March, 18 2021, 12:00am EDT
EPA Acts Responsibly by Relaunching Climate Science and Policy Website
Agency returns to a clear focus on educating the public about climate change.
WASHINGTON
The Environmental Protection Agency reinstated its website centered on climate science and policy on Thursday. This information was removed from the EPA website by the previous administration. This relaunch is a strong signal that the Biden administration will restore the role of science in protecting our communities and public health.
Andrea McGimsey, senior director for Environment America Research and Policy Center's Global Warming Solutions campaign, issued the following statement:
"Communities across our nation are facing tremendous risks from climate change. Only when we're armed with the facts about what we face now and in the coming years -- and have information on what we can do to make a difference on climate change -- can we make the best decisions possible to protect the vibrancy of our communities and a stable future for our children and grandchildren.
"By empowering Americans with the best scientific evidence available, the Environmental Protection Agency is providing a critical service that aligns squarely with its mission to protect our environment and public health."
With Environment America, you protect the places that all of us love and promote core environmental values, such as clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, and clean energy to power our lives. We're a national network of 29 state environmental groups with members and supporters in every state. Together, we focus on timely, targeted action that wins tangible improvements in the quality of our environment and our lives.
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'He Serves the Billionaire Class': UAW President Says He Won't Meet With Trump
"All you have to do is look at his track record," said United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain. "His track record speaks for itself."
Sep 27, 2023
United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain said Tuesday that he will not be meeting with Donald Trump when the former president visits Michigan, pointing to his long history of anti-worker rhetoric and policies.
"I see no point in meeting with him because I don't think the man has any bit of care about what our workers stand for, what the working class stands for," Fain said in a CNN appearance. "He serves the billionaire class, and that's what's wrong with this country."
Fain's remarks came hours before Trump's scheduled address Wednesday night at Drake Enterprises, a nonunion auto parts manufacturer in Clinton Township, Michigan. A national UAW spokesperson toldHuffPost that the union—which is nearly two weeks into its strikes against the Big Three U.S. automakers—doesn't represent any workers at Drake Enterprises, but the facility "could be home to other unions."
In his CNN interview, Fain said he finds it a "pathetic irony" that Trump—who has repeatedly bashed the UAW's leadership—is holding a purportedly pro-worker event at a nonunion business.
"All you have to do is look at his track record," said Fain. "His track record speaks for itself. In 2008 during the Great Recession, he blamed UAW members. He blamed our contracts for everything that was wrong with these companies. That's a complete lie. In 2015 when he was running for president, he talked about doing a rotation, taking all these good-paying jobs in the Midwest and moving them somewhere in the South where people work for less money, and then to make people beg for their jobs back at lower wages."
"And the ultimate show of how much he cares about our workers was in 2019 when he was the president of the United States," Fain continued. "Where was he then? GM—our workers at GM were on strike for 60 days. For two months, they were out there on the picket lines. I didn't see him hold a rally. I didn't see him stand up at the picket line. And I sure as hell didn't hear him comment about it. He's missing in action."
Earlier Tuesday, President Joe Biden joined Fain and striking autoworkers on the picket line outside of a General Motors plant in Belleville, Michigan. Labor historians say Biden is the first sitting U.S. president to walk a picket line with striking workers.
The UAW has not endorsed a candidate in the 2024 presidential race, and Fain told CNN that his comments on Trump were "not an endorsement for anyone."
"It's just flat-out how I view the former president," he said.
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Writers' Strike Ends After Nearly Five Months as WGA Unveils Tentative Deal
"The WGA appears to have won more than analysts initially believed possible."
Sep 27, 2023
Hollywood screenwriters' monthslong strike ended Wednesday after the Writers Guild of America leadership voted unanimously to recommend the tentative three-year contract agreement that the union reached with major studios over the weekend.
WGA members will now vote on whether to ratify the deal, which includes higher pay than the studios were originally willing to offer, improved healthcare benefits, viewership-based streaming residuals, minimum staffing requirements for television writers' rooms, and regulations constraining studios' use of artificial intelligence.
In a statement late Tuesday, the WGA negotiating committee said that union members "will be able to vote from October 2nd through October 9th, and will receive ballot and ratification materials when the vote opens."
"The WGAW Board and WGAE Council also voted to lift the restraining order and end the strike as of 12:01 am PT/3:01 am ET on Wednesday, September 27th," the committee added. "This allows writers to return to work during the ratification process, but does not affect the membership's right to make a final determination on contract approval."
