House Leaders Unveil Major Plan to Curb the Climate Crisis

WASHINGTON (Jan. 28, 2020) – House Democratic environmental leaders today unveiled legislation intended to comprehensively address climate change. House Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank

Pallone of New Jersey and colleagues proposed the “Climate Leadership and Environmental Action for our Nation’s (CLEAN) Future Act,” which would cut greenhouse gas pollution, boost energy efficiency, protect vulnerable communities and expand clean energy.

Following is a statement from John Bowman, managing director of Government Affairs at the Natural Resources Defense Council:

“We welcome Chairman Pallone and Energy & Commerce members’ work to advance discussions on solutions to the climate crisis. NRDC looks forward to digging into the details of the CLEAN Future Act discussion draft and working with the committee members to ensure that it rises to meet the growing dangers we face from climate change.”

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The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world\’s natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Bozeman, MT, and Beijing. Visit us at

NRDC.org

and follow us on Twitter

@NRDC

Philadelphia Councilman Johnson Reintroduces Legislation to Provide Property Tax Relief to Residents

PHILADELPHIA (JANUARY 24, 2020) —

Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson

(2nd District) reintroduced a bill yesterday during the new Philadelphia City Council term to provide property tax relief 220,000 homeowners citywide.

City Council approved an identical bill by a 17-0 vote last year, as introduced by Johnson on behalf of City Council

President Darrell Clarke

(5th District). that would increase the city’s existing

Homestead Exemption

for homeowners by an additional $5,000, raising it from $45,000 to $50,000. President Clarke remains a co-sponsor of the new Homestead Exemption bill.

“During this new Council term, I will continue the fight for property tax relief for all Philadelphians, including expansions of the Homestead Exemption and the

Longtime Owner-Occupants Program

(LOOP),” Johnson said. “Philadelphians need tax relief because spikes in property assessments have supersized tax bills in many neighborhoods. Yet, working families aren’t getting pay raises and most seniors are on fixed incomes. Too many homeowners have to choose between paying tax bills and paying for groceries or medication.”

“We know that Homestead and LOOP work. They have high participation rates and help families across the city, “Johnson continued. “Most LOOP enrollees are senior citizens who bought their homes decades ago, at low point in the market. But LOOP has helped save those households from displacement, according a 2017 study the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.”

In December, Council unanimously approved

bill number 190943

to raise the Homestead Exemption from $45,000 up to $50,000. Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney didn’t sign the bill into law, saying he supported it but wanted to delay the discussion as part of the upcoming Fiscal Year budget discussion.

“I respect Mayor Kenney’s decision, but I am reopening discussions right away by reintroducing the Homestead legislation,” Johnson said. “If approved, my bill would help 220,000 homeowners citywide and cost the City of Philadelphia approximately $15 million per year. I think we can find the money with our current City of Philadelphia budget fund balance north of $300 million. It’s the right thing to do.”

The Homestead Exemption reduces the taxable portion of your property assessment by $45,000, starting with 2020 property tax bills, if a person owns a home in Philadelphia and uses it as a primary residence.

If Councilman Johnson’s legislation is approved by the full Council, it would raise the amount that homeowners would save to more than $700 a year.

Johnson’s Homestead Exemption bill will now be assigned to a committee for a public hearing.

Plastic Bag Ban Bill Up in Committee Thursday

TRENTON NJ–The plastic bag ban bill, S864 (Smith/Greenstein), will be up in the Senate Environment and Energy Committee on Thursday, January 30, 2020. The bill prohibits the provision or sale of single-use plastic

carryout bags, single-use paper carryout bags, and polystyrene foam food service products. It also limits the provision of single-use plastic straws and appropriates moneys from the Clean Communities Program Fund for public education.

“Senator Smith is keeping his promise to help New Jersey ban plastics as soon as possible. When this bill failed to pass both houses at the end of the legislative session, Senator Smith said that this would be the first bill on his agenda and he is keeping that commitment. Without this legislation, plastics will continue to kill whales and get into our environment and into us. Microplastics have already been found near our drinking water supply, so we could literally be drinking plastic. Animals like fish and birds can ingest plastic, and plastic bags clog storm drains and fill up detention basins, affecting our water quality,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “Unfortunately, this bill was stopped earlier this year when the Assembly did not vote on it. It is critical that our legislators push this bill through quickly before our plastic problem gets worse.”

