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.

Fossil Fuel Execs Questioned On Personal Liability Over Climate Change

A letter-writing campaign carried out by eco-advocates and NGOs hopes to get corporations — and their insurers — thinking about their role in climate change.

Carey L. Biron
By Carey L. Biron

WASHINGTON --- Fossil fuel executives could be held personally liable for corporate strategies aimed at undermining government efforts to address climate change, environmental groups suggest. Green advocates have written to board members and executives at some three-dozen of the largest oil and gas companies, as well as concrete manufacturers. 

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Border Patrol Releases New “Use of Force” Guidelines Following Spike In Killings

In addition to finally releasing the results of third-party reviews of the use of force by federal agents, Customs and Border Protection revises its use-of-force policy handbook.

Carey L. Biron
By Carey L. Biron

WASHINGTON --- The U.S. government has simultaneously released a highly critical external review of federal agents’ use of force along the U.S.-Mexico border as well as an updated policy handbook incorporating most of the review’s recommendations. Advocacy groups and border communities are applauding the moves, unveiled last week by U.S. Customs

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Infant Formula Manufacturers Urged To Stay Out Of Delivery Wards

Breastfeeding rates are back on the rise after decades of decline, despite formula manufacturers’ best efforts to get new mothers hooked on their products early.

Carey L. Biron
By Carey L. Biron
Breastfeeding resolution

WASHINGTON --- Nearly two dozen organizations and almost 18,000 mothers are calling on three of the United States’ largest manufacturers of infant formula to halt the longstanding practice of promoting their products in hospitals, particularly by giving out “discharge bags” full of free samples to new moms. Critics say women who receive such

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New Law ‘Facilitates Privatization’ of US Water Systems

Much of America’s drinking water and wastewater infrastructure needs attention, but critics worry that a new funding bill could be a pipeline to government-subsidized privatization.

Carey L. Biron
By Carey L. Biron

WASHINGTON --- A major piece of legislation funding the development and improvement of water-related infrastructure passed Congress last week for the first time in nearly a decade, and President Barack Obama is expected to sign the bill soon. Yet public interest groups warn that a key provision in the law would complicate public investment in

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U.S. Investors, Government Policies Leading Global Land-Grabs

Massive land-grabs are driving commercial agriculture and investment around the world, often at the expense of the world’s small-scale farmers – who feed 80 percent of the developing world.

Carey L. Biron
By Carey L. Biron

WASHINGTON --- The U.S. public and private sectors are among the leading drivers of a global drive to snap up usable – and often in-use – agricultural land, in what critics say remains a steadily increasing epidemic of “land-grabbing.” Africa and Southeast Asia are together seeing some three-quarters of problematic large-scale land acquisitions,

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A Year After Obama Pledge on Guantanamo Closure, Prospects Even “Less Clear”

Closing down Guantanamo was perhaps an easy promise to make, but one that is proving too politically complex for Obama to keep.

Carey L. Biron
By Carey L. Biron

WASHINGTON --- A year since President Barack Obama renewed his pledge to close the detention center at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba, a formal review system is functioning and detainee transfers have picked up. But the politics around any ultimate closure of the prison complex have only become more complex. Currently, Washington is

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A Win For Civil Society As Corporations Divest From Private Prison Industry

Corporate divestment from the U.S. private prison sector could major a big impact on the industry — even if it’s mostly symbolic.

Carey L. Biron
By Carey L. Biron
Prisons For Cash

WASHINGTON --- Three corporations considered major investors in the U.S. private prison industry are moving to dump their holdings in the sector, apparently in response to newly stepped-up pressure from civil society. The total divestments add up to about $60 million, and organizers say more divestment announcements are on the way. Two of the

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