-loss program in one study.

Those who thought they could lose weight easily lost 24 pounds less than those who knew it would be hard. The successful dieters put in more effort, planned in advance how to deal with problems, and persisted when it became difficult.

So don’t try to tamp down your worries — they can help prepare you for shape-up challenges.

Health.com: Best superfoods for weight loss

Strategy #5: Strengthen your willpower

The capacity for self-control is like a muscle: It varies in strength from person to person and moment to moment. Just as your biceps can feel like jelly after a workout, your willpower “muscle” gets tired when you overtax it.

To strengthen it, pick any activity that requires you to override an impulse (such as sitting up straight when your impulse is to slouch), and add that to your daily routine. And take baby steps. Instead of going junk-free overnight, begin by eliminating, say, those chips you eat by the bag, and substitute them with a fruit or vegetable.

Hang in there, and sticking to your diet will become easier because your capacity for self-control will grow.

Copyright Health Magazine 2011

Editor’s note: Christy Turlington Burns is a global maternal health advocate, founder of Every Mother Counts, and the director/producer of the 2010 documentary “No Woman, No Cry.”

This year, the National Retail Federation estimates that Americans will spend around $18.6 billion on gifts for this one day — even though most of us go through the motions of celebrating without having any idea about the day’s original intent.

Mother’s Day can be traced back to Julia Ward Howe, and its aims were quite different from anything you’ll find today on a greeting card. In her Mother’s Day Proclamation of 1870, Howe called on her “sisters” to work to establish peace so that her son could return home from war: “In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask that a general congress of women without limit of nationality may be appointed and held … to promote the alliance of the different nationalities, the amicable settlement of international questions, the great and general interests of peace.”

This year, I would like to ask that we — mothers and everyone else — reignite the spirit of common purpose that Julia Ward Howe sought to inflame in Americans, and direct it toward a silent wartime that is taking hundreds of thousands of women’s lives each year — childbirth.

Follow @CNNOpinion on Twitter and Facebook.com/cnnopinion

The World Health Organization estimates that some 360,000 girls and women die worldwide each year from pregnancy or childbirth-related complications. Nearly all of these deaths are preventable. It’s not that they are preventable if we find a cure, and it’s not that they are preventable if we extend expensive lifelong treatment regiments.

They are preventable if we extend very basic, known and trusted services: if we help women get to health care facilities in their time of need; if we ensure that a skilled professional is available to oversee their labor and delivery; if we provide access to family planning so that children are spaced. These goals are all within our reach, but only if we decide that women’s lives are worth saving.

What does the issue actually look like worldwide?

Opinion: Global health within our grasp if we don’t give up

While rates of maternal mortality are often highest in developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, in several of those countries we are beginning to see declines. Startlingly, maternal mortality rates have been rising in America.

According to the World Health Organization, the rate of women who died from pregnancy-related complications in the U.S. increased by nearly 50% from 1980 to 2008 — a statistic that suggests this issue is one of equitable resources and education, not a lack of technology or infrastructure.

Two years ago, I made a documentary film, “No Woman, No Cry,” and founded an advocacy and mobilization campaign called Every Mother Counts. I did both to raise awareness and support for maternal and child health care. We are trying to draw attention to an underreported global problem that can be solved if only we come together to make it a priority.

Opinion: Mother’s Day is not so rosy in Africa

Our organization measures success by the actions taken to reduce maternal mortality and improve maternal health. The goal is 5 million actions by 2015 — perhaps signing a pledge, running a 5K or even a marathon or donating an old cell phone so it can be used to facilitate communication and medical care in rural areas. Our website, everymothercounts.org, suggests specific actions to take, many of them straightforward steps that help spread the word or raise resources for simple solutions. Individually they may seem small but together, they can save lives.

