Australia is negotiating the high bar of environmental destruction.
"New environment laws could help or harm nature depending on the minister. Australia's national environment law has failed to stop the loss of unique ecosystems, plants and animals over the past 25 years." (236 years?)
>>
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-04/new-environment-laws-could-help-or-hinder-nature/105963168
#EPBCAct #Biodiversity #climate #extinction #harm #law #exemptions #extractivism
"Labor’s nature laws have ‘gigantic loopholes you could drive a heavy hauler through’."
"The laws to overhaul the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act are scheduled for debate on Tuesday, with the government planning to rush them through the lower house this week."
"The laws to overhaul the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act are scheduled for debate on Tuesday, with the government planning to rush them through the lower house this week."
>>
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2025/nov/03/australia-politics-live-nationals-net-zero-liberals-labor-bulk-billing-optus-sussan-ley-anthony-albanese-question-time
#biosphere #pollution #FossilFuels #climate #ExtremeHeat #Biodiversity #deforestation #harm #EPBCAct #exemptions #PayToDestroy #law #limits
The nature reform bill: “riddled with loopholes that would enable rampant deforestation and species extinctions to continue at pace”.
"Ken Henry warns Labor’s nature laws ‘are worthless’ unless minister tightens ‘national interest’ exemptions. Every project developer is absolutely convinced that their project is in the national interest... Henry said the vague drafting of the “national interest” exemption and the failure to close loopholes for native forest logging and land clearing were problems that needed to be fixed."
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https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/oct/30/ken-henry-warns-labors-nature-laws-are-worthless-unless-minister-tightens-national-interest-exemptions
Labor’s environmental law overhaul: a little progress and a lot of compromise
https://theconversation.com/labors-environmental-law-overhaul-a-little-progress-and-a-lot-of-compromise-268198
#EPBCAct #exemptions #NationalInterest #deforestation #LandClearing #FastTrackApprovals #NativeForests #LoggingImpacts #climate
#Lithuania accused #russian importers of using medical #sanctions #exemptions to receive goods for the use of #moscow’s #military
https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-tariffs-exemptions-pet-lobbyists-asbestos-confusion-secrecy
Politically Connected Firms Benefit From Trump Tariff Exemptions Amid Secrecy, Confusion
#cronyism #political #trump #cronies #tariff #exemptions #taxes #lobbyists #tariffs #tax #transparency #corruption #incompetence #paytoplay #economy #economics #layoffs #business #TariffExemptions #trade #USChinaTrade #TrumpTariffs #PoliticalConnections #china #us #corruption #SpoilsSystem #SpecialFavors #BigBusiness #TechLobby #EconomicInequality #Accountability #TradeWar #exports #imports #goods #agriculture #farming
Under orders from Donald Trump, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin is simultaneously moving to
💥rescind Biden-era rules meant to protect the public from toxic pollution
💥while inviting hundreds of petrochemical manufacturers and the dirtiest coal-burning power plants to apply for sweeping “#presidential #exemptions” from meeting updated pollution limits for up to two years, after which they can be renewed.
🔥Handing out regulatory exemptions to polluters provides the Trump EPA time to dismantle years of regulatory work toward limiting emissions of hazardous toxins such as mercury and cancer-causing benzene before private companies face requirements to invest in pollution controls that protect public health.
https://truthout.org/articles/epa-deletes-pollution-tracking-tools-as-it-offers-exemptions-to-polluters/
https://www.fogolf.com/940303/what-do-masters-champions-receive-rory-mcilroy-earns-little-known-privileges-alongside-iconic-green-jacket-and-4-2million/ What do Masters champions receive? Rory McIlroy earns little-known privileges alongside iconic Green Jacket and $4.2million #exemptions #Golf #GolfNews #GreenJacket #latest #MastersChampionsPrizes #PgaTour #PrizeMoney #RankingPoints #rules #ScottieScheffler #TheMasters #Trophy #Updates #WhatDoMastersWinnersReceive #WhatPrizesDoMastersWinnersReceive #WinnersPrivileges
Yet more breaking news to support my (already correct) #Prediction that #DonTheCon would issue "#exemptions" from his #tariffs for various industries:
https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/12/tech/trump-electronics-china-tariffs/index.html
All those regular US workers, small companies etc can see that Trump helps his Bigtech friends but hangs them out to dry.
