Tag Archives: politics

President Obama meets with senior officials at the Pentagon regarding ISIL.

President Barack Obama meets with senior Defense Department, national security advisors and military leadership regarding the campaign against ISIL, at the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., July 6, 2015. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

President Obama Provides an Update on Our Strategy to Degrade and Destroy ISIL

This week, the President signed a bipartisan trade deal, welcomed the President of Brazil to the White House–and showed her one of our national treasures–hosted 50 girls in green on the South Lawn for a campout to celebrate the great outdoors, answered questions about healthcare in Tennessee and online, and traveled to Wisconsin to announce new overtime protections for hard-working Americans. That’s June 26th to July 2nd or, “Amazing Grace.”

Three highlights from the President’s speech on the economy in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

UCS and sustainable food systems …

07/08/2015 Nativegrl77

Demand a healthy, affordable, sustainable food system.

Nearly 20,000 people have already signed our petition urging President Obama to establish a National Food Policy that will ensure healthy, sustainably grown food for all. It’s not too late to add your name! Sign today.

Read this issue on the UCS website.
www.ucsusa.org/publications/december_2014.html

Why we need a national food policy.

A twitter conversation with Michael Pollan, Mark Bittman, and Ricardo Salvador.

Watch food policy advocates and experts discuss ways to shape healthy food policy at the local level.

Ricardo Salvador, Ph.D.
Director,
Food & Environment ProgramFollow
Ricardo’s blog >>

“I read your call for an executive order to create a national food policy. I heartily agree that our food system is broken. But how would a national food policy be any different—or better—than the backward set of policies we have now?”—O. Day, Oakland, CA.As things stand today, the federal government already addresses a range of interconnected agricultural issues—diet-related disease, environmental degradation, farm subsidies, food safety, pesticides, immigration and farm labor, workplace safety and health—with a patchwork of regulations and standards across at least eight agencies. Not only is this approach uncoordinated, all too often agencies work at cross-purposes. READ MORE

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President Obama on Health Reform

07/07/2015 Nativegrl77

President Barack Obama greets audience members after delivering remarks on health care reform during the Catholic Health Association Conference at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park in Washington, D.C., June 9, 2015. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Yesterday, at the Catholic Health Association’s annual assembly, President Obama outlined the state of health care in America, now that the Affordable Care Act has become part of the fabric of our health care system.

“Everything we’ve done these past six and a half years to rebuild our economy on a new foundation… has been in pursuit of that one goal, creating opportunity for all people,” the President said. “And health reform was a critical part of that effort.”

Watch the President’s full remarks, and learn more about the history of health care reform in our country.

My Day One: From the Streets of Lahore to the Heart of Texas

June is Immigrant Heritage Month, and people across the country are sharing their American stories. Manar Waheed — the Deputy Policy Director for Immigration here at the White House — shared her own story this morning.

Last night, the First Lady delivered her final commencement address of the season at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Preparatory High School (King College Prep) in Chicago. This spring, Mrs. Obama also celebrated the graduates at Tuskegee University in Tuskegee, AL, and Oberlin College in Oberlin, OH as a way to shine a spotlight on students who have gone above and beyond to reach higher, and help others do the same.

This weekend, the President traveled to Krun, Germany — a small village in the Bavarian Alps — to meet with the leaders of the Group of Seven (G7). The G7 is an organization of world leaders, finance ministers, and heads of state from seven of the largest economies in the world — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the U.K., and the U.S. — as well as the European Council, EU Commission, and International Monetary Fund.

100,000,000

07/04/2015 Nativegrl77

The day you signed your first petition on Change.org, you became a part of something big. Today we’re celebrating 100 million people all over the world coming to Change.org to start or sign a petition. More than one million petitions have been supported by people like you, and there’s a unique story behind every signature.

We’re so proud of the change you have been a part of, and we’re excited to share this moment with you. Join us in celebrating 100 million people using Change.org: track the impact of the growing Change.org community.

Thanks for joining us on this journey,

The Change.org team

See the impact

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Gemma Tillack, Rainforest Action Network ~ Maruchan

07/04/2015 Nativegrl77

Last week we exposed Maruchan—America’s #1 instant noodle brand—as the ‘worst performing’ laggard in the Snack Food 20 as it had yet to make any commitments regarding its use of the controversial ingredient: Conflict Palm Oil.

With your help we turned the heat up on the company and the instant noodle giant has responded by issuing its first palm oil commitment. Thank you!

We can’t let Maruchan off the hook, however. The commitment it issued falls short of what is required. The company is only requiring its suppliers to meet the entirely insufficient RSPO standard by 2020. To make matters worse, this commitment only applies to operations in the US and not products sold worldwide. Maruchan has a massive worldwide reach; this is simply not enough.

Maruchan can and must do better. We have to keep the pressure on, so today activists are calling Maruchan and demanding it step up and be a leader by adopting and rapidly implementing a truly responsible palm oil policy.

Will you make a quick phone call and tell Maruchan to step up?

It’s simple and only takes a few minutes. Click here for regional phone numbers and a few things to say.

When you make a stand, companies have no choice but to listen. Please make a quick phone call now.