Public Policy
News releases, reports, statements and associated documents from public policy organizations whose goal it is to influence the debate Washington.
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Southwest Research Institute, University of Texas at San Antonio Collaborate on a Novel Process to Produce Low Carbon Fuels
SAN ANTONIO, Texas, Aug. 4 (TNSPar) -- Southwest Research Institute issued the following news release:
Southwest Research Institute and The University of Texas at San Antonio are collaborating to combine two catalytic processes into a single reactor, with the overall goal of recycling carbon from CO2 to produce low-cost hydrocarbon fuels. The work, led by Dr. Grant Seuser of SwRI's Powertrain Engineering Division and Dr. Gary Jacobs of UTSA's College of Engineering, is supported by a $125,000 grant from the Connecting through Research Partnerships (Connect) Program.
Greenhouse gas emissions are
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SAN ANTONIO, Texas, Aug. 4 (TNSPar) -- Southwest Research Institute issued the following news release:
Southwest Research Institute and The University of Texas at San Antonio are collaborating to combine two catalytic processes into a single reactor, with the overall goal of recycling carbon from CO2 to produce low-cost hydrocarbon fuels. The work, led by Dr. Grant Seuser of SwRI's Powertrain Engineering Division and Dr. Gary Jacobs of UTSA's College of Engineering, is supported by a $125,000 grant from the Connecting through Research Partnerships (Connect) Program.
Greenhouse gas emissions areexpected to increase by about 17% by 2040 as a result of increasing energy and transportation needs in the developing world.
"We're facing a lack of renewable fuels and the technology to deliver cleaner power generation," Seuser said. "We're seeing a rise in battery-powered passenger vehicles, but the high power demands of the aviation, locomotive, shipping, and long-haul trucking industries will continue to require energy-dense hydrocarbons for the foreseeable future."
Seuser and Jacobs propose using a process called carbon dioxide (CO2) hydrogenation to produce cleaner renewable liquid hydrocarbon fuels for transportation. To accomplish this, they plan to build a single reactor capable of performing two chemical processes in one step. The first will react hydrogen with CO2 to make carbon monoxide (CO) and the second will convert the CO and hydrogen, a blend known as synthesis gas or syngas, into liquid hydrocarbon fuel by a catalytic process known as Fischer-Tropsch synthesis.
"Fischer-Tropsch synthesis was discovered in Germany about a century ago and is still used in places like South Africa and Quatar to convert coal and natural gas into liquid hydrocarbon fuels. Plant capacities ranging from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of barrels of fuel per day. It will be an interesting challenge to integrate this catalytic technology into a process that uses CO2 in the feed," Jacobs said.
Additionally, the process the SwRI-UTSA team is developing will be able to utilize CO2 captured at fossil fuel-fired power plants that would otherwise be sequestered underground or emitted into the atmosphere.
"Combining the functionality of these two catalytic processes, reverse water-gas shift and Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, into a single reactor would simplify the process and increase its economic viability," Jacobs said.
The effort will also explore novel catalyst formations aimed at combining reverse water-gas shift and Fischer Tropsch synthesis functions, which Jacobs will create and characterize at UTSA. Seuser will use the catalysts in a SwRI reactor to assess their industrial viability.
"Reducing the complexity of converting CO2 into hydrocarbon fuels would have a big impact," Seuser said. "Finding a way to produce low-carbon fuels and maintain our current energy infrastructure is critical to avoid further increases in Earth's temperature."
SwRI's Executive Office and UTSA's Office of the Vice President for Research, Economic Development, and Knowledge Enterprise sponsor the Connect program, which offers grant opportunities to enhance greater scientific collaboration between the two institutions.
