The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

EPA proposes cleaner gas and car standards, aimed at slashing pollution and improving health

It’s troublesome that the auto, oil, and gas industries have been allowed to make products that for so many years have caused millions of illness and deaths from emissions.

But the good news is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Friday it’s proposing standards for cars and gas that will significantly reduce harmful pollution and prevent thousands of premature deaths and illnesses, while also improving the efficiency of the nation’s cars and trucks.

When adopted, the standards will help avoid up to 2,400 premature deaths a year and 23,000 cases of respiratory ailments in children, the EPA said.

The proposal will slash emissions of harmful pollutants that can cause premature death and respiratory illnesses, including reducing smog-forming volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides by 80 percent, establish a 70 percent tighter particulate matter standard, and reduce fuel vapor emissions to near zero, said EPA Acting Administrator Bob Perciasepe. 

The proposal will also reduce vehicle emissions of toxic air pollutants, such as benzene and 1,3-butadiene, by up to 40 percent.

The proposed standards support efforts by states to reduce harmful levels of smog and soot, he said.

By 2030, the EPA estimates that the proposed cleaner fuels and cars program will annually prevent up to 2,400 premature deaths, 23,000 cases of respiratory ailments in children, 3,200 hospital admissions and asthma-related emergency room visits, and 1.8 million lost school days, work days, and days when activities would be restricted due to air pollution.

Total health-related benefits in 2030 will be between $8 and $23 billion annually, Perciasepe said. 

The program would also reduce exposure to pollution near roads. More than 50 million people live, work, or go to school close to high-traffic roads, and the average American spends more than one hour traveling on roads each day.

To develop the proposal, the EPA met with representatives from auto, oil, and gas industries as well as environmental, consumer, and public health organizations. Based on feedback and a rulemaking process, EPA’s proposal is estimated to provide up to $7 in health benefits for every dollar spent to meet the standards.

The proposed sulfur standards will cost refineries less than 1 cent per gallon of gasoline on average when the standards are in place, according to the EPA. The proposed vehicle standards will have an average cost of about $130 per vehicle in 2025. The proposal also includes flexibilities for small businesses, including hardship provisions and additional lead time for compliance.

The proposed standards will reduce gasoline sulfur levels by more than 60 percent – down to 10 parts per million in 2017. Reducing sulfur in gas enables vehicle emission control technologies to perform more efficiently.  That means that vehicles built before the proposed standards will run cleaner on the new low-sulfur gas, Perciasepe said.

The proposed standards will work with California’s clean cars and fuels program and enable automakers to sell the same vehicles in all 50 states. The proposal is designed to be carried out over the same timeframe as the next phase of the EPA’s national program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars and light trucks beginning in model year 2017.

After the proposal is published in the Federal Register, the public can comment on it, and the EPA will hold public hearings.

Copyright 2013, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Federal regulator seeks ban on commissions for forced-place insurance

The Federal Housing Finance Agency filed a notice Tuesday that it intends to regulate forced-place insurance, expensive insurance homeowners are required to pay for when they stop paying for homeowners insurance themselves.

The agency oversees the operations of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the nation’s two largest mortgage guarantors.

Premiums for forced-place insurance are generally double those for voluntary insurance, and in some cases are significantly higher.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may be affected by such costs where lenders pay higher premiums and are unable to recoup the costs from the homeowner or at a foreclosure sale, and the expense is passed along to Fannie and Freddie for reimbursement, the agency said.

Due to the housing crisis, lenders increased their use of force-placed insurance.

Concerns about the insurance have been raised by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, state regulators, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, state attorneys general, and consumer organizations. They’re questioning excessive rates, costs passed onto borrowers, commissions, and other costs.

The agency is proposing a rule that would prohibit insurance companies from paying sales commissions for force-placed insurance to lenders or mortgage servicers.

After a 60-day comment period, the agency will review input and determine if any changes are needed to its proposal. In its notice, the agency said it expects to issue a final rule by the end of the year.

Last week, New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced a major settlement with the country’s largest force-placed insurer, Assurant Inc. 

