PARIS, February 16, 2023 — The Center for Biological Diversity called for “in danger” status today for a Mexican World Heritage site harmed by the U.S. border wall. The controversial U.S. wall cuts the world’s largest swath of protected desert habitat in two, walling off critical habitat connectivity. Today’s letter urges the UNESCO World Heritage Committee to […]
US
The era of globalization isn’t over, new study argues
February 13, 2023 – Reports of globalization’s death are premature, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Waterloo, the University of British Columbia and the China Europe International Business School in Shanghai. Their findings challenge widespread assumptions that the rivalry between the United States and China, recently highlighted during the Chinese […]
Attorney General James Leads Multistate Coalition,to Defend and Protect Access to Medication Abortion
NEW YORK, February 10, 2023 – New York Attorney General Letitia James today led a multistate coalition to defend and protect safe access to medication abortion nationwide. In an amicus brief filed in Alliance of Hippocratic Medicine v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a case pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern […]
Schiff, Omar, Cherfilus-McCormick Introduce PERIOD Act to Protect Student Privacy, Rights from Invasive Republican Legislatures
Washington, D.C. February 9, 2023 – Today, Reps. Adam Schiff (D-California), Ilhan Omar (D- Minnesota), and Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Florida) introduced legislation to prohibit schools that receive federal funding from requiring information regarding students’ menstrual cycles after Republican elected officials in several states proposed regulations that would require students to turn over their private medical data […]
Congressman Robert Garcia, President of the Freshman Class and First LGBTQ+ Immigrant in Congress, Joins Forces with Fellow LGBTQ+ Freshmen, to Introduce Resolution to Expel George Santos from Congress
Washington D.C.- Today, Congressman Robert Garcia (CA-42) announced his introduction of a resolution to expel George Santos from Congress along with LGBTQ+ freshmen Congressman Eric Sorensen (IL-17) and Congresswoman Becca Balint (VT-AL). The resolution can be found here. The resolution will now be referred to the House Committee on Ethics for further action. “George Santos has no place in Congress. He has […]
Conservation groups to defend Biden administration postponement of oil, gas lease sales
February 8, 2023 – Seventeen groups represented by Earthjustice and the Western Environmental Law Center moved to intervene today to defend the Biden administration’s postponement of several oil and gas lease sales. A September ruling in U.S. District Court in Wyoming affirmed the administration’s ability to postpone lease sales, but the state of Wyoming and industry groups […]
President Biden’s State of the Union Address
On February 7, President Biden will speak directly to the American people about the historic progress we’ve made, the work that lies ahead, and his optimism for the future. Remarks of President Joe BidenState of the Union Address As Prepared for Delivery The United States Capitol Mr. Speaker. Madam Vice President. Our First Lady and […]
After 46 years of imprisonment, it’s time to free Leonard Peltier, says Amnesty International
February 6, 2023 – Marking the 6 February Global Day of Solidarity with Native American activist Leonard Peltier, Amnesty International reiterates its call on President Biden to immediately grant Mr. Peltier clemency. Leonard Peltier has been imprisoned in the United States for over 46 years, some of which were spent in solitary confinement, serving two […]
Science Integrity Plan Throws Scientists Under the Bus
Washington, DC, February 7, 2023 — The White House’s new Model Scientific Integrity Plan touts the “free flow of scientific information,” including speaking with the media and filing “differing scientific opinions,” but provides no enforceable legal safeguards for scientists who face reprisal for doing so. That gap means scientists working on controversial topics will continue […]
Statement From Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III: F-22 Safely Shoots Down Chinese Spy Balloon Off South Carolina Coast
This afternoon, at the direction of President Biden, U.S. fighter aircraft assigned to U.S. Northern Command successfully brought down the high altitude surveillance balloon launched by and belonging to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) over the water off the coast of South Carolina in U.S. airspace. The balloon, which was being used by the […]
American Oversight Condemns Arizona Legislature’s Rules Allowing Lawmakers to Shield Communications from Public Disclosure
WASHINGTON, D.C. February 1, 2023 — In an egregious attempt to evade accountability and hide the truth from the public, the Arizona Legislature last week implemented rule changes that instruct lawmakers to delete communications, thus allowing them to avoid releasing documents under the state’s public records law. Had these rules existed in 2021, the public would […]
ACLU Argues Evidence From Privacy-Invasive Geofence Warrants Should Be Suppressed
WASHINGTON, January 30, 2023 — The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Virginia, along with eight Federal Public Defender offices, filed an amicus brief on Friday in United States v. Chatrie, the first geofence search case to reach a federal court of appeals. In the brief, the ACLU asserts that police should not be able to exploit […]
Victory: Bristol Bay, Parks and Wildlife Safe from Pebble Mine
WASHINGTON, January 31, 2023 – After more than 20 years of short-sighted proposals aimed at destroying Alaska’s Bristol Bay watershed, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today rejected a long-sought permit and once and for all prohibited the proposed Pebble Mine. The Pebble Mine and related construction activity would have directly jeopardized the highest concentration of brown […]
Surgeons should prepare to face more abortion complications post-Wade, say experts
January 31, 2023 – Acute care surgeons should prepare to treat complications of forced pregnancies and unsafe abortions following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade in the USA in 2022, argue experts in an opinion piece published in the journal Trauma Surgery & Acute Care Open. The decision will disproportionately affect poor women […]
New policy memo makes the economic case for expanding the scope of reconciliation
January 30, 2023 – Congress has been gridlocked due in large part to the Senate filibuster, a tactic used to delay or block a vote on a measure by preventing debate on it from ending. Even bills that enjoy broad public support are often unable to pass through Congress. This gridlock negatively impacts families’ economic […]
AU To 7th Circuit: Religious Employers Are Not Above The Law; Catholic School Wrong To Fire Guidance Counselor Shelly Fitzgerald For Marrying A Woman
January 27, 2023 – Americans United for Separation of Church and State urged a federal appeals court to recognize that religious employers are not above the law and allow to proceed the civil rights lawsuit of Shelly Fitzgerald, a high school guidance counselor fired by Roncalli High School and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis […]
Federal Bill Ensuring Medicaid Coverage for Abortion Introduced in U.S. House
January 27, 2023 – The EACH Act was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Representatives Barbara Lee, Diana DeGette, Jan Schakowsky, and Ayanna Pressley. This bill would guarantee that people using Medicaid have coverage for abortion services. Statement from Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights: “Even before the Supreme Court […]
Menendez, Ocasio-Cortes, Booker, Luján, Padilla, Casar & Grijalva Urge Reversal of Title 42 Expansion and Proposed Asylum Transit Ban
WASHINGTON, D.C. January 26, 2023 – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J) and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.-14), alongside Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas-35), and Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.-07), today led a bicameral group of nearly 80 lawmakers urging President Joe Biden to reverse his administration’s expansion of […]
Biden-Harris Administration Finalizes Protections for Tongass National Forest
WASHINGTON, Jan. 25, 2023 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today finalized protections for the Tongass National Forest in Alaska, the world’s largest intact temperate rainforest. USDA’s final rule, announced today, repeals the 2020 Alaska Roadless Rule and restores longstanding roadless protections to 9.37 million acres of roadless areas that support the ecological, economic and […]
FDA Can Curtail Antibiotic Crisis by Ending Misuse in Livestock Animals, Say Health Advocate Groups in New Lawsuit
WASHINGTON, D.C. January 24, 2023 – To protect the safety of consumers, meat processing workers and farming communities, a coalition of public health advocacy groups have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and its Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM), challenging their refusal to phase out unnecessary uses of antibiotics in […]