Policy Archives - Page 3 of 29 - The Westside Story

The EU’s diplomatic status was quietly downgraded by the Trump administration

Jan 8, 2019

Trump’s state department downgraded the diplomatic status of the European Union’s US delegation at some point in 2018, without informing the EU, according to the Washington Post. Since 2016, the EU delegatio...

US researchers are once again hindered by the government shutdown

West Side Story

Jan 7, 2019

Opinion, Policy, Science

Yet again, the partial government shutdown is threatening the continuity of federally funded science and research in the US. On Monday, the shutdown became the third longest ever, on its seventeenth day, with n...

Airbnb sees major policy victory in federal court

West Side Story

Jan 3, 2019

Business, Policy, Science

Airbnb saw a major legal victory Thursday when a federal court blocked a New York City law that would have required the company to submit a list of its hosts to the city’s regulators, according to Politico. The...

UK government defends vaping as a smoking alternative in new campaign

West Side Story

Jan 1, 2019

Health, Policy, Science

The UK government is promoting vaping as an alternative to cigarette smoking, saying it is 95 percent less harmful, even as authorities in the US take steps to regulate vaping, and amid increasingly negative me...

Trump’s EPA challenges the legal basis for Obama-era mercury rule

West Side Story

Dec 29, 2018

Environment, Policy, Science

The Environmental Protection Agency said Friday that regulations limiting mercury and other emissions from power plants are not providing benefits worth the cost of their implementation, according to NPR. While...

Trump’s EPA to scale back water pollution rules

West Side Story

Dec 11, 2018

Environment, Policy, Science

The Trump administration is scaling back existing federal protections on waterways, exposing streams and wetlands to pollution from agriculture and other sources, according to the LA Times. Internal talking ...

The EPA says its latest move to revive the coal industry won’t make an impact

West Side Story

Dec 7, 2018

Environment, Policy, Science

The Trump administration is once again rolling back Obama-era climate regulations, now targeting regulations on emissions from new coal plants, according to CBS News. The rules would have required any new coal ...

Thank Trump’s trade war and regulatory rollbacks for the GM layoffs

West Side Story

Dec 2, 2018

Opinion, Policy, Science

General Motors announced Monday plans to cut almost 15,000 jobs from its North American workforce, in its biggest restructuring since declaring bankruptcy in the 2008 financial crisis and receiving its governme...

Trump administration issues permits for disruptive seismic testing in the Atlantic

West Side Story

Dec 1, 2018

Environment, Policy, Science

The Trump administration is allowing seismic testing for oil and gas deposits in the Atlantic Ocean, disruptive procedures that will put marine life in jeopardy, according to Newsweek. The National Marine Fishe...

The lettuce outbreak shows we need quick decisive action on food safety

West Side Story

Nov 25, 2018

Health, Opinion, Policy, Science

Two days ahead of Thanksgiving, the most food-oriented holiday on the US calendar, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) called for a massive recall of all romaine lettuce. Consumers, retailers, and restaurants...