The settlement includes restitution for homeowners, a $14 million penalty paid to the state, and reforms that will save homeowners, taxpayers, and investors millions of dollars through lower rates.

“Our investigation found that insurers and banks built a network of troubling relationships and payoffs that helped drive premiums sky high,” Benjamin M. Lawsky, superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services, said in a statement. “Those improper practices created significant conflicts of interest and saddled homeowners, taxpayers, and investors with millions of dollars in unfair and unnecessary costs.”

Among the provisions of the settlement are several that prohibit some commissions and expenses.

The settlement also requires Assurant to file its rates with the state of New York and permits insurance regulators to monitor the company’s business practices.

Copyright 2013, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Watch out for these top scams

It’s National Consumer Protection Week.

To help you be an alert, informed consumer, the Better Business Bureau is offering information on the hottest scams being used to bilk consumers as part of its consumer week educational efforts:

Learn more about the biggest scams of 2011 – Did Facebook try to give you $1 million? Did you see the video of Osama bin Laden’s death? Did you get a middle-of-the-night call from the hotel front desk? These all were on the BBB’s Top Ten Scams of 2011 list.

Scammers also were at work on tricking consumers about job offers, sweepstakes and lotteries, social media and dating, home improvements, check cashing, e-mail offers, sales, mortgages, and investments.

Know Your Scam: Your Guide to Outsmarting the Top Scams – Here are the top categories of scams the BBB hears about, and what you can do to protect yourself. 

You can sign up to get the BBB’s Scam Alerts by e-mail.

It’s also important to file a complaint with the BBB and/or an agency when you’ve been scammed 

• Better Business Bureau

• Attorney General’s Office in your state

• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

• Federal Trade Commission – The commission doesn’t resolve individual consumer complaints.

Be sure to be alert, and avoid scams in 2013.

Copyright 2013, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Six ways to be a better shopper

It’s National Consumer Protection Week.

Government agencies, consumer organizations, and advocacy groups are joining forces March 3 to 9 with shopping strategies and consumer tips to empower you to make better buying decisions and protect your rights in the marketplace.

Sales pitches and financial advice come at you from every direction – by phone, by mail, and every time you read an ad, go online, or turn on your TV.

Here are six tips from the USA.gov blog to help you sort through all the pitches:

• A free mobile app can help you check any product or vehicle, new or used, to see if it’s been recalled or has safety complaints. Keep up with recent recalls of things you may have around the house or check on that great thrift shop bargain before you buy. Use the Recalls.gov app and mobile site to search by product type and brand name

• When your wallet is lost or stolen, there are eight steps you need to take right away. A thief won’t waste time trying to cash in on your loss. Learn now so you’ll be ready to protect your identity and your credit as soon as your wallet goes missing.

• A new federal agency is working to eliminate deceptive and unfair lending practices. Established in 2010, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau works to make sure providers of mortgages, credit cards, student loans, and banking services market their products honestly, clearly, and legally. Learn more about their work, and their simple tips for protecting yourself.

• Scammers see tough economic times as an opportunity. Job scams are abundant, as swindlers “guarantee” you an unadvertised job, try to get you to pay for their placement services, or tell you that you can get rich by working from home. Learn more about financial scams and saving money at the Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer.gov.

• There’s a formula for complaining effectively. If you’re not satisfied with a product or service, use the Consumer Action Handbook’s sample complaint letter to let the company know where they went wrong and how you want them to fix it. To get the free Handbook or its Spanish counterpart, la Guía del Consumidor, visit the consumer protection sections of USA.gov or GobiernoUSA.gov.

You can get consumer questions answered during a special National Consumer Protection Week online Q&A session.

USA.gov will connect you with government resources to answer your questions during a live event on Wednesday, March 6 from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. EST. You can find out about the latest scams, how to protect your family from identity theft, and more. 

To participate, submit your questions during the event on Twitter using the hashtag #NCPW.

