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<br /> <keyword id="32870" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Auto">Auto</keyword> major <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Mahindra+%26+Mahindra+">Mahindra &amp; Mahindra</a> (M&amp;M) is going to invest Rs 2,000 crore in Mahindra Research Valley (<keyword id="375202" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="MRV">MRV</keyword>), a new Test track for MRV and an automotive plant in <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Tamil+Nadu">Tamil Nadu</a>.<br />
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The homegrown auto major might double the amount to Rs 4,000 crore by 2022 for which it can decide over the next few years.<br />
 <br /> "<keyword id="125563" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Mahindra-Mahindra-Ltd">Mahindra &amp; Mahindra Ltd</keyword> is signing an MoU with the <keyword id="219060" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Government-of-Tamil-Nadu">Government of Tamil Nadu</keyword> wherein it commits to invest Rs 2,000 crore…to meet the company's future needs over the next 5 years," the company said in a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=BSE+">BSE</a> filing.<br />
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MRV is located at Mahindra World City, Maraimalai Nagar near <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Hyundai-in-tax-net-DRI-claims-duty-dues-of-Rs-87-crore-from-the-company/articleshow/48883458.cms">Chennai</a>. The MRV test track and the new plant would be set up on about 450 acres of land at Cheyyar near Kancheepuram.<br />
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"The MoU also provides details of the package of incentives that would be commensurate with the level of investment commitment," it added.<br />
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(Image: Indiatimes) <br />

Mahindra & Mahindra to invest Rs 2,000 crore in Tamil Nadu and may double the amount

<p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/innovation-leaders"></a></p><div type="image" title="Robin Saluoks is co-founder and acting CIO of the climate technology company eAgronom." height="3574" width="4765" msid="93060919" hostid="261" sizebytes="1044870"></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>Robin Saluoks is cofounder and CEO of eAgronom, a climate technology company based in Estonia that helps farmers break into sustainable production.</li><li>In a recent interview with Insider, Saluoks gave us a bird's eye view of his company's journey and his approach to driving innovation. </li></ul><p>Robin Saluoks is cofounder and CEO of climate technology company eAgronom, which helps farmers build more sustainable businesses using AI and other innovative technologies. The company has more than 1,500 agribusiness customers managing 1m+ hectares of land across Europe. In a recent interview with Insider, Saluoks gave us a bird's eye view of his company's journey and his approach to driving innovation for local farmers:</p><h3><strong>What is the biggest business challenge you're facing at the moment, and how are you tackling it?</strong></h3><p>One of the biggest business challenges we face is finding ways to better connect stakeholders working on genuine climate targets with partners who work on projects that sequester CO2 from the atmosphere. More specifically, we are working with farmers who want to bring sustainable changes to their farms but struggle to do so in a way that makes sense for them in the short term and profitably.</p><h3><strong>How does tech help you drive innovation?</strong></h3><p>We are developing tools to calculate emissions on farms and verify if the data is correct to produce <keyword id="14530199" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="carbon-credits" source="Orion">carbon credits</keyword> aligned with guidelines. Our core technology revolves around data collecting and data verifying tooling for land use management, which is easy for farmers to plug in and perform their own data analysis for measuring, reporting, and verification (MRV). We also integrate machine learning and satellite monitoring into our platform to make data more robust.</p><h3> <strong>What are your current growth plans?</strong></h3><p>Earlier this year, we raised a Series A round of funding to help us optimize the farmer onboarding process, set up new global dealerships, and launch the eAgronom Carbon Program. We have also launched a program to finance high-quality carbon sequestration projects by pre-purchasing the credits, so that farmers and landowners no longer need to wait for five years or more to receive the funds and can get started on future-proofing their farms today.</p><h3><strong>Who do you partner with internally and externally to drive business and tech decisions?</strong></h3><p>As a climate tech working in farm management, we have always believed that it should be farmers first. As we scale and partner with other business stakeholders, we continue to work hand-in-hand with farmers to understand their needs and deliver practical solutions. Dealing with solutions for the climate, we also work with scientists from different universities and data experts to avoid greenwashing and strengthen genuine climate commitments. We are engaging with highly-credible external auditors to verify the Carbon Removal Units (CRUs), as well as organizations that set carbon accounting standards.</p><h3><strong>How excited are you about the technology of the future and what it means for your business and your sector?</strong></h3><p>As an optimist, I see enormous growth opportunities ahead in the agritech and climate tech sectors. Brilliant solutions are being developed across the industry — from carbon sequestration and storage to green energy solutions — and not just on the technology side. We are also seeing a major integration of agroecological knowledge in the industry. For me, this is an excellent sign that more people from different backgrounds are collaborating to produce solutions ready to be used in the market.</p>

Cofounder and CEO of climate technology company eAgronom uses 'farmers first' mindset to drive innovation and lower barriers to sustainable agriculture

