Dear Common Dreams Readers:
Sue Sturgis
Sue Sturgis is the Director and regular contributor to the Institute for Southern Study's online magazine, Facing South, with a focus on energy and environmental issues. Sue is the author or co-author of five Institute reports, including Faith in the Gulf (Aug/Sept 2008), Hurricane Katrina and the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement (January 2008) and Blueprint for Gulf Renewal (Aug/Sept 2007). Sue holds a Masters in Journalism from New York University.
Articles by this author
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Views Sunday, June 18, 2017 Meet the Southern Senators Critical to Blocking Obamacare's Repeal Before leaving town for the July 4 recess, the GOP-controlled U.S. Senate is expected to vote on a bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as "Obamacare" — and this week Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky put the proposal on the fast track . The measure, which could... Read more |
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Views Saturday, April 15, 2017 The Energy Lobbyists Linked to Trump's Offshore Drilling Plans Last week U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke announced that President Trump plans to issue an executive order expanding offshore drilling in areas now off limits, including the Atlantic Ocean and parts of the Arctic. Trump's order would amend the Obama administration's five-year drilling plan that... Read more |
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Views Sunday, April 09, 2017 NC Lawmakers Want to Shield Factory Farms from Big Damage Payments to Victims Legislation moving through the North Carolina General Assembly would prevent people living near the state's numerous factory farms from recovering more than token damages in civil lawsuits where the farm's corporate owner is found responsible for harming them. The proposal comes with such... Read more |
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Views Sunday, March 12, 2017 Southern Communities Brace for the Impact of Big Oil's Expansion Plans President Donald Trump kicked off this week with a Monday morning tweet hailing — and seeming to wrongly take credit for — Exxon Mobil's plan for a $20 billion expansion of its refineries, chemical plants and liquefied natural gas operations along the U.S. Gulf Coast. "We are already winning again... Read more |
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Views Saturday, March 04, 2017 Workers, Civil Rights Leaders Join for 'March on Mississippi' Backing Nissan Union In what's expected to be the largest protest in Mississippi in years, hundreds of workers, civil rights leaders, and social justice advocates plan to march to the Nissan factory in Canton this Saturday and call on the automaker to respect employees' right to a union election free from fear and... Read more |
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Views Saturday, February 25, 2017 Congressional Town Halls Become Forums for Anti-GOP Resistance This week marks the first recess of the 115th Congress. Members typically use the breaks as a chance to return to their home districts and hear from the locals at low-key town hall meetings. But this year they're getting an earful as constituents mobilized by the election of President Trump have... Read more |
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Views Saturday, January 07, 2017 As More Southerners Benefit From It, Medicaid Expansion Faces Congressional Death Threats Date on which North Carolina's newly sworn-in Gov. Roy Cooper (D) announced he'd take executive action to expand Medicaid, the public health insurance program for the poor, under the Affordable Care Act: 1/4/2017 Year in which North Carolina's Republican-controlled legislature passed a law barring... Read more |
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Views Saturday, September 24, 2016 Will the Gulf of Mexico Remain a Dumping Ground for Offshore Fracking Waste? When you think of a fracking site, the image that comes to mind is probably a bare-scraped well pad in a rural or maybe suburban landscape, topped with a drilling rig and other industrial infrastructure, and a fleet of trucks to haul materials needed for the controversial process that involves high... Read more |
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Views Saturday, August 13, 2016 Did Federal Agents Spy on Offshore Oil Lease Protesters in New Orleans? Back in March, hundreds of protesters descended on the Superdome in New Orleans to disrupt a federal auction for new Gulf of Mexico oil and gas leases. They waved signs, carried banners and chanted "Shut it down!" and "the Gulf is not for profit!" The action was part of the international Keep It in... Read more |
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Views Saturday, June 18, 2016 How Politicians Helped Create a Climate of Hate for LGBT People Number of people killed in the June 12 massacre at Pulse, an LGBT dance club in Orlando, Florida, by a man who reportedly expressed animus toward LGBT people and who may have been a gay or bisexual person himself: 49 Number of people injured in the shooting, which took place on the club's Latin-... Read more |