This is the first bill in the country that would ban paper bags in addition to single-use plastic bags. So far, eight states have banned single-use plastic bags, including California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New York, Oregon, and Vermont. In New Jersey, towns like Paramus, Bayonne, Lambertville, Avalon, Belmar, Hoboken, Jersey City, and Teaneck are all passing plastic bag ban ordinances.

“This is landmark legislation for New Jersey. This bill is a major step forward in dealing with single-use plastic bags as well as polystyrene and plastic straws. Polystyrene is dangerous to human health because it contains carcinogenic chemicals such as benzene and styrene, and it has been found in breast milk. It is harmful to the environment because it is not recyclable and does not degrade. Plastic straws pollute our oceans and beaches. Last year, New Jersey found that more than 80% of their trash is plastic and found an increase in plastic straw waste by 59%,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “By reducing how much plastic we use, we can also reduce fracking and fossil fuel use. Plastics are made from natural gas, which means more fossil fuel use, more pipelines, and more fracking.”

Hindus seek apology for College of New Jersey paper labelling Hinduism as “unforgiving”

Upset Hindus are urging for apology from The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) in Ewing for its student newspaper stating “Hinduism is an unforgiving religion”.

It was highly inappropriate and insensitive for the newspaper of a “Top Public College” funded by tax dollars and student fees (many of whom were Hindu) to belittle Hinduism, world’s oldest and third largest religion with about 1.1 billion adherents and a rich philosophical thought; Hindu statesman Rajan Zed said in Nevada today.

Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, urged New Jersey Secretary of Higher Education Zakiya Smith Ellis to launch an enquiry into it; TCNJ Trustees Chair Susanne Svizeny and President Dr. Kathryn A. Foster to offer a formal apology to the Hindu community; and TCNJ to withdraw January 29 (Spring 2020 No. 1) print edition of “The Signal” from various campus locations and remove the objectionable feature article from its online edition.

Such an unwarranted and derogatory statement against a religion coming out of a public educational institution was really shocking for the hard-working, harmonious and peaceful Hindu community; which had made lot of contributions to New Jersey, USA and society in general; and continued to do so; Rajan Zed added.

Is this how TCNJ accomplishes its Mission of developing “responsible citizens”, Vision of serving “as a national exemplar of public higher education”, Values of \”treat each other with civility and respect\” and “committed to building a diverse and inclusive community\”; Zed wonders.

Rajan Zed further said that Hindus were for free speech and artistic expression as much as anybody else if not more. But faith was something sacred and attempts at trivializing it hurt the devotees.

The feature-article, which begins with “Hinduism is an unforgiving religion”, written by \”Nation & World Editor\” of award-winning “The Signal” (among the oldest collegiate weeklies, since 1855) is dated January 27, 2020. Emmy Liederman is Editor-in-Chief.

“Highly selective” awards-winning TCNJ, on 289 tree-lined acres, enrolls about 7,400 graduate and undergraduate students and offers over 50 programs.

There are about three million Hindus in USA. New Jersey reportedly has the highest percentage of Hindus in the nation.

One Jersey Cash 5 Ticket Wins $216,368 Jackpot in Hudson County

TRENTON (Jan. 29, 2020) – One lucky ticket matched all five numbers drawn winning the $216,368 Jersey Cash 5 jackpot from the Tuesday, Jan. 28, drawing. The winning numbers were: 04, 21, 24, 31 and 39 and the XTRA number was: 03. The retailer will receive a bonus check for $2,000 for the winning ticket sold. That ticket was sold at Ramirez & Son’s Service Station, 165 60th St., West New York in Hudson County.

Acting Executive Director James Carey announced that there were 298,092 tickets purchased for the drawing. By adding XTRA, for an additional $1.00 per play, winners are able to multiply their non-jackpot prizes by the XTRA number drawn. For correctly matching four of the five numbers drawn, 44 ticketholders won $600 each and five others won $1,800 each with the addition of XTRA. Moreover, for correctly matching three of the five numbers drawn, 1,689 ticketholders won $16 each and 308 others won $48 each with the addition of XTRA. Lastly 4,141 ticketholders each won $2 for correctly matching two of the five numbers drawn with the addition of XTRA on their purchase.

