Aug. 3, 2016 – Building on President Obama’s unprecedented steps to address climate change, the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) is today releasing final guidance for Federal agencies on how to consider the impacts of their actions on climate change in their National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews. Following years of engagement and […]
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Scorecard of 50 Local Police Body Camera Programs Shows Nationwide Failure to Protect Civil Rights and Privacy
WASHINGTON, Aug. 3, 2016 – The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and Upturn released a scorecard that evaluates the civil rights safeguards of police body-worn camera programs in 50 U.S. cities. It shows a nationwide failure to protect the civil rights and privacy of surveilled communities. In November 2015, these organizations released an […]
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NOAA: International report confirms 2015 was Earth’s warmest year on record
Aug. 2, 2016 – A new State of the Climate report confirmed that 2015 surpassed 2014 as the warmest year since at least the mid-to-late 19th century. Last year’s record heat resulted from the combined influence of long-term global warming and one of the strongest El Niño events the globe has experienced since at least […]
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Memo to the Next President: Let’s Make Government Work for All of Us
Aug. 3, 2016 – Over the past several weeks, the Center for Progressive Reform (CPR) has urged the next president to take a constructive approach to our government and our system of health, safety, environmental, and financial safeguards. With Election Day just three months away, CPR is releasing a new paper that expands on those […]
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Underreporting of Zika is rife; researchers project epidemic’s spread
Aug. 3, 2016 – With the report from Florida Gov. Rick Scott on Monday that 14 people in the state have been infected with the Zika virus most likely through mosquito transmission, the concern about outbreaks in the U.S. has intensified. The news comes on the heels of new research by Northeastern professor Alessandro Vespignani […]
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Over 80 Legislators in Maryland and Delaware Urge White House to Prevent Seismic Airgun Blasting in the Atlantic
OCEAN CITY, MD, Aug. 2, 2016 – Today, legislators from Delaware and Maryland called on the White House to prevent seismic airgun blasting in the Atlantic Ocean, an extremely loud and dangerous process used to search for oil and gas deposits deep below the seafloor. In the two letters addressed to U.S. Department of the […]
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CAIR Demands Apology from Donald Trump for Disparagement of Muslim Gold Star Family
WASHINGTON, DC, July 31, 2016 – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today demanded that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump apologize for disparaging the parents of a Muslim who died while serving in the U.S. Army in Iraq. [NOTE: CAIR today also joined a #CanYouHearUsNow social […]
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American Muslims Who Refused to Become FBI Informants File Appeal Over No-Fly List
NEW YORK, July 29, 2016 – Today, three American Muslim men with no criminal records who were placed or kept on the No Fly List by the FBI in retaliation for their refusal to become informants appealed the dismissal of their lawsuit against the Federal Bureau of Investigation. FBI agents told the men they could […]
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President Obama Signs GMO ‘Non-labeling’ Bill, Leaves Millions of Americans in the Dark
WASHINGTON, July 29, 2016— Today President Obama signed into law a GMO labeling bill that discriminates against more than 100 million Americans. The bill recently passed through Congress and allows companies and producers to use QR codes, 1-800 numbers and other difficult to access technology to label food products that contain GMOs, instead of clear, […]
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Donald Trump and Russia: a web that grows more tangled all the time
July 30, 2016 – A key figure at the Republican national convention where Donald Trump was nominated for president has strong business ties with Ukraine, the Guardian has learned. Full story: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jul/30/donald-trump-paul-manafort-ukraine-russia-putin-ties
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Federal Appeals Court Strikes Down North Carolina’s,Restrictive Voting Law
RICHMOND, VA, July 29, 2016— A federal appeals court today struck down North Carolina’s restrictive omnibus voting law in a sweeping victory for voting rights. The ruling blocks voter ID and restores preregistration, a week of early voting, same-day registration, and out-of-precinct provisional voting. The American Civil Liberties Union and Southern Coalition for Social Justice challenged […]
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Zika Has Arrived, But Congress Has Not Allocated Ample Funding, Say Medical Experts
WASHINGTON, DC, July 29, 2016 – The Florida Department of Health, investigating non-travel related cases of Zika in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, has concluded “that a high likelihood exists that four cases are the result of local transmission.” Despite the advance warning of Zika’s approach, Georgetown experts in infectious disease, public health law, health systems […]
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Watch Hillary Clinton’s full speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention
July 28, 2016 – Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton closed out the final night of the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
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NRDC Report: TransCanada’s “Reckless Plan B” Seeks Massive Tar Sands Oil Shipments via New Pipeline and Tankers
WASHINGTON, DC, July 26, 2016 – The threat of devastating tar sands spills did not end when President Obama rejected the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline last November, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is warning today in a report that lays out TransCanada’s reckless Plan B. That scheme calls for building a pipeline to […]