Regulation

Blankenship Gag Order Silences Community

November 20, 2014 Corporate Crime Reporter, www.corporatecrimereporter.com Educate! Capitalism, Corporatism, Law, Regulation

The criminal indictment of former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship for his role in the April 2010 Upper Big Branch explosion has been the top story in West Virginia since it was filed on November 13. But it is Judge Irene Berger’s gag order that is drawing fire from the West Virginia press. West Virginia Press Association executive director Don Smith told MetroNews Talkline that he and other news organizations are looking closely at possible legal avenues to challenge it. The gag order prohibits the parties and their lawyers from talking with reporters. But it also prohibits “actual and alleged victims, investigators, family members of actual and alleged victims” from making “any statements of any nature, in any form, or release any documents to the media or any other entity regarding the facts or substance of this case.”

Duke Energy Fined Penny Per Ton For Massive Spill

October 14, 2014 Lisa Evans, www.earthjustice.com Educate! Energy, Environment, Law, North Carolina, Regulation

Although the North Carolina Department of Natural Resources found Duke Energy in gross violation of the federal Clean Water Act, the state agency placed so little value on public health that they were willing to settle for a pittance—a penny per ton of toxic coal ash stored at Duke’s two illegally polluting plants. To rub ash into the wound, the agency didn’t even require Duke to stop the flow of arsenic, cadmium, chromium and other toxic metals from the millions of tons of coal ash at the plants, much less clean up the pollution. The state was willing to accept $99,000 in settlement with the utility giant. Duke Energy can spare this chump change. The utility just announced a 50 percent increase in corporate profits in 2013, amounting to $2.6 billion per year for a company already valued at $50 billion. Duke’s $99,000 penalty was nothing—it’s like one of us, earning $50,000 a year, getting fined $1.90. Barely amounting to a library fine, this is no deterrent for the likes of Duke.

With 2 Weeks To Go, Net Neutrality Battle Heats Up

September 4, 2014 Jason Abbruzzese, www.mashable.com Organize! FCC, Internet Freedom, Net Neutrality, Regulation

With less than two weeks until the end of the comment period on proposed Internet regulations, both sides of the debate are pushing publicity campaigns aimed at swaying the net neutrality debate. The battle has coalesced around a particular issue: the reclassification of broadband Internet, a move that would either maintain an open and equal web or destroy it, depending on which side of the debate is lobbying. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler has publicly stated that it could vote to reclassify broadband as a utility, bringing Internet providers under more stringent regulations. See also: FCC and Net Neutrality: What You Need to Know A new "don't break the Internet" campaign launched on Tuesday with a website that seeks to push back against calls for the Federal Communications Commission to reclassify. Drawing on the words of net neutrality advocates like Tim Wu, Lawrence Lessig and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the site makes plain its stance at the top.

Act Now To Stop Agent Orange Food

August 25, 2014 Organic Consumers Association, www.salsalabs.com Organize! Food and Agriculture, health, Regulation

On August 6 (2014), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), over the objections of 50 members of Congress, and more than 500,000 citizens, scientists, farmers and health professionals, moved one step closer to approving Dow’s new Enlist-brand soy and corn crops. We have until September 8 to convince the USDA to reject Dow’s “Agent Orange” crops. Please sign the petition today! Dow’s new GMO crops are engineered to withstand massive doses of Enlist Duo herbicide, concocted from a combination of 2,4-D (used to make Agent Orange) and glyphosate, the key ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup. The USDA has admitted that approval of Dow’s new crops will cause the use of 2,4-D to skyrocket from 26 million pounds to 176 million pounds. Scientists predict worse. Dow’s 2,4-D is already the seventh largest source of dioxins in the U.S. It’s been linked to a host of ills, including birth defects, infertility, allergies, Parkinson’s disease, endocrine disruption and cancer. It’s unconscionable that the USDA would approve these crops. Yet the agency is is on the verge of doing just that. Unless we stop it. Thanks for taking action!

