The so-called bomb cyclone that brought heavy snow, blizzard conditions and major flooding to the Midwest in March landed with a resounding meteorological “ka-boom!” and became one of two billion-dollar weather and climate disasters this year. The other was a severe storm that struck the Northeast, Southeast and Ohio Valley in late February. And it’s only April. [node:read-more:link]
African swine fever (ASF) is widespread in China, spreading elsewhere around the world and carries significant potential to impact all animal protein industries in 2019 and beyond. [node:read-more:link]
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has given the Environmental Protection Agency 90 days to decide whether to allow the use of chlorpyrifos. The appeals court issued a three-paragraph order today giving the agency until mid-July to respond to objections from farmworker and environmental groups to EPA's 2017 decision permitting continued use of the insecticide. [node:read-more:link]
The Missouri House passed legislation that could effectively block one of the nation’s largest wind energy projects by prohibiting its developers from using eminent domain to run a high-voltage power line across the Midwest. The House vote targets a $2.3 billion project that would carry electricity generated by Kansas windmills on a 780-mile (1,255-kilometer) path across rural Missouri and Illinois before hooking into a power grid in Indiana serving eastern states.The project’s private developers say it has the potential to bring affordable, renewable energy to millions of homes. [node:read-more:link]
New Jersey utility customers are officially committed to paying $300 million each year for the next three years to keep the state’s three remaining nuclear reactors open. The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities decided Thursday to award Public Service Electric and Gas (PSE&G), the state’s largest utility, three “Zero Emission Certificates” — massive subsidies that have been fiercely debated in Trenton for well over a year. [node:read-more:link]
Scott Pruitt, the embattled former administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, registered Thursday as a lobbyist with state regulators. Pruitt's filings with the Indiana Lobby Registration Commission identify him as a self-employed consultant and list RailPoint Solutions LLC as his sole client. [node:read-more:link]
The US Energy Information Administration dropped some troubling new data this week: US energy consumption hit a record high in 2018 in large part due to the growing use of fossil fuels. Fossil fuels provided 80 percent of total energy used in 2018. Consumption of natural gas and petroleum grew by 4 percent, while coal consumption declined by 4 percent compared to the year before. Renewable energy production also reached a record high last year, climbing 3 percent relative to 2017. [node:read-more:link]
The chemical industry is heading for a slowdown as society turns against disposable plastics and the rise of recycling weakens demand, IHS Markit predicted at its annual World Petrochemical Conference.After climbing to multi-year highs, chemical earnings will drop this year and won’t recover until 2023 as environmental issues add to the drag from a downturn in the global economy, according to the global research firm.“Plastic waste I believe is going to be the sustainability issue of our time,” Jim Fitterling, chief executive officer of Dow Inc. [node:read-more:link]
Federal programs are critical for helping those with low incomes make ends meet. But not all such programs are equally effective at reducing poverty, nor do they benefit all of those in poverty uniformly. [node:read-more:link]
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s recently released 2017 Census of Agriculture data show the amount of land in the largest federal conservation programs has decreased nationwide and in many Midwest and Plains states. But that doesn’t mean farmers are ignoring soil health, nutrient runoff or erosion problems. The census asks about federal conservation and wetlands programs, which Michigan State University researcher Adam Reimer said typically refers to land retirements — taking marginal lands out of production in exchange for money. [node:read-more:link]
