Public Policy & NGOs
Here's a look at documents from public policy and non-governmental organizations
Featured Stories
Western Watersheds Project: New Report Finds That Arctic Grayling Face Increasing Risk in Big Hole River, Despite Conservation Efforts
HAILEY, Idaho, Dec. 3 (TNSrpt) -- The Western Watersheds Project posted the following news release:
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New Report Finds That Arctic Grayling Face Increasing Risk in Big Hole River, Despite Conservation Efforts
MISSOULA, Mont.-- According to a new study submitted to the U.S Fish & Wildlife Service, Arctic grayling in Montana's Big Hole river face increasing risk despite conservation efforts undertaken since 2017. Summertime flows continue to decrease and water temperatures are climbing due to climate change and habitat degradation, undermining any gains potentially accrued by conservation
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HAILEY, Idaho, Dec. 3 (TNSrpt) -- The Western Watersheds Project posted the following news release:
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New Report Finds That Arctic Grayling Face Increasing Risk in Big Hole River, Despite Conservation Efforts
MISSOULA, Mont.-- According to a new study submitted to the U.S Fish & Wildlife Service, Arctic grayling in Montana's Big Hole river face increasing risk despite conservation efforts undertaken since 2017. Summertime flows continue to decrease and water temperatures are climbing due to climate change and habitat degradation, undermining any gains potentially accrued by conservationactions in the Basin.
"This analysis makes clear that the Big Hole River is warming and drying faster than current conservation efforts can compensate, leaving Arctic grayling and other cold-water species increasingly vulnerable." said Dr. Zachary Hoylman, chief scientist with Hydrosphere Analytical and author of the study. "Without decisive action to safeguard instream flows, the Big Hole River will continue to lose the ecological integrity that made it a renowned stronghold for Arctic grayling and other cold-water dependent fish."
The comprehensive evaluation found that the combined pressures of hotter summers and shrinking streamflows are overwhelming any potential benefits of previous management actions. When combined with the extensive irrigation withdrawals and riparian degradation already occurring throughout the Big Hole watershed, the intensifying climate change impacts identified in the report pose a serious threat to Arctic grayling, which depend on cold clean water and stable flows for growth, movement, and survival.
"This new study has serious implications for the already struggling native Arctic grayling population in the Big Hole, as well as for other fish species in precipitous decline throughout the basin" said Patrick Kelly, Montana Director for Western Watersheds Project. "The US Fish & Wildlife Service now has the science it needs--and the responsibility--to act boldly on behalf of Arctic grayling, a species that has waited far too long for meaningful protection."
By integrating decades of temperature, hydrologic, and climate data, the analysis fills major scientific gaps and undermines the previous rationale for not listing Arctic grayling under the Endangered Species Act. That previous determination relied on a limited record ending in 2017 and did not fully or adequately account for the accelerating influence of climate change. As the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service now prepares its court-ordered listing determination, the urgency of stronger and more enforceable protections cannot be overstated. The evidence shows that voluntary and small-scale conservation measures are not enough to counteract the impact of increased climate warming.
"These findings demand stronger, enforceable action, not voluntary or piecemeal measures," said Kelly. "Protecting instream flows and restoring functional riparian zones must be treated as non-negotiable requirements for Arctic grayling survival."
Key Takeaways and Conservation Implications of the Big Hole study:
* The river's thermal resilience has not improved despite years of touted conservation actions. The analysis finds no measurable increase in thermal buffering since 2017, contradicting repeated assertions that past efforts have strengthened river conditions for Arctic grayling.
* The Big Hole River is warming dangerously. Climate change is driving sustained increases in summer air temperatures, which in turn are causing more frequent and prolonged warm-water stress events in Arctic grayling habitat.
* Summer streamflows are declining leaving river habitats hotter and more vulnerable every year. A basin-wide drop of nearly 50 CFS per decade means the Big Hole river is losing adequate flow, its most important natural defense against warming.
* Previous federal decisions not to list Arctic grayling did not fully account for climate change. The 2020 U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service determination relied on a truncated and inadequate dataset ending in 2017, missing the sharp increases in warming and flow decline documented in subsequent years.
