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A Stronger Approach to Methane Pollution: Ban Fracking
Biden administration must pursue more aggressive measures to stem climate pollution
WASHINGTON
Today, the EPA unveiled new rules intended to limit methane emissions for the oil and gas sectors.
In response, Food & Water Watch Policy Director Mitch Jones released the following statement
"The best regulation against methane emissions is to ban fracking and prohibit the use of methane in heating of newly constructed buildings. In addition, the federal government should be working to retrofit existing buildings to eliminate the use of methane. Further, President Biden should use his executive authority to stop the buildout of new gas infrastructure, ban the export of LNG, and stop fracking and the extraction of fossil fuel on federal lands as he promised during the campaign.
"In addition, Congress should pass Senator Cory Booker and Representative Ro Khanna's Farm System Reform Act to begin the transition away from the destructive factory farm model that harms the environment, impoverishes farmers, and promotes climate change."
Food & Water Watch mobilizes regular people to build political power to move bold and uncompromised solutions to the most pressing food, water, and climate problems of our time. We work to protect people's health, communities, and democracy from the growing destructive power of the most powerful economic interests.
(202) 683-2500LATEST NEWS
'Jesus Christ Doesn't Support Genocide': Vance Heckled at Turning Point USA Event
Audience members also booed the vice president, who claimed the Trump administration "solved" Israel's war on Gaza.
Apr 15, 2026
US Vice President JD Vance was repeatedly heckled over the Trump administration's support Israel's genocide in Gaza and the US-Israeli war on Iran as he spoke at a Turning Point USA event in Georgia, underscoring frustration among a MAGA base betrayed by promises of a peace presidency.
Vance was discussing his disagreement with Pope Leo XIV's criticism of the Trump administration's xenophobic immigration policies and record-breaking warmongering when someone in the audience at the Akins Ford Arena near the University of Georgia in Athens yelled out, "Jesus Christ doesn't support genocide!"
"I agree," said Vance. "Jesus Christ certainly does not support genocide, whoever yelled that out from the dark. He certainly does not. I think that's pretty easy."
Some audience members booed Vance's response, and the heckler shouted, "You're killing children!"
U.S. Vice President JD Vance faced hecklers during a speech at a Turning Point USA event, where he said Pope Leo should "be careful when he talks about matters of theology."
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— Reuters (@reuters.com) April 14, 2026 at 9:54 PM
Hundreds of children have been killed by US-Israeli bombing of Iran, including 168 students and staff at a girls' school in Minab who were massacred in a February 28 US cruise missile strike. More than 20,000 Palestinian children have been killed by Israel's war and siege on Gaza, according to local officials and international advocacy groups.
While Jesus never supported genocide in the New Testament of the Bible, his purported father commands his followers to commit genocide several times in the Old Testament. Israeli leaders including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes—have invoked God's biblical command to "slay" everyone in the Hebrews' ancient enemy of Amalek, "man and woman, infant and suckling," as divine sanction to lay waste to Gaza.
Attorneys in the South Africa-led International Court of Justice case against Israel have pointed to Israeli leaders' references to Amalek as evidence of genocidal intent, a key legal requisite for proving genocide.
Vance responded to the heckler, asserting that when President Donald Trump took office, "the humanitarian situation in Gaza was an absolute catastrophe."
"So if you want to complain about what happened in Gaza," he continued, "why don't you complain about Joe Biden in the last administration? We're the administration that solved that problem."
On January 20, 2025, former President Joe Biden's last day in office, the Gaza Health Ministry said at least 47,035 people had been killed by Israeli forces in the coastal strip since the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023. Since Trump's return to power, Israeli forces have killed at least 25,280 more Palestinians in Gaza.
The Biden and Trump administrations have both supported Israel with tens of billions of dollars in armed aid, diplomatic cover including vetoes of numerous United Nations Security Council ceasefire resolutions, and repeated denials that the leading US ally in the Middle East is committing genocide.
While there is growing unease among many in the MAGA base over Trump's broken promises of no new wars and lower gasoline prices on "day one," critics note that this opposition does not indicate a full anti-war shift, as many of the president's supporters just want the war to end as quickly and cheaply as possible.
Turning Point USA was co-founded by far-right firebrand Charlie Kirk, who was shot dead last year while trying to deflect blame for US gun violence on gangs. Kirk explicitly opposed any US regime change war in Iran.
In a bid to counter Gen Z's rightward shift during the 2024 election, progressive activist Elise Joshi on Wednesday launched More Perfect University, which aims to mobilize young voters by focusing on the economic issues that affect them.
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Fewer Jobs, Higher Inflation, and $300 Billion in Lost Output: Analysis Details Woeful Trump Economy
"This economy could be delivering lower inflation, more jobs, and stronger growth, but instead, it’s being dragged in the wrong direction by this president’s policy choices."
Apr 15, 2026
With US consumer sentiment hitting an all-time low, the Center for American Progress on Wednesday released a report pinning the blame for Americans' economic gloom on President Donald Trump.
In total, the CAP analysis projects that by the fourth quarter of 2026, Trump's policies will lower real GDP by 1.3% while adding 1.39% to personal consumption expenditures (PCE) inflation.
