Moves by the Trump administration to draw up a new regulatory framework for types of toxic chemicals has sparked suspicion among health advocates who fear the changes will protect polluters but not public health The concerns come after US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin on Monday rolled out preliminary plans to tackle widespread environmental contamination by per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) chemicals used in myriad industries for decades that have been found to pose health threats The plans include elements that appear aimed at reversing or weakening policies pursued by the Biden administration including potentially shielding public water systems from the costs of cleaning certain types of PFAS from public drinking water supplies Zeldin said the agency would be “advancing research and testing,” and taking other actions to “ensure Americans have the cleanest air a former EPA senior scientist and a former director in the agency’s Office of Water said the EPA announcement was “nothing but a spin document” that “indicates there are problems ahead even though it’s written as if it’s just a fabulous plan for the future.” “Their actions will absolutely ensure that for years longer people will be exposed to PFAS in their drinking water and their food without any relief from this administration,” she said PFAS are a class of thousands of humanmade so-called “forever chemicals” that can linger for many years in the environment and are used in manufacturing and consumer products including non-stick pans Some PFAS chemicals have been linked to health harms including certain cancers Under Biden, the EPA in 2021 unveiled a “PFAS Strategic Roadmap,” which aimed at putting in place a series of policies to “safeguard public health and hold polluters accountable.” To support these objectives the EPA finalized rules that established reporting requirements for companies that manufacture or import PFAS designated two of the chemicals as hazardous substances under the “Superfund” law and put limits on six PFAS chemicals in drinking water In one of the many contentious elements of the roadmap, the Biden EPA’s drinking water rule required public water systems to complete initial monitoring for PFAS chemicals by 2027 and to implement technologies for reducing PFAS in their water supplies by 2029 if levels exceeded certain limits The rule drew strong opposition from public drinking water utilities, which would face substantial costs for implementing new technologies to mitigate PFAS, and penalties for failing to do so. Costs for drinking water systems across the country to meet the rule could exceed $3.8 billion per year according to an estimate on behalf of the American Water Works Association (AWWA) The new plan laid out by Zeldin states that the EPA will “address the most significant compliance challenges … related to national drinking water regulations for certain PFAS,” indicating to some attempting to read between the lines that Zeldin plans to set new rules on PFAS in drinking water The rule currently sets a limit of just 4 parts per trillion (ppt) for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) as well as limits for four other PFAS chemicals Zeldin may opt to give water utilities more time to comply with the standards or he could change the standards so that fewer facilities need to comply an attorney who represents water utilities currently suing PFAS manufacturers to try to recover costs related to PFAS contamination said he thinks public water systems are “cautiously applauding” the announcement indicating that they believe the Trump administration is looking to shield them from the hefty costs of mitigating PFAS contamination the new EPA plan fails to mention limits for landfills which were originally expected to be proposed later this year the EPA’s new proposed plan cites “smartly collecting necessary information” from companies for the Toxic Substances Control Act “without overburdening small business and article importers” in language that suggests Zeldin may act to redo the PFAS reporting requirement rule The compliance period for the rule finalized under Biden was set to begin this July Some of the initiatives announced by the EPA could support efforts to reduce widespread PFAS contamination including restricting their use and setting limits on PFAS releases into waterways clean water director and senior attorney for the Environment America Research & Policy Center including unspecified adjustments to liability and national drinking water limits “bear careful attention as they are developed,” said Rumpler Calling for “strengthening the science” around PFAS, the EPA announcement implies further work by the EPA’s Office of Research and Development, potentially suggesting that the agency’s research arm may not be eliminated as feared a professor at the University of Rhode Island who directs a PFAS research program it is also possible that the call for more science could simply be a strategy to delay action on PFAS focusing instead on manufacturers and others using PFAS The announcement marks “an important step forward in reducing PFAS pollution,” the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) said in a statement The actions “mirror the stance NACWA has long been advocating – polluters should pay the costs of removing PFAS which are passive receivers of these chemicals NACWA looks forward to continued work with EPA in a collaborative manner to address PFAS contamination and ensure clean water for all Americans.” The EPA said in a statement that new leadership is in the process of reviewing the PFAS drinking water rule “and the issues presented in the litigation in the current case around it and developing its position on how to proceed.” and website in this browser for the next time I comment Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" Receive the latest news and environmental insights by subscribing to our newsletter This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. © Environmental Working Group document.write(new Date().getFullYear()). ' + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.webview_notification_text + ' " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_title + " " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_text + " led by the right-wing populist Pierre Poilievre and so Carney and his party will form a minority government in Canada’s British-style Parliament needing help from the third and fourth parties—the Francophone nationalist Bloc Québécois and the social-democratic New Democratic Party—to pass legislation and Carney seemed a better barrier—in plain English a better general to rally the country—than the unduly Trumpite Poilievre “We’re looking at all costs for the 30-second extract that will go viral One can look around and find Canadian peculiarities in the election results: the Western provinces are still hostile to the Liberal Party after some electoral flirtations elsewhere particularly under the Prime Ministership of Justin Trudeau’s imposing father has been to keep Quebec within confederation—a role at which it has been astonishingly successful.) Meanwhile which has deep and distinguished roots in Western Canada in part because the progressive vote migrated to the Liberals was defeated in his own riding; he has since stepped down from his party’s leadership in the midst of its election-night coverage headlined the sad news that the curling team of Peterman and Gallant had been defeated in a bonspiel at the mixed-doubles world championships—right there Trump does not add “if they want it” or “if only they would hold a referendum on joining our union,” or use language showing respect for the country’s history and sovereignty Instead he speaks the language of power and domination the Putinist language directed at Ukraine before the war: your land should be ours and will be soon that conducting aggressive warfare against unoffending states is what the United States defined as a crime during the Nuremberg Trials stating that to initiate a war of aggression “is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime.” as the last in a long line of more expert explainers why the whole notion of Canada treating the U.S the ostensible reason for the assaults on what used to be our beloved neighbor to the north One can cite and correct particular details about this fiction: for instance essentially the sole cause of the trade deficit is Canadian crude oil sent from Canada to fuel the United States something that is clearly in America’s interest But even to make this argument is to get trapped in the absurdity of the belief that trade deficits are noxious than the fact that I spend more at the supermarket across the street than it spends on me shows that the supermarket is exploiting my family The deficit is in my interest: I give them money; they give me onions but it seems simpler to buy them across the street Canada couldn’t become the “Fifty First State” even if it wanted to because Canada isn’t one “state” but many provinces and regions and peoples each with passionate histories and interests of their own Canada’s history is a beautiful one of decisive compromise and coalition building those distinct if unglamorous liberal virtues This is why Carney’s acceptance speech on Monday night—“victory speech” would be an inopportune phrase as it didn’t have that tone—was in so many ways ominous and foreboding and unprecedented in Canadian history One would have expected him to tiptoe around the issue of Trump’s aggression or to paint a happier or conciliatory face on it President Trump is trying to break us so that America can own us that “the bond between Europe and Canada is strong—and growing stronger We’ll defend our shared democratic values.” ironies of our time if what is happening in America ends by stiffening the sinews and strengthening the ties between the remaining liberal democracies It feels absurd to have to write that sentence A long-ago crime, suddenly remembered A limousine driver watches her passengers transform The day Muhammad Ali punched me What is it like to be keenly intelligent but deeply alienated from simple emotions? Temple Grandin knows The harsh realm of “gentle parenting.”  Retirement the Margaritaville way Fiction by F. Scott Fitzgerald: “Thank You for the Light.”  Sign up for our daily newsletter to receive the best stories from The New Yorker. With the addition of the neighboring Andelin Vineyard the winery expands its Napa vineyard holdings Wine Spectator has learned that Cliff Lede Vineyards has acquired the 7.5-acre vineyard adjacent to the winery’s Stags Leap District facility increasing its estate vineyard holdings to more than 160 acres in Napa Valley the Lede family had leased the vineyard and farmed it for its owners “This was a generational opportunity,” said general manager and COO Jason Lede and it was already producing some great wine fully controlling it will help us make better wine.” the winery began with 60 acres in Stags Leap and has built a strong reputation for its Bordeaux-focused portfolio of wines including premium Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc Additional estate property includes 87 acres in Carneros and 20 in Calistoga Lede’s total production is 20,000 cases annually The winery’s Stags Leap estate is divided by the Silverado Trail with one portion along the eastern hillside and the other along the valley floor The new vineyard borders Cliff Lede’s valley floor perimeter and is not far from the winery’s tasting room It butts up against the winery’s Rhythm Vineyard and its fruit been used to support several of the winery’s bottlings “We love the quality from the neighboring blocks There’s just a driveway separating the two [vineyards] and we’ll probably replant the vineyard soon,” said Lede Given the current state of the grape market he believes now is as good a time as any to replant He also argues that modernizing the vineyard and maximizing its potential through clonal selection and row orientation should help boost the quality of the winery’s Rhythm bottling Recently, the company sold its Howard Backen-designed boutique hotel, Poetry Inn, and its Anderson Valley properties—Fel Wines They made the deals to concentrate their efforts on Napa Valley “Refocusing was a strategy put in place a few years ago Our family is doubling down on Cabernet and Napa Valley,” said Lede He added that with so much negativity around current economic conditions in the wine industry he hopes this can be a positive message for consumers and vintners “This shows that as a next-generation vintner I’m fully invested to make sure we are set up for the best future.” Stay on top of important wine stories with Wine Spectator’s free Breaking News Alerts. Consumers got the chance to taste dozens of outstanding wines in Chicago, with upcoming … The owner of Stoller and Chehalem wineries was devoted to the future of Willamette Valley … Inside the first U.S. location of the French luxury retailer, guests can enjoy fine wine at … Phase one of the Viticulture and Winery Technology program’s new home, funded by a $10 … The Tuscan wine company has purchased a minority stake in Tenute delle Terre Nere; De … While the White House has paused tariffs on foreign wines at 10 percent for now, the trade … Cliff Lede Vineyards said it has bought three hectares (7.5 acres) of vineyard from the Andelin family in Napa Valley’s famous Stags Leap District American Viticultural Area (AVA) It represents a rare opportunity for the winery given that the site lies adjacent to the eastern border of Cliff Lede’s Rhythm vineyard bringing the total purchased area to 3.5 hectares (8.6 acres) While Cliff Lede has farmed and leased the Andelin vineyard site since the winery was founded in 2002 the prospect of ownership was too good to miss ‘We have been interested in maximising the potential of this site for quite some time and jumped at the opportunity to expand our Stags Leap District estate,’ said Jason Lede general manager and chief operating officer ‘We intend to replant the vineyard with a focus on Cabernet Sauvignon utilising the same level of precision farming and clonal selection of our neighbouring blocks which have really impressed us in recent years.’ The Lede family recently sold its Savoy vineyard holdings in Anderson Valley further north in California to further sharpen its focus on Napa Valley ‘Growing and producing Cabernet Sauvignon in Napa Valley is what we do best and it’s what we are most passionate about,’ said Jason Lede who is also the son of the winery’s founder the winery has more than 64.7 hectares (160 acres) of vineyards in Napa Valley encompassing those in Stags Leap District plus also an 8.1-hectare site (20 acres) in Calistoga and a 35.2-hectare estate in Carneros Decanter’s Jonathan Cristaldi recently gave a 100-point score to Cliff Lede’s ‘Poetry’ Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 upgrading the wine from 99 points after tasting it for a second time in late 2024 Predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon with small amounts of Merlot and Cabernet Franc Poetry 2021 is from an eponymous vineyard site also in Stags Leap District AVA youthful Napa Cabernet that restaurants should showcase to demonstrate the versatility and elegance of the region’s best wines in pairing with food,’ wrote Cristaldi News of Cliff Lede’s purchase follows Antinori’s announcement that its Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars winery has bought Arcadia vineyard in the Coombsville AVA reuniting two properties once owned by the late New York State Sen. Monica R. Martinez joined fellow legislators, business leaders and local news organizations at the Capitol to rally in support of the Lift Our Communities, Advertise Locally (LOCAL) Act tax credit for small businesses advertising in local media outlets.  The proposal would create a refundable tax credit covering 80% of a business’s first $5,000 in local advertising costs up to a $4,000 maximum per year.  If enacted the incentive would be available to businesses beginning in 2026 with 60% of the credits reserved for minority- "Communities are built on connections with neighbors and the same is true for small businesses,” said Sen “The LOCAL Act supports this relationship by encouraging these community-based businesses to advertise with the media outlets already trusted by the neighbors they are committed to serving.  This incentive helps small businesses grow while preserving the local journalism New Yorkers rely on." “The LOCAL Act is about more than just advertising – it’s about investing in the economic health of our local community and investing in the kind of local journalism that we need now more than ever,” said Assemblymember Lunsford.  “By providing small businesses with the tools to connect with their neighbors and supporting the local journalism that keeps us informed this legislation strengthens the foundation of our local economies.  It’s a smart innovative solution that ensures businesses and residents can thrive together across New York State." According to a study issued by the Medill School of Journalism Media & Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University an average of 2.5 local newspapers per week ceased operations in 2023  This has resulted in over half of all U.S counties now having limited access to reliable local news and more than 200 counties being considered "news deserts."  For New York state that decline has been even more pronounced with 190 weekly newspapers closing down since 2004 in what is often called the media capital of the world.  In the absence of dependable local media outlets this void is often filled by news feeds and information generated by algorithms that may at times promote editorialized or misinformation.  this headline can be changed by encouraging Main Streets to advertise in their hometown papers In a letter being circulated to the governor and legislative leaders by more than 15 business organizations from across the state the groups have called for the passage of the act stating: “As members of New York’s business community we know firsthand how essential access to affordable advertising is for small enterprises,” and urging them “to include the LOCAL Act in the final budget to help strengthen small businesses and foster economic growth throughout New York.” Their urging reflects the importance of local journalism in keeping communities informed and connected and represents the kind of marketplace of information and ideas small businesses seek to access to drive growth.  “The LOCAL Act is a win-win-win for local businesses and local communities,” said Zachary Richner Founding Member of the Empire State Local News Coalition. “These institutions are intricately connected and work together to create the vibrant communities that New Yorkers love Thank you to Senator Martinez and Assemblymember Lunsford for crafting creative policy that not only recognizes these institutions as pillars of local communities but also supports their mutually beneficial relationship.” Economic Development and Small Business Committee said local businesses and contributes to local economic activity This is the very foundation of our economy that is driven by local small businesses.” common-sense approach to supporting the economic backbone of New York’s towns: small businesses,” said Rich Schaffer New York’s leaders must prioritize advancing creative solutions like the LOCAL Act to ensure small businesses across our state have the tools resources and support they need to thrive.” “By making community advertising for small businesses more accessible and affordable this proposed act will help them with their marketing strategy and customer engagement while simultaneously supporting local media outlets which are also small companies,” said Matt Cohen President & CEO of the Long Island Association and we look forward to its passage this session.” “The Long Island African American Chamber of Commerce applauds the introduction of the LOCAL Act which will empower minority-owned small businesses on Long Island and across New York,” said Phil Andrews President of the Long Island African American Chamber of Commerce “Local media is a uniquely trusted voice for the Black community and the ability to affordably advertise in local media outlets provides an important opportunity for our member small businesses to connect with their neighbors and customers The LOCAL Act is helping to foster a more inclusive and vibrant economy on Long Island and beyond.” “Small businesses are the engines that drive New York's economy but they are struggling with changing consumer habits and rising costs,” said Ashley E New York State Director for the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) “Providing opportunities for tax relief makes it a little more affordable for small businesses to operate and helps Main Street businesses compete in a difficult economic environment.” Helping New York's small businesses and its community news outlets at the same time will have so many benefits for communities It also helps local news outlets thrive while preserving editorial independence,” said Steven Waldman “The Rebuild Local News Coalition enthusiastically endorses the legislation.” Dear Reader,Unfortunately our comment platform isn\'t available at the moment due to issues with our paywall and authentication vendor Napa Valley's Cliff Lede Vineyards purchased 7.5 acres of “prime vineyards” in the Stags Leap District AVA Cliff Lede Vineyards announced it has increased its Napa Valley estate vineyard holdings with the acquisition of 7.5 acres of “prime vineyards” in the Stags Leap District AVA was originally planted with Cabernet Sauvignon grapes in the 1980s and has been farmed and leased by Cliff Lede Vineyards since the winery was founded in 2002 It borders the eastern edge of Cliff Lede’s Rhythm Vineyard near the winery’s tasting room on Yountville Cross Road Cliff Lede’s total estate Napa Valley vineyard holdings are now over 160 acres across the Stags Leap District The sold price was not provided but according to Napa County real estate records an 8.6-acre property at 1501 Yountville Cross Road sold for $5.467 million and was recorded on Feb The price also included a home for private use on 8.6 acres “We have been interested in maximizing the potential of this site for quite some time and jumped at the opportunity to expand our Stags Leap District estate,” said general manager and COO Jason Lede “We intend to replant the vineyard with a focus on Cabernet Sauvignon utilizing the same level of precision farming and clonal selection of our neighboring blocks which have really impressed us in recent years.” Two distinct vineyards comprise the Stags Leap District home estate of Cliff Lede Vineyards: Poetry and Rhythm the steep rocky hillside Poetry Vineyard has had a strong identity as the primary source of the iconic 'Poetry' Cabernet Sauvignon," said Cliff Lede is the primary source for 'Rhythm' Cabernet Sauvignon which made its debut as a single vineyard bottling with the 2021 vintage.” the Lede family recently divested its Anderson Valley holdings (Savoy Vineyard) to focus on continued investment in Napa Valley “Growing and producing Cabernet Sauvignon in Napa Valley is what we do best and it’s what we are most passionate about,” said Lede Cliff Lede Vineyards expanded with the purchase of a 20-acre vineyard in Calistoga at the base of Diamond Mountain then doubled in size after acquiring an 87-acre vineyard in Carneros in 2020 “These additional estate vineyards throughout Napa Valley provide Director of Winemaking Christopher Tynan with a spectrum of top-quality fruit to incorporate into several Cliff Lede bottlings,” the winery said This story has been updated to include information about a residential home on the property Email notifications are only sent once a day Friends and family of Berryessa's Turtle Rock bar collected the money pined to the ceiling of the cafe to donate to UCSF and celebrate the 15-year 'cancerversary' of Elijah Leung Take a ride around Napa on these motorized ADA-compliant scooters made to look like various critters and creatures Most of Napa’s River Park Shopping Center tenants cater to locals Now a handful of tenants have left the center Protests will take place in Napa and across the Bay Area on Thursday as part of what are expected to be over 900 nationwide demonstrations for May Day The sheriff's office reported seizing 13 roosters from a Carneros site where it said the birds were altered and trained to fight other male birds Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.We recommend switching to one of the following browsers: Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device Account processing issue - the email address may already exist Invalid password or account does not exist Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account Cliff Lede Vineyards expands its Yountville estate with purchase of 7.5-acre vineyard contiguous to existing property in Napa Valley’s Stags Leap District and has plans for replanting Cliff Lede Vineyards has expanded its Napa Valley estate holdings by acquiring 7.5 acres of vineyards in Napa Valley’s Stags Leap District this property at 1501 Yountville Cross Road was planted with Cabernet Sauvignon vines in the 1980s and has been managed by Cliff Lede under lease since the winery's establishment in 2002 The vineyard is adjacent to Cliff Lede’s Rhythm Vineyard located near the winery and tasting room at 1471 Yountville Cross Cliff Lede’s vineyard acreage now exceeds 160 acres in Stags Leap which have really impressed us in recent years,” General Manager Jason Lede said in the news release Thursday Cliff Lede currently has two main vineyards Poetry Vineyard is know for its namesake Cab while the Rhythm Vineyard single-vineyard bottling with the 2021 vintage The Lede family sold its Anderson Valley property in 2023 to concentrate efforts in Napa Valley continuing to invest in Cabernet Sauvignon production Billed as a type of food system that works in harmony with nature, “regenerative” agriculture is gaining popularity in US farm country, garnering praise in books and films and as one of the goals of the Make America Healthy Again movement associated with new Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Proponents of regenerative farming say the practice can mitigate harmful climate change and make foods more nutritious as farmers focus on improving the health of soil A growing number of farms and ranches around the US are achieving certification to let consumers know their grains, beef, eggs and other products are regeneratively grown. Internationally, the regenerative agriculture market has been forecast to see double-digit growth between 2023 and 2030 But all that momentum comes with a dirty dark side, according to a new report that highlights  what is becoming an increasingly contentious debate over the merits of regenerative agriculture The report issued Tuesday asserts that regenerative programs which generally allow for the use of weedkillers and other chemicals are being used to “greenwash” routine use of several dangerous pesticides on farm fields Corporations that sell such pesticides are entwined with the movement incentivizing farmers financially to adopt regenerative practices “With billions of dollars — and the future of our food system — at stake we must ensure that the practice of regenerative agriculture is robust and is guarded against greenwashing,” states the April 29 report issued by Friends of the Earth (FOE) Citing data from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) FOE’s report specifically targets corn and soybean production in which farmers do not till their soil to eradicate weeds as has traditionally been common practice Such “no-till” practices are a hallmark of regenerative agriculture because tillage can have multiple negative environmental impacts including disrupting soil microorganisms considered essential for plant health Corn and soybean no-till acres total more than 100 million acres The “vast majority (93%)” of those acres rely on “toxic pesticides that harm soil health and threaten human health,” the FOE report states Roughly one-third of total annual pesticide use in the US can be attributed solely to corn and soy grown in no- and minimum-till systems according to the FOE analysis of USDA data An estimated 61% of the use involves pesticides classified as highly hazardous to human health and/or the environment The new report takes aim at some of the world’s largest agrochemical companies which bought seed and chemical giant Monsanto in 2018 and calls regenerative agriculture its “vision for the future of farming.” “Produce More. Restore Nature. Scale Regenerative Agriculture,” the company proclaims on its website. Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup herbicide products introduced by Monsanto in the 1970s, is the most widely used pesticide in no-till corn and soy production. The herbicide has been classified as a probable human carcinogen by world health experts and tens of thousands of people have sued Monsanto alleging they developed cancer due to their use of the company’s glyphosate products As part of its push for regenerative, Bayer offers growers rewards for engaging in certain practices, including not tilling their soil and for planting “cover” crops as a means to improve soil health. Farmers can receive up to $12 per acre for combining various “regenerative agriculture practices,” Bayer pledges. To handle weed problems in regenerative fields including “sustainable use of herbicides.” That type of recommendation exposes the corporate hypocrisy rooted in regenerative “Pesticide companies like Bayer and Syngenta have capitalized on the growing interest in soil health by promoting conventional no-till — which relies heavily on their pesticides and digital agriculture platforms — as regenerative,” the FOE report states Bayer said glyphosate-based products like Roundup are helpful to farmers who are implementing sustainable farming and regenerative practices “Tools like Roundup are essential as more and more farmers turn to practices such as planting cover crops to reduce erosion capture moisture and sequester carbon in the soil,” the company said in a statement “Products like Roundup also enable farmers to adopt no-till measures that help drastically reduce the amount of carbon released by the soil through tillage.” Syngenta says that regenerative agriculture “can underpin the transformation of our global food systems,” and that “chemical inputs” can be useful The report comes amid growing rancor between some in the established organic industry and the burgeoning regenerative movement as leaders on each side say their respective models are best for providing healthy food and protecting environmental and human health In contrast with the relatively young regenerative movement the organic industry operates within a framework established more than 30 years ago with oversight through a national organic program within the USDA with rules that generally prohibit synthetic pesticides and other chemicals saying that certifying some farm products and brands as regenerative is deceptive because farmers practicing regenerative can use chemical weed killers that are harmful to the soil They say that describing products as regenerative if they’re grown with chemicals gives consumers a false sense of comfort in the agricultural practices used to produce food And they say because regenerative agriculture has no government oversight or official standards private certification can be easily corrupted “The proponents of non-organic ‘regenerative’ labels are in fact greenwashing conventional ag and its use of toxic persistent pesticides as well as synthetic nitrogen fertilizers,” said Gary Hirshberg, chairman of Organic Voices, an advocacy group for the organic industry “It is scientifically and ethically disingenuous to claim to be regenerating soil while you are using synthetic chemicals and it is well-established science that no-till systems actually require more chemical fertilizers and pesticides,” Hirshberg said academics and those pursuing growth of regenerative practices say soil health is at the root they can be used at levels much reduced from conventional farming They say organic farmers often till their fields to address weeds and that practice is worse than using herbicides “The science is very clear on this: there is a greater net benefit to using an herbicide to enable no-till … than to avoid it altogether if that means resorting to tillage,” said Andrew Margenot associate director of the Agroecosystems Sustainability Center at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Proponents of regenerative practices see them as a series of steps that may begin with no-till and use of weedkillers and other pesticides but eventually expand to include a range of tactics such as using “cover crops” to increase soil organic matter and limit pest outbreaks and incorporating livestock and animal manure into soil improvement efforts Using all the regenerative practices can eventually eliminate the need for chemicals or sharply reduce the need Regenerative farming involves much more than not tilling the soil, said Gabe Brown, a North Dakota farmer, who authored a book on the benefits of regenerative and founded a certification company called Regenified to guide farmers and ranchers in the practices Though Brown said he is a consumer of organic foods he believes that organic farmers who don’t use chemicals but do disrupt their soils through tilling are also harming the environment “One cannot claim that no-tilling alone will make a farm regenerative just like one cannot say that organic “If an organic producer tills too often it can be highly degrading Brown said the organic movement has “floundered” as achieving organic certification can be challenging and costly for many producers Regenerative offers opportunities for more farmers to grow healthier food and improve the environment “The amount of interest in regenerative agriculture is truly making a difference … it’s exciting,” Brown said Not tilling the soil is a core principle of regenerative practices but the FOE report asserts that the impacts of tillage are not always harmful and that routine use of pesticides has greater disruptive effects on soil health than does routine tillage Looking just at conventional no-till corn and soy the FOE report finds that “CO2-equivalent emissions” associated with the pesticides and synthetic fertilizers used to grow those crops are comparable to emissions from 11.4 million cars The FOE report recommends that instead of incentivizing no-till agriculture that allows pesticide use Congress should increase funding for organic programs local and federal governments should allot more resources to research into technologies that can eradicate weeds without chemical weedkillers the growing interest in regenerative agriculture must be harnessed in service of robust approaches that truly increase soil health and carbon sequestration and protect biodiversity and human well-being,” the report states Featured photo by Pasquale Farro on Unsplash,) This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License © Environmental Working Group document.write(new Date().getFullYear()) Farm groups were cheering moves announced this week by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that will alter endangered species protections to allow for easier use of certain pesticides in agriculture US Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins thanked the EPA for “unleashing regulatory burdens” on farmers and ranchers through its new strategy for insecticide use changes that include reducing buffer zones designed to protect threatened species from the toxic chemicals used to kill crop pests The EPA unveiled its “final Insecticide Strategy” document Tuesday described by EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin in a statement as “another example of how protecting our environment and safeguarding our economy can go hand in hand.” “We have found common sense ways to keep endangered species safe that won’t place unneeded burden on the growers who rely on these tools for their livelihood and which are necessary to ensure a safe and plentiful food supply,” Zeldin said The EPA has been dogged for years by litigation over allegations it was failing to comply with the Endangered Species Act in its pesticide regulations. In 2023, the EPA settled with a pledge to implement strategies such as the one released this week The announcement came one day before a court-ordered deadline for the release of the final insecticide plan The nation’s largest farming organizations, many supported with funds from companies that make and sell pesticides, have been demanding changes to the draft strategy outlined last year under the Biden administration The groups said this week they welcome the changes brought by Trump’s EPA though many also said the agency should go even further “These enhancements will help make Endangered Species Act implementation easier for US farmers; however, more work remains to be done …,” American Soybean Association President Caleb Ragland said in a statement The EPA acknowledges that chemical “stressors such as pesticides,” can contribute to population declines of listed species the agency made several changes to the prior plan saying the new strategy will provide more flexibility for pesticide users Environmental advocates had mixed reactions to the new plan with some giving the EPA credit for holding onto many protections for endangered species even as the agency retreats from others “I’ve certainly got some serious gripes about some of the rollbacks they did here in the final draft But there are a lot of key elements that were kept in place,” said Nathan Donley environmental health science director with the Center for Biological Diversity one of the plaintiffs that sued the EPA to force compliance with the Endangered Species Act “So it’s a bit of disappointment mixed with a bit of relief.” “Of course the future is still a big question mark with this administration – it could still all come crumbling down,” he said “But at the moment we’ve still got industry and endangered species advocates working together with EPA “The EPA’s job isn’t to protect large agricultural corporations. Its job is to protect the environment,” said Jonathan Lundgren, who worked as a USDA scientist from 2004-2016 and now directs the Ecdysis Foundation “This change in policy that reduces the safety considerations and increases the use of pesticides will at minimum result in more sick farming families and reduced ability of our soils to produce food and store carbon,” Lundgren said “The ones that benefit are the large foreign-owned corporations that have parasitized our farmers for too long.” (Featured photo by Getty Images for Unsplash+.) Federal health