* Arctic grayling are not alone in facing decline. Native cutthroat and introduced trout populations are also declining in the Big Hole as warm-water conditions expand and cold-water refuges shrink.
Background & Timeline:
Arctic grayling once occupied hundreds of miles of rivers in Montana's upper Missouri River basin. By the mid-1900s, overharvest, stream diversion and flow reduction, grazing and riparian damage, dam construction, and non-native trout introductions drove dramatic declines. Today, the upper Big Hole River supports the last native fluvial grayling population in the lower 48 states.
* 1991-1994 - First formal petitions submitted to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) to list the Upper Missouri River fluvial Arctic grayling under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
* In 1994, USFWS finds listing "warranted but precluded," placing grayling on the candidate list.
* 1995 - Montana completes its Arctic Grayling Restoration Plan, calling for reestablishing multiple viable fluvial populations.
* 2003-2005 - Litigation forces renewed federal attention; USFWS reevaluates grayling's listing priority.
* 2006 - The Big Hole River Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances (CCAA) is launched, a voluntary conservation program with Big Hole watershed landowners.
* 2007 - USFWS issues a revised finding claiming the grayling does not qualify as a distinct population segment; grayling removed from candidate list.
* 2010 - USFWS reverses course, recognizes the Upper Missouri River fluvial Arctic grayling DPS, and again finds listing "warranted but precluded." Grayling returns to candidate status.
* 2014 - After another review, USFWS finds listing "not warranted," citing improvements from the CCAA. The decision is immediately litigated.
* 2018 - The Ninth Circuit vacates the 2014 decision and orders USFWS to reassess using stronger scientific evidence.
* 2020 - USFWS issues another "not warranted" finding, again relying heavily on the Big Hole CCAA and perceived habitat improvements.
* 2024 - A federal court vacates the 2020 decision, ruling that USFWS did not adequately analyze threats or population viability. USFWS is ordered to re-do listing determination.
* 2025 - New analyses, including the Hoylman (2025) report, are submitted to USFWS for incorporation into the current Species Status Assessment (SSA), which will inform the forthcoming court-ordered ESA listing determination.
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REPORT: https://westernwatersheds.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Hoylman-2025_An-Updated-Assessment-of-Thermal-Stress-Thresholds-in-the-Big-Hole-River-Montana_Final.pdf
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Original text here: https://www.westernwatersheds.org/2025/12/new-report-finds-that-arctic-grayling-face-increasing-risk-in-big-hole-river-despite-conservation-efforts/
[Category: Environment]
W.Va. Center on Budget & Policy: New Brief Details How Raising the Minimum Wage Better Supports Low-wage Workers Than No Tax on Tips
CHARLESTON, West Virginia, Dec. 3 (TNSrpt) -- The West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy issued the following news release on Dec. 1, 2025:
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New Brief Details How Raising the Minimum Wage Better Supports Low-wage Workers Than No Tax on Tips
Over the summer, Congress passed the "One Big Beautiful Bill" (H.R. 1), which includes a temporary "no tax on tips" provision framed as helping low-wage workers, while the rest of the legislation provides huge, permanent tax cuts to the wealthy and makes the largest cuts to Medicaid and SNAP in history. In West Virginia, similar legislation to eliminate
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CHARLESTON, West Virginia, Dec. 3 (TNSrpt) -- The West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy issued the following news release on Dec. 1, 2025:
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New Brief Details How Raising the Minimum Wage Better Supports Low-wage Workers Than No Tax on Tips
Over the summer, Congress passed the "One Big Beautiful Bill" (H.R. 1), which includes a temporary "no tax on tips" provision framed as helping low-wage workers, while the rest of the legislation provides huge, permanent tax cuts to the wealthy and makes the largest cuts to Medicaid and SNAP in history. In West Virginia, similar legislation to eliminatethe state income tax on tips was introduced during the 2025 legislative session.