<p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/financing-a-sustainable-future-2022"></a></p><div type="image" title="Alberto Carrillo Pineda is SBTi’s cofounder and chief technical officer." height="2092" width="2790" msid="92443005" hostid="261" sizebytes="504570"></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>Science Based Targets Initiative, or SBTi, helps large companies identify <keyword id="11896309" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="sustainability" source="Orion">sustainability</keyword> targets.</li><li>SBTi's cofounder said organizations are signing on due to growing expectations from investors.</li><li>Here's how SBTi is helping companies set science-based greenhouse-gas emission-reduction targets.</li></ul><p>Achieving sustainability doesn't happen overnight. It requires setting the right targets — clear short- and long-term goals for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions across all stages of a business. </p><p><a href="https://sciencebasedtargets.org/">Science Based Targets initiative</a>, or SBTi, is a nonprofit that works with some of the world's largest companies — from <a href="https://sciencebasedtargets.org/companies-taking-action/case-studies/net-zero-case-study-astrazeneca">AstraZeneca and </a><a href="https://sciencebasedtargets.org/companies-taking-action/case-studies/sony">Sony to </a><a href="https://sciencebasedtargets.org/companies-taking-action/case-studies/procter-gamble">Procter &amp; Gamble</a> — to identify and hit those targets. SBTi boasts being the first framework for helping corporations set net-zero targets based on the latest climate science and the <a href="https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement">2015 Paris Agreement</a>, a treaty on climate change. </p><p>Since its founding in 2015, companies with approved targets have seen 29% reductions. The scale is growing, too, with partner companies representing 35% of global market capitalization. </p><p>Alberto Carrillo Pineda, SBTi's cofounder and chief technical officer, said more organizations are interested in the company's services due to growing expectations from investors and regulators that companies address emissions and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors across their supply chains.</p><p>In 2019, the UK passed a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-becomes-first-major-economy-to-pass-net-zero-emissions-law">law to achieve net-zero emissions</a> by 2050. This March, the <a href="https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2022-46">US Securities and Exchange Commission issued a proposed rule</a> that would require registrants to include climate-related disclosures in reports. SBTi is a key vendor in the sustainability revolution, enabling companies to demonstrate to investors and other stakeholders that they're working toward emission reductions, filling in the gaps left by standard ESG disclosures. </p><p>"More and more investors are looking at the climate targets of companies in their portfolios, and they're engaging with companies that don't have targets in place yet to incentivize them to set targets," Pineda told Insider. </p><p>Here's a look at how the process to set science-based targets works and how businesses benefit. </p><h2><strong>Offering industry-specific technical assistance helps companies set realistic emissions targets</strong></h2><p>Setting climate-based targets alone can be difficult for businesses because many don't know where to start, Pineda said. That's where SBTi can help. </p><p>SBTi works with companies by offering clear industry-specific guidance on how to set emissions goals to achieve net-zero. The organization provides worksheets, how-to guides, and online tools, then evaluates a business' targets based on the latest climate science, Pineda said. </p><p>"The transition to a net-zero economy requires a transformation of every aspect of the economy — transportation, energy production, the food system, the industrial system, and the land-use system," he said, adding that the path to achieving net-zero often varies by industry. </p><p>Pineda said SBTi helps "translate" the transition to net-zero based on the specifics of a company or sector, such as using carbon credits and guidelines for different types of passenger, freight, and commercial vehicles in the <a href="https://sciencebasedtargets.org/sectors/transport">transportation sector</a>, so they can set more realistic targets. Companies in the <a href="https://sciencebasedtargets.org/sectors/oil-and-gas#what-is-the-sb-tis-policy-on-fossil-fuel-companies">oil and gas sector</a> aren't yet able to set targets with SBTi, but the organization is developing guidance for that industry. </p><p>SBTi <a href="https://sciencebasedtargets.org/about-us/funders">receives funding</a> from companies across industries, governments, and foundations. In November, the organization<a href="https://sciencebasedtargets.org/news/sbti-secures-37m-usd-to-scale-up-exponential-growth"> raised $37 million</a> from Bezos Earth Fund, IKEA Foundation, and Laudes Foundation to help support its growth.</p><h2><strong>SBTi helps hold companies accountable for sustainability goals</strong></h2><p>SBTi charges companies $9,500 to set and validate their targets, which starts with organizations registering <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfib_cuqxfiixppglIOCIG-N6Hxq-FUQzJRUVOrobFD-lkPYA/viewform">on the SBTi website</a> and submitting a <a href="https://sciencebasedtargets.org/resources/files/SBT-Commitment-Letter.pdf">commitment letter</a>. Companies have 24 months to set and submit targets, which Pineda said may involve collecting data or conducting energy modeling. SBTi provides <a href="https://sciencebasedtargets.org/resources/legacy/2019/03/SBTi-criteria.pdf">recommendations</a> and <a href="https://sciencebasedtargets.org/sectors">industry-specific guidance</a> to assist organizations in developing targets. </p><p>After a company submits its targets, SBTi analyzes them to ensure they cover most direct and indirect emission sources, that the target is ambitious — companies are required to pledge to reduce their emissions by at least 4.2% a year — and whether a company is setting short-term emission-reduction targets or long-term net-zero targets. Pineda said SBTi requires companies to have short-term goals for approval so that they're driving action to reach net-zero.</p><p>Once SBTi approves a target, it publishes a <a href="https://sciencebasedtargets.org/companies-taking-action/">list of companies taking action</a> on its website and encourages organizations to share details about their targets with stakeholders. SBTi expects companies to report progress every year and recalculate targets every five years to ensure they remain valid and align with the latest science, Pineda said. </p><p>SBTi had approved nearly 1,100 targets by the end of 2021 and saw over 1,100 commitments.</p><p>The organization is working on a new <a href="https://sciencebasedtargets.org/measurement-reporting-and-verification-mrv">measurement, reporting, and verification</a> (MRV) system, which will launch in 2023, to standardize how companies report progress on targets, which Pineda said will increase transparency and accountability. </p><h2><strong>Setting targets boosts a company's credibility with investors </strong></h2><p>The benefits for companies that set emission-reduction and net-zero targets include increased profits, improved investor confidence, heightened innovation, decreased regulatory uncertainty, and stronger brand reputation, according to SBTi. </p><p>For example, setting science-based targets led <a href="https://sciencebasedtargets.org/companies-taking-action/case-studies/sony">Sony to develop a new type of plastic</a> made of 99% recycled materials that saves 80% carbon emissions when the company manufactures it. More than a third of companies say setting targets is <a href="https://sciencebasedtargets.org/blog/six-business-benefits-of-setting-science-based-targets">helping their business become more resilient </a>to future regulations. </p><p>Working with SBTi brings a sense of credibility to these goals, Pineda said, and it helps companies communicate their sustainability initiatives and the progress they're making. It also helps fill in gaps for investors and financial institutions seeking information about a company's ESG disclosures. </p><p>"More transparency on environmental and climate action makes it easier for investors to understand if companies are transitioning to net-zero or not," he said. </p>

How to design sustainability targets the right way, according to a nonprofit working with Sony and Procter & Gamble

