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About CALPIRG Education Fund

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

INDEPENDENT RESEARCH & EDUCATION

CALPIRG 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 MISSION

With public debate around important issues often dominated by special interests pursuing their own narrow agendas, CALPIRG Education Fund offers an independent voice that works on behalf of the public interest. CALPIRG Education Fund, a 501(c)(3) organization, works to protect consumers and promote good government. We investigate problems, craft solutions, educate the public, and offer meaningful opportunities for civic participation.

Our Top Priorities
Using the time-tested tools of investigative research, media exposés, grassroots organizing, advocacy and litigation, CALPIRG 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. 
 

CALPIRG Education Fund Staff
CALPIRG 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. CALPIRG Education Fund is a 501(c)(3) organization working to protect consumers and promote good government. Find out more about our staff

THE FEDERATION OF STATE PUBLIC INTEREST RESEARCH GROUPS

CALPIRG Education Fund tabis an independent, state-based, citizen-funded organization that educates for the public interest and is a member of U.S. PIRG Education Fund, the federation of state Public Interest Research Groups.

 

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.

What's New

Report | CALPIRG Education Fund | COVID-19

Open Safe California Scorecard for July 13, 2020

COVID Exit Strategy (www.covidexitstrategy.org), a nonpartisan group of public health and crisis experts, has been tracking the progress states have made towards containing COVID-19. On July 10th, as the epidemic worsened, the group added a new color to their grading scale, indicating states with uncontrolled spread of the virus.

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | COVID-19

A simple way to thwart COVID-19 is right in front of our faces | Abe Scarr

U.S. PIRG is calling on municipal, state and federal policymakers to mandate face masks in all indoor public spaces, as well as in outdoor locations where it’s hard for people to socially distance six feet apart.

> Keep Reading
News Release | CALPIRG Education Fund | Public Health

New data: More than half of California school districts report lead in drinking water

SACRAMENTO- As California schools consider best practices for reopening in the fall, they must address the fact that too many have found unacceptable levels of lead in their drinking water. CALPIRG Education Fund released an updated interactive map with results reported from schools. More than 2,100 school drinking water fountains tested positive for lead at 1,300 schools in the state over the past three years, according to a new analysis by CALPIRG Education Fund.

> Keep Reading
News Release | CALPIRG Education Fund | COVID-19

New analysis: California receives "trending poorly” marks for COVID-19 containment measures

“From early on in this pandemic, it’s been clear that we must listen to public health experts or suffer dire consequences,” said Emily Rusch, Executive Director of CALPIRG Education Fund.  “What we are seeing right now in our state is that while we’re doing some things right, we must act more comprehensively to protect the health and welfare of our citizens and beat this virus.”

> Keep Reading
Report | CALPIRG Education Fund

Open Safe California: Is the state effectively containing the novel coronavirus?

COVID Exit Strategy (www.covidexitstrategy.org), a nonpartisan group of public health and crisis experts, has been tracking the progress states have made towards meeting the CDC recommended benchmarks states should reach before reopening their economies. As of the week ending on June 26th, only six states were meeting these metrics, earning a “Green” rating. Currently, California is failing half of the benchmarks, and is rated “Red” by COVID Exit Strategy.

> Keep Reading

Pages

News Release | CALPIRG Education Fund | Public Health

New data: More than half of California school districts report lead in drinking water

SACRAMENTO- As California schools consider best practices for reopening in the fall, they must address the fact that too many have found unacceptable levels of lead in their drinking water. CALPIRG Education Fund released an updated interactive map with results reported from schools. More than 2,100 school drinking water fountains tested positive for lead at 1,300 schools in the state over the past three years, according to a new analysis by CALPIRG Education Fund.

> Keep Reading
News Release | CALPIRG Education Fund | COVID-19

New analysis: California receives "trending poorly” marks for COVID-19 containment measures

“From early on in this pandemic, it’s been clear that we must listen to public health experts or suffer dire consequences,” said Emily Rusch, Executive Director of CALPIRG Education Fund.  “What we are seeing right now in our state is that while we’re doing some things right, we must act more comprehensively to protect the health and welfare of our citizens and beat this virus.”

> Keep Reading
News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Consumer Tips, COVID-19

Consumer advice: Ask for help with your bills before an emergency

This coming Monday, June 1, will mark the third full month that bills are due since COVID-19 was declared a national state of emergency in March. To help Americans manage their finances, U.S. PIRG Education Fund has published an updated guide with tips on what to do about paying bills during the crisis.

> Keep Reading
News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | COVID-19

Statement: Consumer complaints about COVID-19 fraud near 50,000

Consumer complaints to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) related to the coronavirus approached 50,000 on Tuesday. U.S. PIRG Education Fund has documented the actions taken by the FTC and 14 other federal agencies in response to coronavirus scams.

> Keep Reading
News Release | CALPIRG | Democracy

Every California voter to Receive a Mail-in Ballot this November

Governor Newsom’s Executive Order today expanding mail-in ballots to every registered voter is a no brainer for safe, secure elections in November. 

> Keep Reading

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Result | Consumer Protection

Keeping Children Safe From Dangerous Toys

Every year, as consumers begin purchasing toys for the holiday season, CALPIRG Education Fund visits numerous toy stores, malls and dollar stores to find potentially dangerous toys sitting on store shelves. In November 2015, we released our 30th annual report, "Trouble in Toyland 2015." Over the years, our reports have led to more than 150 recalls and other regulatory actions, helping to remove dangerous products from store shelves and keep children safe.