The Holder Doctrine: Bank Settlements Without Criminal Prosecutions

August 23, 2014 Naked Capitalism, www.nakedcapitalism.com Educate! Banks, Corruption, Housing, Regulation

Even though there is tacit acceptance, or perhaps more accurately, sullen resignation, about regulators’ failure to make serious investigations into financial firm misconduct (probes on specific issues don’t cut it), occasionally a pundit steps up to remind the public of the farce that passes for bank enforcement. Today William Cohan tore into Attorney General Eric Holder, and by implication the Administration, for its raft of bank “settlements” which have come is a sudden spurt, no doubt intended to boost the Democrat’s flagging standing in the runup to the Congressional midterms. We’ve pointed out that the comparatively few commentators who have looked past the overhyped Department of Justice press releases into the details of the agreements have been appalled at the embarrassing lack of detail, meaning the almost total absence of any admission of wrongdoing. It’s critical to understand why this silence is important. It means that regulators have accepted as a condition of the settlement that they are to protect the bank from private suits by remaining as silent as possible about precisely what horrible things were done. The absurd part is that regulators and prosecutors could easily call the banks’ bluff by threatening to go a few rounds in court: “Would you rather have us start discovery and see what we can get in the record, or would you rather make some admissions right now?”

The Biggest Lie About Net Neutrality

August 20, 2014 Timothy Karr, www.huffingtonpost.com Educate! FCC, Law, Net Neutrality, Regulation

One of the most persistent lies told in Washington is the notion that common carriage is a heavy-handed regulation that transforms innovative businesses into antiquated, government-run utilities. Any mention of restoring this time-tested principle to the Internet causes fits among phone and cable industry lobbyists. It's a debate now raging throughout the record number of comments filed at the Federal Communications Commission, which has put the issue of common carriage back "on the table" as it weighs new rules to protect Net Neutrality. The conversation has also spilled into the media, where attacking common carriage has become fodder for industry-friendly editorial writers and pundits. Listening to their arguments is like eating tainted food. All seems well at first bite. But given time to digest, things don't feel so settled.

Justice Dep’t To Conduct Broad Review Of Police Tactics

August 13, 2014 Kevin Johnson, www.usatoday.com Organize! Law, police brutality, Regulation, Violence

The Justice Department is leading a broad review of police tactics, including the kind of deadly force that prompted recent protests in Missouri and New York, a federal law enforcement official said Tuesday. The review is being conducted as the department weighs creating a national commission to provide new direction on such controversial issues. In addition to deadly force, the review is expected to examine law enforcement's increasing encounters with the mentally ill, the application of emerging technologies such as body cameras, and police agencies' expanding role in homeland security efforts since 9/11, said the official, who is not authorized to comment publicly and requested anonymity. The review is slated to be completed early next year while authorities consider establishing a special law enforcement commission similar to a panel created by President Johnson to deal with problems then associated with rising crime. Rather than violent crime, which has been in decline in much of the country, police are now grappling with persistent incidents involving use of force and their responses to an array of public safety issues, from drug overdoses to their dealings with the mentally ill and the emotionally disturbed. The call for a broader federal policy review, while not directly tied to any specific incident, grew out of a meeting involving law enforcement advocacy groups and Justice officials, including Attorney General Eric Holder, the official said.

USDA Plans To Privatize Poultry Inspection

August 1, 2014 Food & Water Watch, www.foodandwaterwatch.org Resist! Food and Agriculture, health, Privatization, Regulation

“Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released the final rule that will transfer most poultry inspection from government inspectors to the companies so they can police themselves. With the poultry industry standing to gain financially due to increased production and fewer regulatory requirements, the plan is a gift from the Obama administration to the industry, one that will undermine consumer and worker safety, as well as animal welfare. “One of the changes that has been made to the original proposed rule is to cap the line speed in chicken slaughter facilities at 140 birds per minute, instead of 175 birds per minute. This is not a meaningful victory because there are not accompanying worker safety regulations to deal with the musculoskeletal disorders and other work-related injuries that both the plant workers and USDA inspectors suffer every day working in the poultry slaughter plants. In addition, the one USDA inspector left on the slaughter line under this new rule will still have to inspect 2.33 birds every second – an impossible task that leaves consumers at risk. “The change in regulations was first proposed in January of 2012, but after strong opposition from consumer organizations, worker safety advocates and animal welfare groups, its implementation was delayed. When the comment period closed on the proposed rule, USDA had received over 175,000 public comments – most of them opposed to the proposal.