officials announced plans Tuesday to phase out synthetic food dyes made from petroleum marking a significant shift in how the U.S Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Marty Makary, along with other Trump administration officials, announced a series of moves to rid the American food supply of the dyes including revoking authorization for two food dyes (Citrus Red No working with industry to eliminate six other synthetic dyes by the end of next year and authorizing four new natural color additives in coming weeks The agencies will also work with the National Institutes of Health to research how food additives impact children we have been running one of the largest uncontrolled scientific experiments in the world on our nation’s children without their consent,” Makary said at a Tuesday press conference flanked by children holding signs that read ‘Make America Healthy Again’ and ‘Better Food “And today we’re removing these petroleum-based chemicals from their food supply,” Makary added Health advocates have long argued that the bright food colorings also make unhealthy foods more attractive to children This is “not a silver bullet that will make American children healthy “We are happy children won’t be as exposed and that adverse neurobehavioral impacts will be reduced,” said Jensen Jose regulatory counsel for Center for Science in the Public Interest which for years has advocated for removing synthetic dyes from children’s food Jose pointed out that the FDA has had evidence that these dyes aren’t safe for decades, referring to a 2021 California state report that linked some food dyes to children’s behavioral issues including risk for Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) “We just hope that this doesn’t stop there… and [the FDA] continues to follow science and address chemicals when they’re not safe,” he added Senior Vice President of Public Affairs and Communications for the National Confectioners Association said in a statement that the “FDA and regulatory bodies around the world have deemed our products and ingredients safe and we look forward to working with the Trump Administration and Congress on this issue.” “We are in firm agreement that science-based evaluation of food additives will help eliminate consumer confusion and rebuild trust in our national food safety system,” Gindlesperger added Kennedy said the food industry voluntarily agreed to work with the agencies and “showed a lot of leadership on this.” But he also took the industry to task blaming them for suppressing science and profiting off Americans’ illnesses “If [the food industry] wants to eat petroleum they ought to add it themselves at home but they shouldn’t be feeding it to the rest of us without our knowledge or consent,” he said States, too, have joined the food dye fight. West Virginia’s recent ban on synthetic dyes was one of the broadest efforts blue and green dyes from food starting January 1 At least 11 other states are considering similar legislation Many credit the “Make America Healthy Again,” or MAHA movement and the attention Kennedy has brought to chemicals in food for the increased state action “For over a decade I have said the FDA is asleep at the wheel and now I can stop saying that,” Vani Hari said at the press conference before introducing herself as a “fellow MAHA mom.” Kennedy also spoke at the press event on a wide range of issues beyond synthetic dyes saying “sugar is poison” and industry is “suppressing science.” He hinted that banning additives in pharmaceuticals would be a next priority “MAHA gets things right sometimes and gets things wrong sometimes,” Jose said “We would encourage the FDA to follow the science.” (Featured image Patrick Fore on Unsplash.) Millions of people across the United States could be drinking water contaminated with dangerous levels of substances created when utilities disinfect water tainted with animal manure and other pollutants An analysis of testing results from community water systems in 49 states found that nearly 6,000 such systems serving 122 million people recorded an unsafe level of chemicals known as trihalomethanes at least once during testing from 2019 to 2023 has been in place for more than two decades Texas water systems had the highest prevalence of water systems with unsafe levels of TTHMs, with more than 700 such systems serving over 8.6 million people reporting the contaminants above the EPA’s 80 ppb, according to the report issued April 10 by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) New York, Oklahoma, California and Illinois followed Texas with hundreds of water systems in each of those states showing higher-than-allowed levels of TTHMs during the testing period, the EWG report found. More than 64.5 million people are served by 3,170 systems in the ten states that had the most violations. Many community water systems rely on reservoirs and other surface waters for drinking water supplies which are frequently contaminated with runoff from farm fields Several studies have linked TTHM exposure to bladder and colorectal cancers and some research has additionally found that problems during pregnancy can be linked to consumption of  water containing TTHMs during pregnancy EWG’s health guideline for TTHMS in drinking water is 0.15 ppb representing a one-in-a-million lifetime cancer risk as shown by EWG research There is no reason to think the unsafe levels have been mitigated since 2023 the ending period for the testing covered in the EWG report In February, city officials in Battle Creek, Michigan, found excessively high TTHM levels in that city’s water system In November, the city of San Angelo, Texas, was notified that its water exceeded the EPA’s allowable levels for TTHMs the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality notified the Goodfellow Air Force Base that the community’s drinking water also exceeded the safe levels “Some people who drink water containing trihalomethanes in excess of the MCL over many years may experience problems with their liver, kidney, or central nervous systems, and may have an increased risk of getting cancer,” the state agency warned. (Featured photo by Engin Akyurt on Unsplash.) Besieged by thousands of lawsuits alleging that its paraquat weedkiller causes Parkinson’s disease Syngenta has entered into an agreement aimed at settling large swaths of those claims The company and lead counsel for thousands of plaintiffs have “entered into a signed Letter Agreement intended to resolve” the litigation, an April 14 court filing states.  The lawyers for the plaintiffs confirmed the settlement but declined to answer questions about the details “Public details of the settlement will be available for counsel and their clients once the process is finalized,” a team of plaintiffs’ lawyers said in a statement said the terms of the settlement should be completed within 30 days He said further trial planning proceedings should be delayed Syngenta confirmed that it has “settled certain claims” related to paraquat but said in a statement that it continues to believe that there is “no merit” to the claims Litigation “can be distracting and costly,” the company said “Entering into the agreement in no way implies that paraquat causes Parkinson’s Disease or that Syngenta has done anything wrong Despite decades of investigation and more than 1,200 epidemiological and laboratory studies of paraquat no scientist or doctor has ever concluded in a peer-reviewed scientific analysis that paraquat causes Parkinson’s disease This view is endorsed in science-based reviews by regulatory authorities The move to settle comes amid mounting calls to ban paraquat from both state and federal lawmakers and as growing numbers of Parkinson’s patients blame the company for not warning them of paraquat risks Numerous scientific studies have linked Parkinson’s to exposure to paraquat The agreement would not resolve all of the cases filed in the United States against Syngenta but could resolve the majority of them if enough plaintiffs agree to the terms As of mid-April, there were more than 5,800 active lawsuits pending in what is known as multidistrict litigation (MDL) being overseen by a federal court in Illinois There were more than 450 other cases filed in California and many more scattered in state courts around the country The agreement notice applies to people whose lawsuits are part of the MDL and could provide settlements for plaintiffs in the cases outside the MDL as well Lawyers for plaintiffs in cases outside the MDL expressed frustration with the situation saying they were not included in the settlement discussions and were doubtful the terms would provide value to the majority of plaintiffs They fear that plaintiffs who do not agree to settle may see their cases delayed or otherwise negatively impacted by the deal “These plaintiffs are dying every day,” Majed Nachawati a lawyer whose clients are outside the MDL told a judge in a California court hearing Tuesday on the matter He said the news of the settlement was a “shock” because he was not apprised of the settlement negotiations by the other plaintiffs’ lawyers Several trials have been set to start in the last two years Syngenta has successfully delayed those trials Pennsylvania is now set to start at the end of May Syngenta also successfully was able to get a delay in a trial that had been set to start in early May in Washington state “We just don’t want the can to be kicked down the road any further,” lawyer Curtis Hoke whose firm represents 200 plaintiffs suing Syngenta told the California judge in Tuesday’s court hearing Paraquat was introduced in the 1960s by a predecessor to the giant global agrochemical company Syngenta The herbicide has become one of the most widely used weedkilling chemicals in the world used by farmers to control weeds before planting their crops and to dry out crops for harvest Syngenta was allegedly aided in suppressing the risks of paraquat by a “reputation management” firm called v-Fluence. Internal documents also show that the company withheld damaging internal research from the EPA and worked to try to discredit a prominent scientist whose work connected paraquat to Parkinson’s Syngenta’s effort to settle the litigation before any high-profile trials comes after Monsanto’s owner Bayer was rocked by similar litigation alleging its Roundup weedkiller causes cancer After the company lost the first Roundup trial investors became enraged and Bayer has spent years and billions of dollars fighting to end the ongoing litigation that featured personal details about more than 500 environmental advocates politicians and others seen as opponents of pesticides and genetically modified (GM) crops President Trump’s controversial pick for Secretary of Health and Human Services The profiles often provided derogatory information about the industry opponents and included home addresses and phone numbers and details about family members The profiles were provided to members of an invite-only web portal where v-Fluence also offered a range of other information to its roster of more than 1,000 members The membership included staffers of US regulatory and policy agencies executives from the world’s largest agrochemical companies and their lobbyists the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and other international media partners on the September 2024 publication of the investigation News of the profiling and the private web portal sparked outrage and threats of litigation by some of the people and organizations profiled London research professor Michael Antoniou who was profiled on the portal with derogatory information about his personal life and family members said he fears the actions to take down the profiles may be “too little too late.” “Those of us who were profiled still do not know who accessed the information and how it was used,” he said “Did it hinder us in our careers or close doors that otherwise may have been open to us The fact that V-Fluence and the industries it serves resorted to these underhand methods shows that they were unable to win on the level of the science.” V-Fluence not only has eliminated the profiling but also has made “significant staff cuts” in the wake of the public exposure the former Monsanto public relations executive who founded and heads v-Fluence Byrne blamed the company’s struggles on “rising costs from continued litigator and activist harassment of our staff and clients with threats and misrepresentations…”  He said the articles published about the company’s profiling and private web portal were part of a “smear campaign” which was based on “false and misleading misrepresentations” that were “not supported by any facts or evidence” Adding to the company’s troubles, several corporate backers and industry organizations have cancelled contracts with v-Fluence, according a post in a publication for agriculture professionals.   Since its launch in 2001, v-Fluence has worked with the world’s largest pesticide makers and provided self-described services that include “intelligence gathering” “proprietary data mining” and “risk communications” One client of more than 20 years is Syngenta a Chinese government enterprise-owned company currently being sued by thousands of people in the US and Canada who allege they developed the incurable brain disease Parkinson’s from using Syngenta’s paraquat weed killers The first US trial is scheduled to get underway in March Several others are scheduled over the following months Byrne and v-Fluence are named as co-defendants in one of the cases against Syngenta. They are accused of helping Syngenta suppress information about risks that the company’s paraquat could cause Parkinson’s disease, and of helping “neutralize” its critics. (Syngenta denies there’s a proven causal link between paraquat and Parkinson’s.) Byrne disputes the allegations in the lawsuit v-Fluence, which also had the former Monsanto Co. as a client secured some funding from the US government as part of a contract with a third party Public spending records show the US Agency for International Development (USAID) contracted with a separate non-governmental organization that manages a government initiative to promote GM crops in African and Asian nations the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) then paid v-Fluence a little more than $400,000 from roughly 2013 through 2019 for services that included counteracting critics of “modern agriculture approaches” in Africa and Asia A separate contract signed by the US Department of Agriculture in the final months of President Donald Trump’s first term also provided government employees with access to the portal including the “stakeholder backgrounders” on scientists and activists which v-Fluence says it has now removed Kennedy’s profile described him as “an anti-vaccine anti-GMO and anti-pesticide activist litigator who espouses various health and environmental conspiracy claims” After the operations were made public in articles by The New Lede, the Guardian and media partners, v-Fluence engaged a law firm to conduct an independent review of whether or not the profiling may have violated the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) The regulation is intended to protect an individual’s right over collection and use of their personal data The analysis found that v-Fluence was “not subject to the GDPR”, but recommended v-Fluence handle “EU personal data consistent with the requirements of the GDPR in the event the Regulation is deemed to apply,” the company said in a statement One of the recommendations was removing the profiles v-Fluence will continue to “offer stakeholder research with updated guidelines to avoid future misinterpretations of our work product,” according to the company statement Wendy Wagner, a law professor at the University of Texas with expertise in the regulation of toxic substances said there seemed to be little good reason to maintain such a database other than to be used for harassing opponents (Lighthouse journalists Margot Gibbs and Elena DeBre co-authored this article.)  (This article is co-published with The Guardian.) (Featured photo from the Bonus Eventus LinkedIn page.) CA—Cliff Lede Vineyards has increased its Napa Valley estate vineyard holdings with the acquisition of 7.5 acres of prime vineyards in the Stags Leap District AVA a vineyard property contiguous to their own was originally planted to Cabernet Sauvignon in the 1980s and has been farmed and leased by Cliff Lede Vineyards since the winery was founded in 2002 Cliff Lede’s total estate Napa Valley vineyard holdings are now over 160 acres across Stags Leap District “We have been interested in maximizing the potential of this site for quite some time and jumped at the opportunity to expand our Stags Leap District estate,” says General Manager and COO Jason Lede the steep rocky hillside Poetry Vineyard has had a strong identity as the primary source of the iconic “Poetry” Cabernet Sauvignon is the primary source for “Rhythm” Cabernet Sauvignon which made its debut as a single vineyard bottling with the 2021 vintage “Growing and producing Cabernet Sauvignon in Napa Valley is what we do best and it’s what we are most passionate about,” says Lede. In 2013 Cliff Lede Vineyards expanded with the purchase of a 20-acre vineyard in Calistoga at the base of Diamond Mountain then doubled in size after acquiring an 87-acre vineyard in Carneros in 2020 These additional estate vineyards throughout Napa Valley provide Director of Winemaking Christopher Tynan with a spectrum of top-quality fruit to incorporate into several Cliff Lede bottlings First established by Cliff Lede in 2002 with the purchase of 60 acres in the Stags Leap District Cliff Lede Vineyards has become a leading family-owned producer of Bordeaux variety wines with more than 160 acres of estate vineyards across Stags Leap District The 25,000 square foot Howard Backen-designed winery and network of caves provide an ideal home for Cliff Lede’s wine production has been awarded multiple 100-point scores across critical publications Winemaking is led by Director of Winemaking Christopher Tynan and Winemaker Travis Bullard The Cliff Lede Vineyards’ tasting room offers a complete Napa Valley lifestyle experience where the best in wine A variety of indoor and outdoor tasting experiences and private tours including tasting in the newly remodeled Backstage Tasting Lounge Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value" © 2007 - 2025 | Wine Industry Network LLC. All Rights Reserved. Chewing gum made from either synthetic polymers or tree-based resins sheds significant quantities of tiny plastic particles into saliva  according to a study currently undergoing peer review that was presented Tuesday at a meeting of the American Chemical Society Researchers found that chewing gum, on average, releases over 600 particles of microplastics per gram, with the average stick of gum weighing between two and six grams, according to the study in which researchers chewed 10 different types of leading gum brands and then sampled their saliva at various time points “We need to be aware that these gums are releasing plastics into our body,” said Sanjay Mohanty a professor at University of California Los Angeles Synthetic gum is made up of plastic polymers It didn’t come as a shock to the researchers that “natural” gums that use plant resins as a base had similar levels of microplastics which must be getting there somehow during the manufacturing process