[Category: Business]
National Taxpayers Union: Attack on Conservation Deduction Means Trouble for Entire Tax System
ALEXANDRIA, Virginia, Aug. 4 (TNSPol) -- The National Taxpayers Union issued the following statement on Aug. 3, 2021:
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Reacting to news today that the recently-reintroduced Charitable Conservation Easement Program Integrity Act is being offered as an amendment to the Senate's Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework package, Pete Sepp, President of National Taxpayers Union (NTU), offered the following statement:
"Just one week ago, NTU published a joint statement to Congressional leaders from three taxpayer organizations, warning that the Charitable Conservation Easement Program Integrity Act
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ALEXANDRIA, Virginia, Aug. 4 (TNSPol) -- The National Taxpayers Union issued the following statement on Aug. 3, 2021:
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Reacting to news today that the recently-reintroduced Charitable Conservation Easement Program Integrity Act is being offered as an amendment to the Senate's Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework package, Pete Sepp, President of National Taxpayers Union (NTU), offered the following statement:
"Just one week ago, NTU published a joint statement to Congressional leaders from three taxpayer organizations, warning that the Charitable Conservation Easement Program Integrity Act'would create dangerous precedents for the entire system of tax administration.' Including this legislation in the infrastructure package doesn't diminish those precedents, and in fact worsens their impact.
As the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework evolved, Senate negotiators wisely decided to delete provisions giving the IRS excessive latitude to reduce the tax collection gap through ill-considered new enforcement powers. Reversing that course now, through an amendment to the package that effectively ratifies a host of heavy-handed IRS tactics, sends an ominous signal to taxpayers throughout the system -- not just those who have claimed conservation easement tax deductions. It would mean that the worst is yet to come as Congress soon debates whether and how to increase the IRS's annual appropriation.
Law-abiding Americans should not have to fear that the protections they've won in five separate taxpayer rights laws enacted since 1988 will be weakened or set aside. Besides, farsighted tax administrators know that more investments in customer service and helping citizens understand how to comply with tax laws can have a better long-term payoff than simply ramping up enforcement tactics."
The retroactive Charitable Conservation Easement Program Integrity Act would take tax administration in the wrong direction, and the Senate should steer clear of it. There are far more productive paths forward."
[Category: Political]
Institute for Justice: Illinois Becomes Second State to Enact Right to Garden Bill
ARLINGTON, Virginia, Aug. 4 (TNSPol) -- The Institute for Justice issued the following news release:
Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Friday signed the Illinois Vegetable Garden Protection Act (HB 633), a bill that will preserve and protect the right of all Illinoisans to "cultivate vegetable gardens on their own property." Introduced by Rep. Sonya Harper, the Act will protect the right to grow vegetables, as well as "herbs, fruits, flowers, pollinator plants, leafy greens, or other edible plants."
"I just want to grow my own food on my own property. In America, that really shouldn't be such a controversial
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ARLINGTON, Virginia, Aug. 4 (TNSPol) -- The Institute for Justice issued the following news release:
Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Friday signed the Illinois Vegetable Garden Protection Act (HB 633), a bill that will preserve and protect the right of all Illinoisans to "cultivate vegetable gardens on their own property." Introduced by Rep. Sonya Harper, the Act will protect the right to grow vegetables, as well as "herbs, fruits, flowers, pollinator plants, leafy greens, or other edible plants."
"I just want to grow my own food on my own property. In America, that really shouldn't be such a controversialidea, and it certainly shouldn't be illegal," said Nicole Virgil, an Elmhurst resident whose efforts to grow vegetables in her rear yard have been repeatedly stymied by local officials. "Now that the Vegetable Garden Protection Act has passed, we look forward to helping other Illinois residents enjoy their own backyard produce all winter long. Recent events have caused many to consider how they can live more sustainable and independent lives, and we are happy to contribute to this groundswell."
With the governor's signature, Illinois is now the second state to provide express protection for the right to grow one's own food. In 2019, Florida enacted the nation's first statewide Vegetable Garden Protection Act, which sprouted from a years-long legal battle the Institute for Justice fought on behalf of a Miami Shores couple that was forced to uproot their 17-year old vegetable garden, after the city banned vegetable gardens in front yards. The Florida and Illinois legislative reforms are part of IJ's National Food Freedom Initiative, which promotes the ability of individuals to produce, procure and consume the foods of their choice.
