skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, April 19, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Tribal advocates keep up legal pressure for fair political maps; 12-member jury sworn in for Trump's historic criminal trial; the importance of healthcare decision planning; and a debt dilemma: poll shows how many people wrestle with college costs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Civil rights activists say a court ruling could end the right to protest in three southern states, a federal judge lets January 6th lawsuits proceed against former President Trump, and police arrest dozens at a Columbia University Gaza protest.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Rural Wyoming needs more vocational teachers to sustain its workforce pipeline, Ohio environmental advocates fear harm from a proposal to open 40-thousand forest acres to fracking and rural communities build bike trail systems to promote nature, boost the economy.

New England Avocates Cheer "Toxic Tour" at DNC

play audio
Play

Thursday, July 28, 2016   

BOSTON – A self-described Toxic Tour that traveled from the Republican National Convention to the Democratic National Convention in its quest to draw attention to the need for action on toxic pollution and climate change is getting support from New England and around the globe.

The tour, also known as It Takes Roots to Change the System, paid a visit this week to the largest refinery in the DNC’s host city, Philadelphia.

Nay’Chelle Harris, an organizer with the Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, says the Democratic Party's commitment to combat climate change may be too little, too late.

"The action they think is bold isn't bold enough,” she maintains. “The people in Pennsylvania have been saying, 'No fracking,' and yet natural gas is being considered a bridge-energy source.

“And you can't make a bridge from dirty to clean with more dirty. That's just going along the same path."

An international caravan this week joined the Toxic Tour, which includes advocates from Maine. The Democratic Party platform includes limiting the rise of global temperatures through conservation and ramping up clean energy sources.

Katelyn Parady is communications director for the Toxics Action Center, a group helping communities prevent pollution and clean up toxic waste in New England since 1987. She says it's welcome news that this initiative is shining a spotlight on the need for action.

"In Massachusetts, we have over 5,000 hazardous waste sites that are awaiting cleanup, along with hundreds of permitted polluters who have licenses to dump smog into our air and chemicals into our waters,” she points out.

Toxic Tour supporters say one of their goals is to help shift the attention of elected officials and regulators away from the DNC to communities of color across the country that are being disproportionately affected by pollution.







get more stories like this via email

more stories
In Pennsylvania, more than 400,000 people are living with Alzheimer's disease. (C. Nathaniel Brown)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Alzheimer's disease is the eighth-leading cause of death in Pennsylvania. A documentary on the topic debuts Saturday in Pittsburgh. "Remember Me: …


Social Issues

play sound

April is Financial Literacy Month, when the focus is on learning smart money habits but also how to protect yourself from fraud. One problem on the …

Environment

play sound

Arizona conservation groups and sportsmen alike say they're pleased the Bureau of Land Management will now recognize conservation as an integral part …


Social Issues

play sound

The need for child care and early learning is critical, especially in rural Arkansas. One nonprofit is working to fill those gaps by giving providers …

Workers harvest a field before the annual Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. (Jeff Huth/Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

An annual march for farmworkers' rights is being held Sunday in northwest Washington. This year, marchers are focusing on the conditions for local …

Social Issues

play sound

A new Gallup and Lumina Foundation poll unveils a concerning reality: Hoosiers may lack clarity about the true cost of higher education. The survey …

Environment

play sound

As state budget negotiations continue, groups fighting climate change are asking California lawmakers to cut subsidies for oil and gas companies …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021