Wal-Mart Opts To Not Sign Garment Factory Safety Agreement, Creates Own Policy

After clothing brands for many Western-owned retailers were found in the rubble of an eight-story garment factory building that collapsed in Bangladesh last month, many fashion brands have announced plans to improve worker safety. The collapse killed more than 1,100 people and more than 2,500 people were rescued in the wreckage. Since garment factories in […]

Katie Rucke
By Katie Rucke

After clothing brands for many Western-owned retailers were found in the rubble of an eight-story garment factory building that collapsed in Bangladesh last month, many fashion brands have announced plans to improve worker safety. The collapse killed more than 1,100 people and more than 2,500 people were rescued in the wreckage. Since garment

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Organic Industry Clout Grows With Consumer Demand

Tensions between conventional and organic agriculture boiled over this week during a late-night House Agriculture Committee debate.

Associated Press
By Associated Press

The organic food industry is gaining clout on Capitol Hill, prompted by rising consumer demand and its entry into traditional farm states. But that isn't going over well with everyone in Congress. Tensions between conventional and organic agriculture boiled over this week during a late-night House Agriculture Committee debate on a sweeping farm

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Caribbean Talks Conservation On Branson’s Island

To safeguard the Caribbean’s future, Branson says politics and business-as-usual will have to change.

Associated Press
By Associated Press

In a bid to safeguard biodiversity and the Caribbean's tourism-based economy, regional political leaders and corporate executives will gather Friday on billionaire Richard Branson's private island with the aim of protecting 20 percent of the region's coastal resources by 2020. Participants are expected to announce various commitments to advance

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New Illinois Fracking Regulations Heralded As ‘Compromise’; Locals Disagree

New statewide requirements for the industry come at the expense of localities’ ability to impose their own rules.

Trisha Marczak
By Trisha Marczak

While touted as a compromise by local media, proposed fracking regulations being considered by Illinois lawmakers aren’t being accepted by community members who long have called for a moratorium and science-based environmental study on the impacts of the industry. The law being considered in the House -- HB 265 -- does put some safeguards in

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On Victory Drive, Soldiers Defeated by Debt

Many of the nation’s military bases are surrounded by storefront lenders who charge high annual percentage rates, sometimes exceeding 400 percent.

Paul Kiel
By Paul Kiel

Seven years after Congress banned payday-loan companies from charging exorbitant interest rates to service members, many of the nation's military bases are surrounded by storefront lenders who charge high annual percentage rates, sometimes exceeding 400 percent. The Military Lending Act sought to protect service members and their families from

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Want To Boycott Monsanto? There’s An App For That

A new smartphone app is allowing consumers to take a stand against biotech giant Monsanto and the Koch brothers through barcode reading technology that alerts users when a product is associated with either organization. The Buycott app is the answer to the prayers of food activists and health advocates, who have in the past visited […]

Trisha Marczak
By Trisha Marczak

A new smartphone app is allowing consumers to take a stand against biotech giant Monsanto and the Koch brothers through barcode reading technology that alerts users when a product is associated with either organization. The Buycott app is the answer to the prayers of food activists and health advocates, who have in the past visited their local

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