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politics

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    Down with healthy school lunches, says House GOP

      You want me to eat what?Having already moved to gut USDA programs promoting agricultural conservation and renewable energy and strip the USDA of its authority to enact the first meaningful reform of the irredeemably monopolistic livestock industry, House Republicans have now turned their attention to that other great threat to American freedom: USDA nutrition guidelines. […]

    Tom Laskawy Food

  • Only 15 U.S. states even have a plan to deal with ‘new normal’ extreme weather

    Climate change has arrived, says Newsweek science correspondent Sharon Begley, and the good ol' U.S. of A. has more or less been caught with its pants down, preparations-wise. Only 15 states have completed or even started a plan to cope with climate change, which will bring profound changes over the next 20 to 30 years, […]

    Christopher Mims Science

  • ‘Ag-gag’ bills face tough row to hoe

    As you were saying?Big Ag is having trouble installing its Iron Curtain. I am referring, of course, to the various “ag-gag” laws proposed in Florida, Minnesota, and Iowa that would make it illegal to produce (and, in some cases, possess) undercover videos from within factory livestock farms. The latest state legislature to pursue this dubious […]

    Tom Laskawy Agriculture

  • Groups sue FDA to stop Big Ag antibiotic abuse — and it just might work

    A growing weight of research links routine antibiotic use on factory farms to the rise in antibiotic-resistant bacteria — which are showing up in more and more places worldwide (including, according to recent studies, in your local supermarket). Doctor groups, from the American Medical Association to the American Society of Microbiology, have appealed to the […]

    Tom Laskawy Agriculture

  • Dem Disease claims another victim

    Beware Dem Disease.Joseph Aldy worked for a while as a top energy aide in Obama’s White House. Apparently, while he was there he caught Dem Disease. Dem Disease is an affliction that causes sufferers to prioritize being viewed as reasonable over securing reasonable policy. The primary symptom is a Tourette’s-like inability to keep from revealing […]

    David Roberts Energy

  • Is climate sanity the kiss of death for Republican presidential candidates?

    Beware the kiss of death.Even after backing away from his previous support for cap-and-trade programs, Jon Huntsman is getting slammed by the right wing. His treasonous crime? Daring to suggest that climate scientists might be right. Not that they are right, mind you, and not that we should do anything in response to their warnings, […]

    Lisa Hymas Science

  • Senate refuses to sign ‘We Heart Offshore Drilling’ petition

    Well, here's one piece of good news coming out of D.C.: The Senate — including five Republicans — voted to reject a bill that would have expanded offshore drilling. Of course, that might be because there are already plenty of new drilling permits being issued (53 shallow-water permits under the new post-Gulf spill regulations), so […]

    Jess Zimmerman Energy

  • Obama’s oil plan shows he still doesn’t get post-truth politics

    In his weekly address, Obama once again promoted an energy plan that centrally involves increased domestic drilling for oil and gas. You can read the ugly details at The New York Times or Politico. Here’s the political thinking that informs this move: Gas prices are rising and people are angry. Republicans and conservative Dems are […]

    David Roberts Energy

  • Big Ag doesn’t want you to care about pesticides

    Power to the people pesticide industry!The produce lobby is livid that consumers might be concerned about pesticides. They are taking their fury out on the USDA for its annual report on pesticide use (via The Washington Post): In a recent letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, 18 produce trade associations complained that the data have […]

    Tom Laskawy Agriculture