Out today, our new policy brief details how raising the minimum wage would provide a larger benefit to a higher number of low-wage workers in West Virginia than implementing no tax on tips.
A no tax on tips policy would leave out the vast majority of low-wage workers who do not receive tips, and those workers often already work for lower wages than their tipped peers. There were an estimated 4 million workers in tipped occupations in 2023, representing 2.5 percent of all employment nationwide. That is the equivalent of just 17,050 workers in West Virginia.
Further, ending taxation of tips would likely expand employer use of tipped labor and undercut efforts to raise worker compensation. It would encourage employers in more industries to reclassify wage income as tips, effectively shifting their employment costs onto consumers by encouraging tipping and then cutting wages equivalently. New tipped workers would see their incomes become less stable and predictable, while consumers would face higher costs via increased tip requests. No tax on tips lets employers off the hook from paying their workers a fair wage while creating inequity in the tax system.
Raising the minimum wage would provide a much larger benefit to a significantly higher number and broader range of low-wage workers. The Raise the Wage Act of 2025 would raise the minimum wage to $17 per hour by 2030 and gradually eliminate the tipped minimum wage. Raising the minimum wage to $17 per hour would benefit 186,000 low-wage workers in West Virginia--over 27 percent of the workforce and ten times as many workers who would benefit from no tax on tips.
It is important to note that it has been a decade since West Virginia's last minimum wage increase, and since then, the minimum wage has lost a concerning 22 percent of its value to inflation. Today's state minimum wage is at its lowest inflation-adjusted point since 2008 and has lost so much of its value that it is unable to keep workers and their families out of poverty.
Raising the minimum wage would create a significantly larger benefit for West Virginia low-wage workers than exempting tips from the income tax. No tax on tips would cost the state up to $5 million, or in other words, the state's tipped workers would receive a tax cut worth a total of $5 million. Meanwhile, increasing the minimum wage to $17 per hour by 2030 would increase wages for low-wage workers by a total of $73.7 million. On average, West Virginia workers benefiting from an increase in the minimum wage would see a 15 percent increase in their annual wages.
"Raising the minimum wage would benefit a broad range of workers in West Virginia," says WVCBP senior policy analyst and brief author, Sean O'Leary. "While the misconception exists that many minimum wage earners are simply teenagers with entry-level jobs, the reality is that most beneficiaries of an increase in the minimum wage are adults, with many supporting their families."
By raising the minimum wage, West Virginia would help ensure there is a wage floor that provides for family well-being, something that no tax on tips falls far short of providing. If the state is sincerely committed to helping low-wage workers, the clear and simple solution is raising the minimum wage.
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REPORT: https://wvpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/No-Gimmicks-Necessary-Put-More-Money-in-Workers-Pockets-by-Raising-Their-Wages.pdf
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Original text here: https://wvpolicy.org/new-brief-details-how-raising-the-minimum-wage-better-supports-low-wage-workers-than-no-tax-on-tips/
[Category: Government/Public Administration]
Thousands of Turkeys Die After Being Left Caged at Perdue Slaughterhouse in Extreme Weather; PETA Seeks Criminal Probe
NORFOLK, Virginia, Dec. 3 -- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals issued the following news release:
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Thousands of Turkeys Die After Being Left Caged at Perdue Slaughterhouse in Extreme Weather; PETA Seeks Criminal Probe
A damning U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) report just obtained by PETA reveals that more than 2,000 turkeys died at a Perdue Foods slaughterhouse after being caged this summer for more than 24 hours in extreme heat without food or water. In response, PETA sent an urgent letter this morning to Daviess County Prosecutor Abby Brown, urging her to investigate and
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NORFOLK, Virginia, Dec. 3 -- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals issued the following news release:
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Thousands of Turkeys Die After Being Left Caged at Perdue Slaughterhouse in Extreme Weather; PETA Seeks Criminal Probe
A damning U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) report just obtained by PETA reveals that more than 2,000 turkeys died at a Perdue Foods slaughterhouse after being caged this summer for more than 24 hours in extreme heat without food or water. In response, PETA sent an urgent letter this morning to Daviess County Prosecutor Abby Brown, urging her to investigate andfile appropriate criminal charges against those responsible.
