Tom Vilsack

New Obama forest plan leaves roadless rule intact

The Obama administration will defend the Clinton roadless rule that has been ping-ponging in the courts for nearly a decade, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said in Seattle on Friday. If courts can’t resolve the forest-protection conflict, the administration will create its own roadless rule, he said. Vilsack laid out a broad vision for the […]

Jonathan Hiskes Politics

Can climate legislation survive the Senate Ag Committee’s embrace?

Real climate action–or agribusiness as usual?Photo: mike138After the House narrowly passed the Waxman-Markey climate legislation, there was some talk that the bill might be “strengthened” in the Senate. The bill’s sponsors had faced a serious slog in getting it through the House, and were forced into making large compromises with the energy and agribusiness industries. […]

Tom Philpott Politics

USDA study finds that climate bill will benefit farmers

Photo: Dog CompanyThe climate and energy legislation that the House passed in June would increase revenues for farmers, according to a preliminary analysis released by the United States Department of Agriculture on Wednesday. The study contradicts claims from some major agriculture groups that the bill would be economically catastrophic for farmers. Instead, the study predicts […]

Kate Sheppard Politics

Opening remarks from Chu, Jackson, Vilsack, Salazar and Barbour

Prepared remarks submitted in advance to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Statement of Steven Chu, Secretary of Energy, July 7, 2009 Chairman Boxer, Ranking Member Inhofe, and Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify on moving America toward a clean energy economy. We face many serious and immediate […]

Grist staff Climate & Energy

Yet again, Vilsack bows to ethanol gods

“The President has been very, very clear about this. He wants the biofuel industry to take hold in this country. He wants us to break our addiction to foreign oil. The only way we can do that is by producing our own fuel and the biofuels industry is the way we are going to do […]

Tom Philpott Politics

Food Inc. Director Robert Kenner speaks on the ills of the food system

Food Inc. director Robert KennerRobert Kenner never set out to make a terrifying film when he started Food, Inc. But along the way, he found the food industry to be stunningly secretive–and what it’s hiding to be downright scary. The film shines a bright light on the handful of corporations that, behind a cloak of […]

Hamida Kinge Food

Stand up for rural America while you still can

The assault on rural America continues unabated. For the past six months dairy farmers across the country have suffered a historic drop in milk prices while operating costs remain high. Since December 2008, the price that farmers are paid for the milk they produce has plunged over 50 percent, the largest single drop since the […]

Dave Murphy Food

Key Obama advisers on climate and energy

Track the debate and take action >>> UPDATED: 16 Sep 2009 President Barack Obama’s key advisers on energy and climate issues include a former top aide to Al Gore, a Nobel Prize winner, a governor, and a gaggle of former members of Congress. Here’s a rundown: Carol Browner Assistant to the President for […]