Income inequality is a growing problem in the United States. The richest Americans have reaped a disproportional amount of economic growth while worker wages have failed to keep pace. And the $1.5-trillion Republican-passed tax cuts from December stand to make the situation worse.
One chart from the 2018 World Inequality Report highlights the unique nature of income inequality in the US compared to other developed regions – namely, Western Europe. And the contrast is stark.
DNC takes donations from fossil fuel industry contrary to original resolution that bans it
The Democratic National Committee changed course on Friday after the committee voted in favor of accepting donations from the fossil fuel industry. What environmentalists hailed as a breakthrough just months ago after the DNC announced it would ban such donations was quickly overturned after the committee adopted a resolution to reverse such ban.
Under Tom Perez, chairman of the DNC, the resolution, which passed, 30 to 2, “states that the party ‘supports fossil fuel workers’ and will accept donations from ’employers’ political action committees,’” Huffington Post reported.
France: Non-recycled plastic will cost 10 percent more
France will roll out a series of measures to accelerate President Emmanuel Macron‘s goal of reaching 100 percent plastic recycling by 2025, a government official said Sunday.
“Declaring war on plastic is not enough. We need to transform the French economy,” Junior Environment Minister Brune Poirson told French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche.
Here are some of the new initiatives that will be introduced, as reported by Deutsche Welle:
- From 2019, items without recycled packaging could cost up to 10 percent more, while products with recycled plastic packaging could cost up to 10 percent less;
- A deposit-refund scheme for plastic bottles;
- Taxes on landfill trash will increase, while taxes for recycling will go down;
- Standardization of the color of recycling bins across the country.
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