Category: Science

Pruitt OK’d as EPA chief over environmentalists’ objections

Over the strong objections of environmental groups, the Senate confirmed Scott Pruitt to lead the Environmental Protection Agency on Friday, giving President Donald Trump an eager partner to fulfill his campaign pledge to increase the use of planet-warming fossil fuels. In six years as Oklahoma’s attorney general, Pruitt filed 14 lawsuits challenging EPA regulations that included limits on carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants.

USDA calls for comment on organic check-off proposal as demand for organic outstrips supply

The US Department of Agriculture’s call today for public comment on the Organic Trade Association’s application to create an organic check-off program comes at a time when sales of organic products in the US are soaring but hampered by limited domestic supply. “The popularity of organic products has never been higher,” according to the trade association which estimates organic product sales reached $43.3 billion in 2015, “up a robust 11% from the previous year’s record level and far outstripping the overall food market’s growth rate of 3%.”

EPA rejects $1.2B in mine-spill claims

The Environmental Protection Agency announced Friday that it will not repay claims totaling more than $1.2 billion for economic damages from a mine waste spill the agency accidentally triggered in Colorado, saying the law prohibits it. Attorneys for the EPA and the Justice Department concluded that the EPA is barred from paying the claims because of sovereign immunity, which prohibits most lawsuits against the government.

Vilsack leaving USDA early, no Trump replacement named

Secretary Tom Vilsack left the Agriculture Department a week before his tenure ends and before President-elect Donald Trump has chosen his replacement. Vilsack, who has led USDA for eight years and was President Barack Obama’s longest-serving Cabinet secretary, told employees in an email that Friday is his final day.

Scientists Rebuke California Coastal Commission Over Desalination

The California Coastal Commission’s stated concern that a proposed Huntington Beach desalination plant’s intake pipes pose a threat to small and microscopic plankton has been rebutted in a letter from three prominent California marine biologists. Anthony Koslow, Eric Miller and John McGowan-marine biologists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla-were responding to comments made at a Dec. 1 panel about ocean desalination in Ventura County by Tom Luster, the agency’s lead staffer on the desalination issue.

USDA analysis says ethanol sharply cuts greenhouse gas emissions

Jan 12 The U.S. government on Thursday said that ethanol is better for the environment than previously expected in a report boosting the country’s biggest biofuel a week ahead of a new administration that has some in the industry concerned. The report, the first of its kind from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to examine the actual impact of ethanol, said the biofuel reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 43 percent relative to gasoline.

The US government is letting farmers charge more money for food that’s ‘transitioning to organic’

The US Department of Agriculture on Wednesday took a step toward increasing the production of organic foods – which has not kept pace with demand – by launching a program to certify farmland that growers are in the process of switching to organic. Obtaining certification under the program will allow farmers to sell products raised in accordance with organic guidelines for higher prices than conventionally-grown goods, according to the Organic Trade Association, an industry group.

EPA locks in 2025 fuel efficiency rules

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chief Gina McCarthy on Friday finalized a determination that the landmark fuel efficiency rules instituted by President Barack Obama should be locked in through 2025, a bid to maintain a key part of his administration’s climate legacy. Major U.S. and foreign automakers have appealed to President-elect Donald Trump, who has been critical of Obama’s climate policies, to review the rules requiring them to nearly double fleet-wide fuel efficiency by 2025, saying they impose significant costs and are out of step with consumer preferences.

Duck waterslide, chicken hatchery at Pa. Farm Show

The first show that begins the second century of Pennsylvania Farm Shows is welcoming back the birds, after a year when fear of spreading the deadly avian influenza kept all forms of poultry away from the exhibition. “The birds are back,” shouted Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture spokesman Will Nichols.

Duck waterslide, chicken hatchery at Pa. Farm Show

The first show that begins the second century of Pennsylvania Farm Shows is welcoming back the birds, after a year when fear of spreading the deadly avian influenza kept all forms of poultry away from the exhibition. “The birds are back,” shouted Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture spokesman Will Nichols.

Duck waterslide, chicken hatchery at Pa. Farm Show

The first show that begins the second century of Pennsylvania Farm Shows is welcoming back the birds, after a year when fear of spreading the deadly avian influenza kept all forms of poultry away from the exhibition. “The birds are back,” shouted Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture spokesman Will Nichols.

‘Pressing concern’ to manage water in Middle East troublespot

There is a “pressing concern” to manage Euphrates River water, a key resource for a “politically volatile” area of the Middle East, US officials said, in a face of another sub-par rice crop in Iraq. Iraq, which until the mid-1970s relied on home-grown rice to cover most domestic demand, has seen buy-ins soar, becoming one of the top 10 biggest importers.

Here comes the sun power? Not for a while

DIXON – It could be another 2 or 3 years before a solar farm comes to the Dixon Municipal Airport. The City Council reviewed the findings of an airport feasibility study in October that gave recommendations on how to make the facility a more sustainable operation, including generating more revenue by leasing a portion of land to a company to develop a solar farm.

