Public Policy
News releases, reports, statements and associated documents from public policy organizations whose goal it is to influence the debate Washington.
Featured Stories
NSC Awarded $950,000 to Help Reduce Roadway Injuries, Deaths in Three States
ITASCA, Illinois, Nov. 23 -- The National Safety Council issued the following news on Nov. 22, 2024:
* * *
Our Driving Concern program offers employers free resources to prevent roadway incidents.
* * *
This month, the National Safety Council secured three significant federal pass-through grants totaling over $950,000 to increase awareness of the impact of traffic crashes on employers, equip companies with tools to keep their employees safe on the road and improve transportation safety outcomes through the Our Driving Concern (ODC) program.
The three grants were awarded to NSC from the Texas
... Show Full Article
ITASCA, Illinois, Nov. 23 -- The National Safety Council issued the following news on Nov. 22, 2024:
* * *
Our Driving Concern program offers employers free resources to prevent roadway incidents.
* * *
This month, the National Safety Council secured three significant federal pass-through grants totaling over $950,000 to increase awareness of the impact of traffic crashes on employers, equip companies with tools to keep their employees safe on the road and improve transportation safety outcomes through the Our Driving Concern (ODC) program.
The three grants were awarded to NSC from the TexasDepartment of Transportation, Ohio Department of Public Safety and Louisiana Highway Safety Commission. The awards are the result of inclusion in each state's Highway Safety Plan priority programs funded by the U.S. DOT National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. They will support NSC efforts to protect roadway users and promote safety in each of the states.
"We are honored to be a recipient of these three federal pass-through grants," said Mark Chung, NSC executive vice president, roadway practice. "State and federal funds enhance our work with state partners to reduce crashes, serious injuries and fatalities in the partner states."
TxDOT awarded NSC $703,000 to continue its 17-year partnership to enhance employer traffic safety in Texas. This funding provides free training and traffic safety resources to help employers reduce risky driving behavior, save money and most importantly save lives. For additional information on Texas ODC, visit tx.ourdrivingconcern.org.
Additionally, the Ohio Traffic Safety Office, a division of the Ohio Department of Public Safety, awarded NSC $174, 941 in highway traffic safety funding for FY 2025. This funding will create an ODC program tailored to the highest traffic crash risk areas in Ohio, such as seat belt use, speeding and distraction. Our Driving Concern Ohio aims to bolster workforce safety by providing training and education to Ohio employers and employees to understand the important investment in educating employees on traffic safety. NSC is proud to partner with the Ohio Office of Traffic Safety on this inaugural grant program. For additional information on Ohio ODC, visit oh.ourdrivingconcern.org.
The Louisiana Highway Safety Commission awarded NSC $80,000 to develop and implement resources for employers in the state to address impaired driving. In 2021, more than 40% of the motor vehicle crashes in Louisiana involved alcohol. NSC has created evidence-based training for employers to educate their employees and the community on the impacts of impaired driving, as well as provide tools and resources aimed at reducing impaired driving-related crashes. Find out more at la.ourdrivingconcern.org.
NSC is proud to partner with these organizations to eliminate fatal and serious injuries for all road users through a comprehensive approach to traffic safety. Employers play an important role as we work to reach zero roadway fatalities.
For more information about the Our Driving Concern and to access free resources, please visit ourdrivingconcern.org.
* * *
About the National Safety Council
The National Safety Council is America's leading nonprofit safety advocate - and has been for 110 years. As a mission-based organization, we work to eliminate the leading causes of preventable death and injury, focusing our efforts on the workplace and roadways. We create a culture of safety to not only keep people safer at work, but also beyond the workplace so they can live their fullest lives.
* * *
Partner with NSC
With a century-long legacy, the National Safety Council is a global center for safety expertise. Let's work together to align resources. We look forward to learning about ways we can join efforts to expand safety everywhere!
