Congress has a critical opportunity now to reform the National Flood Insurance Program. Here are some of the lessons we can learn from recent hurricanes and other flood events that underscore the need. Read more >
High waters surround homes and businesses in the small town of Bucksport, S.C. as rivers continue to rise and flooded areas expand as a result of Hurricane Florence, Sept. 24, 2018. Photo: US Army National Guard/Staff Sgt. Jorge Intriago
Hurricane Florence Lessons Underscore Need for the National Flood Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2019
Shana Udvardy, Climate Resilience Analyst
June 13, 2019 11:09 AM EDT
Equality, More or Less: How the Supreme Court Might Fix Gerrymandering
Michael Latner, Kendall Science Fellow
March 28, 2019 4:25 PM EDT
This week the Supreme Court prepared to make voting rights history ahead of the 2020 Census redistricting cycle. Justices heard oral arguments in two partisan gerrymandering cases: a Republican gerrymander in North Carolina (Rucho v Common Cause) and a Democratic gerrymander in Maryland (Lamone v Benesik). Plaintiffs in these cases are seeking relief and a standard to rein in state legislative attempts to maximize partisan advantage through the manipulation of district boundaries.
North Carolina hog CAFO in Hurricane Florence floodwaters, September 18, 2018. Photo: Larry Baldwin, Crystal Coast Waterkeeper/Waterkeeper Alliance
In a Warming World, Carolina CAFOs Are a Disaster for Farmers, Animals, and Public Health
Karen Perry Stillerman, senior analyst, Food and Environment
September 21, 2018 3:33 PM EDT
In the aftermath of Hurricane Florence, I’ve joined millions who’ve watched with horror as the Carolinas have been inundated with floodwaters and worried about the various hazards those waters can contain. We’ve seen heavy metal-laden coal ash spills, a nuclear plant go on alert (thankfully without incident), and sewage treatment plants get swamped. But the biggest and most widely reported hazard associated with Florence appears to be the hog waste that is spilling from many of the state’s thousands of CAFOs (confined animal feeding operations), and which threatens lasting havoc on public health and the local economy.
And while the state’s pork industry was already under fire for its day-to-day impacts on the health and quality of life of nearby residents, Florence has laid bare the lie that millions of animals and their copious waste can be safely concentrated in flood-prone coastal areas like southeastern North Carolina. Read more >
Plate of the Union—a 2016 Campaign for a Better Food and Farming System
Karen Perry Stillerman, senior analyst, Food and Environment
November 2, 2016 3:59 PM EDT
I don’t need to tell you that 2016 hasn’t exactly been the presidential campaign year my colleagues and I imagined when we launched our “Plate of the Union” initiative last fall. The national conversation has taken a few detours (ahem) that have made it challenging to maintain a focus on issues that really matter to American families, like what’s for dinner and how it gets there. Read more >
Renewable Electricity Standards Deliver the Goods
Jeff Deyette, director of state policy & analysis, Clean Energy
May 7, 2013 8:18 AM EDT
Recent efforts to repeal renewable electricity standards (RES) by fossil-fuel backed opponents have been thwarted in Kansas and North Carolina. The reason? As a newly released review of state RES policies by the Union of Concerned Scientists report clearly shows, these popular, bipartisan policies are working effectively all over the country; affordably driving new renewable energy development and delivering substantial economic benefits to states and local communities in the process. Simply put, the facts on the ground are proving difficult to overcome for those seeking to roll back progress toward a clean energy economy. Read more >