The report also estimates that the economy would have created an additional 2 million jobs 2026 were it not for the Trump's tariffs, mass deportations, and war of choice with Iran.
Although the unemployment rate at the moment is low, the report explains, US employers are also hiring far fewer people, as "both labor demand and labor supply have fallen, leaving a job market with fewer opportunities and less resilience against downturns."
Trump's policies have also made borrowing more expensive, and CAP says that interest rates are now 60 basis points higher than they otherwise would have been without the president's policies.
Jared Bernstein, senior fellow at CAP and former chair of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Joe Biden, said the analysis shows "this economy could be delivering lower inflation, more jobs, and stronger growth, but instead, it’s being dragged in the wrong direction by this president’s policy choices."
Bernstein said Trump's tariffs were the primary culprit for higher-than-expected inflation in 2025, while the oil supply shock that came after Trump launched a war with Iran is expected to add even more inflation throughout 2026.
The end result, said Bernstein, is a kind of "stagflation," with low economic growth and higher-than-average inflation. He also warned that "longer-term costs from reduced investment in both people and public goods will also take a toll on future growth."
Job growth in the US has largely stalled ever since Trump announced his "liberation day" tariffs more than a year ago, and a CAP analysis published earlier this month found that the economy has created an average of fewer than 22,000 jobs per month over the last year.
The latest Consumer Price Index report released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics found that prices in March rose by 3.3% from the previous year—the highest annual inflation rate since April 2024.
Despite this, Trump has continued to insist that he has created the "greatest" economy in the history of the world.
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Amnesty Urges Halt to EU-Israel Trade Agreement After Italy Suspends Defense Deal
"Now we need consistency," said a group spokesperson. "The Italian government must support the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement—a demand backed by over 1 million European citizens."
Apr 15, 2026
Amnesty International on Wednesday welcomed the Italian government's suspension of a military cooperation agreement with Israel over its recent attacks on Lebanon and urged Italy to back similar action on a European Union deal.
"Israel continues to act in defiance of international law and human rights: The genocide in the Gaza Strip is ongoing, the expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank proceeds alongside an unprecedented escalation of violence, and attacks and mass displacement in Lebanon continue," said Riccardo Noury, a spokesperson for Amnesty International Italy, in a statement.
"Any military cooperation between the Italian government and Israel risks making Italy complicit in violations of international humanitarian law and crimes under international law," the spokesperson warned. Israel faces an International Court of Justice case over the Gaza genocide, and the International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
Noury declared that "now we need consistency. The Italian government must support the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement—a demand backed by over 1 million European citizens who have signed the European Citizens' Initiative in just three months."
Earlier this month, Amnesty and 30 other organizations jointly called for that action from the bloc over "the Israeli Knesset's decision to approve a bill that makes death penalty effectively mandatory in the West Bank and which will de facto apply exclusively to Palestinians."
"The European Union must uphold its stated principles and legal obligations by finally suspending, as a minimum immediate measure, the trade component of the EU-Israel Association Agreement and adopting other measures," the coalition argued.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez—who has stood up against the US-Israeli war on Iran—notably called for suspending the EU deal last week, as "Netanyahu launches his harshest attack against Lebanon since the offensive began."
Noury said Wednesday that "the time has come for states to move beyond mere expressions of regret or dismay. They must take decisive action to pressure Israel to end its genocide in Gaza and the systematic violation of human rights across the occupied Palestinian territory and neighboring countries."
As Common Dreams reported, Italy's right-wing prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, announced the suspension of the bilateral deal amid mounting public pressure, with polls showing that large majorities of Italians believe Israeli forces' actions in Gaza constitute genocide and want their country to cut ties with Israel.
Israel agreed to a ceasefire in Gaza last October, two years after launching a devastating assault over a Hamas-led attack, but Israeli forces have continued to slaughter Palestinians there and restrict the flow of humanitarian aid into the territory.
Nearly a year before the Gaza agreement, Israel had reached a ceasefire deal with Lebanon—home to the political and militant group Hezbollah, which supported Palestinians under assault by Israeli forces. However, after the US and Israel launched an illegal war on Iran in February, Israel stepped up its attacks on Lebanon.
Despite an ongoing two-week ceasefire agreed to by the United States, Israel, and Iran, Israeli forces have intensified their assault on Lebanon, leading critics to suggest that the Netanyahu government is "acting to undermine a diplomatic process over which it had lost influence" and "blow up" the fragile agreement—which negotiators stress includes Lebanon.
After Israeli airstrikes killed or wounded more than 1,400 people in Lebanon—many of them civilians—last Wednesday, Amnesty International's regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, Heba Morayef, reiterated the urgent need for "Israel to uphold its obligations under international humanitarian law and ensure civilians are protected."
"Israel has an appalling track record of carrying out unlawful attacks in Lebanon and displaying a callous disregard for civilian life, fueled by the impunity Israeli officials feel they enjoy," Morayef said. "These attacks are a reminder that states must immediately halt the transfer of arms and weapons to Israel, given the overriding risk that they will be used to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law."
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