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.

HP Becomes First Tech Company To Eliminate Foreign Labor Recruiters

The electronics maker’s new policies are aimed at protecting laborers along its supply chains from abuses like passport retention and excessive recruiter fees. Labor advocates are applauding the move, which they hope will send ripples throughout the industry.

Carey L. Biron
By Carey L. Biron
Hewlett Packard Automation

WASHINGTON --- The electronics manufacturer HP has announced a series of landmark policy changes on labor practices throughout its global supply chains, becoming the first U.S. information technology company to halt the common use of recruitment agencies for hiring foreign migrant workers among its suppliers. Recruitment agencies, which often

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US Delegation Contrite At UN Review On Torture

While the U.S. record on “enhanced interrogation” outside its borders was a major part of the review, the country’s handling of domestic issues, including the criminalization of homelessness and the use of deadly force by police, was also scrutinized.

Carey L. Biron
By Carey L. Biron
Guantanamo Demonstration

WASHINGTON --- Presenting before a major United Nations review this week, U.S. officials repeatedly expressed regret for post-9/11 government interrogation practices that “crossed the line” into torture. The officials denounced “enhanced interrogation” practices as both un-American and unconstitutional. Such statements were accompanied by

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EPA Finally Updating Pesticide-Use Guidelines For Farm Workers

Advocates say a draft of the updated Worker Protection Standard is imperfect, but still offers greater protections to laborers in one of the country’s most hazardous industries.

Carey L. Biron
By Carey L. Biron
pesticide

WASHINGTON --- U.S. regulators are moving into the final stages of a major update to guidelines on the use of pesticides by agricultural workers, changes that labor advocates have been urging for more than a decade. Indeed, it’s been almost a quarter-century since the Environmental Protection Agency updated the guidelines, known as the Worker

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In Policy Turnaround, US Will Attend Conference On Redirecting Nuclear Weapons Framework

Over 150 countries have participated in a series of high-level meetings lauded as the most significant movement on nuclear disarmament in decades – meetings from which the U.S. has remained notably absent. Now, Washington says it will participate.

Carey L. Biron
By Carey L. Biron
Nuclear Dysfunction

WASHINGTON --- In a surprise confirmation, the Obama administration announced late on Friday that it will attend an unusual conference next month that supporters say could help to nudge the global framework governing nuclear weapons in a new direction. The meeting, called the Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons, will take

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REPORT: Multinational Corporations Fall Short Of Transparency Requirments

“The power of multinational companies in today’s global economy rivals even the biggest countries.”

Carey L. Biron
By Carey L. Biron
Peru

WASHINGTON, Nov 6 2014 - The world’s largest corporations continue to publicise scant information about their global operations, according to new analysis that warns that extractives companies in particular are unprepared for pending disclosure requirements. The findings come from the global watchdog Transparency International, which looked at

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Oil, Gas Sites Spewing Airborne Chemicals Far Above Federal Standards

Formaldehyde and benzene are among the compounds being released into the air around the country’s oil and gas sites at up to hundreds of times the limits deemed safe by the federal government. More alarmingly, these sites are also releasing entirely unknown compounds.

Carey L. Biron
By Carey L. Biron

WASHINGTON --- Oil and gas sites in the United States, including fracking wells, are spewing toxic chemicals into the air at levels up to hundreds of times higher than federal safety limits, according to a two-year study in six states. While no direct link can be established, local communities in five of those states complain that these

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Election Day Could Make Or Break GMO Labeling Initiatives

The health impacts of GMOs are debatable, but the economic stakes are enormous. With mandatory GMO labeling referenda on the ballots in two states on Tuesday, voters will decide who sets the terms on their right to know what’s in their food: processors or themselves.

Carey L. Biron
By Carey L. Biron
Prop 37 Food Labeling

WASHINGTON --- With a series of state-level victories and losses under their belts, supporters of labeling requirements for certain foods made with genetically modified ingredients are looking at Tuesday’s election as a potential tipping point. State referenda on the issue are on this year’s ballots in two states, Oregon and Colorado. Passage in

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