With that said, here is what we propose for Mother’s Day: a “No Mothers Day.” Our “proclamation” encourages mothers to join in solidarity to “disappear” for the day, out of solidarity with those who needlessly die in pregnancy and childbirth. We believe that in acting together, we can show just how much a mother is missed when she is gone

We’re spreading the word with a film to get families across the country talking about this issue, so that next year, there will be more mothers and families who can celebrate Mother’s Day together.

Please join me at http://www.facebook.com/everymothercounts, for No Mothers Day. Because together, our silence will speak the loudest for all mothers.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Christy Turlington Burns.

Release Date: 04/11/2012Contact Information: Molly Hooven
Hooven.Molly@epa.gov
202-564-2313
202-564-4344

Denver ranks 11th on list of cities with the most Energy Star buildings in the United States
Cities cut energy costs while increasing efficiency, protecting health, reducing pollution
DENVER (April 11, 2012) – Denver ranked 11th on the annual list of U.S. metropolitan areas with the most Energy Star certified buildings for 2011 released by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The list of 25 cities is headed by Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Chicago, San Francisco, New York, Houston, Dallas, Riverside, Calif. and Boston. In 2011, the nearly 16,500 Energy Star certified buildings across America have helped save nearly $2.3 billion in annual utility bills and have prevented greenhouse gas emissions equal to emissions from the annual energy use of more than 1.5 million homes.

"More and more organizations are discovering the value of Energy Star as they work to cut costs and reduce their energy use," said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. "This year marked the twentieth anniversary of the Energy Star program, and today Energy Star certified buildings in cities across America are helping to strengthen local economies and protect the planet for decades to come."

Denver has made the Top Cities list for the past four years. A few programs made Denver stand out among cities nationwide: the Denver Building Owners and Managers Association – (BOMA) has been instrumental throughout the years in promoting Energy Star to its members through its educational programs; Denver Mayor’s Executive Order 123 which created “Greenprint Denver”. This program requires that all construction and major renovations of city buildings be “Designed to Earn the Energy Star" and requires benchmarking in Portfolio Manager for existing and future city-owned and operated buildings. Portfolio Manager is an interactive energy management tool for tracking and assessing energy and water consumption.
Another program called “Watts to Water” is a collaborative energy and water efficiency campaign. This is a partnership between Downtown Denver Partnership, the City of Denver, EPA, BOMA Denver, Xcel Energy, Denver Water, Metro Denver Development Cooperation, and the Colorado Governor’s Energy Office. The inaugural year involvement in Watts to Water exceeded its participation goal by almost 30 percent with 130 buildings registered representing 28 million square feet of office and hotel space.

Finally, the local electric and gas utility, Xcel Energy, launched a commercial real estate program in March 2010 that includes a requirement to benchmark with Portfolio Manager.
Energy use in commercial buildings accounts for nearly 20 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions at a cost of more than $100 billion per year. Commercial buildings that earn EPA’s Energy Star must perform in the top 25 percent of similar buildings nationwide and must be independently verified by a licensed professional engineer or a registered architect. Energy Star certified buildings use an average of 35 percent less energy and are responsible for 35 percent less carbon dioxide emissions than typical buildings. Fifteen types of commercial buildings can earn the Energy Star, including office buildings, K-12 schools, and retail stores.
Launched in 1992 by EPA, Energy Star is a market-based partnership to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency. This year marks Energy Star’s 20th anniversary. Over the past 20 years, with help from Energy Star, American families and businesses have saved about $230 billion on utility bills and prevented more than 1.7 billion metric tons of carbon pollution. Today, the Energy Star label can be found on more than 60 different kinds of products and more than 1.3 million new homes.

More on the 2011 top cities: http://www.energystar.gov/TopCities
More on BOMA Denver: http://www.bomadenver.org
More on Denver’s Greenprint program: www.greenprintdenver.org
More on Denver’s Watts to Water program see http://wattstowater.org//
More on Denver’s Denver Energy Challenge – www.denverenergy.org
More on Energy Star certified buildings: http://energystar.gov/buildinglist
More about earning the Energy Star for commercial buildings: http://energystar.gov/labeledbuildings

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