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About TexPIRG Education Fund

STANDING UP FOR CONSUMERS — For more than 20 years, Consumer Program Director Ed Mierzwinski has helped us stand up against big banks and credit card companies.

Independent Research and Education

TexPIRG Education Fund is an independent, non-partisan group that works for consumers and the public interest. Through research, public education and outreach, we serve as counterweights to the influence of powerful special interests that threaten our health, safety or well-being.

Our Top Priorities
Using the time-tested tools of investigative research, media exposés, grassroots organizing, advocacy and litigation, TexPIRG Education Fund stands up to powerful interests and delivers concrete results.  

STOPPING THE OVERUSE OF ANTIBIOTICS ON FACTORY FARMS

More than 93% of doctors are concerned about the overuse of antibiotics on factory farms, yet factory farms still use up to 70% of all antibiotics sold in the U.S. We're working to protect our medicine. 
 

 

CHANGING OUR TRANSPORTATION PRIORITIES

Americans are driving less and less. It's time to change the way we think about how we get around.
 

   

RECLAIMING OUR DEMOCRACY

Our democracy is based on the principle of one person, one vote, but our research shows the increasing dominance of big money in our elections. That's why we're working to reclaim our democracy. 
 

With public debate around important issues often dominated by special interests pursuing their own narrow agendas, the TexPIRG Education Fund offers an independent voice that works on behalf of the public interest. The TexPIRG Education Fund works to protect consumers and promote good government. We investigate problems, craft solutions, educate the public, and offer citizens meaningful opportunities for civic participation.

For information about a specific report, please contact the author. If you are a foundation interested in supporting the TexPIRG Education Fund's work, or if you have general inquiries, please contact us here.

For information about a specific report, please contact the author. If you are a foundation interested in supporting the TexPIRG Education Fund's work, or if you have general inquiries, please contact us here.

TexPIRG Education Fund and the Federation of State Public Interest Research Groups


TexPIRG Education Fund is an independent, state-based, citizen-funded organization that educates for the public interest and is a member of U.S. PIRG Education Fund.

 

Since 1970, state PIRGs have delivered results-oriented citizen activism, stood up to powerful special interests, and used the time-tested tools of investigative research, media exposés, grassroots organizing, and litigation to win real results on issues that matter.

 

Across the country, state PIRGs employ close to 400 organizers, policy analysts, scientists and attorneys, and are active in 47 states, with a federal office in Washington, D.C. On national issues, we also coordinate our efforts, pool resources, and share expertise so that we can have the biggest impact.

TexPIRG Education Fund Staff
TexPIRG Education Fund is an independent voice that works on behalf of the public interest. We investigate problems, craft solutions, educate the public, and offer meaningful opportunities for civic participation. TexPIRG Education Fund is a 501(c)(3) organization working to protect consumers and promote good government. Find out more about our staff

 

What's New

Media Hit | Transportation

VW settlement plan falls short of Houston’s pollution share

As Texas plans to spend the $209 million awarded by the Volkswagen "Dieselgate" scandal, TexPIRG Director Bay Scoggin is quoted as being "concerned" about the plan released late last week. While the money heading towards Electric Vehicle Infrastructure is great, there is a troubling lack of details about how the money is to be spent. Bay had this to say in the Houston Chronicle article:

“The lack of clear guidelines for the competitive process … leads to problematic uncertainty on whether communities or gas corporations will benefit,”

> Keep Reading
News Release | U.S. PIRG | Public Health

U.S. PIRG statement on $289 million verdict against RoundUp

Today, a jury ruled against the chemical company Monsanto, awarding $289 million in damages to Dewayne Johnson, a former school groundskeeper who said he got terminal cancer from Monsanto’s best-selling weedkiller Roundup.

> Keep Reading
News Release | TexPIRG | Transportation

Texas' Volkswagen Mitigation Plan "Concerning"

AUSTIN -- In a plan released yesterday, the Governor’s Office and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) proposed spending the $209 million dollars the state of Texas received from the Volkswagen, “Dieselgate,” scandal on “fuel-neutral” buses, trucks, and other vehicles, while opting in to the full 15% made available for electric vehicle infrastructure.  

The plan states that money will be determined on a “first come, first serve” basis.

As a secondary measure, TCEQ cites cost-effectiveness as a key determinant in what it calls the “competitive process,” to receive funding for a project. A corresponding table shows that trucks, which are predominantly supplied by natural gas options, are by far the most cost-effective-- roughly 10 times more so than school buses.

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Solid Waste

Here's how we won on straws, and why you should care | Bay Scoggin

“How are things going with the straws?”

That’s what pretty much everyone is asking me these days. Normally, I’m used to having the same conversation over and over; there’s never not some cultural slang or song using Bay.

These days, though, a crazy thing is also happening: we’re winning on straws.

 

Everyone is talking about it. And it is working. 

> Keep Reading
News Release | TexPIRG | Public Health

Arkema executives arraigned for toxic cloud in Harvey

HOUSTON -- Harris County prosecutors were in court today for the arraignment of two chemical company executives for endangering and injuring emergency workers, including police officers, during the flooding brought on by Hurricane Harvey. Arkema, a major French chemical manufacturer with a large U.S. presence, is accused of recklessly releasing a toxic cloud over Houston last August, prosecutors announced.

 

This morning, Arkema North America’s CEO Richard Rowe and plant manager Leslie Comardelle, appeared in the courtroom in Houston.