USDA: Emerging Markets Account For Most Of The Growth In Agricultural Exports

USDA: EMERGING MARKETS ACCOUNT FOR MOST OF THE GROWTH IN AGRICULTURAL EXPORTS Jan. 3, 2017 Source: USDA news release Growth in demand for food, and by extension for agricultural imports, is particularly sensitive to growth in per capita incomes in developing countries, where relatively large shares of rising incomes are typically spent on increasing both the amount and diversity of foods consumed. In contrast, consumers in more developed countries, where per capita incomes and food intake are already relatively high, are less likely to spend as much of new income on increasing the amount of food they eat.

Cattlemen Hopeful Trump Administration Will Have Fewer Regulations

CATTLEMEN HOPEFUL TRUMP ADMINISTRATION WILL HAVE FEWER REGULATIONS Jan. 3, 2017 Drover’s reports: As 2016 comes to a close the Obama administration is finalizing what policy it can before president-elect Donald Trump makes his way into the White House. A common theme for the new administration that might be a boon to agriculture is deregulation.

Ted McKinney Re-Appointed As Sec’y Of Indiana Ag, Comments On 2017 Goals

APPOINTED AS SEC’Y OF INDIANA AG, COMMENTS ON 2017 GOALS Jan. 3, 2017 Hoosier Ag Today reports: In the Governor Eric Holcomb administration which takes office next month, Ted McKinney will continue as Director of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture. McKinney knows the incoming governor well, and continuity from the Pence years will be helpful for the ag department.

LAWSUIT: Political Science Professor Forced To Teach Statistics Because Asians Are ‘Good At’ Math

A political science professor at the taxpayer-funded University of Illinois at Chicago is suing the school in federal court for discrimination in part because he claims that his bosses compelled him to teach statistics courses despite the fact that he is not qualified to teach statistics. The professor, Seung-Whan Choi, says his superiors told him that his Asian heritage sufficiently qualified him to teach math, according to court documents obtained by The Chicago Tribune .

U.S. scrambles to clear egg exports to bird flu-hit Korea

U.S. officials are urgently seeking an agreement with South Korea that would allow imports of American eggs so farmers can cash in on a shortage caused by the Asian country’s worst-ever outbreak of bird flu. The two sides are negotiating over terms of potential shipments after South Korea lifted a ban on imports of U.S. table eggs that it imposed when the United States grappled with its own bout of bird flu last year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Northey reviews Iowa top 2016 agriculture issues

“Iowa farmers saw record production for both corn and soybeans again in 2016, however low prices are making profitability a real challenge on both the crop and livestock side. Despite the economic challenges, farmers are by nature optimistic and we continue to see investments in the future and new and innovative technologies that will allow them to be even more productive while also reducing environmental impact,” Northey said.

Weather Will Not Allow Wheat Price To Decrease

This December is characterized by almost complete lack of snow cover in the agricultural fields of the States of Kansas, Oklahoma and Colorado – the key winter wheat states in the country: Snow cover protects wheat when the temperature dips below 30 degrees Fahrenheit. Unfortunately, this temperature is forecasted in the United States for the next two weeks.

UPDATE 1-U.S. scrambles to clear egg exports to bird flu-hit Korea

U.S. officials are urgently seeking an agreement with South Korea that would allow imports of American eggs so farmers can cash in on a shortage caused by the Asian country’s worst-ever outbreak of bird flu. The two sides are negotiating over terms of potential shipments after South Korea lifted a ban on imports of U.S. table eggs that it imposed when the United States grappled with its own bout of bird flu last year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The Year’s Best Drug Scares

Marijuana was on the ballot in six states this year, and prohibitionists hauled out some familiar, even quaint, arguments against legalization. Three of those warnings made my list of the year’s most memorable drug scares, which is rounded out by the panic over adolescent vaping and the DEA’s decision to treat kratom as a public menace.

Obama Food Stamp Boom: 10.7 Million Added to Rolls32% Jump

As President Obama prepares to leave office, his legacy will include an increase in the number of Americans using food stamps. The number of food stamps recipients went up by 10.7 million people, a 32 percent jump, since President Obama took office in 2009, according to data released by the Department of Agriculture .

How Marine training helped a talking dinosaur come to market – CNET

CEO of smart-toy startup credits time in the Marine Corps Reserves for skills he took to the tech and toy industries. “They are really good at making decisions quickly, and without a lot of information available, which in the startup world is extremely helpful,” said Coolidge, who has successfully applied his US Marine Corps Reserve training to the market battle in the AI toy arena.

No. 7: Conway brings stable leadership to ECSU

This week marks roughly one year since the University of North Carolina system announced the abrupt departure of Stacey Franklin Jones. In her stead stepped longtime Fayetteville State University administrator Thomas Conway, who on Jan. 1 became ECSU’s fourth chancellor in less than three years.