SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
Aaron Huertas, 202-331-5458
New proposed vehicle standards announced by the Obama administration
today represent the largest increase in fuel economy in three decades,
according to the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).
The new standards, which were released by the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Transportation (DOT),
would boost the fleetwide fuel economy of new vehicles sold in the
United States to 34.1 miles per gallon by model year 2016. The
standards also would set the first national tailpipe heat-trapping
emissions standard for vehicles at 250 grams per mile, nearly 30
percent less than the emissions produced by today's average new vehicle.
Following a 60-day public comment period, EPA and DOT are required to finalize the standards by March 31, 2010.
"You have to go back to the days of disco to see a fuel economy
improvement like this," said Jim Kliesch, a senior engineer in the UCS
Clean Vehicles Program. "If finalized, these proposed standards will be
the biggest increase in fuel economy in more than 30 years. That's good
news for the environment, consumers' wallets, and our nation's energy
security."
UCS calculates that the proposed standards would:
-- reduce U.S. oil consumption by about 1.3 million barrels per day
by 2020, nearly as much as we currently import from Saudi Arabia;
-- cut global warming emissions by 217 million metric tons in 2020,
the equivalent of taking nearly 32 million of today's cars and light
trucks off the road that year; and
-- save drivers $26 billion in 2020 based on a gas price of $2.25 per
gallon, even after they pay the cost of vehicle technology
improvements. (If gas prices spike to $4 a gallon again, the new
standards would save drivers $60 billion in 2020.)
Patricia Monahan, director of UCS's California office, noted that
the agreement preserves California's authority under the Clean Air Act
to continue setting the nation's strongest air pollution standards for
vehicles.
"California and other states laid the groundwork for federal
action," Monahan said. "Instead of setting up roadblocks, President
Obama is joining forces with states to combat global warming."
While the proposal would set strong new standards, it could create
new loopholes that would undermine the effectiveness of the program,
UCS experts cautioned. For instance, the proposal includes flexibility
mechanisms that the industry has used in the past to avoid meeting
projected standards. Meanwhile, another provision could underestimate
the heat-trapping emissions produced by certain vehicle technologies,
including "zero-emission" vehicle technologies such as plug-in hybrids
and electric vehicles. The proposed rules, for example, do not count
heat-trapping emissions associated with generating electricity to
charge those vehicles.
"Automakers have a history of relying on loopholes instead of better
technology," said Brendan Bell, a federal policy analyst in UCS's Clean
Vehicles Program. "The technology exists today to safely boost fuel
economy and reduce emissions. It's time to take that technology and
deploy it across the fleet."
Finally, the new standards use an attribute-based system that
creates different fuel economy requirements for vehicles based on their
size. Unfortunately, DOT continues to utilize a flawed safety analysis
based on outdated assumptions that also ignores the safety benefits of
an attribute-based system. Scientific and industry research indicates
that vehicle size and design, not weight, are the most relevant
attributes associated with improved safety. However, the flawed
analysis focuses on weight as the most significant safety factor.
Additionally, the new attribute-based standards require smaller
vehicles to meet more stringent standards, encouraging manufacturers to
utilize efficient technologies, including lighter materials, while
holding vehicle size constant--a strategy for meeting the standards that
actually enhances safety.
The Union of Concerned Scientists is the leading science-based nonprofit working for a healthy environment and a safer world. UCS combines independent scientific research and citizen action to develop innovative, practical solutions and to secure responsible changes in government policy, corporate practices, and consumer choices.
Leaked audio reveals that the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas praised a far-right group whose president later attacked Justice Elena Kagan as "treasonous."
Leaked audio published Wednesday by the investigative outlets ProPublica and Documented reveals that the wife of U.S. Supreme Court Clarence Thomas effusively thanked a far-right group fighting judicial ethics reform effort spurred in large part by revelations about her husband's undisclosed gifts from Republican billionaires.
During a private July 31 call with the organization's top donors, First Liberty Institute president and CEO Kelly Shackelford read aloud an email—some of it in all-caps—from Ginni Thomas hailing the group's opposition to court reforms that are broadly popular with the U.S. public.
"YOU GUYS HAVE FILLED THE SAILS OF MANY JUDGES. CAN I JUST TELL YOU, THANK YOU SO, SO, SO MUCH," Ginni Thomas, who was closely involved in efforts to overturn the 2020 election, wrote to the group, according to Shackelford.