> Keep Reading

Pages

Media Hit | Transportation

VW settlement plan falls short of Houston’s pollution share

As Texas plans to spend the $209 million awarded by the Volkswagen "Dieselgate" scandal, TexPIRG Director Bay Scoggin is quoted as being "concerned" about the plan released late last week. While the money heading towards Electric Vehicle Infrastructure is great, there is a troubling lack of details about how the money is to be spent. Bay had this to say in the Houston Chronicle article:

“The lack of clear guidelines for the competitive process … leads to problematic uncertainty on whether communities or gas corporations will benefit,”

> Keep Reading
News Release | U.S. PIRG | Public Health

U.S. PIRG statement on $289 million verdict against RoundUp

Today, a jury ruled against the chemical company Monsanto, awarding $289 million in damages to Dewayne Johnson, a former school groundskeeper who said he got terminal cancer from Monsanto’s best-selling weedkiller Roundup.

> Keep Reading
News Release | TexPIRG | Transportation

Texas' Volkswagen Mitigation Plan "Concerning"

AUSTIN -- In a plan released yesterday, the Governor’s Office and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) proposed spending the $209 million dollars the state of Texas received from the Volkswagen, “Dieselgate,” scandal on “fuel-neutral” buses, trucks, and other vehicles, while opting in to the full 15% made available for electric vehicle infrastructure.  

The plan states that money will be determined on a “first come, first serve” basis.

As a secondary measure, TCEQ cites cost-effectiveness as a key determinant in what it calls the “competitive process,” to receive funding for a project. A corresponding table shows that trucks, which are predominantly supplied by natural gas options, are by far the most cost-effective-- roughly 10 times more so than school buses.

> Keep Reading
News Release | TexPIRG | Public Health

Arkema executives arraigned for toxic cloud in Harvey

HOUSTON -- Harris County prosecutors were in court today for the arraignment of two chemical company executives for endangering and injuring emergency workers, including police officers, during the flooding brought on by Hurricane Harvey. Arkema, a major French chemical manufacturer with a large U.S. presence, is accused of recklessly releasing a toxic cloud over Houston last August, prosecutors announced.

 

This morning, Arkema North America’s CEO Richard Rowe and plant manager Leslie Comardelle, appeared in the courtroom in Houston.

> Keep Reading

Pages

Report | TexPIRG Education Fund | Transportation

Highway Boondoggles 4

> Keep Reading
Report | TexPIRG Education Fund | Transportation

Electric Buses

More than 60 percent of the transit buses run on diesel, while just 0.2 percent of buses are all-electric. Numerous studies have shown that inhaling diesel exhaust can cause respiratory diseases and worsen existing conditions such as asthma. Diesel exhaust from buses poses a particular public health risk; buses primarily travel where there are lots of people, including in the more densely-crowded areas of cities, on the busiest roads, and near schools.

 

> Keep Reading
Report | TexPIRG Education Fund | Democracy

Follow the Money 2018

Texas Public Interest Research Group Education Fund will release a new report, “Following the Money 2018: How the 50 States Rate in Providing Online Access to Government Spending Data,” evaluating each state on how well it provides spending information online and assigning them letter grades from “A” to “F.” The report will reveal Texas’ letter grade, compare its public disclosure of spending information to other states, and provide recommendations for improvements.

> Keep Reading
Report | TexPIRG Education Fund | Public Health

In Your Face

The negative health effects of asbestos are well-known. Most people may associate asbestos contamination with the workplace or decades-old construction material, but alarmingly, recent media reports have found asbestos contamination in kids' makeup from popular stores. PIRG decided to do its own asbestos testing at an accredited laboratory.

> Keep Reading
Report | TexPIRG Education Fund | Transportation

Plugging In

The adoption of large numbers of electric vehicles (EVs) offers many benefits for cities, including cleaner air and the opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Electric vehicles are far cleaner than gasoline-powered cars, with lower greenhouse gas emissions and lower emissions of the pollutants that contribute to smog and particulate matter. The number of EVs on America’s streets is at an all-time high. Throughout 2016, sales of plug-in electric vehicles increased nearly 38 percent. In 2017, sales of electric vehicles were up again, increasing 32 percent over the year.

> Keep Reading

Pages

Blog Post | Solid Waste

Here's how we won on straws, and why you should care | Bay Scoggin

“How are things going with the straws?”

That’s what pretty much everyone is asking me these days. Normally, I’m used to having the same conversation over and over; there’s never not some cultural slang or song using Bay.

These days, though, a crazy thing is also happening: we’re winning on straws.

 

Everyone is talking about it. And it is working. 

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Consumer Protection

ID Theft & Privacy Checklists | Mike Litt

Today, we're releasing our revamped Identity Theft and Online Privacy resources.

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Public Health

Toxic triclosan in toothpaste? | Dev Gowda

A recent article in the LA Times revealed that a new study found that the toxic compound triclosan, which is commonly found in toothpaste as well as other consumer products such as cosmetics, children’s toys, and yoga mats, “could cause adverse effects on colonic inflammation and colon cancer.”

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Public Health

Home remodeling shouldn’t be a deadly project: Toxic paint removers being sold by Lowe’s and other stores | Dev Gowda

No one should lose a loved one to deadly chemicals. But right now you can walk into Lowe’s and other stores and buy paint removers containing highly toxic chemicals.

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Public Health

Director Testifies before Env Reg Committee at Legislature | Bay Scoggin

Our Director, Bay Scoggin, testified in front of the Legislature's Environmental Regulation Committee today, asking them to have the State Auditor investigate the post-Harvey response times of the TCEQ and EPA teams that were testing the flood waters for Superfund toxic waste contaminants. Check it out:

> Keep Reading

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Your tax-deductible donation supports TexPIRG Education Fund's work to educate consumers on the issues that matter, and to stand up to the powerful interests that are blocking progress.

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