USDA’s new $300 million for organic farming doesn’t go far enough, critics say
The announcement this month that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will provide $300 million in funding to support farmers transitioning from conventional agriculture to organic farming does not go far enough, according to organic industry advocates.
Guest column: The Roundup reckoning: Farmworkers win key glyphosate decision
Earlier this month, a court decision about a chemical called glyphosate garnered headlines in newspapers across the country. And rightly so: glyphosate is the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller.
Supreme Court again rejects Bayer bid for review of Roundup loss
The US Supreme Court on Monday dealt another blow to Bayer AG’s effort to defend itself against ongoing litigation over allegations that Roundup herbicide causes cancer, denying the company’s request for a review of a California trial loss.
As wildfires take over the West, Oregon winemakers adapt
By Lena Beck
It was almost two years ago – the morning of September 8, 2020 – when Clea Arthur started her day with a five-mile run along the Pacific Crest Trail where it crosses Mount Ashland in southern Oregon.
A history of deadly chemical facility disasters prompts calls for EPA to help
When the explosions shook her North Carolina home, Jazmine Webster wasted no time racing outside to investigate the series of loud booms that rattled her Winston-Salem neighborhood one late January evening.
Court finds multiple flaws in EPA’s glyphosate cancer risk assessment
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) failed to follow established guidelines for determining cancer risk, ignored important studies, and discounted expert advice from a scientific advisory panel in officially declaring that the weed killer glyphosate was “not likely to be carcinogenic,” a federal appeals court ruled Friday.
EPA fends off critics claiming PFAS health levels premature before advisors complete review
Countering its critics, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is defending the release of much stricter drinking water health advisories for two notorious “forever chemicals” known as PFAS before a key science advisory panel finishes reviewing studies of the chemicals.
PG&E critics eye pressure on California PUC nominees to advance call for utility reform
Clean energy advocates are urging sweeping reform of California’s monopoly utility Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) and claiming decades of misguided power investments that hiked ratepayers’ energy bills, and they are looking to a state Senate nomination fight to advance their call.
EPA’s strict PFAS health advisories justify calls for swifter regulation, environmentalists say
The Environmental Protection Agency’s announcement of four strict advisories for when levels of “forever chemicals” known as PFAS in drinking water can harm human health are welcome, but also justify calls for the agency to move faster on regulating PFAS, environmentalists say.
Facing tight budgets, states ask Congress for $636 million to protect environmental programs
Warning that some of their budgets are at a breaking point, state environmental agencies are urging Congress to provide more than $636 million in fiscal year 2023 funding to ensure the viability of key programs to protect air and water, handle waste, and fight the climate crisis.