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table lead-image-large"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>Exercise startup <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erqLKwwZCVE">Peloton</a> makes high-end stationary bikes - and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_M7NGB4S_k">over-the-top advertising</a> geared toward the affluent.</li><li>Earlier this year, social-media users took to Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/ClueHeywood/status/1089702015767179265?s=20">to poke fun at Peloton's ads</a>, which typically feature a physically fit person <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbpgOJEpOWk">cycling in a luxurious home</a>.</li><li><a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1639825/000119312519230923/d738839ds1.htm">Peloton filed for its IPO</a> on Tuesday, reporting it generated $915 million in revenue last fiscal year, which ended in June.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.</a></li></ul><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erqLKwwZCVE">Peloton</a> is known for its high-end stationary bikes - and its <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/peloton-shifts-gears-with-more-attainable-marketing-plan-1508959554">over-the-top advertising</a>.</p><p>The exercise startup filed for its initial public offering on Tuesday, and <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1639825/000119312519230923/d738839ds1.htm">according to its prospectus</a>, it generated $915 million in revenue its last fiscal year. Peloton first made its name with stationary bikes that connect to a tablet streaming spin classes, making it a kind of at-home <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-i-stopped-going-to-soulcycle-2015-7">SoulCycle</a>. In fact, Peloton overtook SoulCycle in customers last year, <a href="https://blog.secondmeasure.com/datapoints/peloton-subscriptions-doubled-over-past-year/">according to data company Second Measure</a>.</p><p>Peloton's <keyword id="35666" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="advertising">advertising</keyword> has also gained notoriety, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/peloton-shifts-gears-with-more-attainable-marketing-plan-1508959554">but for all the wrong reasons</a>. Earlier this year, <a href="https://twitter.com/ClueHeywood/status/1089702015767179265?s=20">people took to Twitter</a> to make fun of Peloton's ads. The glossy <keyword id="6354839" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="marketing">marketing</keyword> campaign featured physically fit users cycling in modern, luxurious homes that often overlook a futuristic metropolis or expansive backyard. Oh, and their Peloton is almost exclusively positioned <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_M7NGB4S_k">somewhere in the middle of the room</a>.</p><p>One Twitter user saw Peloton's over-the-top ads as the perfect comedic opportunity.</p><p>&#xa0;</p><p>Other Twitter users quickly followed suit.</p><p>Despite the comedic Twitter threads, Peloton's marketing team has said the campaigns were intentional and not a joke. In fact, the marketing had been intended for wealthy clientele from the beginning.</p><p>"We had this idea of a very affluent rider who many of our early adopters were," Carolyn Tisch Blodgett, Peloton's brand marketing lead, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/peloton-shifts-gears-with-more-attainable-marketing-plan-1508959554">told the Wall Street Journal</a>.</p><p class="tagline"><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intelligence/top-10-trends-in-digital-media?IR=T&amp;itm_source=businessinsider&amp;itm_medium=ctgr_bii&amp;itm_term=ctgr_leadgen&amp;itm_content=advertising&amp;itm_campaign=top-10-trends-in-digital-media"></a></p><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/advertising-tricks-sales-manipulation-2014-4">5 Tricks Advertisers Use To Make You Buy Their Products</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

An over-the-top Peloton ad showing the super-wealthy biking in penthouses, zen gardens, and sunrooms led to one of the year's best Twitter threads

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>Democratic presidential candidate and former Colorado Governor <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-john-hickenlooper-bio-age-family-key-positions-2019-4">John Hickenlooper</a> was mistaken for a reporter while checking in for the first round of Democratic debates taking place tonight, according to NPR.</li><li>20 out of the 25 Democratic 2020 presidential candidates are currently descending on Miami, Florida for the first Democratic debates.</li><li>Hickenlooper, a former two-term governor and mayor of Denver, is running from the center as a progressive, business-friendly candidate.</li><li>Last month, several members of Congress running long-shot campaigns for president poked a little fun at themselves in a series of tweets where they called each other by the names of other white, male, lesser-known presidential candidates.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's home page for more stories.</a></li></ul><p>Twenty Democratic 2020 presidential candidates are currently descending on Miami, Florida for the first round of Democratic debates - and many people, even security guards working the event, have trouble identifying all the candidates or telling them apart.&#xa0;</p><p>Democratic presidential candidate and former Colorado Governor <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-john-hickenlooper-bio-age-family-key-positions-2019-4">John Hickenlooper</a> had the misfortune of being mistaken for a reporter while checking in for the Democratic debates taking place June 26 and 27, <a href="https://twitter.com/scottdetrow/status/1143929727654289408">according to a tweet from NPR reporter Scott Detrow</a>, who is covering the event from Miami.</p><p><em><strong>Read more: </strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/democratic-debates-who-is-debating-start-time-how-to-watch-2019-6">Here's who will be on the stage for this week's Democratic debates, what time they'll start, and how to watch</a></em></p><p>The 2020 Democratic field currently includes a former vice president, eight current and former US senators, seven current and former members of the House of Representatives, four mayors, three governors, and two candidates, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-andrew-yang-bio-age-family-key-positions-2019-3">Andrew Yang</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-marianne-williamson-bio-age-family-key-positions-2019-3">Marianne Williamson</a>, who have never held elected office.&#xa0;</p><p>A representative for Hickenlooper's campaign did not immediately respond to a text from INSIDER inquiring as to whether being mistaken for a reporter at official events is a frequent occurrence for Hickenlooper, who will be one of 10 candidates on the stage for the second night of debates.&#xa0;</p><p><em><strong>Read more: </strong></em><em><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/john-hickenlooper-john-delaney-bash-socialism-as-campaign-strategy-2019-6">Two longshot 2020 Democratic candidates are bashing socialism and the left wing of their party as part of their campaign strategies</a></em></p><p>Hickenlooper, a former two-term governor and mayor of Denver, is running from the center as a progressive, business-friendly candidate, publicly decrying ambitious policy proposals like Medicare for All and the Green New Deal. He's currently polling at 1% in <a href="https://morningconsult.com/2020-democratic-primary/">Morning Consult's daily survey</a> of the Democratic primary.&#xa0;</p><p>Last month, several members of Congress running long-shot campaigns for president including Sen. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-michael-bennet-bio-age-family-key-positions-2019-5">Michael Bennet</a> and Reps. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-tim-ryan-bio-age-family-key-positions-2019-4">Tim Ryan</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-seth-moulton-bio-age-family-key-positions-2019-5">Seth Moulton</a> poked a little fun at themselves in a series of tweets where they called eachother by the names of other white, male, lesser-known presidential candidates.&#xa0;</p><p>The first round of Democratic debates, however, could provide an opportunity for these candidates to have a breakout moment, boost their name recognition, and raise their national profile.&#xa0;</p><p><strong>Read more:</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/john-hickenlooper-brewery-owner-governor-possible-2020-democratic-contender-2019-2" data-analytics-position="3">Meet John Hickenlooper, the brewery owner turned governor and a Democratic presidential candidate who could pose a serious challenge to Trump in 2020</a></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/everyone-who-is-running-for-president-in-2020-2019-1">The first Democratic debates will take place this week - here's everyone who has officially announced they are running for president in 2020</a></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/2020-democratic-candidates-president-agree-disagree-on-the-issues-2019-6" data-analytics-position="1">Here's where the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates agree and disagree on the issues</a></p><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/youtube-allows-hate-speech-harassment-steven-crowder-carlos-maza-2019-6">YouTube is in dangerous territory after not removing a video that ridiculed a Vox producer for being gay</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Presidential candidate John Hickenlooper was mistaken for a member of the media at the first Democratic debates