According to the report, thousands of turkeys were hauled to the slaughterhouse on or about June 23, but instead of slaughtering them that day, Perdue personnel left the birds caged for more than 24 hours in heat exceeding 90 degrees. As a result, more than 2,000 of the turkeys died or were in such poor condition that their slaughtered remains were later "condemned" by the USDA.
"These terrified turkeys endured a prolonged and agonizing death at Perdue's slaughterhouse in the sweltering heat with no food or water or chance to escape," says PETA's Vice President of Legal Advocacy Daniel Paden. "PETA is calling for a criminal investigation on behalf of these turkeys and urges everyone to please go vegan to help spare more animals from suffering in slaughterhouses."
PETA is pursuing charges under state law because federal officials haven't prosecuted any inspected slaughterhouses for acts of abuse since at least 2007.
PETA--whose motto reads, in part, that "animals are not ours to eat or abuse in any other way"--points out thatEvery Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits and vegan starter kits for those looking to make the switch. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
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PETA's letter to Brown follows.
December 2, 2025
The Honorable Abby Brown
Daviess County Prosecutor
Dear Ms. Brown:
I'm writing to request that your office (and a law-enforcement agency, as necessary) file applicable criminal charges against Perdue Foods LLC and/or the individual(s) responsible for the egregious suffering of more than 2,000 turkeys kept caged for more than 24 hours in extreme heat--and without food and water--in June at 65 South 200 West in Washington.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) documented the incident in a report that the agency recently made available to the public. (See attachment.) According to the report, these animals were hauled to the slaughterhouse on or about June 23, as the local temperature was approximately 94 degrees. Rather than slaughtering these birds on that day, Perdue personnel chose to hold them overnight--without food and water--until June 24, when the temperature reached approximately 93 degrees.
The animals were exposed to such "extreme heat for over 24 hours." Meanwhile, half of Perdue's misters--which might have otherwise made the animals slightly less hot--were "clogged, and not working properly," causing the birds "distress." As a result, more than 2,000 animals died prior to their planned slaughter or were in such poor condition that their slaughtered remains were later "condemned" by FSIS inspectors.
Please note that FSIS' action carries no criminal or civil penalties and does not preempt criminal liability under state law for acts of cruelty to animals.
The conduct described above appears to violate Indiana Code Sec. 35-46-3-7, which prohibits anyone from "recklessly, knowingly, or intentionally ... neglect[ing]" any vertebrate animal. Leaving more than 2,000 caged animals exposed to extreme heat for more than 24 hours, without sustenance, hardly represents the "acceptable farm management practices" or authorized slaughter-related conduct otherwise exempt from prosecution. Indiana law affords these thousands of victims their only chance at a small measure of justice. We urge your office to seek it.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
A close up of a signAI-generated content may be incorrect.
Daniel Paden
Vice President of Legal Advocacy
cc: Chief Derrick Devine, Washington Police Department
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Original text here: https://www.peta.org/media/news-releases/thousands-of-turkeys-die-after-being-left-caged-at-perdue-slaughterhouse-in-extreme-weather-peta-seeks-criminal-probe/
[Category: Animals]
Study Jesus' Life This Christmas, President Christofferson Says at BYU
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Dec. 3 -- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints issued the following news release:
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Study Jesus' Life This Christmas, President Christofferson Says at BYU
'His condescension, culminating in His Atonement, gives hope, direction and purpose to our lives,' the Apostle says
President D. Todd Christofferson of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued an invitation to reflect each Christmas and Easter on Jesus Christ's mortal life and mission, and most important, his "condescension to save you."
"We should study His life
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SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Dec. 3 -- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints issued the following news release:
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Study Jesus' Life This Christmas, President Christofferson Says at BYU
'His condescension, culminating in His Atonement, gives hope, direction and purpose to our lives,' the Apostle says
President D. Todd Christofferson of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued an invitation to reflect each Christmas and Easter on Jesus Christ's mortal life and mission, and most important, his "condescension to save you."