The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has no standards for microplastics in food and has stated that “current scientific evidence does not demonstrate that levels of microplastics or nanoplastics detected in foods pose a risk to human health.” However, some research has begun to hint at links between microplastics in the body and negative health outcomes. For example, a study published in March 2024 in The New England Journal of Medicine followed 312 patients who had fatty deposits and these people fared worse than those who did not: Over the next 34 months they were 2.1 times more likely to experience stroke But the researchers of this study make no claims about health effects and don’t want to alarm anybody or single out gum unnecessarily since microplastics are found in many foods “Gum is safe to enjoy as it has been for more than 100 years,” a spokesperson for the National Confectioners Association said in an emailed statement “Food safety is the number one priority for U.S and our member companies use only FDA-permitted ingredients.” The 10 brands of gum in the study primarily released four different types of microplastics, including polyolefins, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyacrylamides, and polystyrenes. PET is commonly used to make plastic bottles and is the most common polymer found in the human brain Polystyrene is used in packing peanuts and many other products The study only measured microplastics above 20 microns in size (a tiny fraction of a millimeter) meaning that there could be many more fibers that are not turning up The team hopes to look for even smaller particles in future work The paper found that gums released most microplastics within the first few minutes of chewing and release over 90% of the plastic particles within eight minutes The research suggests that chewing gum is likely to slowly release even more microplastics over time in the environment making it important to properly dispose of it (Featured image by Thomas Watson via Unsplash+.) Plastics are negatively impacting our health in shocking ways with the problem growing worse over time amid lax government regulations a group of scientists and policy experts warned on Thursday “We have, I think, a plastics addiction,” said Shanna Swan, a professor and epidemiologist at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, said in a livestreamed conference hosted by Moms Clean Air Force in the way it fails to protect us,” Swan said the panelists said: Microplastics have been found in human organs plastics additives are linked to heart disease and death and air pollution from manufacturing causes respiratory illness and contributes to climate change These issues are all particularly urgent now as the Trump Administration slashes rules and agencies meant to protect people from plastic-associated air and water pollution US Rep. Summer Lee a Democrat from western Pennsylvania who spoke at the event  announced the launch of an environmental justice caucus in Congress that will aim to address harms caused by plastics manufacturing and pursue solutions leaders from various fields said key challenges include accurately communicating the science showing harm to the public getting money and political influence from fossil fuel companies out of politics and electing leaders who act in the interest of public health The effort to resist plastic pollution is urgent and existential a campaigner with Moms Clean Air Force: “You’re fighting for your lives.” (Plastic manufacturing and waste processing is a major cause of air pollution.) Swan spoke first about her ground-breaking research showing the men’s sperm counts are declining by around 2% annually in the United States, due in part to exposure to phthalates, chemicals added to plastics in part to make them softer. Other researchers have made similar findings These chemicals can get into your body through absorption including in such innocuous ways as smelling nail polish or hairspray These chemicals cause other harms, as noted by Leo Trasande a researcher and director of New York University’s Center for the Investigation of Environmental Hazards 5% of premature births in the US can be linked directly to phthalates Exposure to these chemicals are also shrinking children’s brains but impacting the function of the body’s thyroid hormones Trasande also pointed to a study he and colleagues authored in 2022, which found that 50,000 Americans die annually due to heart diseases attributable to phthalates “These chemicals are literally killing people,” Trasande said Another harm these substances present is the threat posed by tiny shards of plastics in food and water and the air. Trasande referenced a 2024 Italian study published in The New England Journal of Medicine which looked for the presence of microplastics in plaques removed from the carotid artery of 257 patients in Italy Those with microplastics fared much worse in the next 34 months with a 2.1-fold increased risk of having a heart attack The scientists said there is more than enough evidence of the need to push for concrete policies limiting the use of single-use plastics and reducing plastics exposure “We have enough information to act,” said Tracey Woodruff director of the Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment at the University of California-San Francisco creates particulate matter that increases the risk of cancer and other diseases particularly in disadvantaged front-line communities like Cancer Alley a region of Louisiana where scores of petrochemical factories are located Shannon Jones a researcher at the University of Richmond who studies such particulate matter said her research cannot be disconnected from the sociological: Environmental racism has allowed industrial facilities spewing pollutants to spring up in poor Black communities “Pollution is a form of oppression,” she said the head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under Biden “Some of us will be canaries in the coal mine and suffer worse Before Trump took office and Collin left her post she finished an interim policy suggesting the EPA begin looking at cumulative impacts of plastic pollution that add up over time a change from the historical practice of mainly looking at acute exposures to single substances The participants noted that there have been some successes in working to reduce exposure to plastic pollutants and a grain export facility had been slated for the location.) Lynn Anderson, with Moms Clean Air Force, also noted that a campaign she helped lead succeeded in getting a moratorium passed in her home of Youngstown, Ohio, on new plants gasifying or burning plastic via pyrolysis both of which are associated with toxic air pollution Musician Adam Met, who’s also an adjunct professor at Columbia University teaching climate policy, explained how he and his band AJR have partnered with local non-profits around the country to get concert-goers to get tens of thousands of signatures on various plastics- and climate-related petitions (Featured image by Nick Fewings via Unsplash.) Pesticide company efforts to push through laws that could block litigation against them is igniting battles in several US farm states and pitting some farm groups against each other Laws have been introduced in at least 8 states so far and drafts are circulating in more than 20 states backed by a deluge of advertising supporting the measures Organizers against the Iowa bill are planning a rally at the state capitol on Monday after the state senate voted Feb The bill would bar people from suing pesticide manufacturers for failing to warn them of health risks as long as the product labels are approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Opponents say the legislation will rob farmers and others who use pesticides from holding companies accountable in court if their pesticide products cause disease or injury “We’re very worried. Our farmers feel that if they have an injuries or illnesses due to their use of a pesticide they should have access to the courts,” said Aaron Lehman, an Iowa corn and soybean farmer who is president of the Iowa Farmers Union “We just don’t think the playing field should be tilted.” But backers of the legislation say they’re trying to ensure farmers don’t lose access to beneficial weed killers insecticides and other chemicals that are commonly used in growing food They maintain that tort lawyers exploit and entice sick people to bring lawsuits that are not backed by scientific evidence Several large farm groups, including the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, are supporting the bill. The actions in the states come alongside a simultaneous push for changes in federal law that would effectively shield companies from lawsuits brought by people claiming they developed cancers or other diseases due to their use of pesticides Bayer, the Germany-based owner of the former Monsanto Co., is the chief architect of the strategy, designed as a means to beat back thousands of lawsuits filed by farmers and others who blame their use of Monsanto’s Roundup herbicides for causing them to develop cancer The litigation has so far cost Bayer billions of dollars in settlements and jury verdicts favoring plaintiffs, and more cases are pending. The company says the pursuit of the legislative changes is necessary to protect its “important investments” and to ensure farmers don’t lose access to Roundup The company says it has joined with more than 360 grower and industry groups to push the federal legislative changes and with the Modern Ag Alliance coalition of agricultural organizations to fight for the changes in state laws Bayer said the state laws would not prevent anyone from suing pesticide makers though they would ensure that any pesticide registered with the EPA and sold with an EPA-approved label would “satisfy requirements for health and safety warnings.” The company said the “future of American farming depends on reliable science-based regulation of important crop protection products – determined safe for use by the EPA.”  the measures are advancing in other states the proposed shield law passed through the House Agriculture Committee on Feb The legislation has not yet been formally introduced in Idaho but a draft has been circulating among lawmakers government relations director with the Idaho Conservation League The league and a contingent of other opposition groups held a press conference last week denouncing the efforts to pass what the groups call the “Chemical Company Immunity” law They cited research showing elevated levels of pesticides in pregnant women who live close to agricultural fields, and a study that found elevated cancer occurrence correlated to pesticide exposure “There are significant concerns with the fact that EPA does not conduct its own safety studies on these products before they are approved,” said Oppenheimer “They rely on these industry research studies And as you look at the history of pesticide approval there have been numerous instances where manufacturers knew that their products caused certain harms but sought to limit the public disclosure of those studies many dangerous products have been on the market for years Often it take decades for the EPA to withdraw approval for these products.” Along with the state legislative actions, the EPA last month opened a public comment period on a petition filed by the Attorneys General of Nebraska and South Dakota  seeking an amendment to federal law that would make it harder for people to sue pesticide makers The proposed modifications would bar any state labeling requirements that were “inconsistent” with the EPA’s conclusions regarding the safety of a pesticide “Statements or conclusions regarding the product’s human health effects including the likelihood of causing cancer that are different from EPA’s findings and conclusions” would be considered “misbranding” the language would essentially bar legal claims against pesticide makers that accuse them of failing to warn a consumer of certain health risks if the EPA has not required those risks to be spelled out on a product label the bill is expected to pass the state senate but is projected to face an uphill battle in the house chamber Despite a “flood” of online and newspaper advertising by proponents of the Iowa bill executive director of the Iowa Association for Justice “Polling in Iowa would indicate that the general public is simply not going to fall for Bayer’s message,” Mertens said “But legislators can be swayed in ways that voters cannot (This article is co-published with The Guardian.)  (Featured photo from Food & Water Watch Iowa Facebook page.) Iowa Republicans are bought and paid for on this issue now is the shield for Bayer because it lobbied successfully for weak labeling at the federal level “Why would you take away farmers’ right to sue?” This year Bayer has trained them: “Farmers still have the right to sue Bayer has no control over what’s on the label…” It’s BS but that doesn’t matter anymore The Industry's Leading Publication for Wineries and Growers second-generation vintner and General Manager at Cliff Lede Vineyards located in Napa Valley's Stags Leap District has been elected to the board of Napa Valley Vintners (NVV) the nonprofit trade association established in 1944 with a goal of cultivating excellence in the region NVV inspires its 539 members to consistently produce wines of the highest quality and care for the extraordinary place they call home help shape the organization's priorities and ensure vintner leadership and oversight for all that the NVV does vintner members elect a board of directors consisting of 11 seats "I firmly believe that Napa Valley is the greatest wine region in the world and much of this is thanks to what this collective has achieved over the last 80 years I am grateful to those who have served on the NVV board before me," says Lede "It is an honor to be elected by my fellow vintners and I am looking forward to collaborating with them to further the NVV's mission." Jason Lede became General Manager of Cliff Lede Vineyards in May of 2024 He worked his first job at the family winery in 2005 and after completing his MBA and working internationally in the wine industry he joined Cliff Lede Vineyards in Napa full time in 2015 He most recently served as Cliff Lede Vineyards' Director of Communications following years as Hospitality Manager and Sales Manager Jason now oversees all day-to-day operations of the winery and continues to work closely with his father cliffledevineyards.com/ The 25,000 square foot Howard Backen-designed winery and network of caves provide an ideal home for Cliff Lede's wine production The Cliff Lede Vineyards tasting room offers a complete Napa Valley lifestyle experience where the best in wine A variety of tasting experiences and private tours ShareSaveCommentLeadershipEducationBurying The Lede: College Tuition Has Been In A Decade-Long DeclineByDavid Rosowsky Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights 03:37pm EDTShareSaveCommentSeveral stories appeared this week about increases in college tuition and fees continuing to be .. appeared in the same week touting that (once again) college tuition and fees rose They also reported (and showed graphically) that the actual price of tuition at many colleges and universities (adjusted for inflation) has continued a decade-long decline Has the cost of college skyrocketed out of reach or has it somehow managed to stay affordable with tuition and fees rising slower than inflation and actual cost of tuition and fees actually decreasing year over year This continued dichotomy in messages only reinforces the need – and the urgency – of doing so Higher ed is at a tipping point and decisions about its future must be made in the bright light of facts not the murky light of partial information and agenda-driven spin recruitment and enrollment management strategies have become far more sophisticated even as retention and persistence strategies lag somewhat in sophistication and effectiveness As just reported by the College Board the average net price - the remaining cost of tuition after institutional and grant aid is deducted - for undergraduate students entering their freshman year private non-profit universities was $16,510 for the 2024-25 academic year down from $19,330 in 2006-07 (adjusted for inflation to 2024 dollars) Net prices at public institutions followed similar trend lines: $2,480 was the average amount charged in 2024-25 at in-state down from $4,340 in 2012-13 (inflation adjusted) freshmen attending two-year colleges continue to receive on average enough grant aid to cover tuition and fees the inflation-adjusted average of published tuition and fees peaked in 2019-20 while the Consumer Price Index increased by 23 percent during this same period A close look at borrowing trends reveals more good news: Undergraduate borrowing has declined for the 13th consecutive year and Pell Grant expenditures increased after several years of declines Compared to the inflation-adjusted peak of $159B in 2010 students and parents borrowed $99B in federal and nonfederal loans during the 2023-24 academic year both need-based and merit-based scholarships reduce the “sticker” price published to the “actual” price paid) that remains the most misunderstood by students and families The answer to the question “so which is it?” is not cut and dried There ARE additional associated costs of attending college and these are rising at higher rates than tuition and fees especially those increasing faster than inflation mean many families are less able to afford higher education But it is also true that colleges and universities have been able to keep increases in tuition and fees (typically the largest cost components of a higher education) below inflation for a decade or more now Their focus on the real cost to students and families and commitment to keeping these costs in-check whether altruistic or driven by the need to compete in the market The media far prefers the “college costs spinning wildly out of control” headline is an award-winning author who has written extensively on challenges and opportunities facing higher education (in particular public research universities) in the post-pandemic and multi-crisis eras A former university vice president for research he currently serves as senior advisor to Michael Crow He also holds the title of senior fellow of ASU’s University Design Institute and serves as a strategic advisor to the Council on Higher Education as a Strategic Asset (HESA) www.davidvrosowsky.com A Georgia jury verdict ordering Bayer AG to pay over $2 billion to a man suffering from cancer he blamed on his use of Roundup weed killer comes as that state’s governor weighs whether to sign into law a measure that would effectively bar such cases from going to trial in the future Friday’s verdict rocked Bayer investors driving down the German company’s shares more than 8% on Monday which bought Roundup maker Monsanto in 2018 failed to properly warn users of years of scientific evidence that exposure to Roundup could cause cancer awarding plaintiff John Barnes $2 billion in punitive damages and $65 million in compensatory damages Barnes developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) after using Roundup to spray weeds around his home in Dalton purchasing the herbicide from Home Depot stores He was diagnosed with NHL in 2020 and has endured multiple rounds of treatment and one recurrence of the disease He is one of more than 100,000 people in the US who have filed lawsuits alleging they developed cancer due to use of Monsanto’s weed killers Barnes, a father, grandfather and former Marine, testified in the three-week trial that the disease and treatment have taken a lasting toll “With this cancer …  there is no cure,” Barnes testified He cried as he described persistent fear that his time with his family may be limited “The verdict shows the community is not going to tolerate these types of backroom dealings … manipulating science and scientific journals to promote their own views of their products,” said Findley Monsanto knew “for years and years” that Roundup use could cause cancer but failed to reflect that knowledge on Roundup labels and expects even if it fails to overturn the jury award as has been the case with other large jury verdicts in Roundup cases The nationwide litigation has so far cost Bayer billions of dollars in settlements and jury verdicts favoring plaintiffs Bayer said as of January approximately 114,000 claims out of 181,000 claims have been resolved or “deemed to be ineligible.”  