#trump #tariffs #exemptions #bigtech #china #geopolitics @geopolitics
State by State Pending and Recently Passed #AntiProtestLaws: #Iowa
SF 342: Heightened penalties for protesters convicted of "riot," "unlawful assembly," or blocking traffic, and immunity for #drivers who injure them
Introduces felony penalties for the offense of "riot," previously an aggravated misdemeanor, such that the offense is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and $7,500. Preexisting law defines "riot" as a group of three or more people assembled "in a violent manner," at least one of whom uses any unlawful force or violence against another person or causes property damage. The law also converts "unlawful assembly" from a simple to an aggravated misdemeanor. Preexisting law defines "unlawful assembly" as a group of three or more people, any of whom are acting "in a violent manner," and who intend that any of them will commit an offense. Under the law, it is a serious (rather than simple) misdemeanor, punishable by one year in jail and a $1,875 fine, to "obstruct" a sidewalk, street, or "other public way" with the intent to hinder its use by others. If an individual obstructs a sidewalk or street while "present during an unlawful assembly," it is an aggravated misdemeanor, punishable by 2 years in jail and a $6,250 fine. If an individual obstructs a sidewalk or street while "present during a riot," it is a Class D felony, punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a $7,500 fine. Under the law, a driver who injures someone who is participating in a "protest, demonstration, riot, or unlawful assembly," engaging in "disorderly conduct," and blocking traffic, is immune from civil liability as long as the driver was exercising "due care" and the protester did not have a permit to be in the street. The law would also allow law enforcement who experience a physical or other injury while on duty to pursue civil damages from a person, group, or organization. Finally, the law creates a new felony offense for "defacing" public property, "including a monument or statue." The offense, a Class D felony, is punishable by up to 5 years in prison, a $7,500, and mandatory restitution for any property damage. This law was introduced and passed by the Senate as SF 534, but passed by the House as an amendment to SF 342.
Full text of bill:
https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=89&ba=SF%20342
Status: enacted
Introduced 1 Mar 2021; Approved by Senate 10 March 2021, Approved by House 14 April 2021, Signed by Governor 16 June 2021
Issue(s): Civil Liability, Protest Supporters or Funders, Driver Immunity, Riot, Traffic Interference
HF 952: Requiring state permission for protests in the capitol and on capitol grounds
Would require organizers to have a government sponsor in order to hold protests in or near the Iowa capitol. Under the bill, organizers cannot hold “events” in capitol buildings or on capitol grounds unless they have a “recommendation” either from a statewide elected official or by both a member of Iowa’s state senate and its house of representatives. The bill would also prohibit the same person from holding more than six “events” per year in or around the capitol. Neither the bill nor the relevant provisions of Iowa law define “events,” such that they could seemingly include public protests and demonstrations. As such, the bill would effectively give elected officials authority to allow or disallow protests near the capitol.
Full text of bill:
https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=91&ba=HF%20952
Status: pending
Introduced 12 Mar 2025.
HF 25: Heightened penalties for #MaskedProtesters
Would increase the penalty for any offense if committed by someone wearing a mask or other device that concealed their identity for the purpose of facilitating the offense. The bill provides #exemptions for masks worn in a number of contexts, including holiday costumes, medical masks, and “#hood[s]” or other “disguise[s]” worn by members of “a society, order, or organization while engaged in any parade, ritual” or “ceremony.” As such, for instance, members of the #KluKluxKlan would seemingly be exempt from enhanced penalties for illegally blocking traffic while parading in the street wearing hoods. The bill does not exempt masks worn during public protests, nor does it limit the enhanced penalties to violent crimes. Accordingly, a peaceful protester who committed a nonviolent offense while wearing a mask could face steeper penalties. A masked demonstrator engaged in a vigil who failed to disperse after being ordered to do so by police, for instance, could face up to a year in jail, rather than 30 days.