"We should study His lifeand model His discipleship," he said. "His condescension, culminating in His Atonement, gives hope, direction and purpose to our lives."
Speaking during a devotional on Tuesday, December 1, 2025, at the Marriott Center on the campus of Brigham Young University, President Christofferson invited listeners to also "think of your own condescension, its purpose, and how you too, having descended into a fallen world, may with 'good cheer' rise above and overcome the world with Christ."
Condescension
President Christofferson explained that condescension means "to descend voluntarily from a higher rank or dignity to a lower level or status."
"[Jesus'] condescension, culminating in His Atonement, gives hope, direction and purpose to our lives." --President D. Todd Christofferson
Jesus, "a divine being with intelligence and power sufficient to create this earth," laid aside His glory and powers to descend and live as a mortal man, experiencing hunger, deprivation, fatigue, pain, persecution and rejection.
"Surely it is by divine design that the Son of God lived a life and performed a ministry that not merely tell us, but show us the way of discipleship, the way to God," he taught.
His willingness to live in this fallen world and show us how to live His gospel in day-to-day life "is truly an act of genuine love."
He explained that, like Jesus, we also are experiencing a personal condescension. Our spirits lived with God, and our birth separated us from His presence. Like Jesus, we are passing through a mortal experience in a fallen world.
"You are here, first, to apply His divine gift of repentance in your life and by His grace overcome sin and death, and second, to bring others to Christ to receive this same gift of repentance and life eternal," he said.
Enduring to the End
For His condescension to achieve its full purpose, Jesus Christ had to endure to the end, which was not easy. In the Savior's words, "[This] suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit -- and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink" (Doctrine and Covenants 19:18).
For our condescension to achieve its full purpose, we also must endure to the end, President Christofferson said.
The significance of enduring to the end lies in the need to not just believe in Christ but to develop a Christlike character so we can live with Him and Heavenly Father eternally.
Enduring to the end "is about what we are becoming," he said. "Our final judgment will measure what we have become, and even more importantly, what we have shown we can yet become."
He quoted President Dallin H. Oaks, who said, "The Final Judgment is not just an evaluation of a sum total of good and evil acts -- what we have done. It is an acknowledgment of the final effect of our acts and thoughts -- what we have become. ... The commandments, ordinances and covenants of the gospel are not a list of deposits required to be made in some heavenly account. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a plan that shows us how to become what our Heavenly Father desires us to become" ("The Challenge to Become," "Ensign," November 2000).
Although our mortal suffering, sacrifices and challenges can't compare to Jesus' experiences, like Jesus, we can count on help from God, angels and His Holy Spirit. And "we have the infinite grace of Christ to forgive and sanctify us from sin," he said.
Repentance
President Christofferson taught that we will be able to continue pressing forward to eternal life even after we die. "Christ's gift of repentance allows us to begin anew and continue forward each day," he said, "to progress from grace to grace, to confidently sacrifice the lesser for the greater, to overcome and with Him gain immortality and eternal life."
There is no limit to how many times we can repent and seek God's forgiveness, he said.
Elder Christofferson concluded with a plea to "take up [your] cross daily, and follow [Jesus]" (Luke 9:23) faithfully, to the end. He testified that "Jesus was born of Mary, that He lived on earth, that He now lives, the God of our redemption."
