Farmers, energy firms hike bids to delist endangered species and protect them with voluntary agreements

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is seeing increased interest in agreements to remove certain species from endangered lists, which would absolves the federal government from protecting them, in the wake of its decision to remove the dunes sagebrush lizard from the list this summer.

If a species is removed, its protection falls to voluntary state-led conservation agreements, and landowners don't have to follow federal protection policies. Voluntary agreements "have been a long time in the making," Allison Winter of Energy and Environment News reports. The Endangered Species Act has been shrouded in controversy since its 1973 enactment, she writes, even though environmentalists say its one of the most effective laws for protecting species. Critics of the act say it's become too cumbersome and restrictive on development. Voluntary agreements began during the Clinton administration, and more than 70 landowners have enrolled 1.1 million acres in conservation agreements, providing habitat for 41 species.

Ranchers, farmers, wind-energy companies and oil and gas companies are increasing requests for such agreements so they can increase development on previously protected land, and the FWS is trying to determine how to streamline the review process, Winter reports. The agency plans to issue final listing decisions for 251 species, and initial findings on hundreds of other species, as part of a legal settlement with environmental groups. Two high-profile candidates are the greater sage grouse and the lesser prairie chicken, the status of which could affect development across the West, Winter reports.

USPS to hold public meetings at each of the 13,000 rural post offices slated for a reduction in hours

The U.S. Postal Service will hold a public meeting at each of the 13,000 rural post offices where it plans to reduce operating hours. The idea is that for its POStPlan to work, USPS needs to get its customers on board, or at least have them feel that they've had a voice in the matter. The service has already scheduled 1,518 meetings for the two-week period Oct. 8 through Oct. 19. At a rate of 900 meetings a week, it is expected to take six weeks for the process to be completed. An initial list of the meeting times and places is here. (Be sure to open the Cards 1 window for the full alphabetical list.)

According to the Save The Post Office blog, half the meetings are scheduled for 4 p.m. or later and the other half are planned for mid-day. Those individuals interested in having their say about the changes planned in their area will be able to fill out a survey in lieu of on-site participation. (Read more) Those interested in organizing to save rural post offices can look for help here.

Federal grants will improve telehealth services for rural veterans in Virginia, Montana and Alaska

A disproportionate number of veterans are in rural areas, and telehealth could soon improve their health care, which is often lacking because of limited resources or long-distance travel to Department ofVeterans Affairs  hospitals. The Department of Health and Human Services has partnered with the VA to provide almost $1 million to rural veterans' health care providers to improve VA telehealth and HHS state health information exchanges. The three states with the highest rates of rural veterans -- Virginia, Montana and Alaska -- will each receive about $300,000.

The VA said its telehealth system, once it's fully integrated nationwide, will be capable of providing at least 1.2 million medial consultations annually for veterans who would otherwise have to travel long distances to be treated, Robert Longley of About.com reports. Under the Honoring America's Veterans Act signed by President Obama last month, the VA is authorized to waive co-payments for veterans who use telehealth services. (Read more)

Democrats trying to use GOP Farm Bill inaction to their political advantage with rural voters

Some Democrats are trying to turn the failure of the Republican-controlled House to pass a Farm Bill into an opportunity to pick up rural votes in November. Analysts are saying it could influence races in Indiana, Wisconsin and North Dakota, where agriculture interests are very influential, Alan Bjerga of Bloomberg News reports. And while it might affect some House races, Bierga writes, it's unlikely that it will help Democrats wrest control of the House.

Iowa State University political science professor Steffen Schmidt told Bjerga that Farm Bill inaction could weaken Republican Senate efforts in rural, conservative states such as North Dakota and Montana, which likely won't be won by Democrats in the presidential election but could be won by Democrats in congressional races. Not passing a Farm Bill has “become a very salient issue in a lot of key battleground races," Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee communications director Matt Canter told Bjerga. Canter added that Senate candidates, particularly in rural states, can localize their races around issues such as agriculture. In the Senate, Republicans only need to add three seats to take the majority. (Read more)

Federal appeals court strikes down EPA's cross-state air pollution rule

A federal appeals court has struck down the Environmental Protection Agency's air pollution rule for emissions that cross state lines, ruling that the EPA exceeded its statutory authority with the Cross State Air Pollution Rule, aimed at 28 Eastern states. More than a dozen states and several power companies challenged the rule last year, claiming it put undue burdens on them to implement.