"This new law will strip local governments of the power to impose HOA-style prohibitions on an act of self-sufficiency in which humans have been engaged for thousands of years," said IJ Attorney Ari Bargil. "Over a year ago, as fears of the Covid-19 pandemic took hold nationwide, many Americans developed grave concerns about the weaknesses in our nation's food-supply chain as grocery stores rationed purchases and shelves grew depleted. As the past year has shown, the ability to grow food is not just a right--for many, it is a necessity. Enacting this bill is an important step in the march for food freedom for all Americans."
[Category: Law/Legal]
Environmental Law Institute Staff, Former Board Members, Elected to the American College of Environmental Lawyers
WASHINGTON, Aug. 4 (TNSPol) -- The Environmental Law Institute issued the following news release:
The Environmental Law Institute is proud to announce that Linda Breggin, a Senior Attorney with the Environmental Law Institute, is among the American College of Environmental Lawyers' (ACOEL's) newly elected class of Fellows for 2021. ELI is equally proud to announce that ELI Board Member Gwendolyn Keyes Fleming and former Board Members Ann Carlson and Carlton Waterhouse--both of whom recently stepped down from ELI's Board to join the Biden Administration--were also elected to the 2021 class of Fellows.
"Just
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WASHINGTON, Aug. 4 (TNSPol) -- The Environmental Law Institute issued the following news release:
The Environmental Law Institute is proud to announce that Linda Breggin, a Senior Attorney with the Environmental Law Institute, is among the American College of Environmental Lawyers' (ACOEL's) newly elected class of Fellows for 2021. ELI is equally proud to announce that ELI Board Member Gwendolyn Keyes Fleming and former Board Members Ann Carlson and Carlton Waterhouse--both of whom recently stepped down from ELI's Board to join the Biden Administration--were also elected to the 2021 class of Fellows.
"Justas ELI has benefited enormously from Linda, Gwen, Carlton, and Ann's contributions of thought leadership, vision, and good will, so too will the College," beamed ELI President Scott Fulton, already a member of ACOEL. "These four are among the finest and most talented environmental lawyers I know."
Linda Breggin, who has been with ELI for 20 years, serves as Director of ELI's Center for State, Tribal, and Local Environmental Programs, working with state, tribal, and local agencies to help them design, implement, and enforce their own environmental laws. Linda also developed the Environmental Law and Policy Annual Review, a collaboration with Vanderbilt University Law School, that showcases some of the most innovative proposals in the legal academic literature each year at an annual conference and in ELR--The Environmental Law Reporter. She is also the author of the "Around the States" column in The Environmental Forum, ELI's award-winning policy journal, and Senior Strategic Advisor to the Nashville Food Waste Initiative.
Gwendolyn Keys Fleming, a current member of ELI's Board, is a partner with Van Ness Feldman LLP in Washington, D.C. Gwen's practice focuses on environmental policy, government relations, enforcement defense litigation, and special investigations for private and municipal clients. Prior to joining the firm, she spent more than 20 years in the public sector, serving as both an elected and appointed official at the federal, state, and local levels, including as the Environmental Protection Agency's Chief of Staff and Region IV Regional Administrator.
Carlton Waterhouse, who served on ELI's board from 2019-2021, is Deputy Assistant Administrator of the Office of Land and Emergency Management (OLEM) and nominee to be the Assistant Administrator of OLEM. Carlton is an international expert on environmental law and environmental justice, as well as reparations and redress for historic injustices. Prior to joining the Biden Administration, Carlton served as law professor for many years after an initial tour of service with EPA. Most recently, he led the Howard University Environmental Justice Center at the Howard University School of Law, where he also taught environmental, property, and administrative law.
Ann Carlson, who served on ELI's Board from 2016-2020, is the Chief Counsel of National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Before this role, she worked as the Shirley Shapiro Professor of Environmental Law, and the inaugural Faculty Director of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the UCLA School of Law. She was also on the faculty of the UCLA Institute of the Environment. Ann is one of the country's leading scholars on climate change law and policy.
