Indiana’s attorney general on Tuesday appealed a judge’s ruling that blocked key aspects of a new state law that cut some public funding for Planned Parenthood because the organization provides abortions.
Tag Archives: Obama Administration
You can help stop abuse of science …Kevin Knobloch, Union of Concerned Scientists
Dr. Rosemary Johann-Liang spent seven years working for the government. Her job was to make sure that the prescription drugs we take and give to our families are safe and effective.
Become a member today and help UCS hold the Obama administration and its agencies accountable for protecting science by implementing reforms that will outlast their time in office.
But four years ago, she was reprimanded by her bosses for recommending that the popular diabetes drug Avandia carry a warning label because the drug had been linked to a significant increase in the risk of heart attacks. Her superiors not only failed to act on her recommendation, but they also took away her oversight role in the safety review of the drug. Avandia is made by the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline—which, according to a Senate investigation, intimidated physicians and sought ways to downplay findings that a rival drug might reduce cardiovascular risk.
Unfortunately, Dr. Johann-Liang is not alone. Thousands of scientists, across various federal agencies, have told us they fear retaliation for blowing the whistle on political interference in their work.
The Union of Concerned Scientists called attention to widespread attacks on science like this during the Bush administration. Now, the administration has changed, but the system that allows politics to undermine science largely has not.
Please help UCS lock in government reforms to protect scientists and ensure the best available science informs key decisions about our health, safety, and environment—become a member today.
Federal agencies are working right now to develop stringent new policies to protect scientists from political pressure by special interests. Working with government scientists and other policy experts, UCS has developed resources for agencies to draw upon and is working to ensure these policies:
Protect scientists who report political interference in agency work;
Prevent conflicts of interest on science advisory committees;
Allow scientists to share their research and scientific analysis with the public and the press; and
Increase transparency so the public knows what science agencies consider when making policy decisions.
We need your help to ensure federal agencies adopt strong policies that protect science—now and into the future.
Please become a member today. www.ucsusa.org
Sincerely,
Kevin Knobloch
President
P.S. When you join UCS, you join more than 79,000 UCS members who also believe that decisions about our health, safety, air, and water should fully consider the best available science. Please join us today and help us keep politics out of science.
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from John Hocevar, Greenpeace
It’s been one year now since the BP Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico – costing eleven people their lives and eventually releasing nearly 5 million barrels of oil into the marine ecosystem.
We have just one week to let the Obama administration know that the new national ocean policy they’re writing must include restrictions on offshore drilling, especially in the Arctic. Sign your name to the letter we’ll be delivering by clicking the take action button below.
The accident was a horrible example of the risks that oil companies like BP are willing to take with our national treasures just to make a profit and that they do it with the backing of our government. And while it will take years to fully understand the impacts the disaster had on the Gulf, one thing is clear: our lack of a comprehensive national ocean policy failed us a year ago.
That can change. Right now, the Obama administration is in the process of developing a new National Ocean Policy. They’re testing the waters to see how engaged the voting public is on this issue by allowing for public comments up until April 27th. I will be writing a letter on behalf of Greenpeace and submitting it as part of the process and I’d love it if you joined me by signing on to the letter yourself.
Your signature will send a message to the Obama administration that the public is still paying attention and that the dead turtles and dolphins still washing up along the Gulf coast one year after the disaster are not an acceptable side effect of our reliance on unsafe offshore drilling.
It’s time we had a national ocean policy that is for the oceans and all who use them – and not just big businesses looking to make a profit. We can’t afford another BP Deepwater disaster.
But you can bet that the oil companies are going to do everything they can to keep doing business as usual. We can’t let them be the only voice heard in this process. Help us get 40,000 signatures before April 27th by signing today.
Together we’ll send a message to the Obama administration that we want a national ocean policy that doesn’t include disasters like the one in the Gulf last year.
For the oceans,
John Hocevar
Greenpeace Oceans Campaign Director
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Make your check payable to the nuclear power industry … GreenPeaceUSA.org
On Monday, I was one of the thousands of people at over 200 vigils across the country who were standing shoulder to shoulder with friends and neighbors to show support for Japan and to imagine a world free of nuclear disasters.
The Obama administration isn’t backing down from nuclear energy giveaways, and neither will we. Tell the President and Congress that the key to a stable energy future is clean, renewable energy and NOT nuclear power.
Unfortunately, while you were planning your vigils, the president and some members of Congress have been planning to take more of YOUR tax dollars and give them to the nuclear industry to build more plants here in the United States.
Just days after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan crippled not one but THREE nuclear reactors at Fukushima Daiichi to the point of meltdown, the Obama Administration announced that it would move forward with even more giveaways to the nuclear industry in the budget. And they could take the issue up in Congress any day now.
It’s time for some common sense. Tell the President and Congress that there is no place for taxpayer giveaways to the nuclear industry in the budget and that now is the time to invest in technology that uses clean and unlimited energy sources like the sun and wind.
Every day a new, startling report from Japan makes the headlines: Babies in Tokyo can’t drink the water, radiation levels near the disaster site are dangerously high, plutonium has been reported in the water around Fukushima…. Meanwhile, the president is asking for $36 billion dollars for loan guarantees to subsidize the nuclear industry on top of the already $18.5 billion set aside. It’s crazy.
Lobbyists for the nuclear industry want you to believe that nuclear power is safe. That what is happening in Japan somehow couldn’t happen here even though we have 23 of the exact same reactors on line in this country. Don’t be fooled.
There is no place for nuclear power in our clean energy future. And there is no place for taxpayer giveaways to the nuclear industry in the budget. Send a message today and make sure that your members of Congress and the President know that you’re paying attention to how they’re spending your money.
A recent poll found that 75% of Americans oppose taxpayer-backed loans for nuclear power and favor increasing emphasis on renewable energy. But the industry won’t go away quietly. Lobbyists are undoubtedly knocking on the doors of every member of Congress trying to convince them nuclear energy is still the way to go. We can’t let them win. Send your letter today!
Thanks for all you do,
Jim Riccio,
Greenpeace Nuclear Policy Analyst
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Gas prices demand a Receipt Revolution
Gas Prices Demand a Receipt Revolution!
Tell Obama that Clean Cars are the Solution to Our Pain at the Pump …Stronger standards for cars strengthen America’s energy and economic security while giving drivers real choices in every class. Tell the president to side with people like you.
I’ll bet you’ve noticed that gas prices are once again hitting us hard, endangering America’s economic recovery. In his national news conference on gas prices, President Obama said that a long-term solution to this problem “cannot wait for the next generation, or the next president.”
We couldn’t agree more.
The Obama administration, in conjunction with the state of California, is working on new fuel efficiency and pollution standards (known as the “clean car standards”) for vehicles sold through 2025. These standards could be the single most important step toward making this pain at the pump a thing of the past, and meeting the objectives of the UCS Oil Savings Plan that would cut our projected oil use in half by 2030.
As gas prices rocket toward $4 per gallon and beyond, now is the time to tell President Obama your “pain at the pump” story, and that strong clean car standards are the number one option to help solve this problem once and for all.
Take Action Today! www.ucsusa.org
Sincerely,
Scott Nathanson
National Field Organizer
Clean Vehicles Program
Be a Seed for Change 
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