"To put it colloquially, the good-neighbor provision requires upwind states to bear responsibility for their fair share of the mess in downwind states," the opinion of the three-judge panel says, but goez too far "by requiring steep pollution cuts from states beyond what they actually contribute to other states' air quality problems," Politico's Erica Martinson reports. The ruling also says the agency should not have set "implementation plans" for states telling them how and where to make pollution cuts to meet air emission limits.

Judge Judith Rogers disagreed with the majority, saying in her dissent that the ruling will result in "a redesign of Congress's vision of cooperative federalism between the states and the federal government in implementing the Clean Air Act based on the court's own notions of absurdity and logic that are unsupported by a factual record." The Natural Resources Defense Council's Clean Air Program senior attorney and Director John Walke said the majority "got the precedent badly wrong," and that the NRDC will urge the Obama administration to appeal the court's ruling. (Read more)

Corn farmers, meat producers and biofuel makers argue over ethanol quota amid drought

A Kansas ethanol plant reecieves corn.
(NYT photo by Steve Hebert)

Three big agribusiness interests -- corn farmers, meat producers, and biofuel refineries -- are in a political fight to protect their interests amid the ravaging drought. At issue, reports John H. Cushman Jr. of The New York Times, "is whether to suspend a five-year-old federal mandate requiring more ethanol in gasoline each year, a policy that has diverted almost half of the domestic corn supply from animal feedlots to ethanol refineries, driven up corn prices and plantings and created a desperate competition for corn as drought grips the nation’s farm belt."

Meat producers, writes Cushman, "are demanding that the Obama administration waive the ethanol quota to ease rising feed prices. But ethanol producers worry that the loss of the quota will undermine the ethanol industry and do little for corn farmers but drive down the price of their stunted harvest. The meat industry, backed by several governors, lawmakers and even international food agencies, argues that the quota has distorted grain markets by sucking up corn when ranchers can least afford it. But the ethanol industry says that its corn consumption is down 12 percent since the start of the summer and that weekly ethanol production is at a two-year low. As corn prices have risen, refineries have scaled back production, idled dozens of plants and sold ethanol inventories. As a result, the industry may consume 10 percent less of this summer’s crop than last year’s, government and industry officials said." (Read more)

To help livestock producers and limit meat prices, U.N. wants feds to halt mandated ethanol production

The United Nations is calling on the United States to halt its mandate for ethanol production in order to lower corn prices, which would help struggling livestock producers and mitigate increases in meat prices. Recent oppressive drought caused the U.S. Department of Agriculture to estimate a large decrease in the size of the U.S. corn crop last week, which forced prices to almost $9 a bushel.

About 40 percent of U.S. corn will be used for ethanol production as part of the government mandate, Javier Blas and Gregory Meyer of the Financial Times report. But UN Food and Agriculture Organization Director-General Jose Graziano wrote in a Financial Times opinion piece that a temporary suspension of ethanol production "would give some respite to the market and allow more of the crop to be channelled towards food and feed uses." (Read more)

Coal mining whistleblower gets his own folk song

The legend of Kentucky's Charles Scott Howard grows. And like every great legend, the brave, truth-telling working man, coal miner and whistle-blower, well, he's got himself a rousing, Woody-Guthrie-style folk song. The song, "Big Coal Don't Like This Man At All," tells the story of how Howard became a committed safety activist by taking shocking video of his workplace conditions to U.S. government hearings. The song can be seen and heard on YouTube by clicking here.