> Keep Reading
Report | CALPIRG Education Fund | COVID-19

Open Safe California Scorecard for July 13, 2020

COVID Exit Strategy (www.covidexitstrategy.org), a nonpartisan group of public health and crisis experts, has been tracking the progress states have made towards containing COVID-19. On July 10th, as the epidemic worsened, the group added a new color to their grading scale, indicating states with uncontrolled spread of the virus.

> Keep Reading
Report | CALPIRG Education Fund

Open Safe California: Is the state effectively containing the novel coronavirus?

COVID Exit Strategy (www.covidexitstrategy.org), a nonpartisan group of public health and crisis experts, has been tracking the progress states have made towards meeting the CDC recommended benchmarks states should reach before reopening their economies. As of the week ending on June 26th, only six states were meeting these metrics, earning a “Green” rating. Currently, California is failing half of the benchmarks, and is rated “Red” by COVID Exit Strategy.

> Keep Reading
Report | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | COVID-19

Putting Consumers First

U.S. PIRG Education Fund, the Student Borrower Protection Center and Consumer Action have released a report recommending that  CFPB should use the full extent of its authority to take immediate action to strengthen its consumer complaint tool, hold companies accountable for providing complete and timely responses to consumers, and leverage consumer complaints related to the pandemic to support oversight and regulatory action to protect consumers.

> Keep Reading
Report | CALPIRG Education Fund | Consumer Tips

Food Recall Failure

Most grocery store chains are not warning their customers about dangerous food recalls. Find out if your store makes the grade.

> Keep Reading
Report | CALPIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

What are Californians Fixing?

According to our review of data from iFixit, a self-described “repair guide for everything, written by everyone,” nearly 8 million unique users from California went onto their website, www.ifixit.com, to look up how to repair something in 2018.

> Keep Reading

Pages

Blog Post | COVID-19

A simple way to thwart COVID-19 is right in front of our faces | Abe Scarr

U.S. PIRG is calling on municipal, state and federal policymakers to mandate face masks in all indoor public spaces, as well as in outdoor locations where it’s hard for people to socially distance six feet apart.

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | COVID-19

Superspreading events pose outsized risk of COVID-19 transmission | Abe Scarr

Public health experts are starting to draw actionable lessons about the nature of how COVID-19 spreads. In addition to maintaining best practices –physical distancing, mask wearing and hand washing – it’s best to avoid extended, crowded indoor gatherings.

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Consumer Tips

How to be sustainable in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | COVID-19

U.S. PIRG Supports Automated Contact Tracing Because More Than Anything Else, America Needs Good Information Before It Can Safely Lift Stay-At-Home Rules | Ed Mierzwinski

Public health experts have made it abundantly clear that to safely lift stay-at-home rules we must have four key things we don’t yet have. We need fast, accurate and widely available testing. We need a better plan for isolating and supporting people who have COVID-19. We need sufficient hospital capacity, including medical and protective equipment, to treat all patients safely. And we need more contact tracing. This blog explains U.S. PIRG's support for automated warning and contact tracing, subject to appropriate privacy and civil liberties protections, which can provide critical information quickly about who has potentially been exposed.

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | COVID-19

Factory farms: A pandemic in the making. | Matt Wellington

The emergence and spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic is a symptom of how we raise food animals across the world. 

> Keep Reading

Pages

Report | CALPIRG Education Fund

Open Safe California Scorecard for July 13, 2020

COVID Exit Strategy (www.covidexitstrategy.org), a nonpartisan group of public health and crisis experts, has been tracking the progress states have made towards containing COVID-19. On July 10th, as the epidemic worsened, the group added a new color to their grading scale, indicating states with uncontrolled spread of the virus. California is one of 18 states currently in this category – our state is not meeting the CDC recommended benchmarks for reopening, and the situation is getting worse. Accordingly, CALPIRG supports the governor’s decision to close businesses and return to lockdown until things can get under control. 

Blog Post

A simple way to thwart COVID-19 is right in front of our faces

U.S. PIRG is calling on municipal, state and federal policymakers to mandate face masks in all indoor public spaces, as well as in outdoor locations where it’s hard for people to socially distance six feet apart.

News Release | CALPIRG Education Fund

New data: More than half of California school districts report lead in drinking water

SACRAMENTO- As California schools consider best practices for reopening in the fall, they must address the fact that too many have found unacceptable levels of lead in their drinking water. CALPIRG Education Fund released an updated interactive map with results reported from schools. More than 2,100 school drinking water fountains tested positive for lead at 1,300 schools in the state over the past three years, according to a new analysis by CALPIRG Education Fund.

News Release | CALPIRG Education Fund

New analysis: California receives "trending poorly” marks for COVID-19 containment measures

“From early on in this pandemic, it’s been clear that we must listen to public health experts or suffer dire consequences,” said Emily Rusch, Executive Director of CALPIRG Education Fund.  “What we are seeing right now in our state is that while we’re doing some things right, we must act more comprehensively to protect the health and welfare of our citizens and beat this virus.”

Report | CALPIRG Education Fund

Open Safe California: Is the state effectively containing the novel coronavirus?

COVID Exit Strategy (www.covidexitstrategy.org), a nonpartisan group of public health and crisis experts, has been tracking the progress states have made towards meeting the CDC recommended benchmarks states should reach before reopening their economies. As of the week ending on June 26th, only six states were meeting these metrics, earning a “Green” rating. Currently, California is failing half of the benchmarks, and is rated “Red” by COVID Exit Strategy.

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

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CALPIRG Education Fund is part of The Public Interest Network, which operates and supports organizations committed to a shared vision of a better world and a strategic approach to getting things done.