Declarations

E-Cigarette Marketing

“The health of New York City kids is not for sale.”

—New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer on the need to investigate and regulate marketing of e-cigarettes. Stringer hosted a rally with dozens of advocates, parents and youth to call on e-cigarette companies to stop marketing to youth. He cited a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study that found 70 percent of young Americans have been exposed to e-cigarette advertisements.

800-Pound Gorilla

“Right now, the 800-pound gorilla in the room for most Oklahoma citizens is the fact that the largest and most important investment that they make in their lifetime, their homes, are shaking underneath them.”

—Oklahoma Rep. Scott Inman, D-Del City, believes the oil and gas industry should subsidize the costs of researching earthquakes in his state. Democrats want to prohibit out-of-state wastewater from being dumped in Oklahoma. They also want to roll back a law that prohibits cities or counties from regulating oil and gas activities.

Flint Water Lawsuits

“How can they look at themselves in the mirror? … It’s an embarrassment for government officials to take the safety of their citizens so lightly.”

—New York attorney Hunter Shkolnik, who has filed one of the many lawsuits over lead contamination in Flint, Mich.’s water system. Gov. Rick Snyder, the former mayor, public employees, and almost anyone else who may have had a role in supplying the city with corrosive river water are being sued. The lawsuits accuse them of violating civil rights, wrecking property values and enriching themselves by selling a contaminated product.

Don’t Worry, Be Gassy

‘Telling people who are upset that it is not a problem or serious is a terrible crisis management strategy.’

—Susan Tellem, a partner at Tellem Grody Public Relations in Los Angeles, knocked Sempra Energy’s consistent “Don’t worry” message to Los Angeles residents ever since one of its wells in California started spewing natural gas.

Stormy Seas

“The thing about this storm was that it was forecast for days. So why in the world would a cruise ship with thousands of passengers go sailing right into it?”

—Sen. Bill Nelson, D.-Fla., who has called for the National Transportation Safety Board to investigate the Royal Caribbean cruise ship that ran into stormy seas in the Atlantic Ocean.