People Organize To Oppose Concentration Of Food Industry

July 25, 2014 Food & Water Watch, www.foodandwaterwatch.org Organize! Centralization, Coporatism, Food and Agriculture, Regulation

Today, a coalition of 82 farm, ranch, consumer, rural and faith-based groups sent a letter demanding that the U.S. Department of Justice extend its review of the proposed Tyson Foods (Tyson) takeover of Hillshire Brands, Co. (Hillshire). The proposed merger would join the largest U.S. meat and poultry company, Tyson, with the 11th largest meat company, Hillshire, and would substantially undermine competition in the pork processing and hog purchasing sectors, disadvantaging farmers and consumers and undermining rural communities. “Fewer buyers of hogs and sows result in a less competitive market for family farmers,” said Roger Johnson, president of National Farmers Union. “The rapid consolidation of market power in the hands of just a few pork processors resulted in the loss of more than 90 percent of all hog farms since 1980. Tyson’s takeover of Hillshire certainly warrants further investigation by the Department of Justice and should be stopped. It’s time for the Justice Department to enforce our anti-trust laws.” Tyson won a protracted and expensive bidding war to initiate the hostile takeover of Hillshire. The Justice Department reviews hostile takeovers on an accelerated 14-day timeline, rather than the typical 30-days to consider a more thorough merger review. The letter notes that the complexity of the proposed merger warrants a much more comprehensive review because of Tyson’s significant hog and sow purchasing and marketing and because the proposed merger would enable Tyson to undermine Hillshire’s sausage and lunchmeat rivals by disrupting their access to pork supplies.

Pennsylvania Report Finds State Unprepared For Fracking Impacts

July 25, 2014 Pennsylvania Department Of The Auditor General, www.auditorgen.state.pa.us Educate! Fracking, Law, Pennsylvania, Regulation

Auditor General Eugene DePasquale today said that a recent audit shows that the meteoric growth of the shale gas industry caught the Department of Environmental Protection unprepared to effectively administer laws and regulations to protect drinking water and unable to efficiently respond to citizen complaints. “There are very dedicated hard-working people at DEP but they are being hampered in doing their jobs by lack of resources – including staff and a modern information technology system -- and inconsistent or failed implementation of department policies, among other things, “DePasquale said. “It is almost like firefighters trying to put out a five-alarm fire with a 20-foot garden hose. There is no question that DEP needs help and soon to protect clean water.” The audit covered the period of 2009 through 2012 and was launched by DePasquale in January 2013 immediately after he became auditor general. The audit’s purpose was to assess DEP’s ability to protect the water quality in the wake of greatly escalated shale gas well drilling. The audit revealed that DEP failed to consistently issue official orders to well operators who had been determined by DEP to have adversely impacted water supplies. After reviewing a selection of 15 complaint files for confirmed water supply impact, auditors discovered that DEP issued just one order to a well operator to restore or replace the adversely impacted water supply.

If FDA Rule Goes Through You Will Not Be Able To Trust Meat Safety

July 11, 2014 Food & Water Watch, www.commondreams.org Educate! Food and Agriculture, health, Privatization, Regulation

Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) sent to the White House Office of Management and Budget a final rule that would dramatically reduce the number of trained USDA inspectors in poultry slaughter plants and replace them with company employees. The USDA estimated in the proposed rule that the industry will stand to gain $260 million annually because of increased production and fewer regulatory requirements with no guarantees of improved food safety. “This rule, which essentially privatizes poultry inspections, serves up the huge gift of deregulation to the meat industry,” said Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food & Water Watch. “If the White House acquiesces, it will be a disaster for workers and consumers who want to know that the poultry they are eating is safe.” The rule was first proposed on January 27, 2012 and received over 175,000 public comments overwhelmingly opposed during the comment period. Earlier this year, over 100 groups sent a letter to President Obama and USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack urging them to withdraw the rule and another 220,000 consumers expressed their opposition to the proposed rule. Occupational safety and worker justice communities also overwhelmingly oppose the rule.