* * *
Request More Information (https://cloud.safe.nsc.org/request-more-info)
* * *
Original text here: https://www.nsc.org/newsroom/nsc-$950,000-to-reduce-traffic-crashes-3-states
[Category: Transportation]
Lawsuit Challenges Faulty Environmental Analysis for California's First Carbon Capture, Storage Project
WASHINGTON, Nov. 23 -- The Center for Biological Diversity issued the following news release:
* * *
Oil Company's Plan Threatens Community Health, Climate Goals
* * *
BUTTONWILLOW, Calif.-- A coalition of community, environmental justice and conservation groups sued Kern County on Wednesday for approving the Carbon TerraVault I project. The groups cite multiple environmental, public health and safety concerns that Kern County failed to address before its board of supervisors approved the project's final environmental impact report in October.
Carbon TerraVault I is the first carbon capture
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, Nov. 23 -- The Center for Biological Diversity issued the following news release:
* * *
Oil Company's Plan Threatens Community Health, Climate Goals
* * *
BUTTONWILLOW, Calif.-- A coalition of community, environmental justice and conservation groups sued Kern County on Wednesday for approving the Carbon TerraVault I project. The groups cite multiple environmental, public health and safety concerns that Kern County failed to address before its board of supervisors approved the project's final environmental impact report in October.
Carbon TerraVault I is the first carbon captureand storage, or CCS, project of its kind in California. Proposed by California Resources Corporation, or CRC, the state's largest oil and gas company, the project would capture and inject 49 million metric tons of carbon dioxide to store underground at CRC's Elk Hills oil and gas field near Bakersfield.
The project will add new CCS equipment to the existing methane gas processing plant and power plant supporting the Elk Hills field, build 11 miles of new pipelines to transport captured CO2, and inject it underground via multiple high-pressure injection wells.
Because the CO2 captured from existing operations at Elk Hills will only account for about 10% of the project's storage capacity, Kern County and CRC have also opened the door to a range of new polluting facilities that could be built from scratch to send CO2 to TerraVault I. This massive buildout, including hydrogen, cement, steel and gasoline facilities, flies in the face of the purported purpose of CCS projects, which is to meaningfully reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address climate change. It will also increase the pollution burden for local communities in Kern County.
"Kern County has bought into the misleading claim that this project will reduce climate impacts, opening the door to significant federal and state financial subsidies for CCS," said Michelle Ghafar, an attorney at Earthjustice. "This is exactly the type of 'wolf in sheep's clothing' diversion by the oil and gas industry that Californians must oppose if we want to make real climate progress. We must invest in renewable energy, not false solutions hawked by the source of the problem."
Kern County's analysis reveals that TerraVault I cannot satisfy the most important expectation for all CCS projects: to permanently and safely store CO2 underground. The Elk Hills field is covered with thousands of previously drilled oil and gas wells that increase the risk of dangerous carbon leaks, and the county admitted shortly before approval that it cannot ensure permanent CO2 storage.
The lawsuit challenges Kern County's approval of the Carbon TerraVault I project under the California Environmental Quality Act. During the environmental report drafting process, the county received thousands of public comments urging it to address the deficiencies in its analysis and reject the project in its current form. Many of these comments were from residents living in communities surrounding the Elk Hills project site. The majority of people in these frontline communities are low-income and people of color who are already disproportionately harmed by the highest pollution burdens in California.
"Every day, Kern communities are forced to face the effects of being one of the most polluted regions in the country," said Diana Mireles, the president of Comite Progreso de Lamont. "Now, the county has approved this carbon capture and storage facility, completely ignoring our concerns about increasing the lifespan of polluting infrastructure and attracting more carbon-emitting projects with their own impacts. We deserve better than a government that only answers to the oil industry. We won't accept this; so, we're fighting back."
Because TerraVault will have long-term consequences for Kern County and the entire state, the county must fully analyze and mitigate its wide array of potential impacts and carefully consider any project alternatives as required by law, as today's lawsuit notes.
