AgClips
Recent AgClips
Extinction looms for southern California’s mountain lions
High Country News | Posted onMarch 28, 2019 in Rural NewsTwo populations of mountain lions in Southern California face a significant threat of extinction if actions aren’t taken to protect their environment and safeguard animal transit routes through increasingly developed areas, a new study warns.While the species isn’t currently in danger of statewide extinction, the big cats in the Santa Ana and Santa Monica Mountains (a total of about 42 animals) have as much as a 21 percent chance of vanishing in the next 50 years.Earlier this month, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors passed a groundbreaking new law protecting “wildlife corridors” and o
Midwest Flood Damages Top $3 Billion
Red River Farm Network | Posted onMarch 28, 2019 in Agriculture NewsFlood damages in the Midwest are now estimated at nearly $3 billion. In Nebraska, the damages to agriculture are nearing the $1 billion mark. Iowa officials are reporting agricultural losses of approximately $214 million. Several other states have also experienced severe flooding, including Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin and South Dakota. Threats of additional flooding of the Missouri River are on the horizon, as above normal snowpack in the north melts and moves downstream.
America’s reindeer have quietly gone extinct in the Lower 48
The Washington Post | Posted onMarch 28, 2019 in Rural NewsThis year, in the dead of winter, America’s wild reindeer went extinct in the contiguous United States. After years of dwindling, the last remaining herd of caribou known to roam between Canada and the Pacific Northwest states of Idaho and Washington was down to just one known member.
DAVOSMARCH 25, 2019 / 8:04 PM / 2 DAYS AGO Global carbon emissions hit record high in 2018: IEA
Reuters | Posted onMarch 28, 2019 in Energy NewsGlobal energy-related carbon emissions rose to a record high last year as energy demand and coal use increased.
Washington Democrats chart low-carbon future
Capital Press | Posted onMarch 28, 2019 in Energy NewsWashington state Democrats are fulfilling some of the hefty aspirations of the Green New Deal with their own climate-change package, one that would raise the cost of producing, processing and transporting farm goods while promising the “equitable distribution of benefits.” To do that, the Democrat-dominated Legislature is considering bills to tax carbon, cap greenhouse gases, make all electricity renewable, mandate more biofuels in gasoline and diesel, and govern by “environmental justice.”
An Arizona border sheriff confronts the wall
High Country News | Posted onMarch 28, 2019 in Energy NewsEstrada grew up a few blocks from the border, in a three-room house without indoor plumbing. Rent was $10 per month. At 22, he joined the Nogales Police Department, eventually becoming a captain before running for sheriff in 1992. Estrada, who is serving his seventh term, is currently the longest-serving — and only Hispanic — sheriff in Arizona.Estrada has watched with increasing frustration as Trump continues to ignore the sheriffs along the southern border in his demands for a wall. In a letter released on Jan.
States fear EPA crackdown on pesticide rules
Politico | Posted onMarch 28, 2019 in Federal, SARL Members and Alumni NewsStates fear the EPA is preparing to override state-level pesticide regulations aimed at curbing crop damage and environmental fallout, after the agency quietly announced last week it’s considering a new way to handle state requests to impose stricter pesticide rules or training requirements.States can seek additional restrictions from the EPA for various reasons, such as accounting for local pests or environmental concerns.
Mix of funding, policy ideas in Minnesota reflect rising concerns about chronic wasting disease
CSG Midwest | Posted onMarch 28, 2019 in SARL Members and Alumni NewsChronic wasting disease already is a problem in the 24 states (including all but Indiana and Ohio in the Midwest) and two Canadian provinces where it has been detected in free-ranging deer, elk or moose.
The rise in drug-related deaths has states still searching for a mix of strategies to properly address the public health crisis
CSG Midwest | Posted onMarch 28, 2019 in Rural, SARL Members and Alumni NewsFew if any U.S. states have been hit harder than Ohio by the crushing rise in drug use, abuse and overdose deaths. That state’s rate of overdose deaths was second in the nation in 2017: 46.5 per 100,000.
Puerto Rico faces food-stamp crisis
The Washington Post | Posted onMarch 28, 2019 in Federal NewsThe federal government provided additional food-stamp aid to Puerto Rico after the hurricane, but Congress missed the deadline for reauthorization in March as it focused on other issues before leaving for a week-long recess. Federal lawmakers have also been stalled by the Trump administration, which has derided the extra aid as unnecessary.