The WGA committee called the tentative agreement an "exceptional deal, with gains and protections for members in every sector of the business."
"The WGA appears to have won more than analysts initially believed possible," The New York Timesreported Tuesday. "Studios suggested early on that they wouldn't bend on issues like residuals or staffing, citing changes streaming has made to their industry. But the strike—coupled with the SAG-AFTRA walkout—has crippled Hollywood, with studio owners like Warner Bros. Discovery predicting big hits to their earnings. Analysts have estimated that studios could lose as much as $1.6 billion in global ticket sales because of movie delays."
According to survey data, the writers' strike was broadly popular with the U.S. public. A Data for Progress poll conducted last month found that 67% of all likely voters backed the strike, while a Gallup survey showed that the public sympathized with screenwriters over Hollywood studios by a margin of 72% to 19%.
SAG-AFTRA actors who joined writers on the picket lines will remain on strike, and the union said Wednesday that it currently has no scheduled dates to meet with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the major studios.
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With House GOP in Chaos, Senate Advances Bipartisan Bill to Avert Shutdown
"Once passed, the House must swiftly take up the bill and send it to the president's desk to avoid a shutdown—giving Americans the help and resources they deserve," said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Sep 26, 2023
Faced with a fractured and chaos-causing Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, the Senate took action on Tuesday to avert the looming government shutdown, voting 77-19 to advance a bipartisan short-term funding bill.
The procedural vote sets up the Senate to approve a continuing resolution (CR) that would fund the government through mid-November later this week. Both chambers must pass some type of funding measure to prevent a shutdown on October 1.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) took to the chamber floor on Tuesday to discuss the effort and call out embattled House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).
"We are now right at the precipice," Schumer said. "Yet all last week, Speaker McCarthy, instead of focusing on bipartisanship, catered to the hard right, and has nothing, to show for it. And now, the speaker will put on the floor hard-right appropriations bills that have nothing to do with avoiding a shutdown. So this week, the Senate will move forward first."
After the text of the CR was released, Schumer thanked Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and noted that "all through the weekend—night and day—Senate Democrats and Republicans worked in good faith to reach an agreement on a continuing resolution that will keep the government funded and avert a shutdown."
"This bipartisan CR is a temporary solution, a bridge that will spare families the pain of a shutdown while allowing Congress to keep working to fully fund the federal government," he stressed. "Once passed, the House must swiftly take up the bill and send it to the president's desk to avoid a shutdown—giving Americans the help and resources they deserve."
According to the office of Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the resolution:
- Extends government funding through November 17;
- Extends funding to help communities struck by disaster and continues support for Ukraine at a pivotal moment;
- Prevents critical health statutes from lapsing to ensure funding for community health centers and teaching health centers does not expire;
- Extends the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) authorities through the end of the calendar year;
- Ensures federal wildland firefighters will not see a pay cut; and
- Ensures the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) will continue to be able to serve the nearly 7 million women and children who rely on it.
"A shutdown would be nothing short of a catastrophe for American families, our national security, and our economy. It is critical that we avoid one, and that's exactly what this bipartisan legislation will do," said Murray, noting that senators continue to work on annual appropriations bills for fiscal year 2024. "We have much more to do, but we should pass this legislation immediately—there is no time to waste."
House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) agreed that "the bipartisan continuing resolution introduced by the Senate is a reasonable approach to keeping the government open while we finish our work on final 2024 funding bills."
"It is not perfect, but it prevents a catastrophic and avoidable shutdown, includes critical funding to help communities recover from natural disasters, and protects national security with continued support for Ukraine in the face of Russia's continued attacks," she said. "If House Republicans are serious about finishing final full-year bills, they need to vote for this bipartisan continuing resolution so we can get to work right away."
Meanwhile, The Hillreported that McCarthy on Tuesday "floated the possibility of meeting" with President Joe Biden to work out a compromise, telling journalists that "the president could keep government open by doing something on the border."
The now-dead CR that House Republicans unveiled last week even though they knew it was "doomed to fail" notably included border polices widely opposed by Democratic lawmakers and funding cuts that betrayed McCarthy and Biden's debt limit deal.
Some Republicans suggested the Senate CR "ain't gonna pass the House," as Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) put it. According toPolitico, Rep. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.) concurred, pointing to Ukraine aid and saying: "It's not gonna happen over here. It's not gonna happen on the Republican side."
House Republicans on Tuesday night advanced four full-year spending bills, though that won't prevent a shutdown.
This post has been updated with House Republicans' comments and Tuesday night vote.
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