Environment

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More than 200 groups, including a wide range of environmental organizations, are calling on Democratic congressional leaders today to use their reconciliation package to significantly increase funding for conservation programs.

Congressional Democrats are pushing for a historic increase in conservation program funding that would help pay farmers to address climate change, but the money also could create some challenges for the House and Senate Agriculture committees as they write the new farm bill.

A new Department of Agriculture study shows the biobased products industry supports almost 5 million jobs and adds nearly $500 billion to the economy.

The Senate debates its bipartisan infrastructure bill this week in hopes of sending the legislation off to the House before senators start their August recess.

The Biden administration has reiterated its pledge to get input from a wide variety of stakeholders, including the agricultural industry, on how it plans to define “waters of the U.S.” in the Clean Water Act, as it announced a series of upcoming “community engagements.”

The bipartisan infrastructure agreement that the Senate is preparing to debate includes $8.3 billion in western water infrastructure funding sought by farm groups in the region that is suffering through an extended drought. 

The House on Thursday passed a package of seven fiscal 2022 spending bills that would provide significant increases for climate measures and agricultural research while also beefing up agencies that enforce environmental and labor regulations.

Robert Bonnie, President Joe Biden’s pick to oversee USDA’s farm and conservation programs, insisted Thursday that the administration has the legal authority to use the Commodity Credit Corp. to incentivize climate-friendly farming practices.

In an attempt to get out from under the cloud of current Roundup-related litigation, Bayer announced Thursday it would stop using glyphosate in lawn and garden formulations in the U.S. starting in 2023.

Chavonda Jacobs-Young, a scientist who has been at USDA for nearly two decades, is the Biden administration’s pick to oversee the department’s research agencies.