"I cannot adequately express enough appreciation for you guys pulling into reacting to the Biden effort on the Supreme Court," Thomas wrote.
Later in the call, First Liberty's president attacked liberal Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan as "treasonous" and "disloyal" for supporting an enforcement mechanism for the toothless ethics code that the high court unveiled under immense public pressure late last year.
Listen to the audio released by ProPublica and Documented:
The First Liberty Institute's donor call came days after Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) uncovered additional billionaire-funded private travel that Justice Thomas failed to disclose, the latest in a string of scandalous revelations that began with ProPublicareporting last year.
ProPublicaestimates that Thomas—part of a right-wing Supreme Court supermajority that has overturned the constitutional right to abortion care and dramatically curtailed the power of federal regulatory agencies—has over the past three decades taken dozens of luxury vacations bankrolled by billionaire Harlan Crow and other GOP megadonors with interests before the court.
Survey data released shortly after ProPublica's first bombshell report in April 2023 found that a majority of U.S. voters at the time backed Supreme Court ethics reforms and wanted Thomas to resign from the nation's most powerful judicial body.
"Ginni Thomas isn't protecting the court. She's protecting her and her husband's bribes."
ProPublica noted that Shackelford held the First Liberty donor call "shortly after President Joe Biden had announced support for a slate of far-reaching Supreme Court changes," including term limits and a binding ethics code for justices.
"On the donor call, Shackelford voiced strong opposition to various court reform proposals, including the ones floated by Biden, as well as expanding the size of the court," the investigative outlets noted. "All of these proposals, Shackelford said, were part of 'a dangerous attempt to really destroy the court, the Supreme Court.' This effort was led by 'people in the progressive, extreme left' who were 'upset by just a few cases,' he said."
News of Ginni Thomas' support for First Liberty's efforts to combat Supreme Court ethics reforms was seen as further confirmation of the urgent need to overhaul the judicial body, whose favorability ratings are near historic lows.
"Ginni Thomas isn't protecting the court," progressive activist Melanie D'Arrigo wrote on social media. "She's protecting her and her husband's bribes."
Brett Edkins, managing director of policy and political affairs at Stand Up America, said in a statement Wednesday that "the First Couple of the Supreme Court—Clarence and Ginni Thomas—have once again reminded us why we need term limits and a binding code of ethics to restore faith in our nation’s highest court."
"In a brazen political move, Ginni Thomas praised right-wing advocates working to quash commonsense Supreme Court reforms," said Edkins. "Having spent countless hours on all-expense-paid vacations on superyachts paid for by right-wing billionaires with interests before the court, it's almost too on the nose that Ginni thanked these advocates."
"It's a shameless reminder that the First Couple, and the Supreme Court broadly, must be held accountable," he added. "Congress must act by passing term limits and a binding code of ethics. The American people deserve a Supreme Court free from corruption and political bias."
This story has been updated to include a statement from Stand Up America.
"Israel kills 33 Palestinians in 24 hours but wants Palestinian families to think it's safe to travel to vaccinate their kids against polio," said one clinician.
United Nations agencies reiterated their calls for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday after healthcare workers completed the first phase of a polio vaccination push in the face of relentless, deadly Israeli airstrikes.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, announced early Wednesday that more than 187,000 children under the age of 10 were vaccinated during the first three days of the vaccination drive, an effort launched shortly after health officials detected the first polio case in the enclave in over two decades.
"Four fixed sites will continue to offer polio vaccination for the next three days in central Gaza to ensure no child is missed," said Tedros. "Preparations are underway today to roll out the vaccine campaign in south Gaza, which will start tomorrow. We are grateful for the dedication of all the families, health workers, and vaccinators who made this part of the campaign a success despite the dire conditions in the Gaza Strip."
"We ask for the humanitarian pauses to continue to be respected," he added. "We continue to call for a cease-fire."
The U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) echoed that message, writing on social media that "above all, we need a cease-fire now."
U.S.-armed Israeli forces have bombed the Gaza Strip throughout the dayslong vaccination drive, with one human rights monitor noting that some of the attacks "targeted locations near the vaccination centers."
Al Jazeerareported Wednesday that the Israeli military "targeted a home" in Gaza's Nuseirat refugee camp, killing at least one person. In Khan Younis, an Israeli airstrike "killed two more people, including a child," the outlet reported.