The ACOEL is a professional association of distinguished lawyers who practice in the field of environmental law. ACOEL members are dedicated to: maintaining and improving the ethical practice of environmental law; the administration of justice; and the development of environmental law through rigorous focus, outreach and education in all forums--federal, state, municipal, tribal and international. Membership is by invitation and members are recognized by their peers as preeminent in their field.
[Category: Law/Legal]
ACLU R.I. Sues Dept of Corrections Over Continued Incarceration of Inmates Granted Parole
PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island, Aug. 4 (TNSPol) -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island issued the following news:
A habeas corpus petition filed today by ACLU of Rhode Island cooperating attorneys and the Public Defender argues that an inmate is unlawfully being held in prison despite a decision by the R.I. Parole Board to release him on supervised parole. This is the second time in two years the ACLU has had to go to court to address this ongoing and disturbing problem created by a controversial and, according to the petition, unlawful policy change by the R.I. Department of Corrections
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PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island, Aug. 4 (TNSPol) -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island issued the following news:
A habeas corpus petition filed today by ACLU of Rhode Island cooperating attorneys and the Public Defender argues that an inmate is unlawfully being held in prison despite a decision by the R.I. Parole Board to release him on supervised parole. This is the second time in two years the ACLU has had to go to court to address this ongoing and disturbing problem created by a controversial and, according to the petition, unlawful policy change by the R.I. Department of Corrections(DOC).
The petition claims that the DOC changed inmate Francisco Martinez's parole eligibility date almost three decades after he began serving his sentences for murder and assault, and that this change is forcing him to spend at least twenty extra months in prison despite a unanimous Parole Board vote in October 2020 authorizing his release from custody.
This continuing dispute, which affects dozens of other ACI inmates, is the result of the DOC's unannounced decision a few years ago to retroactively change the way it calculates parole eligibility dates for certain individuals who were given consecutive sentences for their crimes.
State law provides that when a prisoner is serving more than one sentence, "a parole permit may issue whenever he or she has served a term equal to one third (1/3) of the aggregate time which he or she shall be liable to serve under his or her several sentences..." However, instead of aggregating consecutive sentences to determine parole eligibility as the law provides, and as the DOC used to do, the Department now requires inmates serving a life sentence to first meet the parole eligibility date for that sentence and then be "paroled" to start serving their next consecutive sentence. Only after the inmate meets the parole eligibility time frame for that second sentence are they deemed eligible for release under the DOC policy.
Although Martinez has long since served the requisite time to be eligible for parole for both sentences, he was shocked to learn that when the Parole Board unanimously voted to grant him parole after also approving a community re-entry program for him last year, his "parole" was to his consecutive five-year sentence for assault. Only after he waits the requisite parole eligibility period for that offense (in this case, 20 months) will he be considered for actual parole from the ACI. In other words, according to the DOC's protocol, Martinez needs to be paroled twice before being eligible for release.
The habeas corpus petition calls the DOC's actions in calculating separate parole eligibility dates for inmates like Martinez "arbitrary" and "irrational," and notes that "release on parole can only mean release ... from the physical custody" of the DOC, not "parole to a consecutive sentence." The Parole Board claims it has no authority to challenge the DOC's policy on how parole is calculated.
The habeas corpus petition, filed in R.I. Superior Court by ACLU of Rhode Island cooperating attorneys Lisa Holley, Sonja Deyoe and Lynette Labinger and Assistant Public Defender Camille McKenna, argues that DOC's action violates a host of constitutional rights and contravenes state law, and asks for Martinez's immediate release from custody, subject to Parole Board conditions.
Last year, ACLU cooperating attorneys filed a similar suit on behalf of Robert McKinney, an inmate who, after being granted parole, learned that he would still have to spend an extra three years in prison on a consecutive sentence before being released. Just days after the ACLU petition was filed on McKinney's behalf, the DOC agreed to release him. Despite that success and at least one other recent court decision ordering the release of another inmate under parallel circumstances, the DOC continues to require multiple grants of parole if a person is serving consecutive sentences that include a life sentence.
In filing today's petition, the ACLU indicated it was examining ways to address the problem more systematically, since many other inmates remain affected by the policy. A copy of the petition can be found here.