Copyright 2013, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Watch out as Valentine’s Day approaches for online romance scammers

Valentine’s Day is a day for romance, but it can also be a time for scammers to take advantage of those looking for love online

The Better Business Bureau is urging consumers be careful before letting their hearts – and their money – get stolen.

Don’t be a catfish.

In a documentary “Catfish” and a MTV reality show with the same name, a catfish is someone who pretends to be someone they’re not by using Facebook or other social media to create false identities, especially to pursue deceptive online romances.

The BBB and Western Union offer consumers tips on how to avoid relationship scams.

Be on your guard

Only send money to people you have met in person. Be cautious with people you meet online, even if you correspond with them via e-mail or phone. Be wary of anyone who asks you to leave the dating website immediately to continue your conversation through e-mail or instant messaging, as this allows fraudsters to carry out their scam without the dating site having a record of your encounter.

Be cautious if someone claims to be local but is currently out of the country

Fraudsters could be operating from overseas, making it more difficult for authorities to track them down. Never give your banking information to people that you have not met in person or businesses that you don’t know.

Always verify every emergency situation before sending money

Fraudsters can trick their victims in a variety of ways. Sometimes they instantly express feelings of love and other times they lead their victims on for a while. No matter how much your relationship might seem like the real thing, you should be suspicious if someone starts asking for information such as credit card, bank, or government ID numbers or requesting you to send money.

For more information on scams, check out the BBB Scam Stopper at www.bbb.org/scam.

Copyright 2013, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

President’s inaugural address includes some positive items for consumers, and admonishes political parties to work together

Four years ago after I watched President Obama’s inaugural address, I wondered if the president could do what was needed for American consumers. Special interests were so strong during the George W. Bush presidency and did so much damage, I wondered if Obama would be successful in fighting for consumer interest.

As we now know, the results of Obama’s first four years were mixed for consumers.

What can consumers expect from Obama’s second term?

In his inaugural address Monday, the president gave a clear message about the need for people, especially political parties, to work together to move America forward.

He talked about the need to improve economic conditions, the importance of equality, and the value of a rising middle class:

We know that America thrives when every person can find independence and pride in their work; when the wages of honest labor liberate families from the brink of hardship.  

Interestingly in relation to the growing anger of younger generations against aging baby boomers, Obama referred to meeting the needs of both older Americans, which includes boomers, and young people. He said:

But we reject the belief that America must choose between caring for the generation that built this country and investing in the generation that will build its future.

On programs for older adults, he said, “The commitments we make to each other through Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security, these things do not sap our initiative, they strengthen us.”

On helping those in need, Obama said: “Together, we resolved that a great nation must care for the vulnerable, and protect its people from life’s worst hazards and misfortune.” 

The president also mentioned:

• Regulating the business sector: “Together, we discovered that a free market only thrives when there are rules to ensure competition and fair play.”

• Climate change: “We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations. Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires and crippling drought and more powerful storms.”

The president also spoke at length about equality:

We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths – that all of us are created equal – is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall; just as it guided all those men and women, sung and unsung, who left footprints along this great Mall, to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk alone...  It is now our generation’s task to carry on what those pioneers began.

Obama said our journey isn’t complete until:

• Our wives, our mothers and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts.

• Our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law – for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well.

• No citizen is forced to wait for hours to exercise the right to vote.

• We find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity – until bright young students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled from our country.

• All our children, from the streets of Detroit to the hills of Appalachia, to the quiet lanes of Newtown, know that they are cared for and cherished and always safe from harm.  

The president said to make the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness real for everyone doesn’t require us to define liberty in exactly the same way or compel us to settle centuries-long debates about the role of government for all time. But, he said, “It does require us to act in our time.”

He urged others who take oaths and serve in the capital to faithfully execute their pledge.  

Let us, each of us, now embrace with solemn duty and awesome joy what is our lasting birthright. With common effort and common purpose, with passion and dedication, let us answer the call of history and carry into an uncertain future that precious light of freedom.

We’ll see how the president’s second term turns out.

Politics has been called the art of compromise. Let’s hope that lawmakers will be willing to make decisions that will move the country forward, and that most of their actions will be in the interests of consumers, not corporations.