Gaza health officials said Tuesday that more than 30 people had been killed over the preceding 24-hour period.
" Israel kills 33 Palestinians in 24 hours but wants Palestinian families to think it's safe to travel to vaccinate their kids against polio," clinician and activist Annie Sparrow wrote on social media.
Health officials and aid workers risking their lives to vaccinate Gaza children against polio have said an enclave-wide inoculation campaign could only be successful with a sustained cease-fire deal, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is obstructing an agreement with hardline demands, including a continued Israeli military presence in the Palestinian territory.
The Washington Postnoted Tuesday that Netanyahu's insistence on Israeli control of the Philadelphi Corridor—a strip of land along Gaza's border with Egypt—"has also raised tensions with Egypt, which objects to any Israeli presence there and has warned that it violates the 1979 Israeli-Egypt peace treaty, a landmark agreement that has preserved peace between the two countries for more than four decades."
In the absence of a deal to end Israel's assault, humanitarian conditions on the ground in Gaza continue to deteriorate.
Tor Wennesland, the U.N.'s special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, said after returning from Gaza earlier this week that he "witnessed firsthand the catastrophic impact of the hostilities."
"The scale of destruction is immense, the humanitarian needs are colossal and soaring, and civilians continue to bear the brunt of this conflict. I unequivocally condemn the horrifying civilian death toll in Gaza," said Wennesland. "A deal is crucial to saving lives, reducing regional tensions, and enabling the U.N., in cooperation with the Palestinian Authority, to accelerate efforts to address the pressing needs of Gaza's population."
"The ongoing conflict has destroyed the lives of countless families," he added. "It must stop."
"We could, at any time, simply stop providing weapons to a far-right nationalist state intent on genocide. Instead, we just filed criminal charges against Palestinian militants who fought back," one professor lamented.
The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday unsealed terrorism and other criminal charges have been filed against half a dozen senior members of Hamas, the Palestinian resistance group that governs the Gaza Strip, and whose militant arm led the October 7 attacks on Israel.
The DOJ said in a
statement that the six individuals "are senior leaders of Hamas responsible for planning, supporting, and perpetrating Hamas' October 7 terrorist attacks in Israel resulting in the brutal murders of more than a thousand innocent civilians, including over 40 American citizens."
In announcing the charges, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said that "the Justice Department has charged Yahya Sinwar and other senior leaders of Hamas for financing, directing, and overseeing a decadeslong campaign to murder American citizens and endanger the national security of the United States."
"On October 7, Hamas terrorists, led by these defendants, murdered nearly 1,200 people, including over 40 Americans, and kidnapped hundreds of civilians," he continued. An unknown number of Israelis were killed by so-called "friendly fire" and under the Hannibal Directive, which allows Israeli forces to kill Israelis rather than let them fall into enemy hands.
"This weekend, we learned that Hamas murdered an additional six people they had kidnapped and held captive for nearly a year, including Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a 23-year-old Israeli American," Garland said. "We are investigating Hersh's murder, and each and every one of Hamas' brutal murders of Americans, as an act of terrorism."
"The charges unsealed today are just one part of our effort to target every aspect of Hamas' operations," he added. "These actions will not be our last."
International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan has applied for warrants to arrest Sinwar plus two other men charged on Tuesday: Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas political leader assassinated in Tehran in July, and Mohammed Deif, who led the group's militant arm. Israel also claims to have killed Deif.
The men are wanted for alleged crimes including extermination and rape. Khan also wants to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, his defense minister, for alleged crimes including extermination and forced starvation.
Israel is already on trial for genocide at the International Court of Justice. Israel’s obliteration of Gaza has left more than 145,000 Palestinians dead, wounded, or missing and millions more displaced, sick, and starving.
Despite this, the Biden administration continues to provide Israel with billions of dollars in weapons, diplomatic cover in the form of United Nations Security Council cease-fire resolution vetoes, and repeated genocide denials.
Responding to the new DOJ charges, Liam O'Mara, a history professor at Chapman University in California, said: "Our government doesn't want peace in Palestine. It never has. We could, at any time, simply stop providing weapons to a far-right nationalist state intent on genocide. Instead, we just filed criminal charges against Palestinian militants who fought back."