Heather Rogers

Heather Rogers was a senior staff reporter at Remapping Debate. She had previously written for publications including the New York Times Magazine, Mother Jones, and Washington Monthly. Her most recent book (as of 2013) is Green Gone Wrong: How Our Economy Is Undermining the Environmental Revolution. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

hr@remappingdebate.org
Pro-choice timidity in fighting shortage of abortion providers
Original Reporting | By Heather Rogers | Reproductive health services
Little is being done to expand training options, and some abortion-rights supporters are reluctant to draw attention to the issue. Who is said to need more training access and opportunities? Medical students, residents, and practicing physicians. More
A return to helping one another?
Original Reporting | By Heather Rogers | Aging, Alternative models, Quality of life
As the number of elderly Americans grows, some suggest that they are going to have to make due with less support. But many older people already face increasing isolation as the years go on; they live in fear of losing their homes. One recent response: a "Village model" where members and non-member volunteers join in an organized system of mutual aid. More
Nuclear power plant flood risk: Sandy was just a warm-up
Original Reporting | By Heather Rogers | Energy, Infrastructure, Regulation
The Northeast seaboard is chock-full of nuclear power plants. Sandy, for all its wrath, was only a Category 1 hurricane. Climate change will drive more severe storms, raise sea levels, and increase flood risks. To what extent has the industry and its regulator taken these projected climate change consequences into account? More
Environmental groups whistling past the graveyard?
Original Reporting | By Heather Rogers, By Samantha Cook | Environment
In the face of gains by proponents of fossil fuels, some groups are in denial, and others are hunkering down. Only a few are exploring new strategies to go on the offensive to change the now-dominant media and political formula that environmental health and sustainability must take a back seat to job creation and economic growth. More
Business-killing cuts to state court systems
Original Reporting | By Heather Rogers | Government services, Law, State government
According to data from the National Center for State Courts (NCSC), 42 state legislatures reduced their state court budgets between 2008 and 2011. A variety of cutbacks ensued — including staff layoffs, reductions in courthouse hours, and pay cuts for courthouse personnel — and many state judicial systems have consequently slowed down. Businesses use the courts far more than anyone else. Are some businesses that have genuine grievances throwing up their hands and accepting their losses because of the prospect of increased delays and higher costs? More
Stanford researcher readily acknowledges limitations of study on organic versus conventional food
Original Reporting | By Heather Rogers | Food, Food safety
The recent study has gotten widespread press attention for the proposition that organic food is not safer to eat than non-organic food. But one of the study’s lead authors acknowledges that a series of health and safety issues relating to non-organic foods were not examined. More
Robin Hood, nearing European victories, still struggling to awaken in the U.S.
Original Reporting | By Heather Rogers | Markets, Taxes
A "Robin Hood" tax — a small fee on stock, bond, and derivative transactions that has been supported by some high-profile, center-right EU political leaders — is likely to be enacted soon by several EU countries, including Germany and France. Here in the U.S., an activist coalition that favors a financial transaction tax to help generate the revenue needed to protect and expand government programs — and to deter what it considers the destabilizing and unproductive role "high-frequency trading" — is just gearing up. Thus far, despite the introduction of several FTT bills, a majority of national Democrats have stayed silent on the issue. More
What ever happened to “I think I can”?
Original Reporting | By Heather Rogers | Alternative models, State government, Transportation
The Cuomo administration is studying alternatives for improving train service between New York and Albany (and on to Buffalo), but the fastest options — true high-speed rail service — have already been ruled out. It turns out that the approach the administration describes as putting the state “on track to the rail system of the future” won’t go all that fast, abandoning the potential benefits that some say true high-speed rail would bring to New York. More

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