Copyright 2013, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Fiscal cliff deal largely disappointing for consumers

Despite the significant hype, I wasn’t very worried that Congress and the president wouldn’t reach a deal on the so called fiscal cliff. What I was concerned about was how the deal would affect consumers, particularly older Americans.

The fiscal cliff deal has a number of items that will benefit consumers. They include:

• All income below $450,000 for families and $400,000 for individuals will permanently be taxed at Bush-era rates.

• The 2009 expansion of tax breaks for low-income Americans – the Earned Income Tax Credit, the Child Tax Credit, and the American Opportunity Tax Credit – will be extended for five years.

• Federal unemployment insurance will be extended for another year, benefiting those unemployed for longer than 26 weeks.

• The Alternative Minimum Tax will be permanently patched to avoid raising taxes on the middle-class.

• Medicare and Social Security weren’t slashed.

However, Congress missed a big opportunity to truly pass positive measures to help consumers with these missteps:

• The deal doesn’t address the debt-ceiling.

• The payroll tax holiday will be allowed to expire, which means taxes will go up for consumers.

• A full package of temporary business tax breaks will be extended for another year, including breaks for race-car track owners, electric scooters, Goldman Sachs office space, coal produced on Indian lands, and Hollywood films. 

• Funding is cut for the Affordable Care Act’s consumer oriented and operated plans – non-profit, customer-owned and operated plans that could test out new ways to deliver health care – by about $1.9 billion.

• The sequester will be delayed for two months. Half of the delay will be offset by discretionary cuts, split between defense and non-defense. The other half will be offset by revenue raised by the voluntary transfer of traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs, which would tax retirement savings when they’re moved over.
  

The upcoming budget cuts required by the fiscal cliff deal will be part of discussions on the budget on Capitol Hill, and no one knows what agencies and programs they’ll affect. That’s a problem for consumers because vital programs may be slashed, especially with heavy lobbying from the military industrial complex not to cut military spending.

Even though the Democrats won big in November, Congress is gridlocked due to faulty policies supported by Republicans, the conservative media, including Fox News, and American corporations. It’s frustrating when so much needs to be done in this country, but special interest groups squash progress and the ability of the government to move forward positively.

Instead of adequately funding needed programs for consumers, Congress will be bogged down with what to cut, then we’ll have another fiscal cliff debate and – oh, yes – another debt ceiling debacle.

Copyright 2013, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Sandy Hook Elementary School: This senseless gun violence must stop

It’s difficult to know what to say.

Tuesday, I wrote about the killings at the Clackamas Mall near Portland, Ore.

Friday, I listened to the radio, then watched television, as the events surrounding the mass killing at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., unfolded.

Twenty-six people were killed, including 20 children.

In my Tuesday article and an article I wrote after the murders at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., I called for a blue ribbon panel to investigate what leads to these shootings. Then action needs to be taken to stop them.

More stringent laws on gun control are a good place to start. President Obama said Friday in an emotional statement, "We're going to have to come together to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics."

Dozens of people came to the White House Friday evening to light candles and call for more to be done on gun control, according to an article in The Huffington Post.

One woman wore a sign that said, “It Is Too Easy To Buy A Gun In The U.S.A – We need to change this!!”

I also suggested the panel look at mental illness programs, hate mongering, violent images aimed at children, youth programs, mass murders in the workplace, and other potential factors that contribute to mass murders.

Now, I’m going to bed. I hope I can think about something other then children getting shot and not coming home from school.

Can you imagine going to your child’s school and being told she is dead on the floor inside?

Copyright 2012, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

With another mass murder Tuesday, it’s good to know that gun control is gaining attention

Photo: Steve Morgan

Following the mass murder at an Aurora, Colo., movie theater during a violent batman movie, I wrote an article about the need to set up a blue ribbon panel to figure out what’s causing so many mass murders and do something to stop them.

It was extremely discouraging to do the research for the article. One commentator said mass murders are going to continue until something is done about gun control and how mental illness is handled.