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Original text here: https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/study-jesus-life-this-christmas-president-christofferson-says-at-byu
[Category: Religion]
PETA Statement: FDA Requests Proposals to Replace Animals in Pharmaceutical Tests
WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 -- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals issued the following news release:
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FDA Requests Proposals to Replace Animals in Pharmaceutical Tests: PETA Statement
Please see the following statement from PETA scientist Jeffrey Brown regarding the Food and Drug Administration's call on the pharmaceutical industry to propose tests to replace primates and other animals in experiments:
"After years of persuasion, evidence sharing, and recent meetings with Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials, PETA scientists today applaud the agency's proposal to streamline drug
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WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 -- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals issued the following news release:
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FDA Requests Proposals to Replace Animals in Pharmaceutical Tests: PETA Statement
Please see the following statement from PETA scientist Jeffrey Brown regarding the Food and Drug Administration's call on the pharmaceutical industry to propose tests to replace primates and other animals in experiments:
"After years of persuasion, evidence sharing, and recent meetings with Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials, PETA scientists today applaud the agency's proposal to streamline drugtesting by recommending and encouraging pharmaceutical developers to replace primates, dogs, pigs, and other animals who are routinely killed in painful tests to meet FDA requirements. Today's FDA announcement is a lifeline for long-tailed macaques. Testing a single antibody drug can use and kill more than 100 monkeys--the equivalent of erasing two entire troops of endangered macaques in one fell swoop--for tests the agency now says may be replaced entirely. This is one of the first federal reforms that will translate directly into fewer captures, fewer shipments, and fewer endangered macaques sacrificed for data modern science can deliver without them.
As the agency noted earlier this year, a specific category of drugs--monoclonal antibodies--is a starting point for this new approach. Now, the FDA has invited the entire industry to actively bring their animal replacement approaches forward. Every pharmaceutical manufacturer now has a duty to support the agency's proposal, both by affirming their agreement with it and putting its recommendations into practice. As a developer of a candidate therapeutic monoclonal antibody that has suggested these and other animal replacement opportunities to the FDA, PETA scientists are happy to support the FDA and any pharmaceutical manufacturer in need of assistance in rising to the agency's challenge."
PETA--whose motto reads, in part, that "animals are not ours to experiment on"--points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
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Original text here: https://www.peta.org/media/news-releases/fda-requests-proposals-to-replace-animals-in-pharmaceutical-tests-peta-statement/
[Category: Animals]
FDA Takes First Regulatory Step to Implement Roadmap to Reduce Animal Testing
WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 [Category: Animals] -- The Center for a Humane Economy posted the following news release on Dec. 2, 2025:
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FDA Takes First Regulatory Step to Implement Roadmap to Reduce Animal Testing
In a move that signals practical action and growing federal momentum away from animal testing, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today issued draft guidance to move down a regulatory path to reduce primate and other animal use in the development of monoclonal antibody drugs.
The guidance, titled Monoclonal Antibodies: Streamlined Nonclinical Safety Studies, outlines a new regulatory
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WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 [Category: Animals] -- The Center for a Humane Economy posted the following news release on Dec. 2, 2025:
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FDA Takes First Regulatory Step to Implement Roadmap to Reduce Animal Testing
In a move that signals practical action and growing federal momentum away from animal testing, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today issued draft guidance to move down a regulatory path to reduce primate and other animal use in the development of monoclonal antibody drugs.
The guidance, titled Monoclonal Antibodies: Streamlined Nonclinical Safety Studies, outlines a new regulatoryframework that allows developers to limit or waive certain animal toxicity studies when human-based scientific data provide sufficient safety insights. The action follows the agency's April 2025 Roadmap to Reducing Animal Testing in Preclinical Safety Studies.
The Roadmap emphasized a move away from outdated and unreliable animal models and toward next-generation tools such as human organoids, organ-on-chip platforms, computational toxicology systems, and other advanced New Approach Methodologies. The draft guidance is the first formal step toward operationalizing that Roadmap, offering preliminary direction for drug developers seeking to reduce or eliminate the use of non-human primates and other laboratory animals.
"This draft guidance represents constructive movement from the FDA and is a logical follow-up to the landmark 'Roadmap' to reduce animal testing the agency issued in April," said Tamara Drake, director of research and regulatory policy at the Center for a Humane Economy. "Putting these new methodologies into practical use will reduce unnecessary animal suffering while improving the predictivity and efficiency of preclinical testing."
"Monoclonal antibodies represent a vital class of therapeutic modalities for the treatment of a range of human diseases, from metabolic abnormalities to cancer, and technology-based platforms can model these interactions with far greater fidelity than animal tests," said Zaher Nahle, Ph.D., senior scientific advisor for Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy. "Human-relevant methods that better predict drug toxicity will transform preclinical development and simultaneously reduce the reliance on animal studies."