Yet the county's final environmental impact report is riddled with errors and repeated attempts to pass off its environmental review obligations elsewhere. The report fails to address significant and unavoidable project impacts to air quality, greenhouse gases, energy use, local geology, pipeline safety, water supply and biological resources in the area. It also ignores impacts from the project's numerous potential carbon sources and fails to consider alternatives to the project that are less environmentally harmful.
"CRC is presenting Carbon TerraVault I as a 'climate solution,' but it's really a trojan horse -- one filled with dangerous, high-pressure pipelines and unacceptable pollution risks for communities already bearing California's heaviest air quality burden," said Mercedes Aguilar, a senior organizer with the Sierra Club living in Kern County. "Rather than investing millions in this risky project, which will primarily serve to extend the life of fossil fuel operations, CRC should focus on addressing their existing environmental obligations -- including the proper cleanup and closure of their approximately 12,000 idle wells in Kern County."
"Kern County has rubberstamped the biggest corporate deception since filtered cigarettes," said Victoria Bogdan Tejeda, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity's Climate Law Institute. "By claiming to help the climate, California's largest oil and gas company can benefit from state and federal incentives and subsidies. Projects that disguise fossil fuels as a climate solution warrant close scrutiny and ultimately should not be approved."
CRC is planning a major expansion of CCS projects across California. TerraVault I is the first of six underground CO2 storage "vaults" the company is proposing in the San Joaquin and Sacramento basins.
A broad coalition of groups concerned about TerraVault I's serious risks and harms filed the lawsuit. Earthjustice is representing Central California Environmental Justice Network and Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity is representing itself, and Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment is representing Committee for a Better Shafter, Delano Guardians, and Comite Progreso de Lamont.
* * *
The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.7 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.
* * *
Original text here: https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/lawsuit-challenges-faulty-environmental-analysis-for-californias-first-carbon-capture-storage-project-2024-11-22/?_gl=1*n9ig1m*_gcl_au*MTc0MzM5NjA0NS4xNzMxNDc1Njk1
[Category: Biology]
Concerned Women for America: An Illegitimate Court Issues Illegitimate Warrants Against Israel
WASHINGTON, Nov. 23 -- The Concerned Women for America issued the following statement on Nov. 22, 2024:
* * *
Penny Nance, CEO and President of Concerned Women for America (CWA), the nation's largest public policy organization for women, had this to say on the news of the International Criminal Court's (ICC) issuance of warrants against America's ally, Israel:
"The ICC's treatment of the nation of Israel and her leaders is unjust and divorced from reality. On October the 7th, 1,200 innocent people died in Israel due to a heinous attack by the Hamas terrorists. Thursday's issuance of arrest orders
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, Nov. 23 -- The Concerned Women for America issued the following statement on Nov. 22, 2024:
* * *
Penny Nance, CEO and President of Concerned Women for America (CWA), the nation's largest public policy organization for women, had this to say on the news of the International Criminal Court's (ICC) issuance of warrants against America's ally, Israel:
"The ICC's treatment of the nation of Israel and her leaders is unjust and divorced from reality. On October the 7th, 1,200 innocent people died in Israel due to a heinous attack by the Hamas terrorists. Thursday's issuance of arrest ordersfor Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is incomprehensible and illegitimate.
"I applaud President Biden and U.S. leaders at the Pentagon for their firm rejection. CWA joins Speaker of the House Johnson on his call for Congress to pass the Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act (H. R. 8282) to impose sanctions concerning the ICC's efforts to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute any protected person of the United States and its allies.
"Five Americans and about 100 Israelis remain hostage in Gaza, and time is running out as the conditions they are subjected to are dangerous and inhumane. That's where our focus as a country needs to be. We must realize that the ICC stands against us and all people of goodwill in that endeavor."