With two people murdered yesterday at a shopping mall, the Clackamas Town Center, in Portland, Ore., it’s time to look at this problem again. 

Since I wrote the article in August, it's good to see that some interest and action is occurring on gun control:

• President Obama is expected to push gun control in his second term.

• A new study by the Center for American Progress and Mayors Against Illegal Guns shows that the public is resoundingly in favor of common-sense gun control measures. The groups also found the mythic power of the National Rifle Association to punish any elected official who dares to stray from the no-gun-control-ever line is exaggerated.

• NBC’s Bob Costas brought up gun control during half time of a Sunday Night Football broadcast after Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher, who police say murdered his girlfriend at their home before driving to the Chiefs’ practice facility and shooting himself in front of the team’s coach and general manager. Costas talked about the role guns, and the nation’s lax gun laws, played in the tragedy. After a brief introduction, Costas quoted Kansas City-based columnist Jason Whitlock, who wrote yesterday that he believed both Belcher and his girlfriend, Kasandra Perkins, would be alive today were it not for Belcher’s possession of a gun.

• New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman won a court victory in defense of the state’s gun safety laws in November. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit rejected a constitutional challenge to New York's handgun licensing statute, ruling that the law requiring individuals to demonstrate “proper cause” to obtain a license to carry concealed handguns in public doesn’t violate the Constitution’s Second Amendment.

• Following an undercover investigation, two New York gun show operators agreed in November to carry out new procedures at their gun shows throughout the state. The operators – Niagara Frontier Collectors Inc. and NEACA Inc. – agreed to established procedures that go beyond state law, including a process that ensures all guns brought into the gun show by private sellers are tagged so that, when consumers exit, the operator can determine if guns were sold and that a proper background check was performed.

• Last month, a coalition of 10 state attorneys general urged the U.S. Senate to reject two laws that would force states, such as New York and nine other states, to allow out-of-state visitors to carry concealed firearms based on their home state's less safe laws rather than those of the state they are entering.

My heart goes out to the families whose loved ones died Tuesday.

In addition to gun control and mental illness programs, I think American leaders need to investigate hate mongering in the media, violent images aimed at children, the lack of programs to help trouble youth, job related triggers, and other factors that may contribute to mass murders.

Where’s the blue ribbon panel on stopping mass murders?

If government officials won’t set one up, organizations need to take the lead then get officials to take action.

Copyright 2012, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

The election, health care, personal growth, and the end of the world are the topics for this week’s Blogging Boomer Carnival

This week, I’m the host for Blogging Boomer Carnival #289.

The carnival is a collection of like-minded blogs cooperating to share their best stories of interest to the Baby Boomer Generation.

As the holidays approach, boomer bloggers have a lot on their minds.

Tom Sightings, on Sightings at 60 has a new feature, The Friday Front , in which he reports on an item from the past week that caught his attention – and might catch yours. This week Tom notes that one result of the election is that a record number of women will be heading to Washington as members of the U. S. Congress. He offers a brief survey of a few of the new women senators, from Massachusetts to Hawaii.

With the end of the world apparently at hand, Laura Lee Carter, the Midlife Crisis Queen, offers this assessment: The End is Near!

On my blog this week, I wrote about how the Affordable Care Act has saved consumers $1.5 billion last year due to its requirement that health insurers spend at least 80 percent of premium dollars on health care or quality improvement activities. However, stronger rules may be needed to ensure more savings are passed on to consumers, the authors of a Commonwealth Fund report said.

John Agno on SoBabyBoomer is giving away the new ebook “Ask the Coach” as a holiday gift on Dec. 10 and 11 only at Amazon.com. It can be downloaded on a smartphone (with a Kindle app), an eReader, a tablet, or a computer. John says that “Ask the Coach” is a reference book; like a dictionary or any other resource book that isn’t meant to be read cover to cover. Readers can look up a question of interest in the Table of Contents and then read that self-coaching answer in the book.

Katie Foster of the Arabian Tales and Other Amazing Adventures is traveling, so we’ll catch up with her later.

Copyright 2012, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist