Carey L. Biron

Carey L. Biron is a former Washington correspondent for MintPress and for Inter Press News focusing on issues of equity and accountability, environmental and corporate regulation, and international development and governance from Capitol Hill.

Congress Moves to Expedite Gas Exports, Heightening Fracking Concerns

A new pressure from abroad is causing concern that domestic natural gas production may be fast-tracked as an energy solution in an attempt to capture short term profits while disregarding long-term consequences.

Carey L. Biron
بواسطة Carey L. Biron

WASHINGTON --- By a large majority, a U.S. House of Representatives committee this week approved a bill that would step up the approvals process for the export of domestically produced natural gas, a move that critics say will either raise U.S. prices or lead to a broad expansion of controversial hydraulic fracturing operations. The 33-18 vote

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Arctic Oil Industry Nowhere Near Prepared for Spill, Federal Study Warns

Despite the laws that require drilling companies to be responsible for clean up and response to oil spills from drilling and exploration, a new study says that the response would primarily be in the hands of local law enforcement and government agencies.

Carey L. Biron
بواسطة Carey L. Biron
In this image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard the conical drilling unit Kulluk sits grounded near a beach 40 miles southwest of Kodiak City, Alaska, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2012. (AP Photo/U.S. Coast Guard, Petty Officer 2nd Class Zachary Painter)

WASHINGTON --- A new study from the National Research Council is warning that neither the science nor the currently available public or private response infrastructure is anywhere near prepared for an oil spill in the Arctic Ocean. The findings, funded by multiple federal agencies as well as the oil and gas industry, offer a potent new obstacle

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US Biofuels Policy Seeks Balance In Realignment

EPA balances how to make alternative fuel production goals financially attractive to entrepreneurs but also realistic enough to be realized.

Carey L. Biron
بواسطة Carey L. Biron
Ethanols Environmental Damage Illinois

WASHINGTON --- The decade-old federal attempt to boost the use of, and industry around, plant-based alternatives to oil and gasoline now finds itself at a key crossroads, with some notable advances offset by headlines that keep giving new grist to powerful foes of “biofuels.” This week, the Environmental Protection Agency, one of several federal

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Average U.S. Citizens Have “Little Or No” Influence On Government Policy

Is the U.S. the democracy it claims to be? A study finds that monied interests and big business call most of the shots in U.S. public policy and the average citizen has very little say.

Carey L. Biron
بواسطة Carey L. Biron

WASHINGTON --- U.S. public policy is almost exclusively dominated by monied interests and big business, according to new research, while most of the rest of the country, including advocacy groups working on behalf of a broad spectrum of populist issues, have remarkably little sway over the policymaking process. Professors at Princeton and

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UK Govt “Caved” In Pushing SCOTUS To Prioritize Corporations Over Human Rights

“In the cases against Shell and Rio Tinto, business interests won over the human rights interests of the plaintiffs in the cases who had legitimate claims of torture and murder…”

Carey L. Biron
بواسطة Carey L. Biron
Philippines Oil Price Hike Protest

WASHINGTON --- Newly released internal memoranda and emails detail the process behind the British government’s intervention in a landmark ruling last year by the U.S. Supreme Court, which limited a pioneering law that had allowed the U.S. legal system to be used to prosecute overseas corporate human rights abuses. Critics say the documents

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Landmark Open Government Legislation Set to Become Law

Legislation mandating broad new transparency and accountability standards around all federal spending has garnered massive bipartisan support and looks set to be signed into law.

Carey L. Biron
بواسطة Carey L. Biron

WASHINGTON --- One of the most significant pieces of “open government” legislation in decades appears set to become law, following action by the U.S. Senate. The Digital Accountability and Transparency Act, known as the DATA Act, would mandate broad new transparency and accountability standards around all federal spending. Proponents say the

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Lawmakers Urge EPA To Assist Polluted Fracking Communities

Members of Congress urge the EPA to take another look at reports of groundwater pollution allegedly caused by fracking and to help those affected by the pollution.

Carey L. Biron
بواسطة Carey L. Biron
Fracking Water Recycling

WASHINGTON --- Members of the U.S. Congress are formally calling on the Environmental Protection Agency to re-examine reports of groundwater pollution in three states -- allegedly, the result of natural gas drilling -- and to help affected communities. EPA investigators have looked into the complaints in Pennsylvania, Texas and Wyoming in recent

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