ACLU cooperating attorney Holley said today: "Although the RI Superior Court has ruled in numerous cases that the DOC's change of parole eligibility based on their own interpretation of statute is incorrect, it is unconscionable that the DOC continues to implement a policy that violates inmates' constitutional rights."
Attorney Deyoe added: "The fact that an inmate remains held at the ACI after being found, by unanimous vote of the parole board, to be eligible for a parole permit is a serious waste of state resources and human capital. There is no benefit to society to continue to keep an individual imprisoned who has been granted parole. It continues to punish an inmate who has already served his time and an action that continues to cost the State money."
ACLU cooperating attorney Labinger stated: "The DOC's decision to upend decades of consistent interpretation of the State's parole laws where there has been no change in the law and no mandate to do so has effectively increased the sentences that individuals must serve before being eligible for release. It is ill-considered and unnecessary. It not only contravenes the law; it is poor public policy."
[Category: Law/Legal]
ACLU Comment on Senate Markup of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act
WASHINGTON, Aug. 4 (TNSPol) -- The American Civil Liberties Union, a 501(c)3 non-profit that works to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the U.S., issued the following statement:
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Vania Leveille, senior legislative counsel with the American Civil Liberties Union, issued this statement following the first-ever Senate committee vote of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (S. 1486):
"Too many workers are forced to choose between a healthy pregnancy and earning a paycheck. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act is the solution we need
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WASHINGTON, Aug. 4 (TNSPol) -- The American Civil Liberties Union, a 501(c)3 non-profit that works to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the U.S., issued the following statement:
* * *
Vania Leveille, senior legislative counsel with the American Civil Liberties Union, issued this statement following the first-ever Senate committee vote of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (S. 1486):
"Too many workers are forced to choose between a healthy pregnancy and earning a paycheck. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act is the solution we needto address this problem and safeguard the health and economic security of pregnant workers across the country.
"We applaud the leadership and members of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions for advancing this critical legislation with overwhelmingly bipartisan support, and for recognizing that it is good for families, good for business, and good for our economy.
"Without this legislation, pregnant workers who want to continue working while maintaining a healthy pregnancy are left unprotected despite the clear mandates of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. We call on the full Senate to pass the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act without delay."
[Category: Law/Legal]
ACLU Comment on New CDC Eviction Moratorium
WASHINGTON, Aug. 4 (TNSPol) -- The American Civil Liberties Union, a 501(c)3 non-profit that works to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the U.S., issued the following statement:
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The Biden administration announced the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will issue a new federal moratorium on evictions. The previous federal eviction moratorium expired on July 31. The new moratorium, which will remain in effect through October 3, bans evictions in counties with high rates of COVID-19 transmission.
Below is a comment
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WASHINGTON, Aug. 4 (TNSPol) -- The American Civil Liberties Union, a 501(c)3 non-profit that works to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the U.S., issued the following statement:
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The Biden administration announced the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will issue a new federal moratorium on evictions. The previous federal eviction moratorium expired on July 31. The new moratorium, which will remain in effect through October 3, bans evictions in counties with high rates of COVID-19 transmission.
Below is a commentfrom Ian Thompson, Senior Legislative Advocate at the ACLU, in response:
"We commend the Biden administration for listening to the pleas of millions of renters facing eviction across the country by putting in place a new federal eviction moratorium. This is a critical move that will help keep the most vulnerable, low-income renters in stable housing during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
"This moratorium must be met with additional immediate action by the administration, Congress, and states to address the looming mass evictions crisis.
"Congress should still swiftly pass legislation to ensure that a federal moratorium on evictions remains in place as long as the COVID-19 emergency declaration is in place.
"In addition, the Biden administration must work with states and localities to rapidly disburse the $46 billion in funding that Congress has already appropriated for rent relief. States and localities must also take bold action to protect renters from the devastating, long-lasting effects of eviction by, for example, adopting a right to counsel and protections against screening policies that reject applicants based on prior eviction filings. We need this meaningful action to stop mass evictions during the pandemic and beyond."
[Category: Law/Legal]