<p class="source"><span>Boeing</span></p><p class="caption">A concept drawing of what the boost-phase interceptor drone could look like.</p><p>The US Missile Defense Agency just issued a bold request for proposals for a missile defense system that could change the game and act like a silver bullet against North Korean missile launches.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&amp;mode=form&amp;id=ad7b678ce54e0cc5324a529ebac8e84c&amp;tab=core&amp;_cview=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">MDA asked for proposals</a> to build a high-altitude long-endurance unmanned aircraft capable of flying higher than 63,000 feet and carrying a laser to shoot down ballistic missiles as they arc upwards towards the sky. </p><p>While the laser system sounds like something out of science fiction,  - and is something the US Navy has struggled to field for over a decade - Ricky Ellison of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance told Business Insider that this drone could be the perfect application of the technology.</p><p>"What it can do is intercept missiles in the boost phase, therefore you don't need to have billion dollar radars all over the world to intercept with 80 million dollar interceptors," said Ellison.</p><p>Ballistic missiles fly high into earth's atmosphere before breaking apart, often releasing multiple reentry vehicles, countermeasures, and decoys. This makes them a nightmare for traditional missile defense systems which track the launch and then fire interceptor vehicles to smash them apart upon reentry. </p><p class="source"><span><a href="https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile-defense-agency-wants-laser-armed-drone-2023/">missilethreat.csis.org</a></span></p><p class="caption">Another possible design for the laser interceptor.</p><p>Even the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/watch-thaad-north-korea-missile-threat-2017-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">top-of-the-line THAAD</a> system, recently <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-thaad-missile-defense-system-now-operational-in-skorea-2017-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">sent to South Korea</a>, would struggle to destroy a large salvo from North Korea, and the price of installing and using the entire system, interceptors included, would cost into the billions. Additionally, THAAD's high-powered radar capability makes China extremely nervous, as they believe it could <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-thaad-missile-defense-system-scares-the-pants-off-of-china-2017-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">limit their ability to respond to a nuclear strike from the US</a>. </p><p>Meanwhile, a solid state laser can be fired continuously for dollars a minute, about what you'd pay for electricity in your home. Though building the platform would cost millions in research, development, and testing.</p><p>Traditionally, while boost-phase interception looks more attractive on paper because it hits the missile in a more vulnerable stage, it's been impractical because the interceptor has to be close to the projectile.</p><p>So there's just no way the US could intercept a missile fired from central Russia or China in its boost phase. With a small country like North Korea though, US drones right off the border could melt down missiles with a light-speed weapon in the cloudless upper atmosphere.</p><p class="source"><span>Thomson Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">Ballistic rocket is seen launching during a drill by the Hwasong artillery units of the KPA Strategic Force.</p><p>"This would be far more efficient to have boost-phase intercept capability over that territory at that height to handle that," said Ellison. "As North Korea develops countermeasures, decoys, MRV (multiple reentry vehicles), and all the things that will continue to evolve, you have a great opportunity to eliminate all those advancing technologies before all that gets dispersed."</p><p>The MDA hopes to field this technology by 2023, at which point most experts agree North Korea will have perfected an intercontinental ballistic missile. </p>            <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/marine-explains-how-intermittent-fasting-shape-abs-2017-6">A Marine explains how intermittent fasting helped him 'see his abs'</a></h3>                                    Please enable Javascript to watch this video

The Missile Defense Agency wants a laser-equipped drone that would be a silver bullet for stopping North Korea

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Andy Weir, author of the sci-fi bestseller "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Martian-Novel-Andy-Weir-ebook/dp/B00EMXBDMA">The Martian</a>," is afraid of flying.<p><strong>Actually, more like terrified.</strong></p><p>Which is a problem when your book <a href="http://www.techinsider.io/how-andy-weirs-the-martian-became-so-successful-2015-6">suddenly surges in popularity</a>, gets a movie deal, and everyone starts inviting you to attend conferences and do interviews all across the country and overseas.</p><p>It's also a little ironic for two reasons: One, Weir's novel is about astronaut Mark Watney, who takes an eight-month flight to Mars only to find himself stranded on the alien world; and two, Weir created Watney as a vision of himself.</p><p><strong>Weir is working on conquering his fear.</strong> After NASA invited him out to the Houston-based Johnson Space Center, he made a lot of progress. Weir has said in several interviews that he wanted to go really, really badly, so he knew he had to suck it up and get on a plane.</p><p>He made that flight earlier this year - and it seems he had a great time:</p><p><div></div></p><p>It doesn't sound like Weir is ready for any international flights yet, though.</p><p>When the crew started filming the movie adaptation of "The Martian" in Budapest, they invited Weir out to the set. That "was too much," Weir <a href="http://blog.chron.com/sciguy/2015/08/would-andy-weir-author-of-the-martian-ever-go-into-space-hell-no-he-says-in-a-lengthy-interview/">told Eric Berger in an interview</a>. Maybe he can build his way up to international travel.</p><p>As far as actual spaceflight is concerned though, Weir had an uncompromising answer for Berger:</p><p>Fair enough.</p><p>Weir isn't just working on conquering his fear of flight. He revealed that he's already working on a new book, and we can't wait.</p><p>"It's softer science fiction," Weir said. " It's got aliens, faster-than-light travel, it's good, old-fashioned sci-fi."</p><p>The movie version of "The Martian" comes out October 2.</p><p><div></div></p><p class="embed-spacer">&#xa0;</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-martian-trailer-2015-6">Matt Damon is left to die on Mars in first trailer for 'The Martian'</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="BsZnVqdTouutVZa2jN-Yvla7lSvxjV28" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

Here's why the author of 'The Martian' says he's never setting foot on a spaceship