as it conflicts with the overwhelming weight of scientific evidence and the consensus of regulatory bodies and their scientific assessments worldwide,” the company said in a statement “Our track record demonstrates that we win when plaintiffs’ attorneys and their experts are not allowed to misrepresent the worldwide regulatory and scientific assessments that continue to support the products’ safety We continue to stand fully behind the safety of Roundup products – critical tools that farmers rely on to produce affordable food and feed the world.” Brian Kemp will soon sign new legislation recently passed by state lawmakers that would impact cases such as Barnes Bayer is the chief architect of the Georgia law and similar measures in other states that would in effect shield companies from lawsuits brought by people claiming they suffered health problems due to their use of pesticides Bayer and allies are promoting passages of the laws with a deluge of advertising The company says the pursuit of the legislative changes is necessary to protect its “important investments” and to ensure farmers don’t lose access to Roundup and it hopes other states will “follow Georgia’s lead in supporting farmers.” The new laws would bar people from suing pesticide manufacturers for failing to warn them of health risks as long as the product labels are approved by the Environmental Protection Agency “The options for holding massive pesticide companies accountable are already so limited and we must fight to protect the ones we do have,” said Kayla Nichols a spokesperson for Pesticide Action & Agroecology Network received a postcard asking whether she’d like to take part in a clinical trial aimed at preventing diabetes How many patients have I asked to enroll in trials told me that she had cared for people dealing with grave complications of diabetes—vision loss limb amputations—and had worried that “full-blown diabetes might be in my future.” She decided to sign up Some of the trial’s participants were given a medication called metformin; others were given a placebo in which volunteers didn’t receive a pill but instead worked with trial staff to meet their health goals “It changed the way I approached my health,” she told me “The staff were so committed that it made you more committed.” The study found that metformin lowered the risk of diabetes by roughly a third; the life-style intervention cut the risk by more than half Both components were so successful that the trial was stopped early (All participants got the life-style intervention for a year; since then the study has mostly been observational.) The Secretary of Health and Human Services held a press conference to announce the findings and I’ve never heard of a study’s results being announced by the head of H.H.S.,” David M Diabetes is a lifelong condition whose consequences can be varied: nerve damage It affects nearly forty million Americans and kills more than a hundred thousand each year “Studying it for three or five years seemed shortsighted,” Nathan said His team applied for funding to extend their project and consider follow-up questions How do blood-sugar levels affect the body and the brain over time Nathan and his colleagues tracked thousands of patients—which was itself a feat of logistical and scientific endurance (Many doctors struggle to get their patients to attend annual physicals let alone engage them for a study of this duration.) The Diabetes Prevention Program Outcomes Study has led to more than two hundred scientific publications it has overcome one of the central difficulties of chronic-disease research: time Most studies enroll patients for months or for years if you want to prove that a drug or a life style can extend a person’s life—not in theory but in fact—you have to follow them for And to study a condition with wide-ranging effects you tend to gather wide-ranging data: genetic information The study collected hundreds of thousands of samples which serve as a sort of time capsule of America’s health Such troves of medical information can often lead to unexpected breakthroughs a study found that the people who’d participated in a rigorous diet-and-exercise program in the late nineteen-nineties were substantially less likely to develop diabetes decades later Midlife investments in health compound into older age researchers have turned their focus to a link between diabetes and dementia and the diabetes study was abruptly terminated Columbia informed collaborators at other institutions that trial-related work needed to stop immediately “We had to call some participants that night and tell them not to come in the next day,” Nathan said got a call from a study coördinator at Montefiore Einstein Medical Center informing her of the cancellation “It just seemed so pointless.” A few days later she joined other Montefiore study participants on a Zoom call with the site’s lead researcher and a member of the study’s executive committee team overseeing the grant had been blindsided They learned of the termination not from the government for which they work but from the study’s leaders “They were completely in the dark,” she said her daughter was a child; her daughter now has two children of her own Bryant noticed an older man who looked ill—a fellow-participant who appeared to be sleeping or unconscious She held his hand as she explained that he had dementia She wanted everyone to understand the stakes of the research they’d been engaged in Perhaps hidden somewhere in the time capsule was a key to prevent that could be any of us one day,” Bryant told me (Kennedy has acknowledged that the mass layoffs could result in many mistakes.) A C.D.C unit that works to prevent childhood lead poisoning was purged Another unit dedicated to helping people stop smoking the country’s leading cause of preventable death veterinarians focussed on curtailing the risks of the ongoing bird-flu outbreak were let go; some fired employees at C.M.S were told to direct their complaints to an administrator who died last year “I have no argument with the need for government to do things better and more efficiently,” Richard Besser This is about tearing down institutions they don’t like I doubt that rebuilding them will be possible in my lifetime.” Patients are already feeling the effects. It’s estimated that at least a hundred clinical trials are at risk of stopping or have already halted, including some dedicated to preventing sexually transmitted infections and keeping organ-transplant recipients safe from infectious threats Bryant told me that she’s been working at a contract research organization that helps enroll patients in trials Even studies sponsored by the pharmaceutical industry are being affected: many rely partially on federal funding An oncologist told me about a patient with Stage IV cancer who people who have never participated in a trial will suffer the costs of unrealized discoveries—potential treatments and insights that never materialize The lapse in funding means that the Diabetes Prevention Program Outcomes Study can no longer continue to collect patient data as planned; it can no longer pay staff to do blood work Scientists need funds to properly store and retrieve samples; they need money to pay for computer servers and to hire statisticians and analysts the agency has told researchers that it doesn’t have the capacity to accept the entire collection.) “The absence of funding could prevent us from continuing to maintain the integrity of the database,” Nathan “It’s a tremendous waste of resources.” The contents of the time capsule may become irrecoverable and others involved with the study have worked furiously to try to have the N.I.H They’ve spoken with agency representatives and members of Congress They’ve gone to the media and lobbied professional societies the bipartisan chairs of the Congressional Diabetes Caucus sent a letter to Kennedy and the N.I.H urging them to “take necessary action” to insure that the diabetes study continues did not respond to my requests for comment.) with whom some participants have decades-long relationships “People think trials are just about collecting data but there’s an art to keeping participants invested and engaged,” Crandall said “That personal connection will fade.” She told me about an older participant who’d recently passed away The woman didn’t have much family; a friend organized her memorial service and wound up inviting the study team the friend spoke about how much the study had meant to the woman—how she felt that she was contributing to something larger than herself “That’s what a trial like this can be,” Crandall said An earlier version of this article misstated which diabetes study was the world’s longest running One hundred days of ineptitude An unprecedented economic fiasco The bureaucratic nightmares of being trans under Trump Trump’s deportees to El Salvador are now “ghosts” in U.S. courts Will the Trump tariffs devastate the whiskey industry Cover Story: a beacon extinguished Rodent studies given to US regulators by insecticide makers close to 20 years ago revealed the chemicals could be harmful to the animals’ brain development – data worrisome for humans exposed to the popular pesticides but not properly accounted for by regulators according to a new research report published this week The analysis examined five studies that exposed pregnant rats’ to various types of insecticides known as neonicotinoids (commonly called neonics) The studies found that the offspring born to the exposed rats suffered shrunken brains and other problems Statistically significant shrinkage of brain tissue was seen in the offspring of rats exposed to high doses of five types of neonics – acetamiprid The authors said the impacts on the brain appeared similar to the effects of nicotine which they said is known to disrupt mammalian neurological development The animal studies also support the possibility of a link between neonic exposure and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) the companies submitting the studies did not submit data for all dosage levels leading the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to assume negative effects were only seen at the high dose “We found numerous deficiencies in the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s regulatory oversight and data analyses,” the authors state in the paper published in the journal Frontiers in Toxicology which the EPA used to determine what neonic exposure levels are considered safe for humans were not publicly available and were obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request effects were found at the high dose and EPA did not demand data for the lower doses therefore leaving it unclear how little of a substance it takes to actually cause  adverse effects such as reduced size of certain brain regions,” said Bill Freese the science director for the environmental advocacy group Center for Food Safety and an author of the study The study found that the EPA consistently made determinations about what levels of neonic exposure were “safe” for humans without enough data to support its conclusions a 2001 study submitted to the agency by the pesticide manufacturer Bayer found effects on fetal brain development when pregnant rats were exposed to high doses of the pesticide imidacloprid The EPA asked the company for mid- and low-dose data then set a limit for imidacloprid at the mid-dose level even though it never received data showing that exposure at this level was safe “EPA needs to more rigorously demand data from registrants when they fail to submit,” said Freese “They’re making a decision to say these lower levels cause no harm even though they have no data to back that.” break down into so-called metabolites that are as potent as nicotine “one might expect to see neurodevelopmental impacts of exposure to their parent chemicals at low exposure levels,” the authors write The authors also concluded that the EPA should assess the cumulative exposure and risk for neonics as a group a measure required under the Food Quality Protection Act for pesticides that work similarly The EPA identified additional risks to workers while treating the seeds with the chemicals and cleaning seed treatment equipment “even when the use of maximum personal protective equipment is considered.” “These compounds have been approved for decades and now EPA is saying ‘maybe we underestimated the risk,’” says Freese The European Union banned outdoor uses of all three pesticides in 2018 like other pesticides sold or distributed in the US undergo an “in-depth evaluation of potential risks…to the environment and the US population,” said the EPA in an email “The rodent developmental neurotoxicity studies discussed in this article have been independently reviewed by EPA and incorporated into the most current human health risk assessments for these neonicotinoid pesticides,” said the EPA Neonics were first introduced in the 1990s as safer replacements for older pesticides and are now the most widely used insect-killing chemicals in the US and around the world In addition to their agricultural use as a coating on seed crops such as corn and soybeans and are applied on pets in flea and tick treatments imidacloprid was tied for the pesticide most frequently found in human food samples while acetamiprid and thiamethoxam made the top ten In contrast, a 2015 review by the companies Bayer and other pesticide manufacturers concluded that “the collective evidence indicates the neonicotinoid insecticides are not developmental neurotoxicants.” (Featured image by Getty Images for Unsplash+) A new study adds to evidence that farmers in the US corn belt have over-planted a type of genetically modified (GM) corn, leading to estimated losses of more than $1 billion as the pests the corn was designed to repel have grown resistant over time The authors of the paper, published Thursday in the journal Science said their findings supported a move toward a “more diversified” seed supply to which various insect pests are becoming resistant After examining rootworm crop damage data from 10 states over the period 2005-2016 the researchers determined that many farmers planted more GM corn than was considered necessary to address pest problems Bt seeds typically carry a significant price premium The scientists found that planting Bt corn in certain eastern Corn Belt states provided “only marginal yield protection benefits,” benefits that appear to often be eclipsed by the higher costs for GM seed versus non-GM seed Moreover, when you plant more Bt corn than necessary, “you move the pest toward the evolution of resistance,” said Christian Krupke a professor of entomology at Purdue University and Michigan planted about 50% of their fields with Bt corn but data the study authors reviewed suggested the ideal level was 18% or less If farmers in these states had planted this lower they would have made $99 million more per year during this period “This study is the first to show that short-term economic gains for individual farmers are associated with planting less Bt corn targeting rootworms,” said Bruce Tabashnik a University of Arizona professor who wasn’t involved in the study rootworm resistance to Bt corn is documented in at least six states in the US Corn Belt and 29 cases of resistance to Bt crops have been documented in 11 pest species in seven countries The scientists were surprised to find much higher levels of corn rootworm in the western corn belt compared to the east “You have to keep track of the biology more than we would have anticipated,” Krupke said The study also cites evidence that the efficacy of Bt corn’s toxicity to pests generally declined as Bt planting increased As resistance rises, the use of synthetic insecticides often does as well though such costs were  not included in the potential losses the study attributed to over-planting The study authors noted that makers of Bt corn often “stack” or combine genetic traits that enable the corn to fight pests with other genetic traits The combination makes it difficult for farmers to clearly identify the individual cost of each trait “Seed companies driven by profit maximization tend to strategically combine traits and genetics,” the study states US farmers face a narrowing list of seed vendors and may be compelled to adopt varieties with unnecessary traits.” The study authors proposed “enhancing transparency” in seed marketing through labeling for trait combinations including detailing the premium attached to each trait And they called for government programs that incentivize seed companies to broaden genetic diversity and trait combinations available for farmers saying “increasing rootworm resistance to Bt maize has led to a resurgence in insecticide use that Bt hybrids were intended to replace… If current and future related innovations are managed as Bt maize hybrids have been we risk entering a cycle of rapid obsolescence among transgenic technologies a biotechnology version of the ‘pesticide treadmill.’” Tabashnik said that the best methods to prevent resistance and prolong the effectiveness of Bt corn include not using more GM crops than necessary and proactively planting “refuges” of conventional corn These findings illustrate the importance of widespread pest monitoring and continuous funding for agricultural research some of which is imperiled by recent budget cuts (Featured image by Julian Schöll via Unsplash.) If it toxic to insects it probably toxic to livestock and humans I have noticed my neighbor 3 miles away plants roundup ready corn I plant old fashion non gmo open pollinated corn and the birds Citing an “industrial epidemic of disease,” a group of scientists have launched an organization aimed at tracking and preventing diseases tied to pollution and products pushed by influential companies “Industries that produce health-harming products have waged a decades-long assault on government regulatory agencies and policymaking to rig rules in their favor at the expense of public health these health harming products have contributed to a rise in chronic disease We are working to change that,” the center states on its website The organization which is currently housed within the UCSF Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment (PRHE) including exposing industry financial ties and lobbying that influence science and policy and researching industry