Full text of bill:
https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=91&ba=hf25
Status: pending
Introduced 14 Jan 2025.
Issue(s): #FaceCovering
#FirstAmendment #CriminalizingDissent
#Authoritarianism #Fascism #Clampdown #CriminalizingProtest
#CharacteristicsOfFascism #USPol #AntiProtestLaws #TrafficInterference #MaskBans #HoodsAreOK #HeatherHeyer #UniteTheRight #DrivingDownProtestors #LimitingProtests #RedTape
South Carolina Doctors Challenge #Abortion Ban on Free Exercise Grounds https://buff.ly/40gIQlQ
If the Supreme Court happily grants conservative Christians exemptions from health care laws on religious liberty grounds (which they do all the time), then progressive Christians and nonChristians ought to be able to eligible for them too
#Law #FediLaw #FediProf #abortion #ReligiousLiberty #SupremeCourt #exemptions
How an “absolutist position” seeks to block even minor copyright exemptions, and usually succeeds
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) was passed in the US in 1998, at an early stage of the shift to a digital world, with little concern for the serious harm it would cause as everything became suffused with software. The problem is that the DMCA prevents circumvention of copyright protection measures (generally known as “digital rights management”, or DRM), even if the purpose of […]
#absolutistPosition #circumvention #dmca #DRM #esa #exemptions #iceCream #ifixit #mcdonalds #publicKnowledge #rightToRepair #section1201 #usCopyrightOffice #videoGames
#Louisiana #Governor #JeffLandry is #withholding #records from the #public by #citing #madeup #exemptions that do not #exist in #law.
He refused to release records #citing “#deliberativeprocess” and “#executiveprivilege” #exemptions, among other reasons, even though those phrases do not exist in the #PublicRecords #Statute.
#Women #Transgender #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA #Louisiana #Conservatives #Extremism #Fascism #Censorship #RepublicanParty #ThePartyOfHate
You’ll Never Guess Which #State #Court Just #Approved #Religious #Exemptions From #AbortionBans
#Indiana became one of the first states to enact a near-total #abortionban after #RoevWade was #overturned by the #Corrupt #SupremeCourt in 2022.
#Women #Transgender #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA #Indiana #WomensRights #Abortion #WomansRights #AbortionRights
A #Wisconsin #ruling on #Catholic #Charities raises the #bar for #religious #tax #exemptions
The Wisconsin court ruled 4-3 that the #Superior-based #CatholicCharitiesBureau and its #subentities’ #motivation to help #older, #disabled and #lowincome people #stems from #Catholic #teachings but that its actual #work is #secular.
#Women #Transgender #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA #Wisconsin #Religion
https://apnews.com/article/catholic-charities-wisconsin-tax-0e6f66953879a15841aff1502ee5821e
Ashneer Grover files NCLT Plea Against BharatPe, Seeks Exemptions in Petition
#AshneerGrover #BharatPe #Exemptions #NCLT #WaiverPlea
Ashneer Grover files NCLT Plea: Ashneer Grover, a former managing director of BharatPe and co-founder, has filed a plea with the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) asking for the denial of a previous case he filed accusing the board of the fintech company of controlling behaviour and mismanagement. The NCLT’s Delhi bench has accept...
http://tinyurl.com/2dpcc549
#Republicans #block attempt to add #rape, #incest #exemptions to #Missouri's #Draconian #abortion #ban.
Under Missouri law, #abortion is #illegal except in cases of a #MedicalEmergency where delay risks #serious, #irreversible #impairment of major #bodilyfunctions.
#Women #Transgender #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA #Missouri #Conservatives #Extremism #Fascism #Religion #RepublicanParty #Hate #Bigotry #Violence #Genocide #Discrimination #WomensRights #Misogyny #ThePartyOfHate
Protective vaccination rates falling out of reach in US; exemptions hit record
Vaccination exemptions among kindergartners rose from 2.6% to a record high of 3%.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/11/protective-vaccination-rates-falling-out-of-reach-in-us-exemptions-hit-record/ #Protective #vaccination #exemptions #children #health