<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>In the wake of the financial crisis, regulatory agencies were mandated power to better inspect and punish big banks. </span></p><p>One of the ways Wall Street has tried to outmaneuver these agencies<span> </span>is by hiring away the same regulatory offices' top staff.</p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">There are two regulatory bodies being targeted primarily by banks, law firms and consultants: <span>the Federal Reserve, and </span>an independent body within the Treasury Department called the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. </span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Both agencies have seen senior supervisors leave to instead take on roles at top banks or with firms that advise top banks. </span></p><p><span>Banks including Morgan Stanley and Citigroup recently set up LinkedIn ads soliciting applications from people who know what regulators want.</span></p><p><span>Moving from a regulator to a bank can mean a huge pay increase. Senior employees can add hundreds of thousands of dollars to their annual net pay. And agency heads can potentially make tens of millions of dollars, depending on their post-regulatory career path. </span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"The one area where firms struggling to find good people is in compliance," says Mayra Rodriguez Valladares, managing principal of consulting firm MRV Associates. "Banks are really struggling" in compliance hiring.</span></p><p>Compliance pros have a great deal of leverage when banks come calling because they are in very short supply, Rodriguez Valladares said.</p><p>Top bank examiners make more than $250,000 annually. Rodriguez Valladares says they can double or triple that figure going to Wall Street.</p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Some former regulators do much better than that. Here are a few of the most successful former Wall Street rules-enforcers, now making big money helping Wall Street understand the rules it has to follow:</span></p><ul><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><strong>Robert L. Clarke:</strong> Clarke led Treasury's OCC from 1985 until 1992. After that, he would go on to join Bracewell &amp; Guiliani as senior partner of the firm's global financial services practice, where he "regularly advises major banking institutions," according to his online profile. </span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><strong>Eugene Ludwig:<strong> </strong></strong>Ludwig didn't just join a financial services firm after he served as the Treasury Department's Comptroller of the Currency. He created one. In 2001, Ludwig launched Promontory Financial Group and has since added hundreds of staff and consultants. Promontory is a Washington DC-based firm that advises hedge funds and other investors on monetary policies. Ludwig quit the agency in 1998. <span><br /></span></span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><strong>John D. Hawke:</strong> Hawke joined the board of M&amp;T Bank in 2012. He is also a lawyer with the firm Arnold &amp; Porter, where he is senior counsel advising financial clients. M&amp;T Bank is one of the banks that the OCC and Federal Reserve regulate. Hawke declined to comment when reached by Business Insider.</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><strong>John C. Dugan:</strong> Dugan joined law firm Covington &amp; Burling as a partner in Washington after spending five years leading Treasury's OCC. There, he advises on regulatory matters for banks. He left the agency in 2010.</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><strong>John G. Walsh:</strong> Walsh served as an acting head of the OCC until 2012. The same year, he would join consulting firm McKinsey &amp; Co. as leader of its financial regulation risk practice.</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><strong>Arthur Angulo: </strong>It isn't just leaders of regulatory agencies that banks, law firms and consultants covet. Often, it is the 'boots on the ground' that do on-site work with big banks whose experience is needed. </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Promontory Financial Group hired <strong>Angulo</strong>. According to a <a href="http://www.promontory.com/News.aspx?id=3414">statement</a> from Promontory in April, Angulo served on the Fed's "executive committee that oversees the comprehensive capital analysis and review stress tests."</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><strong>Tony Frame: </strong>Frame spent more than 10 years with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in "on-site" supervision of a "large financial institution" before joining Deloitte &amp; Touche less than a year ago (Frame's LinkedIn profile doesn't mention which bank).</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><strong><strong><strong>Lance Auer: </strong></strong></strong>Former Federal Reserve employee <strong>Auer</strong> hasn't upgraded online profiles yet, but he was <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-18/pwc-s-new-york-fed-hire-said-to-spur-secrecy-concerns-at-goldman">lured away from his post at the Fed</a> where he supervised Goldman Sachs to a consulting gig. Along with Auer, Federal Reserve senior vice president <strong>Michael Alix</strong> went to PricewaterhouseCoopers.</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><strong><strong><strong>Margaret Trench: </strong></strong></strong>A little less than a year ago <strong>Trench</strong> joined GE Capital to work on capital planning and stress testing. Prior to that, she spent about three years as a supervising examiner in risk management at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.</span></li></ul><p>The Federal Reserve declined to comment when contacted, as did Treasury's OCC.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/excel-what-if-analysis-data-tables-2015-4">This is the Excel trick that will change everything about how you work with data</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="h2bzJudDphyVLhOx4BBk5EthBy0FqKaI" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

