Abortion Pills Are Very Safe and Effective, yet Government Rules Still Hinder Access

Ever since it was approved in 2000 as an abortion pill, mifepristone has been regulated as if it were a dangerous substance. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration required doctors to be specially certified to prescribe it. Patients had to sign an agreement confirming that they had been counseled on its risks. Most onerously, the … Read more

White House Predicts Major Delays to Climate Rules After Court Nixes Carbon Metric

A judge’s order blocking the Biden administration’s application of an interim climate metric will cause sweeping delays in agency rulemaking and stall planned projects requiring new environmental reviews, a White House official said this weekend. Dominic Mancini, the deputy administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, said a recent preliminary injunction … Read more

EPA Is Preparing to Reinstate California’s Authority to Set More Stringent Car Emissions Rules

The Biden administration is preparing to reinstate California’s authority to set auto emissions rules that are more stringent than federal standards, taking a major step toward cutting transportation-related climate pollution and continuing to chip away at former President Trump’s environmental rollbacks. The waiver, granted decades ago because of California’s severe pollution problems, gave the Golden … Read more

EPA Is Set to Reinstate California’s Authority to Set More Stringent Car Emissions Rules

The Biden administration is preparing to reinstate California’s authority to set auto emissions rules that are more stringent than federal standards, taking a major step toward cutting transportation-related climate pollution and continuing to chip away at former President Trump’s environmental rollbacks. The waiver, granted decades ago because of California’s severe pollution problems, gave the Golden … Read more

White House calls for consistent rules for disclosing foreign research funding | Science

President Joe Biden’s administration last week ordered federal agencies to draft uniform policies describing the outside sources of funding that scientists must disclose when they apply for federal grants, and the penalties for failing to do so. Research groups welcome the directive, but wish it had also specified what kinds of foreign collaborations might get … Read more

Covid-19 news: Isolation rules for covid cases changed in England

By Michael Le Page, Clare Wilson, Jessica Hamzelou, Sam Wong, Graham Lawton, Adam Vaughan, Conrad Quilty-Harper, Jason Arunn Murugesu and Layal Liverpool The NHS covid-19 app counts down the days left of isolation after a positive test Sara Sadler/Alamy Latest coronavirus news as of 11am on 22 December Officials say isolating for 10 days avoids … Read more