August 23, 2019 10:00 AM EDT
Among the major issues still being debated by the California Legislature this year is whether to codify a new standard for determining if certain workers must be hired as employees rather than independent contractors. AB 5, authored by Assembly member Lorena Gonzalez, is a top priority for organized labor and, as you might expect, is drawing considerable opposition from some segments of the business community, such as technology, agriculture, and trucking industries.
August 22, 2019 12:27 PM EDT
Eastern Egg Rock, Maine — In the midst of a second-straight record year for breeding Atlantic puffins, the research crew on this tiny, treeless jumble of boulders six miles out to sea pondered how long this good fortune would last amid climate change. Read more >
August 22, 2019 10:53 AM EDT
In April, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler rejected the recommendations of his hand-picked science advisors on the particulate matter and ozone standard updates. Now, we again see him choose to meet a political deadline at the expense of a scientifically sound process. The bottom line is that Administrator Wheeler has made a small, inadequate, and unprecedented addition to what is still a very broken process of updating our National Ambient Air Quality Standard for particulate matter. Read more >
August 21, 2019 2:06 PM EDT
As people searched for answers around the shootings in El Paso and Dayton, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services prevented its scientists from posting relevant research about guns, violence, and mental health on social media. According to the Washington Post, which broke the story, the orders came in the wake of the president’s incorrect suggestion that mental illness leads to mass shootings. Read more >
8 Times Your Voice has been Silenced by the Trump Administration
August 23, 2019 11:00 AM EDT
As my colleagues and I have investigated the Trump administration’s continued attacks on science, we have noticed an insidious pattern. The administration has, time and again, approved rules for which the public overwhelmingly voiced opposition. Allow me to present eight times where the Trump administration not only ignored science, but potentially disregarded the will of the American people as indicated by the public comments. Read more >