[Source: The Atlantic] A new report from the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights finds the agency toothless — or even harmful — in addressing environmental justice. Does the Environmental Protection Agency actually protect communities of color from environmental problems? A new report from the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights suggests it has largely failed that Read More…
Category: U.S. News
Fading college dream saps U.S. economy of productivity miracle
[Source: Bloomberg News] For decades, a growing pool of college graduates poured into the U.S. labor market, boosting productivity and shaping America’s status as the world’s dominant economic power. That driver of growth is diminishing. Enrollment has declined every year since peaking in 2011, according to the Census Bureau and the National Student Clearinghouse Research Read More…
EEOC issues guidance on retaliation
[Source: California Chamber of Commerce] This week, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued its final Enforcement Guidance on Retaliation and Related Issues. [https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/guidance/retaliation-guidance.cfm]. The final guidance was issued after a period of public comment that started in January. Federal and state law both prohibit employers from taking adverse action against employees or job applicants who Read More…
Poor at 20, poor for life
[Source: The Atlantic] A new study indicates that from the 1980s to the 2000s, it became less likely that a worker could move up the income ladder. It’s not an exaggeration: It really is getting harder to move up in America. Those who make very little money in their first jobs will probably still be Read More…
Cleaning up environmental regulation
[Source: The Daily Signal/Diane Katz] Environmental regulations constitute a hefty portion of America’s regulatory burden, in large part because “reform” is an alien concept within the Environmental Protection Agency. But the House GOP on Tuesday unveiled a new policy agenda that, with any luck (and political fortitude), will reverse decades of regulatory excess and abuse. Read More…
‘Environmental Justice’: Obama-era politics override rule of law
[Source: The Daily Signal/Todd G. Young, Southeastern Legal Foundation] In every Soviet-era military unit, the long shadow of totalitarian political control hung over day-to-day operations. A political commissar served alongside commanding military officers to ensure that communist purity was maintained. We’re seeing the same political strong-arm in President Barack Obama’s executive agencies, particularly in the Read More…
Federal environmental regulators dispel fracking fears
[Source: Forbes] Last month, the Obama Administration’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (“BOEM”) and Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (“BSEE”) in a ruling found no significant environmental effects of hydraulic fracturing off the California shores. The debate over the safety and implications of fracking has grown over several years to include issues of water Read More…
Major environmental group endorses Clinton
[Source: SFGATE] Hillary Clinton has secured the endorsement of the political arm of the Natural Resources Defense Council — one of the nation’s leading environmental organizations — in her White House bid, marking the first presidential endorsement in the 46-year-old group’s history, The Chronicle has learned. Not only does the organization back Clinton’s Democratic candidacy, Read More…
EPA releases final draft of Environmental Justice 2020 strategy
[Source: Bloomberg BNA] The Environmental Protection Agency released today the final draft of its environmental justice strategy that would run through 2020. The final draft of the agency’s EJ 2020 Action Agenda, which builds off the EPA’s previous, Plan EJ 2014 strategy, has three key tenets: further infuse environmental justice into agency processes and decision-making, Read More…