tactics that undermine science and regulation pertinent to public health The center said that a range of products that include fossil fuels tobacco and ultra-processed foods are responsible for roughly one in three deaths around the world and that a rise in chronic diseases such as cancer Parkinson’s disease and dementias can all be tied to exposure to various industrial products “Time and again health-harming industries have lied about their products hiding the harms from the public and regulators and now many of these industries are the leading cause of death and disease globally,” Nicholas Chartres and physicians from not only the UCSF PRHE but also from the university’s Center for Climate Health & Equity Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education and the Institute for Health Policy Studies Researchers from University of Colorado and the University of Sydney area also among those participating in the new center “The increase in many chronic diseases is the manifestation of a global economic system that prioritizes products and profit over health and it is producing an industrial epidemic of disease,” Tracey Woodruff director of the new center and PRHE director “Health-harming industries such as fossil fuels and ultra-processed foods have rigged the regulatory and political systems in their favor and it’s critical to public health to hold these industries accountable.” The center will collaborate with, and make use of the collections within, the UCSF Industry Documents Library which is a compilation of millions of internal corporate documents dating back decades from a variety of industries (Featured photo by Getty Images for Unsplash+.) The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is moving to withdraw its interim regulatory decision on paraquat announcing that it needs more time to examine the potential health effects of the weed killing chemical that has been widely used in agriculture for decades but also linked for years to the incurable brain ailment known as Parkinson’s disease The EPA had promised to issue a report by Friday, January 17 updating its position on paraquat after a petition filed by the Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research and several other health advocacy organizations challenged the EPA’s 2021 interim registration review decision in which the agency concluded that there was “insufficient”  evidence linking paraquat exposure to Parkinson’s That interim EPA decision did call for certain mitigation measures to reduce risks the agency said it found necessary to protect human health and the environment and labels on paraquat products were amended in 2022 to reflect those measures But critics have pressed the EPA to go further and ban the pesticide entirely filed in the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals challenged not only the agency’s position on Parkinson’s risk but also the EPA’s analysis of respiratory and dermal exposures and how to balance paraquat’s risks and benefits As part of the process of reexamining its interim decision the agency said a year ago that it would spend 2024 analyzing new information about paraquat health effects and considering public comments about the issue The agency said last year it would issue a final document and potential next steps for paraquat use by the mid-January 2025 date The agency issued a statement saying it had “determined that additional data are necessary to resolve the uncertainty” surrounding certain paraquat risks The agency cited the “potential for paraquat to volatize,” and said it would be trying to determine potential “inhalation risks to bystanders from the volatilization of paraquat.” Such data “could change the underlying human health risk assessment,” and the regulatory decision based on that assessment And on Friday, the EPA asked the 9th Circuit to allow it to withdraw its interim decision on paraquat while it further investigates the concerns surrounding the chemical “EPA intends to withdraw the Interim Decision and will promptly do so once the Court rules on this motion,” the agency states in its court filing the case brought by the health advocacy groups will become moot The EPA asked the court to allow the agency until March 3 to file a reply in support of its motion to remand Plaintiffs in the case against the EPA said the move by the agency was disappointing and frustrating EPA is cowering behind the tired old industry tactic of delay environmental health science director at the Center for Biological Diversity one of the groups that brought the case in federal court against the EPA “It’s already been more than three years since this litigation started we cannot wait another four years just to start back at square one spokesperson for the Pesticide Action & Agroecology Network said the group was also disappointed in the delay but hopes it means the agency is giving more serious consideration to concerns “We hope this means that EPA will take the growing body of research around paraquat that shows links to Parkinson’s disease and kidney disease very seriously as they weigh this decision,” Nichols said “Paraquat is banned in over 70 countries It is past time for the United States to ban it.” the EPA cited a recent preliminary conclusion by California state regulators that paraquat does not cause Parkinson’s and said “EPA scientists have not yet had sufficient time to review that report.” Critics of the chemical have been pressuring the EPA to ban paraquat for years but the drumbeat has grown louder in recent months In October, more than 50 US lawmakers sent letters to the EPA calling for a ban arguing that paraquat is a “highly toxic pesticide whose continued use cannot be justified given its harms to farmworkers and rural communities.” The lawmakers cited scientific links between paraquat use and development of Parkinson’s and other “life threatening diseases” as well as “grave impacts on the environment” Internal documents also show that the company withheld damaging internal research from the EPA and worked to try to discredit a prominent scientist whose work connected paraquat to Parkinson’s Thousands of US paraquat users who suffer from Parkinson’s are currently suing Syngenta alleging the company should have warned them of the risk of developing the incurable brain disease but instead worked to hide the evidence of risk A class action lawsuit brought on behalf of Parkinson’s sufferers in Canada makes similar claims after colliding with a military helicopter marking the deadliest airline accident in the U.S a medevac flight operated by Jet Rescue Air Ambulance nose-dived into a Philadelphia neighborhood followed decades of deregulation of the airline industry and understaffing of air-traffic control sufficient to give even fearless fliers pause was scything the payrolls of federal agencies including the Federal Aviation Administration As I brushed my teeth the day before the flight my dread coalesced into the shape of a meme: Does anyone know if we have airline safety tomorrow features an image of a bandanna-clad boy taking a serious-faced mirror selfie “DOES ANYONE KNOW IF WE HAVE TO BRING OUR BACKPACKS TO THE FIELD TRIP TOMORROW.” With some slapdash editing—slapdashery is part of the charm—others have turned the child’s straightforward query into a template for expressing a memeable malaise “DOES ANYONE KNOW IF WE HAVE January TOMORROW,” posted during the doldrums of that seemingly interminable month; or “DOES ANYONE KNOW IF WE HAVE federal government TOMORROW.” Presented without the expected interrogative mark these questions suggest a tossed-off despondency retaining the anxiety of the child who seems unprepared for tomorrow’s excursion The meme’s humor lies in its shallow expressions of deep feeling: existential problems otherwise worthy of metaphysics or high literature here flung out as low-res Internet flatulence Reporting and commentary on what you need to know today. I doubt anything bad would have happened had I posted my little joke; a few likes friends who saw the post might have clucked at my show of poor taste in the face of tragedy and then moved on with their lives derivative in an irritating rather than with-it sense and lacking the transgression found in good gallows humor What productively blackens such humor is its embrace of dire circumstance the way it holds terror to its bosom like an old friend however much it may purport to highlight our frightening moment invoking and evacuating seriousness in one limp gesture smothering any thought or feeling at risk of requiring fortitude This strain of humor is not too cool for school; it’s desperate LOL that’s crazy once felt apt as a response to our media environment a quasi-absurdist means of palliating a 24/7 onslaught of slickly mediated information the singer-songwriter posted to Tumblr that she felt “constantly bombarded by jokes,” adding i LOVE to laugh and i love funny shit but like there is such a loss of sincerity and everything has to be a joke at all times.” Though the post was soon deleted screenshots found a wider audience among people who agreed with her read on our current climate Our unfunny times are nonetheless rife with laughter and it’s a laughter that seldom offers relief When did everything—everything—become ha ha ha Comedy and tragedy have been involved in a long and fruitful two-hander; a faith that the best of one leaves room for the other undergirds the rhapsodies of Shakespeare and “The Bear” alike The twin pillars of the American comedic sensibility burlesqued their people’s conditions to hysterical effect throughout the past century When Lenny Bruce threatened to piss and Richard Pryor opened his ass they served up the very shit from which postwar America sought escape in the cleansing assimilation of the suburbs—“a flight from industry and business and money and filth,” as the literary critic John Limon has put it as well as “a flight from the power of jokes” and all their lowly associations But people were laughing at what the standups had to say long and loud and among fellow audience members who were (at least according to America) different from one another who is credited with composing the first serious study of standup as an art form is as fascinated by this collective laughter as he is by the comedy itself The comedian curls the viewer into the drama of his own debasement with a laughter that amalgamates the many into one of comedy as standup exploded in popularity in the latter half of the twentieth century its cadences absorbed into other realms of American entertainment “This eventuality—the comedification of America,” Limon writes “is the most astounding fact about the American sensibility from 1960 to 2000.” “but also as a potent weapon for delineating a fractured and frightening world.” Yet any viewer of the nineties film “Reality Bites,” with its scene in which Ethan Hawke coolly recites the definition of irony knew how available and thus threadbare the term had already become David Foster Wallace had ascribed the “trendy sardonic exhaustion” among his peers to the increasing sophistication of television Writers strove to position themselves as more cynical than the idiot box that knew itself to be an idiot box The effect was “not liberating but enfeebling,” Wallace wrote Even before 9/11 was said to have killed it irony was no longer confrontational in its address It pointed out everything while standing neither for nor against anything in particular When humor returned to the mainstream post-9/11 complementing the nation’s earnest reclamation of its tragedy to promulgate American values “I’m here to give you permission to laugh,” Rudy Giuliani said at a charity event a month after the attack It is telling that when “South Park” returned to air previously impudent toward the establishment now joined the rest of media in mocking Arabs and Muslims and ended the episode on an earnest cheer: “Go America!” The thought was that to meet something with a laugh was the same thing as defanging it a fearful humor inflated with American self-importance As media outlets wrung their hands over the utility of humor after tragedy a burgeoning Internet culture lent no such consideration the digital world persisted as an all-hours laugh factory with 9/11 providing “an impetus to a new genre,” as the sociologist Giselinde Kuipers wrote of “cut-and-paste Internet jokes that were shared and spread around the world through e-mail were distinct from the humor that had followed other U.S Their authors didn’t seem touched by the events they digested The person who created an image of Teletubbies jumping to their deaths from the World Trade Center evoking Richard Drew’s harrowing 9/11 photograph “The Falling Man,” wasn’t doing so through tears The jokes that proliferated did not seem to be working through a singular grief and productive,” as Wallace lauded the “rebellious irony” of postwar fiction that exposed bureaucratic hypocrisies resembling the latter-day irony that Wallace associated with TV So it makes perfect sense that it would be further propagated by the next big thing in telecommunications where nobody had to be who they said they were Everyone was trying stuff out—a good thing the Internet as carved up by billionaires—didn’t invent shock-jocking; it only gave it a better alibi than it had on the radio jokey provocations feigned a detachment from real life If friends were calling each other “mein Führer,” it did not make them Nazis set fire to a refugee group home in Altena On his phone were racist memes and xenophobic articles and the phrase “mein Führer” used among pals argued that Denkhaus had otherwise displayed no prior anti-refugee sentiment: “It was only online that he’d dabbled in hate.” The irony-poisoned spew the most darndest and heinous things not out of conviction—or so we’re meant to assume—but just for funsies The diagnosis of online irony poisoning tends to understate the extent to which social media’s rightward drift regulates so much else in life, establishing the terms and the tenor by which we enter that bustling intersection called discourse. The comedification of America has become the memeification of America appearing a few years ago as a host of “Saturday Night Live,” a coup that seems quaint now that Musk is leading Trump’s gutting of the federal government as the head of an agency that he renamed after a meme The puerile hasn’t confabbed with the establishment so much as replaced it Jokes mingle with cruel and lethal austerity measures At the podium during a rally held after the Presidential Inauguration Musk raised a stiff right arm in what looked like a Nazi salute yet it was laughed off by the Anti-Defamation League as just an “awkward gesture.” This month Musk briefly changed his profile name on X a brilliant display of homophonic potty humor that prompted a surge in an obscure cryptocurrency by the same name This is where America lives and what America does because our ability to discern the consequential ghoulishness of this nation’s policies–LOL that’s crazy!–doesn’t in and of itself constitute resistance The inverse of falling Teletubbies and deniable Seig heils might look like a sincere attempt to meet the moment I went to my favorite movie theatre in Chicago to see Todd Haynes’s “May December,” a film that is funny in the way that melodrama But it did not feel like we were laughing together the character played by Charles Melton attempts to confront his wife about the fact that their two-decade-long relationship began with statutory rape; he was thirteen and she was thirty-six “You seduced me.” There is something farcical in the retort—an older woman playing child to the man she coerced into sex as an actual child What was comical about the exchange was the very thing that made it disturbing peals of laughter drowned out Melton’s cries and the scene’s devastatingly anticlimactic end rather than being thrown into relief by it the same theatre released a statement about an incident that occurred during a showing of David Lynch’s “Blue Velvet”; instead of treating the film’s “darker material”—including a bizarre voyeuristic rape scene—“with respect,” the theatre said patrons had been “loudly mocking abuse on the screen.” There have been similar reports of excess laughter among Broadway audiences at “Cabaret,” especially during “If You Could See Her,” the ridiculous duet with a gorilla that ends on the thud of an unfunny joke a dose of antisemitism that is meant to jerk the audience back into the realities of late-Weimar Berlin humor is proper to the unease—one cannot have their expectations (of a publicized scandal; of an American suburb; of a German night club) unsettled without first getting too comfortable But each of these works asks audiences to attune themselves to on-the-dime shifts in atmosphere to the psychodramas thrumming beneath the rituals of ordinary life Laughter is both the easiest and the hardest thing to critique—easy because it is a conspicuous target hard because taking issue with humor can put you in league with a bunch of pearl-clutching losers The person accusing another of not taking something seriously might herself be too serious missing a point best apprehended through the shoulder-shaking discomfort of an inappropriate laugh of UnitedHealthcare was gunned down in midtown Manhattan an outpouring of online tomfoolery unfolded alongside the news story itself Humorless pundits in the media were aghast at the crime in a way that seemed out of touch with the grand joke that is American health care through the fault of people such as the man shot dead “Fortunately the bullets were classified as preexisting,” a user quipped on Reddit; another declared “Thoughts and prayers are out of network!” To some observers the incessant joking was the sort of heartless mirth that social media had been running on for decades The death of Brian Thompson and the hilarity that followed placed greater focus on health care than did our last Democratic President who refused to plainly say whether he would veto Medicare for All if it came across his desk Rather than holding the thing they referenced at arm’s length In a recent lecture on the visual artist Hamishi Farah the writer Tobi Haslett wondered what role laughter can play when institutions unmask themselves Farah had been commissioned to create an art work for the Transmediale festival which then balked at Farah’s submission: a tranquil portrait of Joe Chialo Germany’s senator for culture and social cohesion in lockstep with Western cultural institutions endeavored to ban criticism of Israel from cultural life presumably out of fear that it was a work of ridicule a laughable “irony of ironies” best appreciated in his contemplative which is to say that it’s a matter of everyday life.” Laughter does not speak for itself and when we do we might find that it has things to say “DOES ANYONE KNOW IF WE HAVE TO maintain our senses of kindness and empathy despite the world constantly trying to destroy the individual and destroy feelings in impersonal society TOMORROW.” We laugh [This an evergreen article that we periodically republish as our readership grows, often with added materials from the Georgia Historic Newspapers database and website housed at the University of Georgia as we discover them] I did a search on our site for things we’d written in the past involving Bolton Whittier Mill (aka “Chattahoochee”) and stumbled on this gem The original article was published May of 2016 a 19th-Century resort on the grounds of an ice company in Bolton There is a guideline in journalism: “Don’t bury the lede.”  