Meet some of the big winners of the Wall Street-Washington revolving door policy

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Andy Weir, author of the wildly popular novel "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Martian-Andy-Weir/dp/1491526513">The Martian</a>," is living the publishing dream.<p>His fictional story, which is about astronaut Mark Watney's struggle to survive on Mars after being stranded there, has sold hundreds of thousands of copies and counting, and Hollywood recently turned it into a <a href="http://www.techinsider.io/the-martian-best-space-sci-fi-movie-2015-8">blockbuster movie</a>.</p><p>But Weir's hit sci-fi book didn't start out so glamorously: The story began as a series of self-published chapters on a personal blog.</p><p>His few readers loved the story for its attention to scientific accuracy. And that exhaustive research for the book is actually what drove the story forward, he wrote during a <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/3m34oc/i_am_andy_weir_author_of_the_martian_ama/">recent Reddit "ask me anything"</a>:</p><p>Weir is a self-described space nerd but says chemistry is not his area of expertise. So his science-minded readers offered their feedback.</p><p>"Chemists actually pointed out some problems in early drafts," Weir said during a discussion of "The Martian" at the <a href="http://h2m.exploremars.org/">Humans to Mars Summit</a> in Washington D.C. earlier this year. Thanks to the feedback, he was able to go back and correct some of the chemistry that's crucial for Watney's survival.</p><p>The story became more popular, and some readers started asking for an e-reader copy. So Weir made all the individual chapters available in one file. He eventually put it on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Martian-Andy-Weir/dp/1491526513">Amazon.com</a>, and sold it for the lowest possible price - 99 cents.</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table center"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>That's when the floodgates opened. More people downloaded the 99-cent Amazon version than had ever downloaded the free version, Weir said at the summit, and readers started leaving positive reviews (and more factchecking) on the website.</p><p>In just a few months it skyrocketed to the top of Amazon's best-selling science fiction list.</p><p>Then a book agent got in touch with Weir. Shortly after that, the publishing company Random House called - it wanted to publish a hardcover. Four days later, Hollywood called for the movie rights, Weir said.</p><p>So yes, Weir scored a book contract and a movie contract in the same week - both in the low- to mid-six figures, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/achenblog/wp/2015/05/05/andy-weir-and-his-book-the-martian-may-have-saved-nasa-and-the-entire-space-program/">The Washington Post reports</a>.</p><p>"It all happened so fast that I really had a hard time believing it," Weir told Tech Insider. "I actually worried it could all be some big scam."</p><h2>More science, less fiction</h2><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>You only need to get a couple pages into "The Martian" before it becomes clear that Weir did his homework. He says he's the kind of person who enjoys researching rocket technology, orbital mechanics, and physics <em>for fun</em>.</p><p>Creating such a science-heavy plot was a risky move on Weir's part.</p><p>"I was afraid it was going to read like a Wikipedia article if I didn't make it really interesting," Weir said during the conference.</p><p>But he found a way to weave the heavy science into a gripping plot line with a funny, smart-aleck main character (who Weir says is modeled after his own personality). It strikes a perfect balance between science and fiction, and the fast-paced plot makes it hard to put down.</p><p>His earlier attempts at writing pretty much flopped (though he has written some pretty fantastic fan fiction for "<a href="http://www.galactanet.com/writing.html">Doctor Who" and "Ready Player One"</a>), but "The Martian" took off, partly because it captures Weir's enthusiasm for science and space exploration.</p><p>Now he's living the space-nerd dream. Since the book's sudden success, Weir has toured NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab and spent a week at NASA's Johnson Space Center where he got to meet NASA scientists and astronauts.</p><p><div></div></p><p>Weir said he wasn't really involved with the film adaptation.</p><p>"My job was basically to cash the check," Weir joked.</p><p>However, the writers did send a Weir an early copy of the screenplay and invited him to send notes and feedback.</p><p>We've seen the movie, and it definitely incorporates <a href="http://www.techinsider.io/science-the-shit-out-of-mars-the-martian-2015-9">a lot of the hard science</a> that made the book such a big success. And it sounds like Weir thinks so, too:</p><p>"It's amazing!" he said during the <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/3m34oc/i_am_andy_weir_author_of_the_martian_ama/">Reddit AMA</a>. "And it follows the book very closely. They had to pull some plot elements out or it would have been 10 hours long, but they removed the right stuff in my opinion."</p><p>The movie is now in theaters everywhere.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/neil-degrasse-tyson-matt-damon-ridley-scott-the-martian-2015-9">Neil deGrasse Tyson explains why he's so excited for 'The Martian'</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="g5ZmZvdzr2xK7jRrRDsFo6QRjisUFaDK" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

Some of the trickiest science in 'The Martian' came from the book's biggest fans

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><a href="http://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/mica1_lg.jpg">NASA via Universe Today</a></p><p class="caption">Black Brant rocket launch</p></div><p></p></div></div>In the 67 years since the detonation of the world's first nuclear weapon there is only one time the so-called nuclear briefcases were broken out and opened up. On January 25, 1995 they not only opened, they nearly launched Russia's nuclear arsenal at the United States.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/nordland/1.8005229">When Norwegian Kolbjørn Adolfsen gave the nod</a> to send a Black Brant<span class="s1"> rocket from the Andøya Rocket Range off the northwest coast of Norway to study the aurora borealis, he wasn't concerned at all.</span></p>
<p><span class="s1">Sure the Brant is a large, four-stage rocket that would fly to 930 miles above the earth near Russia, but he'd contacted the proper Kremlin authorities and hadn't given the flight a second thought.</span></p>
<p><span class="s1">What Adolfsen didn't know when he left the rocket base shortly after the missile was launched, is that the Brant's radar signature looks just like a U.S. sub-launched Trident missile. </span></p>
<p><span class="s1">The radar operators at Russia's Olenegorsk early warning station promptly reported the incoming missile to their superiors, but not a soul on duty within the <keyword id="6359526" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Military">military</keyword> had been notified of Adolfsen's plans. </span></p>
<p><span class="s1">The officers at Olenegork believed it could be the first leg of a U.S. nuclear attack.</span></p>
<p><span class="s1">Four years after the Berlin Wall came down and Russia was in the throes of change, stable systems had been demolished and replacements had yet to fall into place. One thing that had gotten only more developed since 1991, however, was the Kremlin's mistrust of the United States.</span></p>
<p><span class="s1">So as the Brant streaked its way near Russian airspace, military officers had to decide </span>if this was an electro-magnetic pulse attack that would disable their radar and allow for a full on American attack, and what they should do about it.</p>
<p>The matter was decided when the Brant separated, dropped one of its engines, and fired up another. The radar signature now looked so much like a multiple re-entry vehicle (MRV), a missile carrying multiple nuclear warheads, that military officers no longer had any doubt.</p>
<p>There were now <a href="http://www.nuclearfiles.org/menu/key-issues/nuclear-weapons/issues/accidents/20-mishaps-maybe-caused-nuclear-war.htm">five minutes</a> during which the missile's trajectory would be un-tracked by Russian radar, and when it could strike Moscow; a slice of time that was devoted to deciding whether to launch a counterattack.</p>
<p>Boris Yeltsin was alerted, and immediately given the <a href="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/05/27/the_russian_nuclear_button"><em>Cheget</em></a><em>,</em><em> </em>the<em> "nuclear briefcase" </em>that connects senior officials while they decide whether or not to launch Russia's nuclear weapons. Nuclear submarine commanders were ordered to full battle alert and told to stand by.</p>
<p>Apparently Yeltsin doubted the U.S. would launch a surreptitious attack and within five minutes, Russian radar came back confirming the missile was heading harmlessly out to sea.</p>
<p>Russian citizens didn't find about about the <a href="http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/nordland/1.8005229">incident for weeks</a>, and of course it's been <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/military/nuclear-false-alarms.html">reported in the U.S. news since</a>. But the event never achieved the renown of the Cuban Missile Crisis, though it seems to have brought us even closer to the brink of nuclear war. </p>
<p>We thought it an interesting enough story to tell again.</p>
<h2>Now: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/this-is-the-friendliest-face-in-the-world-when-youre-pinned-down-by-enemy-forces-2012-10">Check out the plane that's saved more US troops than any other &gt;</a></h2>