Conceived Through ‘Fertility Fraud’

When Heather Woock was conceived, her mom sought the help of a fertility specialist. (Leah Klafczynski for NPR)

Jake Harper, Side Effects Public Media:

January 28, 2020

When Heather Woock was in her late 20s, she started researching her family history. As part of the project, she spit into a tube and sent it to Ancestry, a consumer DNA testing service. Then, in 2017, she started getting messages about the results from people who said they could be half-siblings.

“I immediately called my mom and said, ‘Mom, is it possible that I have random siblings out there somewhere?\’” said Woock, of Indianapolis. She recalled her mom responded, “No, why? That’s ridiculous.”

But the messages continued, and some of them mentioned an Indianapolis fertility practice that she knew her mom had consulted when she had trouble conceiving.

Woock researched and finally learned the truth. Dr. Donald Cline, the fertility doctor her mother saw in 1985, is her biological father.

“I went through an identity crisis,” she said. “I couldn’t look in the mirror and think about, ‘Where did my eyes come from? Where did my hair color come from?’ I didn’t even want to think about any of that.”

Woock hadn’t known that her mom had used artificial insemination to conceive her, and neither of them knew the doctor had used his own sperm.

“We now know Cline used his own sample and squirted it into my mom,” Woock said.

In the 1970s and ’80s, Cline deceived dozens of patients and used his sperm to impregnate them. He has more than 60 biological children — and counting.

For Woock, as the story of her parentage sunk in, it was distressing for another reason: She wanted to start her own family and was having trouble conceiving. And now she needed to turn to the fertility industry that had so badly betrayed her mom.

“We were doing all of the calendaring … everything that is out there to help you get pregnant, we were doing that,” Woock recalled.

But after six months, when she still wasn’t pregnant at 32, she went to a fertility clinic for some tests, which can include

fertility tests for males

to try to underline all possible issues.

“I had to fill out all this paperwork, and there’s a slot that says kind of like, ‘Is there anything else you’d like to share?’ ” Woock said.

Yes, there most certainly was.

The Odds Of ‘Fertility Fraud’ These Days

New allegations of doctors using their own sperm keep coming to light — because of genetic-testing services like Ancestry revealing networks of half siblings — in states like

Idaho

, Ohio, Colorado and Arkansas.

But those doctors performed artificial inseminations decades ago. Could what happened to Woock’s mom happen in a modern fertility clinic?

Dr. Bob Colver, a fertility specialist in Carmel, Indiana, said it’s a question many of his patients have asked. But it’s unlikely, he said. These days, there are more people involved in the process, and in vitro fertilization happens in a lab, not an exam room.

“Unless you’re in a small clinic where there’s absolutely no checks and balances, I can’t even imagine that today,” Colver said.

It’s now illegal in

Indiana, Texas and California

for a doctor to use his sperm to impregnate his patients. But there’s no national law criminalizing what’s called “fertility fraud.”

A photo of Larry Hobson holding his daughter, Heather Woock, as an infant. Woock’s mother consulted with a fertility doctor when she was having trouble getting pregnant.(Leah Klafczynski for NPR)

Fertility medicine has advanced a lot since the 1980s, but women trying to get pregnant today with the help of medicine face a baffling array of treatment options that can be hard to navigate and can be hugely expensive. And some critics say the growing, multibillion-dollar fertility industry needs more regulation.

For example, sperm banks may not get accurate medical histories from their donors, who could pass along genetic diseases. And there’s no limit on how many times a donor’s sperm can be used, which some donor children worry could increase the chance of inbreeding. Sperm donation guidelines from organizations like the American Society for Reproductive Medicine are voluntary. There was a contestant on

“The Bachelorette”

last year who said his sperm had helped father more than 100 kids.

Unrealistic Expectations

When Woock decided to get her first fertility treatment, she set preconditions with the clinic. She insisted on having a female doctor and insisted that a doctor be in the room for all appointments and oversee everything that happened.

Her experience with her clinic was very different from her mother’s with Cline, but nonetheless there were surprises along the way.

The clinic told her that her problems conceiving could be because of husband Rob’s low sperm count and motility (meaning his sperm weren’t great swimmers). They advised a form of in vitro fertilization that involved injecting one sperm directly into one of her eggs in a petri dish.

