You are here

Home

United States

California creates new corporation types that reward doing good

Tue, 2011-11-01 03:31 — JRees

By: Kyle Westaway

Even as Wall Street is being occupied and corporations are reviled, there is a revolution quietly raging across the country that empowers corporations to be a strong force for good. This week, California joined that revolution when Governor Jerry Brown created two new classes of corporations for businesses that seek to pursue both profit and purpose: Benefit Corporations and Flexible Purpose Corporations.

These new legal structures are revolutionary in two ways. First, they broaden the duty of a company beyond maximizing shareholder value to include maximizing stakeholder value, such as operating the business in an environmental and social responsible manner. Second, they increase transparency and accountability.

Though it is the first state to pass the Flexible Purpose Corporation type, California is the sixth state to approve the Benefit Corporation classification.

Here is a look at exactly what Benefit Corporations and Flexible Purpose Corporations are, and what they could mean for your company.

What is a Benefit Corporation?

The Benefit Corporation is a new class of corporation that allows companies to pursue profit as well as a strong social and environmental mission.

United States
Economics
Solutions

Obama To Announce Drug Shortage Resolution

Mon, 2011-10-31 21:59 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Luis Kun

Drug Information Association (DIA) - October 31, 2011

Country / Region Tags: 
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Health
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Solutions
Problem

Public Health Workbook to Define, Locate and Reach Special, Vulnerable, and At-Risk Populations in an Emergency

Mon, 2011-10-31 00:10 — Kathy Gilbeaux

OVERVIEW

Following disasters in the United States, public health and
emergency planners have assessed human service needs and
issues that were met or unmet before, during, and after the
crises. A primary lesson learned in the aftermath of 9/11, the
anthrax attacks that followed, widespread power outages in the
Northeastern United States, hurricanes in the South, mudslides
in the West and diseases such as SARS and West Nile Virus is that
traditional methods of communicating health and emergency
information often fall short of the goal of reaching everyone in
a community. Those with the greatest needs and greatest risk
often are outside the channels of mainstream communication.

Country / Region Tags: 
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Population
Vulnerability
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Other

Independent, Skeptic-Funded Study Confirms Global Warming is Real

Sun, 2011-10-30 22:10 — Kathy Gilbeaux

dvice.com - October 30, 2011

            

The Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature study has just released a summary of a recently completed global land warming analysis showing "reliable evidence of a rise in average world land temperature by approximately one degree Celsius since the mid-1950s." Yeah, we've heard that before, but this is one study that even skeptics may have to believe.

Here's why the Berkeley Earth Project is different from all previous studies on global warming:

Country / Region Tags: 
Global
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Climate
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Problem

THRIVE: COMMUNITY TOOL FOR HEALTH & RESILIENCE IN VULNERABLE ENVIRONMENTS

Sun, 2011-10-30 00:20 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Jeffrey Stiefel

THRIVE: A Community Approach to Address Health Disparities

Prevention Institute has updated its Community Approach to Addressing Disparities in Health with the revision of THRIVE: Toolkit for Health and Resilience in Vulnerable Environments.  A centerpiece of THRIVE is a set of community level factors that are linked to Healthy People 2010 Leading Health Indicators.  It now features a simplified list of thirteen factors to facilitate use of the tool at the local level.

THRIVE Executive Summary (PDF)

THRIVE Expert Panel

Advancing a Community Resilience Approach to Improve Health Outcomes

Country / Region Tags: 
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Community
Health
Resilience
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Solutions

Follow-Up from Resiliency SLA Talk by McDonald Last Thursday

Sat, 2011-10-29 23:58 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Country / Region Tags: 
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Disaster Response
Disaster Risk Reduction
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Other

Police Action Causes Critical Injury to Occupy Oakland Protester

Fri, 2011-10-28 13:44 — mdmcdonald

Occupy Oakland, Scott Olsen

Police battled protesters following an Occupy Oakland march to demonstrate against the closing of two occupations in the city in the early hours of Tuesday morning. More than 100 people have been arrested in Oakland since police cleared a camp in Frank Ogawa plaza.

Country / Region Tags: 
United States
US - West
General Topic Tags: 
Cooperation
Culture
Politics
Vulnerability
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Problem

Maine Congresswoman Unveils Bill to Support Small Farms

Wed, 2011-10-26 01:28 — JRees

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-ME) announced Monday she will introduce bail that would "significantly change the nation's food policy" by supporting local and regional farmers. The package of reforms and new programs, dubbed The Local Farm, Food, and Jobs Act, would encourage the production of local food by helping farmers and ranchers and by improving distribution systems, building on the success of farmers markets across the country.

Source: Food Safety News  Author: Helena Bottemiller | Oct 25, 2011

"This is about healthy local food and a healthy local economy. When consumers can buy affordable food grown locally, everyone wins," said Pingree, who owns an organic farm in North Haven, Maine. "It creates jobs on local farms and bolsters economic growth in rural communities."
Pingree tied local food system growth to creating jobs all over the country.
"We've seen explosive growth in sales of local food here in Maine and all across the country. This bill breaks down barriers the federal government has put up for local food producers and really just makes it easier for people to do what they've already been doing," the congresswoman said.

Country / Region Tags: 
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Agriculture
Food
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Other

Feeding America - Hunger & Poverty Statistics

Tue, 2011-10-25 23:18 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Hunger & Poverty Statistics, although related, are not the same.  Unemployment rather than poverty is a stronger predictor of food insecurity. Below are important hunger facts and poverty statistics from Feeding America.

Poverty 

  • In 2009, 43.6 million people (14.3 percent) were in poverty.
  • In 2009, 8.8 million (11.1% percent) families were in poverty.
  • In 2009, 24.7 million (12.9 percent) of people ages 18-64 were in poverty.
  • In 2009, 15.5 million (20.7 percent) children under the age of 18 were in poverty.
  • In 2009, 3.4 million (8.9 percent) seniors 65 and older were in poverty.

Food Insecurity and Very Low Food Security[2]

United States
Food
Other

Pages

Subscribe to United States
howdy folks