House Democrats Pass Bill To Make D.C. The 51st State
The U.S. House of Representatives has once again voted on a bill to grant statehood to Washington, D.C., and enfranchise more than 712,000 Americans, a cause that enjoys unprecedented support but still faces an uphill battle in the U.S. Senate. "This country was founded on the principles of no taxation without representation and consent of the governed. But D.C. residents are taxed without representation and cannot consent to the laws under which they as American citizens must live," said Del...
Biden Makes New Pledge For U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions: A 50% Cut
President Biden opened a global summit on climate change Thursday morning by announcing that the United States will aim to cut its greenhouse gas emissions in half, based on 2005 levels, by the end of the decade. That aggressive 2030 goal, which the White House is framing as a "50-52 percent reduction," will be formalized in a document called a "nationally determined contribution," or NDC. The NDC is a public commitment to address climate change made by each country that signed on to the 2015...
At Biden Climate Summit, World Leaders Pledge To Do More, Act Faster
Updated April 22, 2021 at 3:33 PM ET Calling climate change "the existential crisis of our time," President Biden announced an aggressive new plan to reduce the United States' contribution to global warming during a two-day virtual summit Thursday, and he urged other countries to do the same. Immediacy is needed. Average global temperatures have already increased more than 2 degrees Fahrenheit, or 1.2 degrees Celsius, since 1880, and scientists have long stressed the need to keep temperature...
Louise Erdrich Takes Home Aspen Words Literary Prize For 'The Night Watchman'
In a virtual ceremony tonight, Louise Erdrich was named the winner of this year's Aspen Words Literary Prize, for her novel The Night Watchman. The $35,000 prize goes to a work that "illuminates a vital contemporary issue and demonstrates the transformative power of literature on thought and culture." The novel, set in the early 1950s, follows a man named Thomas Wazhashk, "named for the muskrat, wazhashk, the lowly, hardworking, water loving rodent." Thomas works as a night watchman at a...
Minneapolis Mayor Says He Welcomes Justice Department Policing Investigation
As former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin awaits sentencing after his conviction on three counts of murder in the death of George Floyd, policymakers in Minneapolis are trying to figure out how to improve policing. Concurrently, the Justice Department has launched an investigation into the city's police department to address possible patterns of discrimination and excessive force. "We very much welcome the investigation," Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey told All Things Considered on...
Some CEOs Are Hearing A New Message: Act On Climate, Or We'll Cut Your Pay
Corporate America wants you to know that it takes climate change seriously. But how can you tell if businesses will follow through? Here's one idea that's catching on: Cut the pay of corporate leaders if they don't meet their climate goals. Though the practice is not widespread, several firms — including oil companies such as Shell, Murphy Oil and the refiner Valero — are embracing it, often under pressure from activist shareholders. "We believe that compensation drives outcomes," says...
Take Note: Patient Advocate Ola Ojewumi
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