Carey L. Biron

Carey L. Biron is a former Washington correspondent for MintPress and for Inter Press News focusing on issues of equity and accountability, environmental and corporate regulation, and international development and governance from Capitol Hill.

Prosecuting Pillaging May Be Key To Curbing Natural Resource Driven War

Pillaging, or theft during war, is a motivation behind violence driven by the exploitation of natural resources around the world. Why isn’t more done to stop it?

Carey L. Biron
By Carey L. Biron
Pakistan-Mining not Militancy

WASHINGTON --- Governments, lawyers, activists and the broader multilateral system may be missing a key opportunity in the attempt to end war and violence driven by the exploitation of natural resources, analysts suggest. Conflicts around the world are either being fought over access to natural resources or being fuelled by proceeds from the

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Trial Begins In Major Trafficking Case Stemming From Hurricane Katrina Clean-up

A series of lawsuits brought by dozens of South Asian workers against an American marine-services company could have major implications across the U.S. immigration system. Experts say they collectively entail one of the largest human trafficking cases in U.S. history.

Carey L. Biron
By Carey L. Biron
Hurricane Katrina

In this Saturday, Sept. 10, 2005 file photo, nearly two weeks after Hurricane Katrina hit, flood-waters still covers parts of New Orleans. Photo: David J. Phillip/AP WASHINGTON --- The first in a series of lawsuits got underway earlier this month in what supporters say collectively entail one of the largest cases of human trafficking ever

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Republican-Led Congress Opens With Broad Attack On Regulation

Most voters hold favorable views of regulatory agencies like the EPA and the public protections they provide, yet critics worry a new bill would make the already inefficient regulatory process “as dysfunctional, inefficient and redundant as possible.”

Carey L. Biron
By Carey L. Biron

A Pilgrim's Pride contract chicken farm full of three-week-old chicks just outside the city limits of Pittsburg, Texas.  The Consumer Federation of America warned last week that long-standing food safety regulations, such as those requiring companies to prevent contamination of meat and poultry products with deadly foodborne pathogens, will be

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There’s A New Front For Post-Citizens United Dark Money: State Judges

Around 85 percent of state judges must stand for election, yet these elections are often surrounded in public indifference and ignorance. Since the Citizens United decision opened the floodgates to dark money in politics, it’s had significant impact on judicial elections, too.

Carey L. Biron
By Carey L. Biron
Tennessee Supreme Court t

Members of the Tennessee Supreme Court take their seats Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014. In Tennessee, a record $1.5 million in TV spending was pumped into three Supreme Court retention races in which Justices Cornelia Clark, Sharon Lee, and Gary Wade retained their seats. Photo: Mark Humphrey/AP WASHINGTON --- It’s been a half-decade since the U.S.

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Low Oil Prices Prompt New Interest In Raising Gas Tax, Cutting Subsidies

If the federal gas tax had kept pace with inflation since 1993, it would be double what it is today. Could the dysfunctional spending debate that has stalled raising this tax for over two decades finally be coming to an end?

Carey L. Biron
By Carey L. Biron
Gas Prices

Gas is pumped into a car at the Eastcoast filling station Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014, in Pennsauken N.J.  Photo:Matt Rourke/AP WASHINGTON --- Sensing mounting momentum on the issue, “smart growth” advocates, elected officials and others are pushing President Barack Obama to indicate his support for an increase in the federal tax on gasoline in

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Corporate Human Rights Ranking Seeks To Foster “Race to the Top”

“[A] clear benefit of the project is to spur companies to put in place such policies more quickly, because many won’t like to be found at the bottom of the rankings,” a founder of the initiative tells MintPress.

Carey L. Biron
By Carey L. Biron

Bill Gates, right, looks at a device that uses solar energy to treat human waste, as he tours the "Reinventing the Toliet" Fair, Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2012, in Seattle, which is part of a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation competition to reinvent the toilet for the 2.6 billion people around the world who don't have access to modern sanitation. 

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New Benchmarking Project Aims To Rate Companies’ “Chemical Footprint”

Major retailers, health insurers and sustainability groups are embracing a new initiative aimed at comparing companies’ policies for managing chemicals used in their products and supply chains, and whether they seek safer alternatives to dangerous substances.

Carey L. Biron
By Carey L. Biron

\Loann Tran, co-owner of Happy Nails in Salinas, Calif., holds up a bottle of nail polish that was tested and found to contain toluene and formaldehyde, despite being labeled as free of those toxic chemicals, after a news conference at the Laney College School of Cosmetology in Oakland, Calif.  Photo: Jeff Chiu/AP WASHINGTON --- A group of

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