This article by Alex Kotch was published in PR Watch on March 23, 2017. A constitutional convention, something thought impossible not long ago, is looking increasingly likely. Under Article V of the US Constitution, if 34 state legislatures "issue a call" for a constitutional convention, Congress must convene one. By some counts, the right-wing only [...]
CELDF working in India to Recognize Rights of the Ganga River Basin. A Press Release from the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, from March 22, 2017. Mercersburg, Pennsylvania: On March 20, the High Court of Uttarakhand at Naintal, in the State of Uttarakhand in northern India, issued a ruling declaring that the River Ganga and [...]
This article by Simon Davis-Cohen was published in Truth-Out on March 19 2017. Simon is a remarkable up-and-coming young journalist whose writings now appear in many independent journals. He is the founder of ReadTheDirt.org. Right now, there are two bills filed in the Florida legislature that propose sweeping new restrictions on local governments. One (House [...]
For some people, like the Zuni in New Mexico, wild places are considered living beings. In western society, it’s companies that assume that privileged position In recent years, the US supreme court has solidified the concept of corporate personhood. Following rulings in such cases as Hobby Lobby and Citizens United, US law has established that [...]
The 600 residents of Sugar Hill, New Hampshire, have done a laudable jobof keeping the vulgarities of modern life at bay. There are no fast-food restaurants, no neon signs. Instead, the former iron-mining town has rambling country inns and a main road lined with Victorian and Arts and Crafts houses. Locals gather for breakfast, as they have since [...]
"Democracy Now" September 14, 2012 In 2010, Pittsburgh adopted a first-in-the-nation ordinance banning corporations from extracting natural gas within the city using the controversial technique known as hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” over human health and environmental concerns. However, state officials now say the ban on fracking fails to comply with Pennsylvania law and has encroached [...]
Ward Morehouse was the co-founder of the Program on Corporations, Law and Democracy (POCLAD). He died on June 30, 2012, while swimming laps, one of his favorite activities. He was 83. His death comes less than nine months after POCLAD's other co-founder, Richard Grossman, passed away. Below are reflections from Ward's present and past POCLAD colleagues [...]
Richard Grossman died of cancer on November 22, 2011. We miss him terribly. Jan Edwards wrote this essay about Richard's life and work in Justice Rising, a publication of the Alliance for Democracy. When Richard Grossman died of cancer on November 22, 2011, he was still searching for the answer to his fundamental question: How do we turn ourselves into [...]
An activist ahead of his time, Richard L. Grossman, a community organizer, galvanized work on a variety of progressive causes during his remarkable four-decade career. This article appeared in The Nation magazine on November 29, 2011. An activist ahead of his time, Richard L. Grossman, a community organizer who galvanized work on a variety of [...]
The news story appeared on CBS News, November 16th, 2010. Pittsburgh became the first city in gas-rich Pennsylvania to ban natural gas drilling after city council members, citing health and environmental concerns, unanimously approved the measure Tuesday. The council received a standing ovation after voting 9-0 to approve the ban within city limits. Pittsburgh sits [...]
