Our Mission
U.S. PIRG is an advocate for the public interest. When consumers are cheated,
or our natural environment is threatened, or the voices of ordinary citizens
are drowned out by special interest lobbyists, U.S. PIRG speaks up and takes
action. We uncover threats to public health and well-being and fight to end
them, using the time-tested tools of investigative research, media exposés,
grassroots organizing, advocacy and litigation. U.S. PIRG's mission is to deliver
persistent, result-oriented public interest activism that protects our environment,
encourages a fair, sustainable economy, and fosters responsive, democratic government.
A Selection Of U.S. PIRG’s Top Accomplishments: Winning Concrete Results
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| The North Slope of Alaska hosts the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, home to caribou and other wildlife. U.S. PIRG has worked to protect it from oil and gas drilling. |
Preserving The Arctic Refuge
Despite the power and infl uence of the Bush administration, the oil lobby and their allies, U.S. PIRG's Athan Manuel and a broad-based coalition have repeatedly stopped Congress from opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling.
Stopping The Bad Energy Bill
Twice in 2003 and 2004, U.S. PIRG staff have played a pivotal role in convincing enough Democrats and Republicans to vote down a harmful energy bill, despite the powerful utilities and energy industries backing the proposal.
Cleaning Our Air
In 2003, thanks to U.S. PIRG advocacy, the EPA issued tough rules to reduce pollution from dirty, diesel-powered farm and construction equipment.
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| U.S. PIRG’s toy safety reports have led to at least 100 recalls and other enforcement actions over the past 19 years. |
Alerting Parents To Dangerous Toys
In November 2004, U.S. PIRG published its annual survey of unsafe toys, prompting six enforcement actions by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Over the last 19 years, the report has resulted in at least 100 recalls and other enforcement actions, and spurred passage of a toy safety labeling law in 1994.
Fighting Toxic Mercury Pollution
U.S. PIRG and our coalition partners collected a record number of public comments (more than 650,000) to the EPA, opposing the proposal to allow more mercury pollution from power plants for longer than the Clean Air Act allows.
Advocating Environmental Health Tracking
After winning the program's initial funding two years earlier, in 2003, U.S. PIRG won a major funding increase for an environmental health-tracking network that will help officials prevent disease related to environmental hazards.
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| Backed by Rep. Rush Holt (N.J.) and Rep. Earl Blumenauer (Ore.), U.S. PIRG’s Navin Nayak urges Congress to eliminate $58 billion in wasteful and environmentally harmful spending. |
Backing Corporate Reform
After a wave of corporate scandals, including Enron and Tyco, in 2002, President Bush approved a landmark, U.S. PIRG-backed law that will go a long way to help regulate accountants and hold corporate executives accountable to investors and employees.
Restoring Wild Atlantic Salmon
A U.S. PIRG Clean Water Act lawsuit against a Maine salmon farm company resulted in a landmark settlement in 2002. The company agreed to make sweeping changes to minimize pollution from its factory-style fish farms, and will pay $375,000 for wild salmon restoration.
