SARL Members and Alumni

Among the more than 150 statewide measures on ballots in Tuesday's midterm election were several related to climate change and the environment.Voters in 37 states -- many of them in the West -- considered whether they were for or against initiatives related to renewable energy, carbon emissions and offshore drilling.Here's how some of the most notable environmental- and climate change-related measures went, based on preliminary results. [node:read-more:link]

California has become the first state in the nation to allow veterinarians to legally talk with clients about cannabis as a treatment option for pets. [node:read-more:link]

EPA's announcement of new dicamba regulations comes at a time when states' ability to restrict this kind of federal pesticide label may be under threat. In the past, states have used section 24(c) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), to pass more restrictive state regulations on federal pesticide labels. For example, the state of Tennessee used Section 24(c) to limit the use of three dicamba herbicides to 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. [node:read-more:link]

What we found amounts to a “Great Reshuffling” – a sorting of human capital, job creation, and business formation that has had vast implications for Americans and their communities. In the years following the recession, top-tier places have thrived, seeing meteoric growth in jobs, businesses, and population. Meanwhile, the number of people living in America’s most distressed zip codes is shrinking as the nature of distress becomes more rural. [node:read-more:link]

North Carolina would cut its greenhouse  gas emissions by 40 percent by 2025 under an ambitious statewide goal set by Gov. Roy Cooper.With Cooper’s signing of the executive order, North Carolina joins states like Colorado, California and others that have set statewide targets for reducing emissions of gases that are associated with global warming and climate change. In 2006, California set a 40 percent reduction goal by 2030 from 1990 levels, while Colorado has set a goal of cutting emissions by at least 26 percent by 2025 from 2005 levels. [node:read-more:link]

The U.S. Supreme Court is dismissing another challenge by top Republican lawmakers from Pennsylvania to the legality of new congressional district boundaries imposed by the state’s highest court in a gerrymandering case. The high court on Monday denied the case by House Speaker Mike Turzai and Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati. It’s the third time the nation’s highest court has rejected such a GOP effort.November’s election is being conducted on new court-drawn districts viewed as more competitive than the now-invalidated map drawn in 2011 by Republicans to help Republicans win. [node:read-more:link]

California voters will soon decide whether to ban the sale of meat and eggs from farm animals raised in cages. A November ballot measure, Proposition 12, would require more spacious digs for pigs, veal calves and egg-laying hens. It applies to animals in California and to those raised elsewhere for products sold in the Golden State. If you're experiencing a bit of déjà vu right now, it makes sense.Back in 2008, voters overwhelmingly passed a strikingly similar animal welfare law. [node:read-more:link]

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Prepared to support the Walton Family Foundation’s inaugural Heartland Summit, the State of the Heartland: Factbook 2018 is intended to help Heartland leaders and citizens get on the same page about the region’s current condition and its trajectory at a crucial time. What do the indicators say about the region? Three major takeaways emerge clearly from the analysis:The Heartland economy is doing better than is sometimes portrayed.Serious deficits in the region’s human capital and innovation capacity pose the most serious challenges to improving future prosperity. [node:read-more:link]

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf is vetoing bills that recently passed the Legislature dealing with public debt, price gouging during emergencies and agricultural education.The third veto was of a bill addressing federally funded agricultural education programs.

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