Agriculture

"It official: The algae bloom that covered Lake Erie this past summer was the biggest and baddest ever recorded."

"The American Farm Bureau Federation and other industry groups today asked the Supreme Court to review U.S. EPA's landmark approach for cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay."

"The Senate voted Tuesday to advance a measure to block the Obama administration’s new regulation asserting federal authority over small waterways." But if the measure ever reaches President Obama's desk, he is likely to veto it, and the Senate seems unable to override a veto.

EPA's conclusion that glyphosate, the main ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup (and the most widely used herbicide in the world) was not an endocrine disruptor was based largely on studies conducted by Monsanto. Independent studies found more health-related problems with glyphosate. Most pesticide registrations rely primarily on health studies paid for by companies.

"The top oil and gas lobby group is launching a new advertising campaign against the federal ethanol mandate."

"Federal regulators on Friday proposed a zero-tolerance policy for food-borne residues of a pesticide widely used on edible crops nationwide, effectively ending its application to more than a dozen crops, including tree nuts, soybeans, corn, wheat, apples and citrus."

"A prominent Agriculture Department scientist is alleging that he was suspended after complaining that the agency was blocking his research into the harmful effects of pesticides on pollinators, such as bees and butterflies."

"Indonesia's president Joko Widodo will return early from an official trip to the United States due to a haze crisis caused by raging peat fires in the Southeast Asian country, the government said."

"The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has opened an investigation into the American Egg Board (AEB) after revelations by the Guardian that the USDA-appointed group conducted a months-long campaign against a San Francisco food startup called Hampton Creek."

"The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Friday signed off on a new genetically modified type of corn developed by Monsanto Co after a review concluded it posed no significant threat to agricultural crops, other plants or the environment."