* * *
Original text here: https://concernedwomen.org/an-illegitimate-court-issues-illegitimate-warrants-against-israel/
[Category: Sociological]
Americans for Tax Reform: 3 Reasons Why a Randi Weingarten 'Endorsement' Is Quite the Opposite
WASHINGTON, Nov. 23 -- Americans for Tax Reform issued the following news on Nov. 22, 2024:
Joining a recent endorsement from Teamsters President Sean O'Brien, American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten on Thursday praised the potential nomination of Congresswoman Chavez-DeRemer for Secretary of Labor.
"Now, this would be a significant appointment for Trump to make... Lori Chavez-DeRemer touted for US Labor Secretary," Weingarten wrote on X, to the consternation of conservatives.
Chavez-DeRemer is a co-sponsor of the anti-worker "Protecting the Right to Organize" (PRO)
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, Nov. 23 -- Americans for Tax Reform issued the following news on Nov. 22, 2024:
Joining a recent endorsement from Teamsters President Sean O'Brien, American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten on Thursday praised the potential nomination of Congresswoman Chavez-DeRemer for Secretary of Labor.
"Now, this would be a significant appointment for Trump to make... Lori Chavez-DeRemer touted for US Labor Secretary," Weingarten wrote on X, to the consternation of conservatives.
Chavez-DeRemer is a co-sponsor of the anti-worker "Protecting the Right to Organize" (PRO)Act, a bill that bans right-to-work laws nationwide, snuffs out independent contractors who want to be their own boss, and exacerbates union harassment of workers. The PRO Act is Big Labor's biggest priority because its end goal is to shove all workers into unions.
Weingarten's endorsement should concern Republicans, given her lengthy record of far-left advocacy and bitter opposition to Trump's agenda. A DOL pick that counts Sean O'Brien and Randi Weingarten as fans should be worrying to all who support worker freedom.
Here are three reasons why a Weingarten "endorsement" serves as precisely the opposite:
1. Weingarten Puts Government Workers Above the American People.
Randi Weingarten came into the public eye most prominently in 2020 as the face of national school closures.
Even as other countries began reopening schools, Weingarten continued to advocate well into 2021 for keeping schools closed or hybrid, rather than reopening fully. Weingarten's influence reportedly changed Biden administration policy for the worse, locking many children out of an education and extending a period of instability for families. Weingarten called school reopening plans in 2020 "reckless," "callous," and "cruel."
In order to prevent public school teachers from having to go back to work, Weingarten was willing to sacrifice the education of students. Studies have shown that lengthy school closures during the pandemic and post-pandemic period resulted in significantly worse learning outcomes.
In the federal government, public-sector unions are still fighting against any new return-to-office plans, nearly five years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Weingarten and other public-sector union bosses continue to put the wants of government employees over the needs of the American people.
As noted by Michael Watson of Capital Research Center, Weingarten is likely also a fan of Chavez-DeRemer's support for the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act, which federalizes public-sector bargaining rules in states and localities and mandates union recognition. This bill, supported by most congressional Democrats, would enhance the ability for public-sector union bosses to push back against reasonable reforms that are beneficial to taxpayers.
In Weingarten's world, as many public-sector employees as possible should be unionized--and these unionized government agents should take priority over American families, taxpayers, and even children.
2. AFT Exclusively Supports Democrats and Liberal Causes.
Teachers unions in the United States are some of the biggest backers of Democratic political candidates as well as far-left economic and social causes.
Under Weingarten's leadership, the American Federation of Teachers gave 100 percent of their political donations to Democratic candidates and liberal issue groups in the 2023-2024 cycle, a total of $8.3 million. The other largest teachers union in the country, the National Education Association (NEA), also gave 99.8 percent of their political donations to Democrats and liberal groups, totaling more than $33 million.
Like other far-left labor union bosses, Weingarten does not merely advocate for labor or education issues. Rather, Weingarten has used the AFT machine to push for the whole swath of Democratic Party-approved policies, such as abortion, tax hikes, gun confiscations, amnesty for illegal immigrants, and even niche issues like enhancing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's powers. AFT serves as little more than a vehicle for funding leftwing causes.
