AgClips
Recent AgClips
Rick Perry mulls request to save coal, nuclear plants
Washington Examiner | Posted onApril 4, 2018 in Energy NewsEnergy Secretary Rick Perry is considering a request from utility First Energy for an emergency order to save nuclear and coal power plants in the regions where it operates. The Energy Department confirmed the request by the utility company for an emergency must-run order under section 202 of the Federal Power Act, which gives Perry the authority to direct the "temporary" continued use of power plants in circumstances that include war, energy shortages or sudden surges in demand.
Trump weighs dropping personal efforts on biofuel reform - sources
Reuters | Posted onApril 4, 2018 in Federal NewsPresident Donald Trump is seriously considering abandoning efforts to remake the nation’s biofuel laws after wading deep into an issue that divides some of his core constituencies, according to three sources familiar with the administration’s thinking. Advisers have urged Trump to instead let Congress tackle the biofuel reforms, but use the threat of administrative action to help rival lawmakers come together and solve the intractable issue.The U.S.
Agriculture Is Being Left In The Digital Dust
Ag Professional | Posted onApril 4, 2018 in Agriculture NewsAgriculture is the least digitized of all major industries, according to the McKinsey Global Institute’s Digitization Index. That’s right. Agriculture is dead last for living up to its digital potential. It’s never good when you realize you’re even being outflanked by slow-moving sectors such as government and education. In the digital horse race, our industry is being left in the dust. When you’re being beat by a bureaucracy, you know you’ve got serious problems.
17 States and Cities Have Sued the Government Over Plans to Add Census Citizenship Question
TIme | Posted onApril 4, 2018 in Federal, SARL Members and Alumni NewsSeventeen states, the District of Columbia and six cities sued the U.S. government Tuesday, saying the addition of a citizenship question to the census form is unconstitutional. Federal funding and congressional representation are at stake in the dispute over the Trump administration’s move to reinstate the citizenship question to the 2020 census. It would be the first time in 70 years that the government uses the form sent to every household to ask people to specify whether they are U.S. citizens.
China tariffs could help Australia gain share from US wine, nut and fruit producers
CNBC | Posted onApril 3, 2018 in Federal NewsChina's tariff of up to 25 percent on U.S. agriculture could be good news for Australia's nut, wine and fruit producers. Almost 40 percent of Australia's fruit exports last year went to greater China, and Chile also is a major fruit producer that could benefit. Australia's wine exports to mainland China rose 63 percent last year, while U.S. wine exports to the world's second-largest economy were down. Beijing also imposed new tariffs on American pork, a move that could benefit the European Union, Brazil and Canada — major exporters to China
Iowa will see 'hits across the board' as trade war with China escalates
Des Moines Register | Posted onApril 3, 2018 in Agriculture NewsAn escalating trade war between the U.S. and China will hit two key parts of Iowa's economy — farming and manufacturing. And the timing is terrible.China said Monday it will levy tariffs of up to 25 percent on pork, ethanol and dozens of other products that would hammer Iowa's ag economy as it struggles to get out of a lingering downturn."It's going to make a bad situation worse for agriculture," said David Swenson, an Iowa State University economist. "You're going to see hits across the board," including job losses, said Chad Hart, an ISU agriculture economist.
Foxconn in Choppy Waters Over Plan to Drain the Great Lakes
Pew Charitable Trust | Posted onApril 3, 2018 in Rural, SARL Members and Alumni NewsThe approval of a new factory just outside the Great Lakes Basin could mark the beginning of a manufacturing revitalization that relies on draining millions of gallons of water from the lakes.
Philadelphia Turns Massive Stormwater Runoff Problem Into Economic Boost
Environmental Health | Posted onApril 2, 2018 in Rural NewsPhiladelphia has long struggled with stormwater that sends massive amounts of polluted runoff into nearby rivers. Rather than spending nearly $10 billion it didn’t have on a new 30-mile-long tunnel, the city is investing a fraction of that on thousands of “green” infrastructure sites. And the strategy is paying off, Bruce Stutz reports in Yale Environment 360.The city is seven years into a 25-year project designed to reduce 85% Philadelphia’s combined sewer overflows by 85% under an agreement with the EPA, Stutz explained.
Judge dismisses Exxon’s ‘implausible’ attempt to stop climate investigations
The Hill | Posted onApril 2, 2018 in Energy NewsA federal judge dismissed Exxon Mobil Corp.’s attempt to stop the attorneys general of New York and Massachusetts from investigating its alleged fraud regarding what company officials knew about climate change and when.
Low unemployment but slow growth in Nebraska
Kansas City Fed | Posted onApril 2, 2018 in SARL Members and Alumni NewsNebraska’s economy has remained relatively strong, but recent growth has been slower. Measures of economic output and employment growth both slowed through 2017 alongside historically low levels of unemployment. Tightening labor markets likely have contributed to some of the recent slowdown as wage gains in Nebraska also have continued to accelerate. Though unemployment has remained low across the state, economic activity in rural areas has continued to weaken alongside persistently low agricultural commodity prices.