A lede  It’s the part that gets you interested in reading further  Burying the lede is opening with details that don’t grab your interest and leaving the real point of the story for later  I found a good example of burying the lede in a set of companion articles in an old Atlanta newspaper I’d been researching a 19th Century Atlanta community called Iceville located on the Chattahoochee River where the neighborhood of Bolton is located now  Iceville was named for the Atlanta Ice Company  The grounds of the company was a major picnic destination in the 1870s  It was within walking distance of the passenger rail terminal the Atlanta Daily Herald ran the following story: “Picnic of the Hibernian Society At Iceville At half past eight o’clock yesterday morning the Irish element of Atlanta’s population with many others got aboard the train and “Ho It was a beautiful morning — the girls looked charming as they always do — the young men had on clean shirts and were newly shaved and the old ones were not much behind in the matter of dress …” The story goes on to describe the efficiency of the organizers and recount some of the prominent attendees those who did not dance sought suitable trysting places story’ was told many times during the day attracted much of the attention of lovers of nature  while the curious took occasion to inspect the ice works.” and regrets over the absence of two prominent members of the Hibernian Society “Just after six o’clock the whistle blew but the gaiety was unfortunately all forgotten when the sad accident described in another column occurred Otherwise the whole was such a scene as only the jolly The “sad accident” was recounted under the next headline: “One of the Party Run Over and Killed by the Train.” newspapers had different standards in the 19th Century the transition between the two stories must have been jarring for readers You can go to the original source by following this link to a digitized copy of the Atlanta Herald Georgia Historic Newspapers is a part of the GALILEO project and is housed at the University of Georgia It’s an amazing resource for anyone with an interest in the history of Georgia and its regions According to the “About” page on its website: The Georgia Historic Newspapers Archive is a project of the Digital Library of Georgia (DLG), a part of Georgia’s Virtual Library GALILEO and is based at the University of Georgia Libraries and other cultural heritage institutions to digitize historical newspapers from around the state The archive is free and open for public use and includes over two million Georgia newspaper pages between 1763 and 2021 Newspaper titles are regularly digitized and added to the archive. If you are interested in including a particular title, you can visit our participation page. A majority of the newspapers on this site were digitized from the microfilm produced by the Georgia Newspaper Project (GNP). For more information about the microfilm available through the GNP, please visit their website Here are the 52 new businesses issued licenses by Cobb County on the week ending Friday These are only licenses for businesses in unincorporated Cobb County The following are scores for the past week for restaurants and other food service facilities in Cobb County from the Georgia Department of Public Health gasoline prices in Georgia showed little movement over the past week Prices rose one cent to an average cost of $2.92 per gallon for regular… The National Weather Service forecasts sunny skies here in Cobb County on Monday Tonight it is expected to be mostly clear,… The Cobb County Courier’s Cat of the Day selected from the Cobb Animal Services Shelter website is a female tabby/white domestic short hair The following information on this potential family… Utah has become the first US state to ban the decades-old practice of adding fluoride to public water supplies due in part to a mix of health concerns about the practice Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed the new law on Thursday, prohibiting fluoridation starting May 7. The move comes amid growing scrutiny of the practice which started in the 1940s as a strategy to help people prevent cavities and reduce tooth decay Though more than 70% of the US population receives fluoridated public water supplies and many medical professionals support the practice, opposition has been growing due to studies suggesting fluoride may have neurotoxic effects on fetuses and young children Newly appointed Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been calling for an end to fluoridation in public drinking water for years Some professional bodies remain ardent supporters of the practice, however. The American Dental Association issued a statement on Friday accusing Utah lawmakers and the governor of showing “wanton disregard for the oral health and well-being” of state residents “There is substantial evidence to show that when fluoridation ceases The new state law specifies that “a person may not add fluoride to water in a public water system” and “a political subdivision may not enact or enforce an ordinance that requires or permits the addition of fluoride to … a public water system.” a lawyer with many years of experience litigating cases related to fluoride “Utah has followed the path of most advanced nations which have already ended water fluoridation.” “While fluoridation has long been a sacred cow in the US ways of using fluoride than adding it to water,” he said such as brushing with fluoride toothpaste and spitting it out The effects of ceasing fluoridation are not clear cut A 2024 Cochrane meta-analysis the gold standard for assessing evidence-based health interventions found that there was insufficient data to determine if ending fluoridation caused cavities to increase in any given area It also found very little evidence of effectiveness Studies conducted after 1975 show the practice may reduce levels of decayed but that the practice may also provide “no benefit.” The most recent meta-analysis of studies on fluoride’s safety, published in January in JAMA Pediatrics found exposure to fluoride is linked with declines in children’s IQ including at low urinary levels commonly found in fluoridated communities Some researchers who have studied fluoridation said the move was warranted “I think it is prudent to end water fluoridation until an independent scientific committee has had ample time to review the evidence indicating that fluoride is neurotoxic and water fluoridation does not appear to effective at reducing dental cavities,” said Bruce Lanphear an expert on environmental neurotoxins and a health sciences professor at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver Lanphear cited the January 2025 JAMA Pediatrics paper and the Cochrane review to support his statement Philippe Hujoel, a dentist and epidemiologist at the University of Washington, said he also thinks that it is reasonable to cease fluoridation until a randomized controlled trial (RCT) shows that it is both effective and safe and we still don’t have an RCT on fluoridation,” Hujoel said The evidence we do have “doesn’t look very good” for effectiveness and “you have these safety concerns.” Bills to ban water fluoridation are also in the works in Florida and Montana and Arkansas rejected bills in recent weeks that would ban fluoridation (Featured image by Arthur Shuraev via Unsplash+.) I agree fluoridation in municipal water supplies needs to end Neurotoxins do not belong in public water systems US regulators on Wednesday said a food additive long linked to cancer will no longer be allowed in food and drugs that are ingested an action health advocates have demanded for years The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) is revoking the authorization for the use of what is known as Red Dye No “Claims” that the dye puts people at risk “are not supported by the available scientific information,” the agency said Manufacturers who use the dye in food have until Jan Red Dye No. 3 is used in over 2,800 food products, according to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), one of the organizations that signed the petition and has been pushing the FDA for action The National Confectioners Association issued a statement in response to the FDA action saying it would “continue to follow and comply” with FDA safety standards Industry studies linked Red Dye 3 to cancer in rodents more than 30 years ago. In 1990, the FDA banned the chemical from use in cosmetics such as lipsticks as well as externally applied drugs, citing industry research from the 1980s that found consuming the additive caused thyroid cancer in male rats But the agency continued to allow the dye in food Last month, 23 members of Congress sent a letter to the FDA also calling for a ban noting the dye has been banned or mostly banned in Europe “Thirty-four years of inaction is far too long,” the letter stated California has a ban on the dye in food taking effect in 2027 after state regulators in 2021 released a report finding that children are often exposed to levels of Red Dye No “Toxic chemical additives such as Red 3 are common in many foods, particularly candy and other sweets, putting millions of children at risk,” said Tasha Stoiber “This widespread exposure has raised concerns about lasting behavioral difficulties It’s essential to shield young children from harmful chemicals during these key stages of their development.” (Featured image by Alexander Schimmeck on Unsplash.) was written in collaboration with bartender Marco Zappia The right way to listen to Dessa’s music is with a cocktail in hand The singer and rapper announced that her new book Bury the Lede: A Cocktail Book will be released on November 19 The book was inspired by her 2023 album Bury the Lede with each cocktail recipe correlating with one of the 11 songs Dessa’s music has made Billboard charts, and her track “Congratulations” on The Hamilton Mixtape has received over 25 million streams on Spotify. Aside from releasing music, Dessa has also published writing, including her 2018 memoir My Own Devices. She hosted two seasons of the BBC podcast Deeply Human which enlists the help from experts around the world to understand the intricacies of human behavior exploring topics like dress codes and accents You can preorder the book now on the Doomtree store which includes a few custom matchbooks for your own bar Key Enterprises LLC is committed to ensuring digital accessibility for mspmag.com for people with disabilities. We are continually improving the user experience for everyone, and applying the relevant accessibility standards The long and winding regulatory road for a pesticide known to be harmful to developing babies took another turn on Monday as the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it was planning to only partially ban the insecticide chlorpyrifos in farming In the most recent Food and Drug Administration (FDA) pesticide residue monitoring report chlorpyrifos was the 11th most frequently found pesticide in human food samples out of 209 different pesticides detected by FDA testing “EPA continues to prioritize the health of children,” Michal Freedhoff assistant administrator for the EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention “This proposed rule is a critical step forward as we work to reduce chlorpyrifos in or on food and to better protect people from exposure to chemicals that are harmful to human health.” Public and environmental health advocates saw it differently, saying chlorpyrifos should not be allowed at all, given scientific research showing it has neurotoxic and endocrine disrupting effects particularly on the developing children of pregnant women “The compromises associated with petrochemical chemical use and the public’s health are unconscionable given the availability of cost-effective and productive alternatives… executive director of Beyond Pesticides nonprofit group “With decisions like this in the aggregate the toxic load to people and the environment is unsustainable The decision announced today reflects a failure of both the underlying law and a history of negotiations that fail to fully document the multidimensional catastrophic impact of pesticide use on health It is unclear exactly how much a partial ban will reduce the amount of the pesticide used each year, though continued use is expected to be substantial. Last year, the agency said that from 2014-2018 use of chlorpyrifos on those 11 crops represented about 55% of the total chlorpyrifos usage in agriculture in average pounds applied the agency said that retaining “only the 11 food uses could decrease average annual pounds of chlorpyrifos applied in the US by 70% as compared to historical usage.”  Chlorpyrifos insecticides were introduced by Dow Chemical in 1965 and have been used widely in agricultural settings. In the early 2000s, Dow Chemical phased out most residential uses of the chemical in an agreement with the EPA because of scientific research showing risks to human health In December 2017, California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment listed chlorpyrifos as known to “cause reproductive toxicity” and in 2019 state regulators announced a ban on use in farming citing “serious health effects in children and other sensitive populations at lower levels of exposure than previously understood.” Both sides have hammered the EPA with a series of legal actions In response, several farm groups representing sugar, soybean, wheat, cotton and fruit and vegetable producer organizations filed a court action seeking a reversal of the ban arguing that EPA action to ban chlorpyrifos was “unlawful” and lacking scientific basis The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit then vacated the EPA’s August 2021 rule In issuing its latest attempt to forge a rule on chlorpyrifos the EPA said its review of the pesticide continues And with newly re-elected President Trump set to return to office in January the EPA’s announcement Monday could be in question The difficulty in achieving a ban on chlorpyrifos a pesticide with such extensive science showing harm frustrates critics and underscores the challenges in reining in other dangerous toxins “Relatively minor gains to reduce pesticide exposure drawn out over decades of regulatory review and inaction will not ensure a livable future,” said Feldman So it is okay to use it on fruits and vegetables that health conscious people consume to avoid “processed” and highly processed” foods Another example of industry capturing the regulators Co-mingling of tiny pieces of plastic with certain harmful bacteria can make the bacteria harder to fight with several common antibiotics according to a new study that adds to global concerns about antibiotic resistance The study published Tuesday in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology were cultured with microplastics (plastic particles less than 5 millimeters in size) the bacteria became five times more resistant to four common antibiotics than when they were cultivated without the plastic particles The findings may be particularly relevant for understanding links between waste management and disease, the study suggests. Municipal wastewater plants contain both microplastics and antibiotics, making them “hot spots” that fuel the spread of antibiotic resistance “The fact that there are microplastics all around us …. is a striking part of this observation,” study co-author and Boston University professor Muhammad Zaman said in a press release “There is certainly a concern that this could present a higher risk in communities that are disadvantaged and only underscores the need for more vigilance and a deeper insight into [microplastic and bacterial] interactions.” Many types of bacteria are becoming resistant to antibiotics, largely due to their overuse. Over 2.8 million infections resistant to these medications occur in the US alone each year according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Resistance in E.coli is a concern because even though the bacteria usually live harmlessly in the guts of humans and animals And there are multiple types of dangerous antibiotic-resistant bacteria including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) which often causes infections in hospitals The new study comes on the heels of another study published in January in the journal Environment International, in which researchers labeled the DNA of bacteria in soil with fluorescent markers to track the spread of genes for antimicrobial resistance finding that microplastics in the environment boost the spread of resistance by up to 200 times The implications of the new study could be important, as part of the evidence of a “strong link” between microplastics and antimicrobial resistance, according to Timothy Walsh co-founder of the Ineos Oxford Institute for Antimicrobial Research in the UK and an author of the January study Walsh said the value of the new study’s findings were limited since the research was conducted in a lab rather in a real-world environment and was focused on just one strain of E.coli While scientists are not entirely sure why microplastics may give bacteria an edge against antibiotics they believe the particles work well as a surface for biofilm a sticky shield that bacteria form to protect themselves the new study’s authors concluded that bacteria cells that are better at forming biofilms tend to grow on microplastics suggesting the plastic particles can “lead to recalcitrant infections in the environment and healthcare setting.” Microplastics are part of a global plastic pollution crisis, with an estimated 20 million metric tons of plastic waste ending up in the environment each year according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature Featured image by FlyD on Unsplash.) Your Ads Privacy ChoicesIMDb A newly released trove of data reveals widespread pollution of US tap water with more than 320 chemical contaminants including industrial chemicals and farm-related pollutants The latest information is part of a tap water database created by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) and incorporates information from nearly 50,000 water systems collected between 2021 and 2023 Though few chemicals were found exceeding the federal government’s legally mandated maximum contaminant level (or MCL) almost all US water systems nation-wide contained at least one contaminant at levels that surpassed the health guidelines developed by EWG that are based on scientific research of the harms associated with the various contaminants “This is a wake-up call,” Tasha Stoiber, an EWG senior scientist, said in a statement “Outdated federal regulations continue to leave millions of people at risk of exposure to harmful substances.” Among the chemicals commonly detected were per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as forever chemicals, which were found in the water of at least 143 million Americans. Nitrates, found in agricultural runoff and linked to colorectal cancer and thyroid disease were also commonly detected as well as disinfection byproducts caused by using chlorine Many of these disinfection byproducts — including chemicals called trihalomethanes and more — showed up in tens of thousands of water systems at concentrations far above what many health scientists consider safe Heavy metals, especially arsenic, were also frequently detected, as were some