Much of this money also was spent directly opposing Donald Trump and J.D. Vance in their campaign for the White House.
3. Weingarten Despises Donald Trump and His Agenda.
Randi Weingarten has a lengthy record of denigrating President Trump personally and working to prevent him from obtaining office.
At the AFT annual convention in July, for example, Weingarten gave a boisterous speech in which she called Trump a "fascist" and an "existential threat" to democracy.
In a statement published immediately after Joe Biden's disastrous debate performance, Weingarten wrote that Trump had a "disastrous jobs record, the worst of any president since the Great Depression." She went on to write that a "second Trump term would send the country backward. It would mean the end of basic freedoms."
When Weingarten and NEA President Becky Pringle took the stage together at the Democratic National Convention in August, the heated rhetoric continued. Weingarten accused Trump and Vance of not being "pro-child" or "pro-family," while Pringle said the candidates were "not just wrong, they're dangerous."
An endorsement from Randi Weingarten--who opposes worker freedom, acts as an agent of the Democratic Party, and despises President Trump himself--is not an endorsement at all.
* * *
Original text here: https://atr.org/3-reasons-why-a-randi-weingarten-endorsement-is-quite-the-opposite/
[Category: Political]
Americans for Tax Reform Issues Commentary: Union Members Increasingly Rejected Union Bosses and Supported Trump
WASHINGTON, Nov. 23 -- Americans for Tax Reform issued the following commentary on Nov. 22, 2024:
* * *
Union Members Increasingly Rejected Union Bosses and Supported Trump
By Barclay McGain
The dust has settled on the landslide election for the GOP, after which they will now control the House, Senate and Presidency. The last few weeks have brought on a period of soul-searching for the Democrat Party, now seriously re-considering who they represent. It has been well-documented that Latino and black voters backed the Republican Party in unprecedented numbers, expanding the GOP coalition.
One
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, Nov. 23 -- Americans for Tax Reform issued the following commentary on Nov. 22, 2024:
* * *
Union Members Increasingly Rejected Union Bosses and Supported Trump
By Barclay McGain
The dust has settled on the landslide election for the GOP, after which they will now control the House, Senate and Presidency. The last few weeks have brought on a period of soul-searching for the Democrat Party, now seriously re-considering who they represent. It has been well-documented that Latino and black voters backed the Republican Party in unprecedented numbers, expanding the GOP coalition.
Onearea that should be looked at more closely is the walkout on the Democrats by unions and the working class. After declaring themselves to be the "most pro-union administration in American history," Joe Biden and Kamala Harris found few allies in middle class Americans at the ballot box this November. Pew Research Center found in a 2023 survey that roughly 59 percent of union workers tended to lean toward the Democrats, with 39 percent opting instead for the Republican Party. Trump closed this gap significantly in the 2024 election, according to a CNN exit poll. Just 53 percent of union households voted for Kamala Harris, while Donald Trump's share of the union vote ballooned to 45 percent, bringing a 20-point advantage for Democrats down to just eight points.
How could it be that the Vice President of the "most pro-union administration in history" lost so much ground? The answer is that the Biden-Harris administration has focused merely on pleasing union bosses, and union leaders have become out of touch with their rank-and-file union members. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) released data less than three weeks out from Election Day showing that 99.9 percent of donations made by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) PAC went to Democrat candidates. It doesn't stop there. Donations from all public sector unions to Democrats outweighed donations to Republicans by a factor of 20 to 1. Put simply, workers are not feeling represented by their union bosses and these feelings were validated when Harris went all-in on the so-called Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act.
This divisive bill would have undone secret ballot initiatives in union elections. A critical measure such as this is what allowed workers to express their concern about the direction or activities of the union, free from fearing for their job security or intimidation from union operatives. More distressingly, the PRO Act would have compelled employers to provide union organizers with the sensitive information of employees, including home addresses, cell phone numbers and email addresses. This opens the door for blackmailing of workers that are merely seeking representation. The consequences can be dangerous.
