AgClips
Recent AgClips
Despite Growing Support for Marijuana, Legalization Faces Rocky Road
Pew Charitable Trust | Posted onJuly 26, 2017 in Agriculture, Federal, Rural, SARL Members and Alumni NewsAsk advocates of marijuana legalization how their cause fared during the 2017 state legislative sessions and they’ll tell you that though the gains were incremental, they’re hopeful that several legislatures will eventually make possession and sale of the federally prohibited drug legal.
MA: State cannot hold immigrants so U.S. can detain them
Reuters | Posted onJuly 26, 2017 in Federal, Rural NewsMassachusetts police do not have the authority to detain illegal immigrants solely to buy time for federal law enforcement officials to take them into custody the state's top court ruled. The decision amounts to a rejection of requests by the federal Immigration and Customs and Enforcement agency for courts and law enforcement agencies to hold illegal immigrants, who are facing civil deportation orders, in custody for up to 48 hours after their cases are resolved.
Medical marijuana set-up costing Ohio taxpayers $6 million more
Columbus Dispatch | Posted onJuly 26, 2017 in Rural, SARL Members and Alumni NewsThe price of marijuana is going up — for Ohio taxpayers.The State Controlling Board, a legislative panel that oversees state expenditures, on Monday approved an additional $6 million to pay for startup expenses for the Ohio Medical Marijuana Program. That brings the total to about $11 million so far that taxpayers have paid for the program. In separate votes, the board approved an additional $1.6 million for the Ohio Board of Pharmacy and $4.4 million for the Ohio Commerce Department.
Trump administration seeks to repeal Obama fracking rule
The Hill | Posted onJuly 26, 2017 in Energy NewsThe Trump administration is proposing to completely repeal Obama-era standards governing hydraulic fracturing on federal land. The proposal from the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is due to be published Tuesday in the Federal Register.The landmark 2015 regulation set standards in areas such as disclosure of fracking chemicals and integrity of well casing.It was the Obama administration’s attempt to update decades-old regulations to account for the explosive growth in fracking for oil and natural gas in recent years.
Georgia Power’s coal ash plan illegal
Atlanta Journal Constitution | Posted onJuly 26, 2017 in Energy NewsThe Sierra Club said Georgia Power’s plans to close its toxic coal ash ponds will dump heavy metal-laden wastewater into the state’s rivers and lakes and violate the federal clean water law. Georgia Power is planning to shut down 29 ponds that hold coal ash, a waste product of burning coal that can contain toxic metals such as mercury, lead, arsenic and other toxins, according to the environmental group.Some environmental groups initially praised Georgia Power’s plans. The utility expects to spend roughly $2 billion closing the sites by recycling or treating water from the ponds.
Leaked report explains energy efficiency policies will save consumers $545 billion.
Think Progress | Posted onJuly 26, 2017 in Energy, Federal NewsA leaked draft study of the electric grid requested by Energy Secretary Rick Perry found that federal energy efficiency policies are in the process of saving U.S. consumers and businesses more than a half trillion dollars.
Canadian Agriculture Minister urges caution in NAFTA talks
Capital Press | Posted onJuly 26, 2017 in Agriculture, Federal, SARL Members and Alumni NewsCanada’s Minister of Agriculture, Lawrence MacAulay, said he’s amenable to negotiations over the North American Free Trade Agreement but hopes the talks proceed with caution. “It’s put a lot of money in the farmers’ pockets in the U.S. and Canada, so let’s be sure to continue down that path,” MacAulay said.
Movie ‘What The Health’ claims get debunked
Animal Ag Alliance | Posted onJuly 26, 2017 in Food, SARL Members and Alumni NewsSome determined activists will say almost anything to convince people to go vegan. One example of this is “What The Health,” a film you might have seen while scrolling through Netflix. If you’ve watched the movie, it may have left you feeling confused about the nutritional value of meat, milk, poultry and eggs. Several scientists, dietitians and agriculture advocates have started speaking out against the film and helping viewers find factual information to make decisions about their diets.
Increase in U.S. Calf Crop Points Towards Larger Beef Supplies in 2018-2019
Farm Doc Daily | Posted onJuly 26, 2017 in Agriculture NewsAlthough it's not clear from the report that beef industry expansion has come to a grinding halt, it does suggest expansion interest is waning. For example, the number of beef heifers being held by producers for herd replacement on July 1st was 2 percent smaller than in 2015 and, when expressed as a percentage of the beef cow inventory totaled just 14.5 percent. In contrast, when the beef industry was expanding rapidly this ratio climbed above 15 percent.
Contentious Federal ELD Rule for Trucking Industry Back in the News
DTN | Posted onJuly 26, 2017 in Agriculture, Federal NewsOn Tuesday, July 18, a bill to delay the compliance date of the ELD (electronic logging device rule) for two years to December 2019, was filed in the U.S. House of Representatives and referred to the House Appropriation's Subcommittee on Transportation. The bill asks the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to consider delaying the implementation of ELD, giving owner-operators two additional years to switch from paper logs to an electronic logging device.