The Issue
Environment
Farms and ranches cover more than half of all land in the United States. EWG works to keep the land productive and to protect soil, water and wildlife.
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The Latest on Environment
A new analysis from the Environmental Working Group estimates that the House bill could allow the equivalent of more than 67 large coal-fired power plants to avoid any new controls on greenhouse gas emissions without requiring landowners to create any new carbon sequestration projects.
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The Hill, Jim Snyder
Excerpt:
An environmental group is mounting a fresh assault on the climate change legislation that squeaked through the House and faces an uncertain future in the Senate, raising the prospect that the delicate coalition of support around it could fray.
Read MoreThe American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES), narrowly approved in the House, is an important first step toward slowing climate change.
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Remember the Chinese government's draconian crackdown on air pollution before the 2008 Olympics?
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To spur action on the 37th World Environment Day (yes, it was Friday, June 5th), Yann Arthus-Bertrand wrote a 'hymn for the planet. This 2-minute trailer will have you running to the theater.
Read MoreAbout bats, mosquitoes and encephalitis, "Carnac the Magnificent" (the Johnny Carson character) might say: "What are three things that are affecting my property value?"
Read MorePresident Obama’s proposed budget continues the long string of broken promises that have left conservation programs billions short over the past two farm bills. While the White House and the US Department of Agriculture rightly communicate that farmers are a critical component in the fight against global warming, their budget proposes to cut the very programs that can help them win.
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The American Lung Association (ALA) just issued its 10th annual State of the Air report for 2009 yesterday. Use it to learn your county's air pollution ratings - they have an interactive air pollution map so you can click your state and drill down from there.
Read MoreFor the first time, the U.S. Geological Survey has identified the top 150 polluting watersheds in the Mississippi River Basin that cause the annual 8,000 square-mile “Dead Zone” in the Gulf of Mexico. Based on the USGS report released today, members of the Mississippi River Water Quality Collaborative urge the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and state policy makers to use the report to solve water quality problems both within the states and downstream in the Gulf.
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The agriculture provisions of the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) open two loopholes that threaten to let coal-fired power plants and other big climate polluters off the hook and slow progress toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Read MoreCongress's proposed "increase" in Environmental Quality Incentives Program funding is really a cut of $285 million from what was promised in the 2008 farm bill. Without proper conservation funding, few resources are available to mitigate the environmental damage caused by modern commodity crop agriculture.
Read MoreFor a quarter century, environmentalists, farmers, and government officials from six states have relied on sporadic, “random acts of conservation” to mitigate the unintended damage these agriculture activities have had on the once majestic Chesapeake Bay.
Read MoreNitrogen and phosphorus pollution from agriculture sources flowing from the Mississippi River is devastating the northern Gulf of Mexico and impacting human health, killing fish and limiting recreation along the way.
Read MoreWhen Congress passed the 2008 farm bill on June 18, 2008, it promised to increase funding for the most important and popular program in farm country to prevent water pollution and tackle other priority conservation problems.
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Letter sent by a coalition of environmental groups, including EWG, to congressional leadership requesting support of the March 18, 2008 Farm Bill “Framework’s” $4.951 billion increase in new funds above baseline for the bill’s voluntary, incentives-based conservation programs.
Today the USGS released findings that show agricultural practices in 9 states contribute 75% of the nitrogen and phosphorous pollution to the “Dead Zone” in the Northern Gulf of Mexico. Currently, the growing Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico is the size of New Jersey.
Read MoreDue to lax standards and implementation problems, USDA's conservation compliance program is missing cost-effective opportunities to make further, substantial reductions in cropland soil erosion and agriculture-related toxic run-off. Conservation compliance is critical to mitigating the damage agriculture related pollution does to streams, waterways and the Gulf of Mexico.
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We are one summer away from the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, and the host country is trying to win the gold by going green. This week’s Outside the Box hurdles organic pork, strict air quality control standards, and vast urban renewal in a marathon of environmental stories that might leave you forgetting about lead paint and toxic food.
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Ecosystems are fragile like a house of cards: add the wrong component in the wrong place and it can come tumbling down. Worlds are at war as this week’s OTB resembles a third rate science fiction novel and takes a closer look at species invasion and ecosystems in peril.
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