Leaked Text Shows Trade Agreements Rolling Back Corporate Regulations

July 1, 2014 Carey L. Biron, www.mintpressnews.com Educate! Corporatism, Free Trade Agreements, Regulation, Wikileaks

A leaked negotiating text is offering the public its first glimpse into global trade negotiations, led by the United States and European Union, for a new agreement on the international trade in services — data services, business services, financial services, insurance and the like. Civil society groups have been expressing concerns since the talks, around what is known as the Trade in Services Agreement, or TISA, began a year ago. Yet because the negotiations have been held in secret, watchdog groups have never been able to base their analyses on anything concrete. Now that they can, many are warning that the results appear to be even more problematic than they expected. “The leaked TISA text is worse than I could have imagined — it’s pretty shocking,” William Waring, a trade expert with Friends of the Earth U.S., a watchdog group, told MintPress News. “It goes to show that Mike Froman, the current U.S. Trade Representative and a wealthy former Wall Street banker, is trying to undercut existing and especially proposed regulatory safeguards put in place in the United States and around the world in response to the 2007 financial panic and the great recession that followed.”

National Consensus Emerges On GMO Foods

June 25, 2014 Consumers Union, www.consumersunion.org Organize! Food and Agriculture, Genetically Engineered, Regulation

According to a new national poll by Consumer Reports released today, an overwhelming majority of U.S. consumers think that before genetically engineered (GE) food is sold, it should be labeled accordingly (92% of consumers) and meet long-term safety standards set by the government (92%). The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) currently does not require labeling or pre-market safety assessments of GE food. Similarly, 92% of Americans specifically agreed that the government should require that GE salmon be labeled before it is sold. The FDA is considering whether to approve a GE salmon, which is designed to grow to maturity twice as fast as normal salmon, and has said that it does not intend to require labeling. In addition, nearly three-quarters (72%) of consumers polled said that it’s crucial for them to avoid GE ingredients when purchasing food. The poll data can be found online here [PDF]. “This poll underscores that, across the country, consumers want labeling of GE food, including GE salmon, and consider safety standards set by the government of such food imperative,” said Jean Halloran, Director of Food Policy Initiatives at Consumers Union, the policy arm of Consumer Reports.

Obama Coddling Big Oil On “Bomb Trains” Rules

June 16, 2014 Justin Mikulka and Steve Horn, www.desmogblog.com Educate! Barack Obama, Oil, Regulation

When Richard Revesz, Dean Emeritus of New York University Law School, introduced Howard Shelanski at his only public appearance so far during his tenure as Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), Revesz described Shelanski as, “from our perspective, close to the most important official in the federal government.” OIRA has recently reared its head in a big way because it is currently reviewing the newly-proposed oil-by-rail safety regulations rolled out by the Department of Transportation (DOT) and Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). During his presentation at NYU, Shelanski spoke at length about how OIRA must use “cost-benefit analysis” with regards to regulations, stating, “Cost-benefit analysis is an essential tool for regulatory policy.” But during his confirmation hearings, Shelanski made sure to state his position on how cost-benefit analysis should be used in practice. Shelanski let corporate interests know he was well aware of their position on the cost of regulations and what they stood to lose from stringent regulations. “Regulatory objectives should be achieved at no higher cost than is absolutely necessary,” Shelanski said at the hearing.

Cab Drivers Gridlock Europe In Protest At ‘Unregulated’ Taxi App

June 12, 2014 Alexandra Topping, Ashifa Kassam, www.theguardian.com Resist! Protest, Regulation, Uber

Several major European cities ground to a halt on Wednesday as licensed taxi drivers took to the streets in mass protests against the smartphone taxi app Uber. Demonstrations in London, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Berlin, Milan and Rome caused travel chaos and long tailbacks, as taxi drivers protested against the app, which they argue is unregulated and threatens their livelihood. In London, Trafalgar Square and Whitehall were jammed from the start of the planned "go slow" at 2pm, as thousands of black cabs gathered honking their horns, bringing total gridlock to the centre of the capital, while supporters waved banners and started occasionally chanting: "Boris, out!" A spokeswoman for Uber, the US start-up which links minicab drivers to passengers via a GPS-based smartphone app, said the protests had boosted new users in London by 850%, as people tried to cope with the gridlock. But the company, based in San Francisco and backed by Google and Goldman Sachs, came under increasing pressure to be more transparent about its tax set-up. Taxi associations claim Uber routes its payments through headquarters in the Netherlands to minimise its corporation tax payments in France, the UK and Germany – in a similar manner to Apple and Starbucks, which have found themselves in the firing line for the practice.

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