Install
Blog page 20 of 30
The 1973 Oil Embargo and the Fuel Economy Rules It Produced How the gas lines of 1973 led Congress to write the first federal fuel economy standards in 1975, why they stalled for decades, and what that history says about today's car rules. The 1974 Deal Between Nixon and Ted Kennedy That Never Got Signed In 1974 a Republican president offered near-universal coverage through employers. Kennedy and organized labor held out for more, and Watergate ended the chance. The 1982 Voting Rights Act Amendments and the Results Test Reagan Signed In 1980 the Supreme Court said voters had to prove intent to discriminate. Two years later a bipartisan Congress wrote a results test into the law, and Ronald Reagan signed it. The 1983 Social Security Rescue and the Deal Between Reagan and O'Neill How a Republican president and a Democratic Speaker saved Social Security from a cash crunch in 1983, what each side gave up, and what that bargain says about the shortfall ahead. The 1987 Report That Mapped Toxic Waste by Race In 1987 a church commission published Toxic Wastes and Race in the United States. How a ZIP-code study turned scattered local fights into national evidence, and why its methods still matter. The 1991 Summit That Wrote the Principles of Environmental Justice In 1991 grassroots leaders adopted 17 principles of environmental justice. What they said, why big green groups were unsettled, how organizers use them. The 1994 Crime Bill and the Long Argument Over What It Caused A clear accounting of what the 1994 crime bill actually did, from police grants and prison money to the assault weapons ban, set against the larger story of mass incarceration it is often blamed for. The 2007 Walter Reed Hearings and Oversight That Changed a Hospital A newspaper found wounded soldiers living with mold and mice; a new House majority held its hearing on the hospital grounds. Here is why that oversight worked, and how to repeat it. The 2024 Dockworkers' Strike and the Fight Over Automated Ports Why a three-day port strike in October 2024 turned into a national argument about robots, and why a union contract did more to shape automation than any technology policy did. The 2024 Rule to Replace Every Lead Pipe Within a Decade What the EPA's October 2024 lead pipe rule requires, how the 2021 infrastructure law pays for it, what could slow it down, and how to find out what kind of pipe feeds your own kitchen tap. The 95-0 Byrd-Hagel Vote That Doomed Kyoto in the Senate In July 1997 the Senate voted 95-0 against any climate treaty that bound only rich nations. How that vote sank Kyoto and shaped every US climate agreement since, including Paris. The Ad Tech Ruling Against Google and the Money Behind Free News Websites A 2025 ruling found Google illegally monopolized key ad tech markets. How the split-second auctions behind every news page work, and why they decide what publishers earn.