Category Archives: ~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Union of Concerned Scientists

For decades, the federal government has failed to produce an acceptable solution to manage the nation‘s radioactive nuclear waste from nuclear power plants. Today most of this dangerous “spent” fuel is stored in densely packed pools at the nation’s 104 operating nuclear reactors, posing significant risks to millions of Americans.

In fact, the pools contain on average much more nuclear waste and are more densely packed than the pools at the Fukushima reactors. An accident or terrorist attack resulting in a rapid loss of cooling water from a pool could lead to a fire and release of a massive quantity of highly radioactive material. To better protect Americans, most independent experts agree that radioactive waste that has cooled sufficiently should be transferred to concrete and steel containers called dry casks.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing on the Nuclear Waste Administration Act (S. 3469), legislation to overhaul the country’s long-term nuclear waste storage and management system. Unfortunately, the bill would do little to improve public safety in the near-term because it does not address moving the waste out of the densely packed pools into dry casks.

We need your senator, a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, to attend the hearing and champion dry cask storage as a critical first step in managing and safely disposing of the nation’s growing stockpile of high-level nuclear waste.

Urge your senator to attend this critical hearing tomorrow and champion the dry cask storage of nuclear waste.

Take Action Today!

Sincerely,

Sean Meyer
Manager, Strategic Campaigns
UCS Global Security Program

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Protect Yourself and Your Family from West Nile Virus

09/12/2012 Nativegrl77

West Nile Virus is a potentially dangerous illness that is primarily spread by bites from infected mosquitoes. So far this year, there have been 1,993 cases of West Nile Virus reported in the United States, including 87 deaths. 70 percent of those cases occurred in six states: Texas, South Dakota, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Michigan.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Weekly Address

09/11/2012 Nativegrl77

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Nancy Pelosi House Dems in the Newsroom

09/11/2012 Nativegrl77

It’s been more than 250 days since the GOP took control of the House, and Americans are still asking: Where are the jobs, House Republicans?
The middle class is hurting, and the Republicans’ only answer is a plan to end Medicare and give tax breaks to Big Oil and companies that ship jobs overseas.

Republican Majority Leader Eric Cantor revealed the GOP’s summer agenda – and what’s missing? A single jobs bill on the floor or a clear jobs plan.
The only jobs bills to come to the floor this Congress have been Democratic proposals, and the GOP has voted “no” on every one.
Democrats will continue to promote and pursue our Make It In America agenda to create jobs and keep America number one.

Pelosi Statement on August Jobs Report

Pelosi Statement on the Passing of Former Congressman Charlie Rose

Pelosi, Nadler, 143 House Members File New Amicus Brief on Federal Case Against DOMA

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Why We Vote: Obama Rescinds Controversial Bush “Conscience Clause”

09/11/2012 Nativegrl77

Care2

by Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux
September 10, 2012
8:46 am

Why We Vote: Obama Rescinds Controversial Bush “Conscience Clause”

NOTE: This election will be decided on turnout. We’ll be running posts from the past three and a half years to remind ourselves why we really do need to vote – and get our friends out too!

After two years of trying, the Obama administration finally succeeded, late last week, in rescinding the “conscience clause,” a federal regulation designed to protect pharmacists and health care workers who want to refuse to provide care based on moral or religious grounds. This often translated into pharmacists being able to deny their customers contraceptives or HIV medications, and health care workers refusing to perform in-vitro fertilizations for lesbians or single women. An ambulance driver in Chicago even rejected a woman’s need for transportation for abortion, and there were reports of drugstore workers refusing to sell condoms to men they perceived to be gay.

The new rule only leaves space, which is far less controversial, for doctors and nurses who conscientiously refuse to perform abortions or sterilizations. Health care workers who feel that their rights have been violated can also file complaints.

As the Washington Post points out, this is likely to spark intense debate, especially since Republican legislators are trying to ensconce these regulations in law. The Bush regulation, which was put in place in the last days of his presidency, would have cut off federal funding to institutions that did not comply with these conscience rules. One of the most commonly cited objections to the regulation was that the rules extended far beyond health care workers, allowing receptionists to refuse to make appointments for abortions and janitors to decline to clean up operating rooms where abortions were performed.

This is a clear victory for women’s ability to access abortion, and more generally for people to gain access to contraceptives, HIV medications, and other procedures to which some may morally object.

“Without the rescission of this regulation, we would see tremendous discrimination against patients based on their behavior and based just on who they are,” said Susan Berke Fogel of the National Health Law Program, an advocacy group based in the District. “We would see real people suffer, and more women could die.”

But some Republicans are, clearly, eager to undermine this step forward. We will continue to watch what happens in Congress, and keep you posted on future choice victories or encroachments on women’s rights.