volatile organic compounds such as trichloroethylene (TCE). Hexavalent chromium, a carcinogen, was found in the water of 250 million people, according to EWG. This substance was infamously released in wastewater by Pacific Gas and Electric Company in Hinkley eventually leading to a class action lawsuit initiated by Erin Brockovich Many of these chemicals are likely carcinogens or endocrine disruptors Legal limits for most of these substances have not been revisited in many decades The database includes information on agricultural chemicals such as the herbicide atrazine, a widespread water contaminant banned in the European Union, which is in the process of being reviewed for re-registration by the US EPA. The database revealed atrazine in concentrations above the recommended health limit in 479 systems that serve 3 million people The EPA has proposed a new framework for mitigating the impact of atrazine, while also raising the proposed allowable level in streams and lakes. The public can comment on the EPA’s proposal before April 4 Utah just passed a bill to ban water fluoridation which will go into force if and when the governor signs the legislation Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kenndy Jr has previously stated he opposes the practice based on the risk it poses to children’s neurodevelopment There’s reason to worry that water quality regulations are not likely to improve any time soon at the federal level with the Trump Administration focused on reducing rules general and appointing industry-friendly people to prominent posts For example, Lynn Dekleva, a former lobbyist at the American Chemistry Council, an industry group that spends millions of dollars on government lobbying, was just appointed to run the EPA office in charge of approving new chemicals Worried by potential back-tracking on laws meant to protect water quality, California and other states have introduced legislation to set new regulations that would mirror the Biden Administration’s PFAS limits Water quality varies widely based on location and generally larger water systems have more resources for removing contaminants and addressing problems when they arise “It’s fundamentally your right to know what’s in your drinking water,” Stoiber said “Nobody voted to have contaminants in drinking water.” (Featured image by Jacek Dylag via Unsplash.) New research shows that two unregulated and widely used flame retardants found in many electronic devices and touted by industry as non-toxic break down into harmful molecules that can pose a health risk to fish and potentially other creatures The chemicals in question, large molecules called polymers, have largely escaped regulation as industry has argued that the materials are unlikely to degrade or make their way into living creatures. Many are even marketed as non-hazardous or environmentally friendly But a study published Monday in the journal Nature Sustainability found evidence suggesting that is not true Researchers reported finding dozens of smaller molecules caused by the breakdown of polymeric flame retardants in soil and air outside electronic waste recycling facilities in southern China The scientists exposed zebrafish — commonly used in initial toxicity tests — to the chemicals and found that they caused metabolic dysfunction and showed the potential for development harm “Our study suggests polymers can act as a trojan horse for toxic chemicals,” Da Chen senior author and scientist at Jinan University in China “They are added to products as inert large molecules exposing us to their harmful breakdown products.” polymeric flame retardants have been used to replace smaller which have been partially phased out due to safety concerns Most polymers, including all such flame retardants, are considered exempt from major regulations meant to protect humans. But the new research shows regulation is needed, said Arlene Blum co-author of the study and a research associate at the University of California Blum also serves as executive director of the Green Science Policy Institute “Big molecules made of harmful small molecules need to be regulated The two chemicals examined in the study are forms of polymers made up of many repeated molecules of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) which are themselves flame retardants with significant toxicity Polymers are very hard to study because they are so complex and large and have historically been presumed to be less toxic little is known about the exact makeup of these flame retardants Those details are considered proprietary and governments don’t compel companies to release such information The paper did reference one estimate stating that 450 tons of a TBBPA-based polycarbonate were manufactured annually in the US in recent years The study is the first to show that the polymeric flame retardants break down into smaller molecules that can cause adverse effects, said Miriam Diamond a researcher at the University of Toronto and a co-author of the study Widespread use of these flame retardants in electronics may result in exposures when these products are manufactured when they’re in people’s homes and when they’re discarded or recycled you’re going to get lots of these small molecules coming out of the environment and into us,” Diamond said The potential for harm to wildlife and humans is concerning and frustrating since “it shouldn’t be up to us as environmental chemists to figure this out after this chemical has gone into high production.” The researchers said their study has implications for other types of polymers such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) PFAS polymers are used in textiles including children’s uniforms (Featured photo by Muntaka Chasant via Wikimedia Commons) one of the most significant geopolitical events of 2023 was the October 7 attacks in Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza Many legacy media institutions and foreign policy magazines analyzed the war's political and economic implications or placed it within its historical context While those angles were not missing from New Lines’ coverage we sought to use the podcast to explore a crucial but less examined angle: the human perspective that had been desperately lacking from international coverage due to bans preventing foreign journalists from entering the Gaza Strip who has spent over a decade reporting from war zones across the MENA region shares her experience of a rare trip for a foreign journalist into Gaza Damon delves into the emotional intensity engulfing both Israel and Palestine The conversation also touches on the multifaceted nature of this conflict including the role of disinformation and emotional manipulation in shaping narratives The plan of action and execution involved the following steps: The episode’s primary success came in providing expert insight into a topic with a dearth of coverage from external reporters In securing a compelling interview with a reporter with the experience to tell this story with empathy and accuracy We also achieved success by gaining recognition from peers that we had produced a standout piece of audio journalism We were honoured in the Signal Awards 2024: The Lede: On the Ground in Gaza — With Arwa Damon won Silver in the Interview/Talk Show category This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page WEST BEND Iowa – People searching for ways to limit the toll industrialized American agriculture takes on communities and water may want to make a visit to Clear Creek Acres in northern Iowa Iowa is barely a blip on a prairie landscape but it has become home base for an uncommonly large expanse of organically grown crops- operations that have found success in challenging the popular convention that pesticides and other agricultural chemicals are needed to feed the world Towering grain bins are surrounded by close to 50,000 acres of corn oats and other crops grown without the use of synthetic chemicals Farmers fertilize the land with chicken litter and hog manure and weed much of the land by hand when farmer Barry Fehr experimented with raising chemical-free soybeans on 45 acres is the development of the most expansive and profitable area of organic grain production in Iowa Most of the land is farmed by multiple generations of the Fehr family The family also manages about 3,000 organic acres in Colorado Generating millions of dollars annually in a “sustainable income,” the success of the organic operations here in the heart of corn country defies long-held conventions about a need for chemicals in farming Syngenta and other global seed and chemical giants insecticides and other pesticides are essential to robust food production and that a growing global population requires use of the chemicals in agriculture The Fehr family farms are nearly matching the yields of crops grown conventionally perhaps seeing only about a 10% yield decline in comparison Their costs are lower because they’re not buying pesticides and the high-priced genetically modified seeds designed to be used with certain weed killing pesticides And the prices they reap are higher because organic crops command premiums in a marketplace where consumer demand for organic foods is climbing About 25,000 acres of the Fehr farms in Iowa generate approximately $40 million a year in crop sales “The premium we got from selling organics is the key reason,” said Fehr “The demand for organic has definitely grown a lot he added – “Nobody has died of not using pesticides I don’t think it will hurt anything not to use pesticides.” The state is first in organic corn and soybean production according to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) “They are unique in the way they run their operation,” said Cole Thompson marketing director of Minnesota-based Albert Lea Seed the nation’s largest organic seed producer “Most people in the industry think you can’t farm at this scale organically While the family’s achievements are celebrated in the country’s growing organic farm sector Critics say the Fehrs’ practice of tilling their land to control weeds leaves thousands of acres bare making top soil vulnerable to erosion from wind and rain Tilling also reduces the carbon sequestration potential of the soil “They aren’t doing much for this community who farms 2,000 acres here with the use of conventional chemicals a farmer and Palo Alto County commissioner Anybody here has the opportunity to raise organic crops if they want to put in the time These guys have figured out how to do it.” Planting and harvesting crops without the protections from insects and disease provided by chemicals is no easy feat But a growing body of scientific evidence has shown the chemicals come not just with benefits Many types of common farm pesticides have been scientifically shown to cause cancers and other diseases and many are also harmful to the environment and are known to cause extensive water pollution problems said his family is setting an example for other farmers who fear converting to organic farming takes too long and can’t be done successfully except on small farms And we get a premium for our organic crops two to three times what conventional prices are on average.” Fehr said Clear Creek buyers pay up to $8 a bushel for organic corn and $22 a bushel for organic soybeans Farming organically is a high wire act balancing the lower cost for supplies against the higher costs for labor Fehr explained that the cost of production at Clear Creek Acres is comparable to costs of chemical agriculture On the saving side of the ledger are organic seeds that are priced less because they are not treated with chemicals to ward off insects and diseases Clear Creek applies lower cost hog manure to its fields for nutrients And it uses chicken litter that it produces from a big non-organic egg-laying chicken feeding operation that it owns on the farm The last piece of keeping production costs down for farming operations as big as Clear Creek are economies of scale The farm and its neighbors have fleets of tractors Those lower costs are offset by the expense of overcoming the primary impediment to organic grain production – controlling weeds Most of Clear Creek’s 30 employees spend their summers in the fields cultivating and harrowing to kill weeds They are helped by local residents and a 70-member crew of Guatemalan field workers hired under a special agriculture visa program who weed by hand and cost an average of $30 an hour in wages and expenses “We have a lot more equipment and our man hours are higher than with conventional farming,” said Fehr “A big turnoff for the farmer looking to transition to organic is the amount of labor and time it takes Addressing that scarcity also will produce environmental benefits There are no toxic chemicals running off the organic fields And research shows that crop rotation and other organic cultivation practices improve the condition of the soil which keeps more nitrogen and phosphorus from draining into surface and ground water A team of researchers from the USDA and Iowa State University compared runoff from fields where commercial fertilizers were applied to fields and pastures fertilized with manure The researchers found that conventional crop production drained nearly twice as much nitrate into water as the organic production The authors of the study concluded that organic farming “can improve water quality in Midwestern landscapes.” The interest in water sampling is keen in the two counties where the Fehrs farm. The area west of Emmetsburg, Palo Alto County’s largest town, has the highest number of waterways impaired by farm-related contaminants of any region of Iowa according to the state Department of Natural Resources But the parts of Kossuth and Palo Alto counties farmed by Clear Creek and other Fehr families lies south of the closest and lone impaired waterway in their area which develops an annual toxic algal bloom in the summer said his office is overseeing a multi-year study of water quality in the  area to determine the causes and the sources of contamination was made possible by an investigative reporting fellowship awarded by the Alicia Patterson Foundation and the Fund for Investigative Journalism It is part of an ongoing series looking at how changing agricultural policies are affecting environmental health.)  (Keith Schneider, a former New York Times national correspondent, is senior editor for Circle of Blue and water in the era of climate change from six continents Amid a flurry of actions curtailing Biden’s environmental policies the administration of newly inaugurated President Donald Trump this week withdrew a plan to set limits on toxic PFAS chemicals in industrial wastewater The draft rule, which the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sent to the White House for review in June, was seen as a precedent-setting move by reducing allowable discharges of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) a class of chemicals that have been linked to an array of health problems “It is abundantly clear that this action was taken to benefit the chemical industry – and every American will suffer for it,” said Kyla Bennett director of science policy at the watchdog group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility “PFAS contamination is already a national health crisis and this will force states to try and fill the regulatory void left by EPA’s failure The decision to withdraw the draft rule came as Trump issued an executive order to freeze any new federal regulations pending review “It’s an unconscionable betrayal of the public’s health in favor of corporate interests.” an EPA spokesperson said it was “common transition procedures,” to pause major decisions including a hold on new and pending regulations “President Trump advanced conservation and environmental stewardship while promoting economic growth for families across the country in his first term and will continue to do so this term,” the EPA spokesperson said PFAS are a class of thousands of human-made chemicals that widely contaminate US water sources, food, food packaging and household dust. Under former President Joe Biden, the EPA released a report last week concluding that PFAS in sewage sludge used to fertilize farmland poses health risks Some of the chemicals have been linked to certain cancers immune system dysfunction and other health problems The move to withdraw the PFAS discharge rule is one of a barrage of actions taken in the first days of the new Trump White House that have alarmed health and environmental groups There is a climate emergency,” Manish Bapna president and CEO of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) “There’s a whiff of American oligarchy in actions meant to further enrich billionaire oil and gas donors at the people’s expense and firestorms engulf our cities in flames and throw our children overboard,” Bapna said “The President’s actions will undermine investments, jobs and affordability for electric vehicles – all while allowing more climate and health-harming pollution into our air,” Peter Zalzal, associate vice president for Clean Air Strategies at the Environmental Defense Fund, said in a statement Some environmental advocates question whether the Trump administration actually has authority to carry out the executive orders “The United States has some of the strongest environmental laws in the world and no matter how petulantly Trump behaves these laws don’t bend before the whims of a wannabe dictator,” Kierán Suckling executive director at the Center for Biological Diversity “The use of emergency powers doesn’t allow a president to bypass our environmental safeguards just to enrich himself and his cronies.” Trump also issued an executive order withdrawing the US from the World Health Organization The WHO includes the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) which offers a globally recognized standard for identifying carcinogenic substances the two agencies have distinct governing and funding structures there have not been any changes or announcements indicating an intention by the US to withdraw from IARC,” said the agency spokesperson (Featured image by Getty Images via Unsplash+.) When trump loves his rural NC MAGA voters less than he love the corporate donors Told don’t eat veggies grown in soil EPA gave grant to state for air monitoring Was to be running last July last I knew still not working 120 households approximately lost over 30 residents last six years none from covi EJ screen couldn’t get any redder for our neighborhood Not to mention water we can’t drink! I think you probably already know the answer Insert obvious stuff here about profits over people and planet but I think also while it’s easy enough to blame Trump (as a useful puppet to industry) The EPA has been a failure for most of its existence either failing to act or acting too slowly to make a meaningful difference for communities like yours and mine It’s a problem of goverNANCE more than governMENT: specifically that people in general and frontline communities in particular should have collective direct democratic power in decisions over land use The utter absence of participatory planning or processes is an institutional failure across the whole of government We need full-bodied representation (i.e real power) but all they’ve ever offered is “representatives” corrupt bureaucrats beholden to any number of corporate interests the whole Washington Consensus has been a 250 year okey doke they cheekily call a “democracy”