A recent report found “there was little evidence” that the introduction of genetically modified crops in the U.S. had led to yield gains beyond those seen in conventional crops. At the same time, herbicide use has increased in the U.S., even as major crops like corn, soybeans and cotton have been converted to modified varieties. And the U.S. has fallen behind Europe’s biggest producer, France, in reducing the overall use of pesticides, which includes both herbicides and insecticides.   read more

More than 10,000 New York City residents are using solar power to reduce their electric bills. But hardly any of those people converting the sun’s rays into savings are poor. The reason so few New Yorkers with low incomes are tapping into the power of the sun is not a lack of interest, but rather a lack of access. Simply put, most poor New Yorkers — like many other city residents — do not have a roof of their own on which they could install solar panels, even if they could afford to do so.   read more

Carter saw a memo showing that a Pentagon consultant recommended that the Air Force chop up and melt down a fleet of C-123 aircraft that had once sprayed the toxic herbicide Agent Orange across Vietnam. It seemed he’d uncovered a government-sanctioned plan to destroy evidence of any connection between the aircraft, Agent Orange and U.S. soldiers' illnesses. And the cover-up looked like it had been set in motion by one man: Alvin L. Young.   read more

The Democratic party and voters sued to block the new law, saying it violated the Constitution and the Voting Rights Act because it hurt minorities' ability to cast ballots. The legislation was enacted by the Republican-dominated Arizona Legislature and signed by GOP Gov. Doug Ducey. Judge Thomas dissented, writing that "Arizona has criminalized one of the most popular and effective methods by which minority voters cast their ballots."   read more

PEER says the draft omits mention of potentially dangerous concentrations of radioactive contaminants that would be allowed in water deemed safe to drink. PEER believes the undisclosed concentrations far exceed what is known to be safe. PEER says the EPA is stonewalling on producing the requested documents, frustrating its efforts to educate the public about the proposed policy changes in an "arbitrary and capricious" violation of federal law.   read more

New privacy rules may make it easier to escape at least some online tracking. Several consumer-advocacy groups hailed the action, while saying it should go further. "I think the new FCC rules are a step in the right direction," said Mark Bartholomew, a law professor at the University of Buffalo who studies advertises law and privacy. "But ultimately I think people will go ahead and let themselves be tracked."   read more

A recent study of a half-million driver trips found that when traffic slows due to congestion, many drivers pick up their smartphones to text or use apps. "You look at urban areas where the traffic slows way down and the first thing that half the drivers do, or more than half, is pull out their iPhones and their iPads," Gordon said. "You start talking to your friends, you check your email, maybe you send a text and that's a huge problem." Traffic deaths spiked 10.4% this year.   read more

The amendment goes into effect on Dec. 1 unless Congress steps in to stop it. Google and civil liberties groups have argued that it grants the government overly broad powers to hack into computers across the country, with potentially unintended consequences. Civil liberties advocates said the change would magnify the Justice Dept's investigatory powers because of the interconnected nature of the internet and increasingly large number of internet-connected devices.   read more

The Dept. of Energy wants to clear away two football fields of desert in New Mexico to store containers of radioactive waste coming from around the country. Designed to withstand the force of tornadoes and seismic events, they would store packaged waste on an open concrete pad covering more than 2 acres. Despite assurances of the robustness of the concrete containers, critics of the plan said Thursday they are asking for the department's request to be withdrawn or rejected by state regulators.   read more

Fully 57% of all Americans, and nearly two-thirds of independents, agreed that “politics and elections are controlled by people with money and by big corporations,” so it does not matter if they vote. At 66%, young people are among the most likely to feel pessimistic about the worth of their vote. “This goes along with a lot of what we know about millennials, that they distrust institutions in general,” Jones said. “But it doesn’t bode well for civic participation going forward.”   read more

Science teacher Susan German says she engages her class with hands-on projects. In one, her students had to build a water treatment facility. They tested their designs and made adjustments for any leaks, but German says it's not just the science she's trying to teach. "While they're acting like scientists and engineers, it's the bigger, broader thinking skills that I'm after, because regardless of what you want to do in this world, critical thinking skills are important," she said.   read more

Potential whistleblowers throughout DCAA have been intimidated into silence because they can’t afford to risk being transferred across the country, demoted, or fired. McGill claims he was subjected to retaliation for blowing the whistle that included workplace harassment, a negative performance evaluation, removal of duties, an involuntary transfer, and a five-day unpaid suspension. Under increasing pressure and mounting stress, McGill resigned.   read more

Schneiderman celebrated the court's order and vowed to move "full-steam ahead with our fraud investigation of Exxon. I hope that today's order serves as a wakeup call..." The requested files could shine a light on the Exxon's "representations about the impact of climate change on its business." Schneiderman said his investigation could uncover a "massive securities fraud" if he proves that ExxonMobil knew that climate change would force the company to leave vast reserves of oil in the ground.   read more

Utah schools unconstitutionally subject homosexual students to harassment and bullying, censor their speech, violate their right to association and won't even let them mention gay issues in a positive way, parents claim in Federal Court. They accuse the state of "facially targeting lesbian, gay, and bisexual persons for disparate treatment" and, in at least one case, the parents say, the state schools "refused to protect a gender nonconforming student from bullying and harassment."   read more

Several news outlets have reported on the extensive surveillance on those demonstrations. "Just like in decades past, fatal police shootings of black people continue with alarming frequency, as does the unlawful government surveillance of those who speak out against it and protest," Farah said. "The public has the right to know how and why the federal government is surveilling constitutionally protected activity in response to police violence."   read more

It is the first major legal challenge of the rules and will add fuel to one of the hottest debates in health care. The suit, filed by AARP, argues that these programs violate anti-discrimination laws aimed at protecting workers’ medical information. It also questions whether the programs are truly voluntary, because the price of not participating is high for some workers. The target of the suit is the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.   read more