carapace – Not your father's america

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/28/AR2005092800259.html

“Riding a wave of concern over high energy prices triggered by Katrina” – and following a plan drawn up by the House Republican Study Committee at the Heritage Foundation – “congressional Republicans are rushing to ease environmental rules on refineries and looking for ways to open new coastal waters to oil and gas development,” as well as Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The lawmakers say “the measures were needed to address the vulnerabilities exposed by hurricanes Katrina and Rita to the nation’s energy system.” Environmentalists and city and state officials counter that the Republicans are “exploiting the tragedy that has hit the Gulf region to pursue a slew of pro-industry measures that Congress rejected earlier this year when it passed a broad energy bill.” The measures would “dismantle environmental laws that are not barriers to rebuilding the affected Gulf states,” said the head of the National League of Cities.

SOURCE: Associated Press, September 28, 2005
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:

http://www.prwatch.org/node/4028

JOHN SIFTON, siftonj@hrw.org, http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/09/25/usint11776.htm

Sifton is a researcher with Human Rights Watch, which has just released a report titled “Leadership Failure: Firsthand Accounts of Torture of Iraqi Detainees by the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division.” The report provides soldiers’ accounts of abuses against detainees committed by troops of the 82nd Airborne stationed at Forward Operating Base Mercury, near Fallujah. In a statement about the report, HRW said: “Three U.S. army personnel — two sergeants and a captain — describe routine, severe beatings of prisoners and other cruel and inhumane treatment. … According to the soldiers’ accounts, U.S. personnel abused detainees as part of the military interrogation process or merely to ‘relieve stress.’ In numerous cases, they said that abuse was specifically ordered by Military Intelligence personnel before interrogations, and that superior officers within and outside of Military Intelligence knew about the widespread abuse. … One sergeant told Human Rights Watch: ‘Everyone
in camp knew if you wanted to work out your frustration you show up at the PUC [Persons Under Control, i.e. detainees] tent.’ … The officer who spoke to Human Rights Watch made persistent efforts over 17 months to raise concerns about detainee abuse with his chain of command and to obtain clearer rules on the proper treatment of detainees, but was consistently told to ignore abuses and to ‘consider your career.’”

From: Institute for Public Accuracy

Vol. 1 Identification and Analysis of Factors Affecting Emergency Evacuations – Main Report

Vol. 2 Identification and Analysis of Factors Affecting Emergency Evacuations – Appendices

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/contract/cr6864/