On November 17th, the Paycheck Fairness Act went to the Senate for vote. The bill would have provided “improvement and modifications” to the Equal Pay Act of 1963. President Obama called it a common sense bill. Nonetheless, it failed to pass due to an overwhelming surge of Republican opposition. Democrats voted 56:1 in favor, while Republicans went 1:40 against it.

So what have women lost as a result of this vote? As Jezebel reports, the Act would have “required employers to provide a business justification for paying men and women differently for the same work and make it easier for employees to obtain salary data and ask about salaries without retaliation.” A lack of transparency is a key reason why many women remain underpaid. Currently, a woman makes 77 cents to each dollar a man earns.

What do Senate Republicans and one Democrat have against a woman knowing what her co-worker earns? Some argued that the Act would kill jobs, and that a woman’s lower pay is a result of her choices in balancing family life with work.

Others argued that it would have opened up the work place for unnecessary lawsuits. But as the Washington Post points out, the Act would have simply “clarified vague language in the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and applied well-established legal standards that are in place for other types of pay discrimination.”

To mourn the death of the Paycheck Fairness Act, check out our homage to some of the more ridiculous laws regarding women on the books. Hopefully, some will soon be repealed. Let’s just not send them to Congress to do so.

1. In Maryland, a woman cannot go through her husband’s pockets while he is sleeping. Not even if she really wants a piece of gum.

2. In Vermont, a woman must obtain written permission from her husband if she wishes to wear false teeth. Because women really lead with their teeth in wanton, uncontrolled sexuality.

3. In Tucson, Arizona, women are not allowed to wear pants. No word on the stance on booty shorts or thongs.

4. In Carrizozo, New Mexico, it is illegal for a woman to appear unshaven in public. Rejoice, razor industry, rejoice!

5. In Dyersburg, Tennessee, it is illegal for a woman to call a man on a date. I don’t want to live in a world where equal-opportunity drunk dialing isn’t free to all.

6. In Carmel, New York, women may not wear high heels within the city limits. They are obviously just protecting their citizens, as this move effectively disqualifies the city from ever letting a “Sex and the City” sequel to be shot in their town. Good move, Carmel!

7. In Michigan, a woman isn’t allowed to cut her hair without her husband’s permission. But what if her husband cuts it for her?

Image: ralpe

The post 7 Ridiculous Laws Against Women appeared first on EcoSalon.

It’s no secret that anything resembling an environmental protection law that even nods to the possibility of human-induced climate change is under sustained and rabid attack by industry groups and the politicians who represent them. (Okay. Breathing.) The tactic over the last two years has been to go after the EPA, which is charged with creating regulations that abide by these laws. Myriad word bombs and legal challenges over the organization’s ethics and tactics have been lobbed at it by climate change deniers for years now.

Well, the Justice Department just made it clear in legal briefing that if you got a problem with the EPA, you should take it up with Congress. (Note: Today’s the day we take stuff up with Congress.) The government’s environmental watchdog is simply executing on existing law. If you’re a member of Congress, then take it up with yourself. Bottom line? If you don’t like what’s going down, change the law, and leave the EPA out of it.

Here’s the verbiage: As reported in Politico, the filing states that states, industry groups and other groups’ objections to EPA rules (here related primarily to the Clean Air Act) “is not really to EPA’s actions; rather it is to the decisions Congress made and to the strict requirements Congress itself imposed on sources of air pollution.”

So it’s the law, stupid. Well, it’s the law for now, anyway. The target on the back of these laws (and efforts to strengthen and update them) may be more attainable for climate change deniers when you get up tomorrow morning. To be fair, both parties have a problem with the existing antiquated Clean Air Act, though efforts to create new law didn’t make it though Congress as it was the last two years. (So keep in that going forward now, we’re not even talking progress. We’re talking about maintaining whatever footholds have been established in recent decades.)

Consider this: Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), the favorite to chair the Energy and Commerce Committee if control of the House changes, says he’s geared up to investigate administration’s “poisonous regulations.” In fact, he told Politico that “If we have the gavel, I can assure you that the oversight subcommittee will be very busy. We’ll have a seat reserved for [the administration’s top climate and energy advisor Carol Browner].” EPA administrator Lisa Jackon would doubtless be spending a lot of time on the Hill, as well.

Attempting to go with a non-partisan note here, we all have varied opinions on what needs to happen in the arena of federal environmental law. Just ask yourself what it is you want and keep that in mind when you, if you haven’t already, go act on your wishes, that is to say, Vote. Now, please.

Image: samantha celera

The post The Law of Land and Sea and Air: Yet <em>Another</em> Reason to Vote! appeared first on EcoSalon.

From 2015, all eggs in California will be sunny side up – at least for the chickens.

State Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed a new law that makes California a cage-free state for chickens by 2015. The bill, which was backed by the Humane Society of the United States, will mean that all shell (whole) eggs sold in California must come from hens that can stand up, lie down, turn around, and fully extend their limbs without touching one another or the sides of an enclosure.

This is a huge win for chickens in the United States. Free-range eggs are the norm in Europe and in fact, the European Union has banned battery cages from 2012 onward. But in the U.S. and Canada, a whopping 98 percent of eggs come from battery hens, according to the book The Ethics of What We Eat by Peter Singer and Jim Mason. The life of a battery hen is no life at all – Nobel Prize winner Dr Konrad Lorenz describes it as “torture”.

Hopefully given the size of California, with around 40 million citizens, this new law could galvanize other states into action. It might even shame McDonald’s into doing the right thing – the chain earlier this year rejected a proposal to buy a mere five percent of its eggs from cage-free sources.

Whether you like your eggs scrambled or poached, this can only be good news. I for one always buy free-range eggs at home but I’ll feel so much better ordering egg dishes on a restaurant menu once this law is in place. And even if you are vegan, or simply don’t care for eggs, it’s still good news for the chickens. Time for a collective squawk of joy?

Image: woodleywonderworks

The post California: Good Eggs, After All appeared first on EcoSalon.