The World Never Came Closer To Nuclear War Than On January 25, 1995 

<p><div class="image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><a href="http://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/mica1_lg.jpg">NASA via Universe Today</a></p><p class="caption">Black Brant rocket launch</p></div></div></div>In the 67 years since the detonation of the world's first nuclear weapon there is only one time the so-called nuclear briefcases were broken out and opened up. On January 25, 1995 they not only opened, they nearly launched Russia's nuclear arsenal at the United States.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/nordland/1.8005229">When Norwegian Kolbjørn Adolfsen gave the nod</a> to send a Black Brant<span class="s1"> rocket from the Andøya Rocket Range off the northwest coast of Norway to study the aurora borealis, he wasn't concerned at all.</span></p>
<p><span class="s1">Sure the Brant is a large, four-stage rocket that would fly to 930 miles above the earth near Russia, but he'd contacted the proper Kremlin authorities and hadn't given the flight a second thought.</span></p>
<p><span class="s1">What Adolfsen didn't know when he left the rocket base shortly after the missile was launched, is that the Brant's radar signature looks just like a U.S. sub-launched Trident missile. </span></p>
<p><span class="s1">The radar operators at Russia's Olenegorsk early warning station promptly reported the incoming missile to their superiors, but not a soul on duty within the <keyword id="6359526" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Military">military</keyword> had been notified of Adolfsen's plans. </span></p>
<p><span class="s1">The officers at Olenegork believed it could be the first leg of a U.S. nuclear attack.</span></p>
<p><span class="s1">Four years after the Berlin Wall came down and Russia was in the throes of change, stable systems had been demolished and replacements had yet to fall into place. One thing that had gotten only more developed since 1991, however, was the Kremlin's mistrust of the United States.</span></p>
<p><span class="s1">So as the Brant streaked its way near Russian airspace, military officers had to decide </span>if this was an electro-magnetic pulse attack that would disable their radar and allow for a full on American attack, and what they should do about it.</p>
<p>The matter was decided when the Brant separated, dropped one of its engines, and fired up another. The radar signature now looked so much like a multiple re-entry vehicle (MRV), a missile carrying multiple nuclear warheads, that military officers no longer had any doubt.</p>
<p>There were now <a href="http://www.nuclearfiles.org/menu/key-issues/nuclear-weapons/issues/accidents/20-mishaps-maybe-caused-nuclear-war.htm">five minutes</a> during which the missile's trajectory would be un-tracked by Russian radar, and when it could strike Moscow; a slice of time that was devoted to deciding whether to launch a counterattack.</p>
<p>Boris Yeltsin was alerted, and immediately given the <a href="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/05/27/the_russian_nuclear_button"><em>Cheget</em></a><em>,</em><em> </em>the<em> "nuclear briefcase" </em>that connects senior officials while they decide whether or not to launch Russia's nuclear weapons. Nuclear submarine commanders were ordered to full battle alert and told to stand by.</p>
<p>Apparently Yeltsin doubted the U.S. would launch a surreptitious attack and within five minutes, Russian radar came back confirming the missile was heading harmlessly out to sea.</p>
<p>Russian citizens didn't find about about the <a href="http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/nordland/1.8005229">incident for weeks</a>, and of course it's been <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/military/nuclear-false-alarms.html">reported in the U.S. news since</a>. But the event never achieved the renown of the Cuban Missile Crisis, though it seems to have brought us even closer to the brink of nuclear war. </p>
<p>We thought it an interesting enough story to tell again.</p>
<h2>Now: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/this-is-the-friendliest-face-in-the-world-when-youre-pinned-down-by-enemy-forces-2012-10">Check out the plane that's saved more US troops than any other &gt;</a></h2>

