The European Union’s attempt to “confiscate” common cheese names would cost the U.S. dairy industry billions of dollars if trade negotiators don’t hold the line, according to a new study.  Many cheese names such as Feta, which originated in Greece, are identified with a specific location but have been commonly used to identify that type of cheese, no matter where it is made.  The EU now wants to “confiscate” those generic names for the benefit of its farmers and processors, said Jaime Castaneda, senior vice president of trade policy for the U.S. [node:read-more:link]

Some refiners stand to rake in $1 billion by selling fuel credits, while others must spend millions to comply. Companies including  Chevron Corp., Royal Dutch Shell PLC, and BP PLC could reap a total of more than $1 billion this year by selling the renewable fuel credits associated with the ethanol program, according to an analysis commissioned by CVR Energy, a refinery operator controlled by billionaire Carl Icahn, a vocal critic of the rules.   The ethanol and biodiesel program, created during President George W. Bush’s administration, was aimed in part at reducing U.S. [node:read-more:link]

Canada's Federal Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal brought by the group Ecojustice on behalf of the Ecology Action Centre and Living Oceans Society against Canada's Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change. AquaBounty was also named in that suit, the firm said in a release. The suit had challenged the government's grant of permission to AquaBounty to allow production of its AquaAdvantage salmon for commercial use at a Prince Edward Island plant. [node:read-more:link]

Being the conscientious and considerate person that you are, you’re trying to be an environmentally friendly consumer. You read on the internet that farming is part of the problem, so you shop only for local organic produce at Whole Foods, and as for GMOs? Ain’t nobody got time for that. [node:read-more:link]

The promise of Britain’s exit from the European Union is to liberate the U.K. from the shackles of damaging EU regulations. So congratulations to Theresa May’s government for scoring its first Brexit victory by getting away from one of Brussels’s worst food obsessions. [node:read-more:link]

Cashmere is not merely goat hair. [node:read-more:link]

An important turning point in the pre-existing litigation over water resources in the ACF River Basin came in 2011, when the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reversed and vacated a 2009 District Court ruling from the Middle District of Florida.D The Eleventh Circuit held that the District Court lacked jurisdiction over claims made by Alabama, Southeastern Federal Power Customers, and Apalachicola because they did not challenge final agency action by the Corps as required by the Administrative Procedure Act. [node:read-more:link]

The ruling of the Constitutional Court, the highest in Spain, is that the regional law baning bullfighting  trespassed on culture in which only the national government is empowered to legislate. [node:read-more:link]

A jury found seven defendants not guilty of charges filed against them for their part in the 41-day armed occupation of Oregon’s Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in January and February. Ammon Bundy, Ryan Bundy and five others were charged with conspiracy to prevent federal employees at the refuge from doing their jobs by intimidation, threats or force.  Some of the defendants were also charged with having firearms at a federal facility; the 12-person jury acquitted the occupiers of those charges as well. [node:read-more:link]

The drama over possible illegal use of dicamba continues. The Environmental Protection Agency has confirmed that it executed federal search warrants at several southeastern Missouri locations as part of an investigation into alleged misuse or misapplication of dicamba onto herbicide-tolerant soybeans and cotton.  The agency said in a formal statement that the activity was part of an ongoing criminal inquiry and stems from widespread complaints of damage to sensitive crops across Missouri and several other states in the Midwest and Southeast. [node:read-more:link]