In the 2023 financial year, the National Education Association (NEA) spent an eye-watering 56 percent of its $89 million revenue stream buying political favors, almost all from Democrats. Teamsters President Sean O'Brien, who notably refused to endorse President Trump despite Teamsters members supporting him by a 2 to 1 margin, admitted that the Democrat Party "lost touch" with working-class voters:
"Social issues are important, but at the end of the day, it's putting food on the table, being able to afford a home, and despite the rhetoric of 'this is the best economy ever' it really hasn't been. So, I believe it came down to an economic decision."
This is the same union that had its pension fund bailed out by President Biden to the tune of $83 billion funded by taxpayers in one of his first acts as President. Not only that, but Biden was the first President to walk a strike picket line too. Democrats are now dealing with the harsh reality that middle class voters cannot be bought out by handouts, photo ops and burdensome labor regulations that drive up inflation and the cost of goods.
The Trump-Vance campaign made clear their opposition to the Biden-Harris PRO Act and they were rewarded by working-class voters at the ballot box on November 5. They now have a clear mandate from middle class America to enact meaningful reforms such as further extending the revolutionary Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and protecting right-to-work states from union bosses' exploitation.
* * *
Original text here: https://atr.org/union-members-increasingly-rejected-union-bosses-and-supported-trump/
[Category: Political]
Americans for Tax Reform Issues Commentary: Oil Refineries Flee California After Gavin Newsom Regulates Supply of Gasoline
WASHINGTON, Nov. 23 -- Americans for Tax Reform issued the following commentary on Nov. 22, 2024:
* * *
Oil Refineries Flee California After Gavin Newsom Regulates Supply of Gasoline
By Atticus Vernacchio
Gavin Newsom's disastrous attempt at restraining California's sky-high gas prices has backfired so tremendously it's almost comical. Just days after signing his new bill, ABX 1-2, several of the state's largest oil refineries shut down operations, erasing 8% of California's gas capacity instantaneously.
Problems, however, afflicted ABX 1-2 well before it passed. When Newsom advanced the bill
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, Nov. 23 -- Americans for Tax Reform issued the following commentary on Nov. 22, 2024:
* * *
Oil Refineries Flee California After Gavin Newsom Regulates Supply of Gasoline
By Atticus Vernacchio
Gavin Newsom's disastrous attempt at restraining California's sky-high gas prices has backfired so tremendously it's almost comical. Just days after signing his new bill, ABX 1-2, several of the state's largest oil refineries shut down operations, erasing 8% of California's gas capacity instantaneously.
Problems, however, afflicted ABX 1-2 well before it passed. When Newsom advanced the billin special session a month before the state legislature adjourned, forcing his legislature to decide without sufficient time to debate, Senate Pro Tem Mike McGuire nearly tanked the session in protest. Unfortunately, McGuire caved, bringing the bill to where it is now.
In essence, ABX 1-2 forces producers to maintain a minimum level of stock, no matter the circumstances, unless ordered otherwise by the state.
The inspiration for Newsoms' rather draconian policy is his theory that suppliers are responsible for California's inflated gas prices. According to him, oil refineries purposely deplete their stock and use the resulting supply shock as an excuse to raise prices.
For those who understand economics, his hypothesis has a number of glaring issues. However, most people don't, and this talking point allows Newsom to blame the consequences of his policy on big companies, who the public is already primed to hate.
In other words, it's a diversion tactic - it's not meant to make sense.
But, before getting into that, let's hear him out. Demand for gas is inelastic, meaning ordinary people, who have no choice but to buy it, will consume the same amount regardless of changes in price.
If you're looking at that factor alone, then yes, an evil company would profit from making gas more and more expensive.
Fortunately, the gas industry is not a monolith: like all industries, it's made up of competing companies. Oil refineries not only have to contend with each other's prices, but with the cost of importing from around the world. Distributors like gas stations will flock to refineries that sell the cheapest gas in an effort to acquire more customers. Thus, market forces push prices down, counteracting potential nefarious incentives.