<p dir="ltr"></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Mark Wilson/Getty" title_caption="President Obama signs a presidential memorandum for overtime protections for workers at the White House, on March 13, 2014." class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5592d2e1ecad048a59169e90-960/obama-signing-overtime-pay-memorandum.jpg"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source"><span>Mark Wilson/Getty</span></p><p class="caption">President Obama signs a presidential memorandum for overtime protections for workers at the White House, on March 13, 2014.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Since 1938 the US has had a policy in place to protect overtime workers and ensure they are paid for the extra work they do.<p dir="ltr">But in the more than 70 years since the policy was became law,&#xa0;the parameters have rarely been updated to account for inflation. Several US influencers are hoping that changes.</p><p dir="ltr">"The problem we have now is that the people these laws were designed to protect are no longer being protected," <a href="http://www.epi.org/blog/what-the-new-proposed-overtime-rules-mean-for-workers/">said Ross Eisenbrey</a>, Vice President of Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit think tank, in a recent video about overtime protection.</p><p dir="ltr">Currently workers covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938 must be paid at least time-and-a-half for each hour they work beyond 40 hours a week.</p><p dir="ltr">"No matter what your boss calls you - store manager, shift supervisor, assistant to the regional manager - if your salary is below the threshold, you have to be paid for your extra hours," Eisenbrey said. "This is a simple and important protection."</p><p dir="ltr">But the salary threshold under which workers are eligible to receive overtime pay is a mere $23,660 a year (or $455 a week). Anyone who makes more than this cannot receive overtime pay.</p><p dir="ltr">"That's worth less than half what it was 40 years ago," Eisenbrey said. In 1975 the FLSA covered about 61% of all salaried workers, he said - today it protects only 8%.</p><p dir="ltr">Employers, he explained, can easily avoid paying overtime currently by giving employees manager titles and paying them just above the&#xa0;$23,660 annual threshold.</p><p dir="ltr">"The threshold is meant to protect workers from being taken advantage of by their employers, but it's just too low to actually work," Eisenbrey said. "If we want overtime protection to work like it's supposed to, the Labor Department has to update the law."</p><p dir="ltr">"This problem has a very straightforward solution: raise the overtime salary threshold and index it to inflation," he said.</p><p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-obama-administration-moves-to-make-millions-eligible-for-overtime-pay-2015-6">A new policy change pioneered by the Department of Labor and endorsed by leaders like President Barack Obama</a> would bring the FLSA into the 21st Century by raising the salary threshold to $50,440 a year (or $970 a week). The rule change could also prevent future problems by automatically updating the salary threshold based on wage growth over time.</p><p dir="ltr">This would affect nearly 5 million American workers within the first year of implementation.</p><p dir="ltr">"Right now, too many Americans are working long days for less pay than they deserve," <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barack-obama/a-hard-days-work-deserves-a-fair-days-pay_b_7691922.html">Obama wrote in a Huffington Post op-ed Monday</a>.</p><div><div></div></div><p class="embed-spacer"></p><p dir="ltr">During a press conference Tuesday afternoon, Eisenbrey applauded the proposed policy change, saying, "It's a win win for the workforce."</p><p dir="ltr">He predicts work will be shifted from overworked employees to either new employees or part-time employees, citing <a href="https://nrf.com/resources/retail-library/rethinking-overtime">a new study by Oxford Economics</a> that found if the salary threshold were raised even to $808 a week, 76,000 part-time workers would be hired to fill the labor needs of businesses.</p><p dir="ltr">And according to an <a href="http://www.epi.org/blog/what-the-new-proposed-overtime-rules-mean-for-workers/">article Eisenbrey published on the Economic Policy Institute website</a>, under the new threshold, 3.1 million mothers and 3.2 million fathers would be guaranteed overtime pay, which would also affect about 12.1 million children.</p><p dir="ltr">The policy isn't just good for workers who want fair pay, Obama explained in his oped. The policy should help business owners who are already paying their employees what they deserve, he said, because those who are doing right by their employees are often undercut by competitors who aren't.</p><p dir="ltr">"That's how America should do business," Obama wrote. "In this country, a hard day's work deserves a fair day's pay. That's at the heart of what it means to be middle class in America."</p><div><div></div></div><p class="embed-spacer"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Damon Silvers, director of policy and special counsel for the American Federation of Labor said during Tuesday's press conference that this i</span>s a commonsense m<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">easure that will restore American workers' basic understanding that, if you make less and work more, you're supposed to be paid overtime.</span></p><p dir="ltr">"Unlike a lot of things that go on in Washington, this is really simple," he said.</p><p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.dol.gov/whd/overtime/NPRM2015/">According to the Department of Labor website</a>, the White House's Office of Management and Budget has reviewed and approved the proposed policy change's notice, but the document has yet to be published in the Federal Register.</p><p dir="ltr">Christine L. Owens, executive director of National Employment Law Project, a workers' rights advocacy organization, said during Tuesday's press conference that the rule should be published in the Federal Register for public comment sometime next week.</p><p dir="ltr">Upon publication of the proposed rule change, interested parties can submit written comments at www.regulations.gov to be considered as part of the rulemaking record.</p><p dir="ltr">Owens predicted the rule will be adopted by the end of 2015 to take effect in the beginning of 2016. She said it's unlikely the threshold will be lowered from what's currently being proposed, as it's still below historic standards.</p><div><div></div></div><p class="embed-spacer"></p><p dir="ltr">Jared Bernstein, a former chief economist to Vice President Biden, senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and author of '<a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Reconnection-Agenda-Reuniting-Prosperity-ebook/dp/B00WNFRB20">The Reconnection Agenda: Reuniting Growth and Prosperity</a>,' <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/06/29/president-obama-raises-the-overtime-salary-threshold-reestablishing-a-key-labor-standard/">wrote in a Washington Post oped Tuesday</a>&#xa0;that,&#xa0;<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">because this is a "rule change," which is comparable to an executive order, it doesn't have to go through this Congress, where conservatives would surely try to kill it.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">He said that the proposed threshold of $970 a week makes sense for a number of reasons:</span></p><ul><li><span style="color: #000000; line-height: 1.5em;">"The salary threshold is one way we avoid labeling someone a 'manager' while paying them what are clearly non-managerial wages. So you want a threshold well above the median wage, which in our economy tends to be the wage paid to the typical production, nonsupervisory employee, someone who clearly should be paid overtime." </span></li><li><span style="color: #000000; line-height: 1.5em;">When the Ford administration raised the salary threshold in 1975, it was 1.57 times the median wage. Today, 1.57 times the median wage would be $1,050 a week, which is close to the administration's threshold of $970 a week.&#xa0;</span></li><li><span style="color: #000000; line-height: 1.5em;">In 1950 policy makers&#xa0;</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #222222;">argued the salary threshold should be 25% higher than the entry-level wage of a college graduate. Today, that would yield a threshold of $1,000 a week.</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #222222;">According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, people in real management positions currently earn somewhere between $1,520 and $3,995 a week. "In other words, by this metric, the new threshold is well below a level associated with supervisory, and presumably exempt, duties on the job."</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #222222;">The <span>Bureau of Labor Statisticsa also finds $970 a week to be consistently less than how much workers with&#xa0;<span>nonsupervisory responsibilities</span></span>&#xa0;make on average.</span></li></ul><p class="p1">"We live in a time when the bargaining power of many who depend on their paychecks is much diminished relative to the clout and power of those whose income derives from their wealth portfolios,"&#xa0;<span>Bernstein wrote.</span></p><p>"This isn't the first time in our history when such conditions prevailed," he continued. "In fact, the FLSA was born of the acute realization that one role of government was to help rebalance those powers, to stand up for those who, absent rules like overtime, risked exploitation, overwork, and inability to claim their fair share of the productivity growth they themselves were helping to generate."</p><div><div></div></div><p class="embed-spacer"></p><p class="p1">Owens <span>wrote in an&#xa0;</span><a href="http://fortune.com/2015/06/30/paying-more-workers-overtime-could-rebuild-americas-middle-class/">op-ed Tuesday</a>&#xa0;that workers in sectors as diverse as retail, food service, accounting, and oil and gas will benefit from the updated rule.&#xa0;"In proposing a new salary threshold that will be indexed to wage growth, the Labor Department has taken the first step to strengthen middle class wages and give overtime regulations their intended scope," she wrote.</p><p dir="ltr">"This is an important step forward in updating our nation's labor practices and will ensure a fairer overtime wage for more workers, including women, low-income people, and people of color," wrote Nancy Zirkin, executive vice president and director of policy of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, in a press release.</p><p dir="ltr"><span>Of course,&#xa0;</span><span></span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/5-million-more-americans-could-be-about-to-be-could-soon-be-eligible-for-overtime-pay-2015-6#ixzz3eZUuPoqk">not everyone is convinced</a><span>.&#xa0;</span><span>Some conservatives and business groups argue against&#xa0;the threshold increase because they feel it is too high or it could decrease workers' compensation.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>Still, overwhelmingly the rule change has been met with resounding support.</span></p><p>"We applaud the Obama Administration and Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez for this important step forward in ensuring that more workers can pursue the American Dream,"&#xa0;<span>Zirkin said.</span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/wwe-brock-lesnar-facts-wrestling-2015-4">12 awesome facts about WWE superstar Brock Lesnar</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="c0ZDRwdDrYMxli2qszqO2efFg-yz9MeG" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

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