"With this draft guidance, the FDA is signaling a willingness to rethink long-standing assumptions about animal testing," said Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy. "Animal models routinely fail to predict human responses, yet they have remained entrenched in the regulatory system because of regulatory inertia and corporate familiarity. The FDA's new draft guidance shows that the agency is embracing 21st-century science and acknowledging that we can protect human health while sparing animals from needless pain and suffering. This is a concrete and potentially game-changing move toward a more humane and scientifically grounded system."
The Center for a Humane Economy and Animal Wellness Action have long advocated for federal agencies to accelerate the shift toward animal-free safety assessments. The organizations drove the 2022 enactment of the FDA Modernization Act 2.0, led by Sens. Rand Paul, M.D., R-Ky., and Cory Booker, D-N.J., removing mandatory animal testing requirements and opening the door for agencies to adopt 21st-century scientific approaches. The new draft guidance was enabled by the passage of that law.
Last week, the organizations celebrated news of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) winding down its use of primates in intramural research.
"We've asked for consistent approaches across the federal public health agencies, and that's what we are now seeing with the FDA announcement closely following the CDC action. We hope to hear NIH is next with similar declarations," said Pacelle.
In the coming months, the Center for a Humane Economy will submit detailed comments on the draft guidance and continue to engage policymakers, scientific institutions, and industry partners to advance human-relevant methods that reduce reliance on animals in research and testing.
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Center for a Humane Economy is a Washington, D.C.-based 501(c)(3) whose mission is to help animals by helping forge a more humane economic order. The first organization of its kind in the animal protection movement, the Center encourages businesses to honor their social responsibilities in a culture where consumers, investors, and other key stakeholders abhor cruelty and the degradation of the environment and embrace innovation as a means of eliminating both. The Center believes helping animals helps us all. Twitter: @TheHumaneCenter
Animal Wellness Action is a Washington, D.C.-based 501(c)(4) whose mission is to help animals by promoting laws and regulations at federal, state and local levels that forbid cruelty to all animals. The group also works to enforce existing anti-cruelty and wildlife protection laws. Animal Wellness Action believes helping animals helps us all. Twitter: @AWAction_News
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Original text here: https://centerforahumaneeconomy.org/fda-to-implement-roadmap-to-reduce-animal-testing/
Environmental Working Group: Trump Administration Backs Bayer in Supreme Court Fight, Putting Corporate Interests Over Roundup Victims
WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 -- The Environmental Working Group issued the following news release:
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Trump administration backs Bayer in Supreme Court fight, putting corporate interests over Roundup victims
The Trump administration has joined Bayer's effort before the Supreme Court to limit legal claims from individuals, including farmers, who allege the company's flagship product, Roundup, caused cancer.
By taking this position, the administration is siding with a major chemical company to deny thousands of affected families their day in court.
The following is a statement from Environmental Working
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 -- The Environmental Working Group issued the following news release:
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Trump administration backs Bayer in Supreme Court fight, putting corporate interests over Roundup victims
The Trump administration has joined Bayer's effort before the Supreme Court to limit legal claims from individuals, including farmers, who allege the company's flagship product, Roundup, caused cancer.
By taking this position, the administration is siding with a major chemical company to deny thousands of affected families their day in court.
The following is a statement from Environmental WorkingGroup President and co-Founder Ken Cook:
It's outrageous - though sadly predictable - that the Trump administration has chosen to side with Bayer over the cancer patients who trusted that Roundup was safe. Families already grappling with profound loss because of this company deserve a fair chance to seek justice, not a federal government racing to insulate a multibillion-dollar chemical conglomerate from responsibility while undermining accountability for other corporate polluters. It's a brazen betrayal of the very citizens our government is sworn to protect.
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The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization that empowers people to live healthier lives in a healthier environment. Through research, advocacy and unique education tools, EWG drives consumer choice and civic action.
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Original text here: https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news-release/2025/12/trump-administration-backs-bayer-supreme-court-fight-putting
[Category: Environment]