When doctors told Woock she needed IVF, she felt pretty optimistic.

“I’m thinking going into this that our chances of success are 70, 75%,” Woock said.

A 1985 photo of Kimberly Hobson (left) pregnant with her daughter, Heather. Kimberly is photographed alongside her husband, Larry Hobson, as well as relatives who were also expecting.(Leah Klafczynski for NPR)

Fertility treatment can be really expensive, and patients may start treatment with unrealistic expectations. That’s because success rates are complicated, and some clinics use only the best numbers in their

advertising

For example, clinics can advertise high fertilization rates. But a 70% fertilization rate doesn’t mean 70% of eggs turn into babies — plenty can go wrong after the lab combines egg and sperm.

Success depends on your age, your clinic and the type of procedure you need. But most of the time, assisted reproduction procedures such as IVF don’t work. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which

tracks assisted reproduction rates

in the U.S., reports only about 24% of attempts result in a baby.

‘Add-On’ Technology — And Prices

When Woock started her first IVF cycle, she gave herself shots, a couple a day, to stimulate her ovaries to get multiple eggs ready at once. Multiple eggs means more chances for fertilization.

But the drugs have side effects. They gave her headaches and made her moody and less patient.

“I was actually allergic to one of the medications, which just means that you keep taking it and deal with the itching and rash,” Woock said.

But she hung on until it was time for a doctor to surgically retrieve her eggs, at which point patients can face even more choices. Because the couple’s fertility problem appeared to be with Rob’s sperm, the clinic offered to use a special device to help pick the best sperm for IVF.

“We were kind of like, ‘Yeah, why wouldn’t you?\’” Woock said. “If it’s gonna give us a better chance, do it.”

A device like that is called an add-on. Add-ons are often new technology, described as cutting-edge, which can appeal to patients. Examples of add-ons include

genetic testing for chromosomal abnormalities in embryos

— which some specialists argue improves the odds of a live birth — and

assisted hatching

and

endometrial scratching

, both methods claiming to facilitate implantation.

An exam table at Midwest Fertility Specialists, a fertility clinic in Carmel, Indiana.(Lauren Bavis/WFYI)

Jack Wilkinson, a biostatistician at the University of Manchester in England,

researches add-ons

, which he has found can increase costs — and, he said, they may not work.

“We quite often see there’s no benefit at all,” Wilkinson said. “Or, possibly even worse, that there’s a disadvantage of using that treatment.”

Wilkinson said the device Woock’s clinic offered could work, but the evidence supporting it is thin.

Failed Fertilizations

The clinic called Woock the morning after her egg retrieval. None of Woock’s eggs fertilized. The procedure revealed that her husband’s sperm quality wasn’t the only fertility issue the couple faced.

“They immediately saw that there was something wrong with my eggs,” Woock said. “My eggs are just total crap.”

She underwent a second round of IVF with the same result — no fertilization.

“Getting that news the second time … felt even more set in stone that this was going to be a very long, challenging road,” Woock said.

Challenging and expensive. Most states, including Indiana, don’t require insurers to cover fertility treatment. Without insurance, a round of IVF can cost more than $10,000 — even more than $20,000 — with no guarantee the patient will get pregnant.

Woock was lucky that her employer-provided insurance covered a lot. But it still wasn’t cheap. She had to pay for some medications, “plus, you have to pay lab and facility fees that insurance doesn’t pay,” Woock said.

Donor sperm and eggs aren’t generally covered, either. Those can be tens of thousands of dollars.

Woock faced a hard choice: After two failed attempts, did she want a kid enough to go through IVF again? She and her husband decided they did. So Woock did a third round of IVF. And then a fourth. When that didn’t work, she gave up on using her own eggs.

“What I expected as I was growing up and picturing my children is not what I will see,” Woock said.

Woock and her husband decided to try donor eggs. If all goes according to plan, she could still carry a child. She wants to keep trying.

“I realize that pregnancy is incredibly challenging on your body and your mental state,” she said. “If I can make it through a year of IVF, I can make it through morning sickness.”

This story is part of a partnership that includes

Side Effects Public Media

NPR

and Kaiser Health News. The story was adapted from Episode 6 of the podcast

Sick

. You can hear more about the fallout from Dr. Donald Cline’s deception on Sick’s first season, at

sickpodcast.org