For Newsom's argument to be true, every oil refinery in the world, independent of one another, would have to simultaneously pursue policy that depletes their own supply for no other purpose than to keep prices high.
But the governor's bill wouldn't make sense even if he were right: preventing refineries from selling their whole stock only makes their available supply smaller. According to Newsom's own argument, lower supply enables oil refineries to raise prices. What would be the result, then, of forcing them to withhold their supply?
Higher prices, of course.
Let's continue to grant Newsom's premise. Oil refineries would have the incentive to raise prices all over America, right?
Why does California have the highest, then?
By the governor's own logic, there must be another explanation. It doesn't take a professional economist to implicate California's highest-in-the-nation gas tax, as well as its "special blend" regulation: a requirement that refineries use expensive ingredients to produce cleaner, but higher costing, gasoline.
However, there actually is a situation where companies might be able to use up their supply on purpose. Unfortunately for Newsom, that situation has less to do with corporate greed, and more to do with bad policy.
Imagine a state that heavily regulates gas imports and refuses to build pipelines to anywhere else in the U.S., restricting itself effectively to gas within its own borders. Then, suppose that said state systematically pushes energy companies out with excessive environmental policy, reducing its suppliers down to a mere seven major refineries.
That state is California.
Whether refineries intentionally use up their supply or not, California's energy policy has guaranteed that the entire gas market is subject to the choices of these seven producers. Competition which would normally prevent prices from rising too high no longer exists.
So, when Gavin Newsom claims that low supply is to blame for California's gas prices, he might actually be right, but he's completely ignoring the years of bad policy which caused the problem in the first place.
This isn't the first time Democrats have turned to blaming so-called "corporate greed" when their own policy is the real culprit, a strategy that doesn't backfire nearly as often as it should. One can only hope that oil refineries will continue to abandon California and force Governor Newsom to finally take a look inward. In the meantime, Californians can expect gas prices to continue rising, and it's any self-respecting journalist's civic imperative to show them exactly who to blame.
* * *
Original text here: https://atr.org/oil-refineries-flee-california-after-gavin-newsom-regulates-supply-of-gasoline/
[Category: Political]
ABP Expands Privacy Policy to Include Biometric Information Handling
CHAPEL HILL, North Carolina, Nov. 23 -- The American Board of Pediatrics issued the following news release on Nov. 22, 2024:
The American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) has recently updated its Privacy Policy to include new language and clarity about biometric authentication methods available today on most digital devices (phones, tablets, etc.). Biometric authentication most commonly uses fingerprint or facial recognition to verify one's identity when logging into a device or application.
"Biometric identification is powerful because it is much harder to replicate than passwords," says Michele Wall,
... Show Full Article
CHAPEL HILL, North Carolina, Nov. 23 -- The American Board of Pediatrics issued the following news release on Nov. 22, 2024:
The American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) has recently updated its Privacy Policy to include new language and clarity about biometric authentication methods available today on most digital devices (phones, tablets, etc.). Biometric authentication most commonly uses fingerprint or facial recognition to verify one's identity when logging into a device or application.
"Biometric identification is powerful because it is much harder to replicate than passwords," says Michele Wall,MA, PMP, Director of Facilities, Contract, and Privacy Management for the ABP. "Additionally, biometrics are tied to the user's device, requiring the user's physical presence to use them."
The ABP, however, does not have access to or retain users' biometric information. Instead, the device's manufacturer processes and stores the information in its own biometric authentication system and does not share the information with the ABP.
"Physicians who choose fingerprint or facial recognition might want to review the privacy policy and terms of their device manufacturer," Wall adds.
For more information about data privacy, email the ABP Privacy Office. For more information about any other ABP policy, email our Support Center.
* * *
Original text here: https://www.abp.org/news/press-releases/abp-expands-privacy-policy-include-biometric-information-handling
[Category: Medical]