Howard's courage as well as his subsequent injury on the job, post-grievance, and later firing were so remarkable as to make national news. This has meant more scrutiny, lawsuits and recriminations, all of which haven't made Howard the most popular man in eastern Kentucky. Add to that his health problems following what some consider the suspicious mine injury and Howard's attorney, Tony Oppegard, says that any message of support shown on the YouTube site would "mean a great deal to Scott as he continues on his road to recovery" and continues his battle for safe working conditions in America's coal mines. (Huffington Post photo by Dave Jamieson)

The tribute to Scott was written by Raymond Crooke. Here's a sampling of the lyrics, all of which can be found on the YouTube site:
"Mr Charles Scott Howard, he says what he feels.
They shouldn't be allowed to build old, crappy seals.
It's an awful shame them fellers had to be smothered to death;
For the safety of the miners, I'll fight till my last breath."

The link to a Huffington Post story on which the song is based is here. A follow-up on his reinstatement is here.

3,000 agricultural groups warn Congress that looming 2013 budget cuts will 'devastate' sciences

About 3,000 agricultural, crop and soil-science organizations have joined forces to warn Congress that any automatic budget cuts set for January of 2013 will have devastating effects on what is called the "nondefense discretionary (NDD) community," especially research and education funding for food, agriculture, and environmental sciences, Agri-Pulse reports today.

The American Society of Agronomy, the Crop Science Society of Americ, and the Soil Science Society of America led the charge. In a letter sent to all members of Congress today, the groups' leaders urged lawmakers to adopt a “balanced approach to deficit reduction that does not include further cuts to NDD programs." NDD programs represent a small and shrinking share of the federal budget and of our overall economy, the groups wrote, equal to just 3.4 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product in 2011. For a copy of the letter, go here.

Five more states get No Child Left Behind waivers

Five additional states have received waivers from the federal government from key parts of the No Child Left Behind Act. They are Virginia, Arkansas, Missouri, South Dakota and Utah, making the total number of states with waivers 24, with 13 more states and Washington, D.C. waiting for approval.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan said during a conference call today that "these states have joined in a nationwide movement toward state-led education reform," and that "their plans are the product of bold, forward-thinking state and local leaders who have moved beyond the tired old battle and partisan bickering to roll up their sleeves and start working together." He also said that the leadership displayed in these states has been "simply remarkable," and prove that more leaders are taking a "much more holistic and comprehensive view of college and career readiness" that is moving beyond a test-driven assessment system.

Is a Farm Bill fight brewing in the House over conservation's link to crop insurance?

Looks like not everybody is happy with Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss, who last week got an amendment attached to the Senate version of the Farm Bill which linked federal crop insurance to conservation compliance. Groups such as the Environmental Working Group hailed the Georgia lawmaker at the time on the unlikely win which surprised even Senate insiders. Commodity-group leaders and members of the crop-insurance industry seemed stunned by the 52-47 vote, Agri-Pulse reports this morning. Already work has begun to overturn the move when the Farm Bill gets marked up in the House next month. (Edupix.com photo)

“The National Corn Growers Association is very disappointed to see passage of Senator Saxby Chambliss’ conservation compliance for crop insurance amendment in the 2012 Farm Bill,” said NCGA President Garry Niemeyer. “Our members feel this addition to the farm bill would have a negative impact toward America¹s farmers.” Agri-Pulse explains: If the provision is included in the final bill, producers who participate in most federal agricultural programs or the crop insurance program will be required to implement soil conservation plans on highly erodible cropland and refrain from draining wetlands for agricultural production.

Ferd Hoefner, with the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, expects the House to allow the linkage to continue in its version of the bill. “The vast majority of producers have played by this set of rules for a long time." Even former National Resource Conservation Service Chief Bruce Knight, who previously worked as a lobbyist for NCGA, told Agri-Pulse that he thinks there will likely be little impact on 98 percent of America's farms, suggesting that "those who want to drain wetlands in the Northern Plains and perhaps some vineyards on steep hills in the Western U.S. could face the most significant changes if this provision makes its way into the final bill."

Agri-Pulse is a subscription-only weekly newsletter, but it offers a four-week trial subscription.

Growers debate how Obama's lifting of deportation threat from young immigrants affects them

With President Obama's executive order to halt the deportation of young, illegal immigrants announced late last week, Agri-Pulse reports that U.S. agriculture is wrestling with its possible impact on the labor force. The executive order, which incorporates part of the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, a measure pending in Congress that, while not granting citizenship to children who came to the United States as illegal immigrants, would remove the threat of deportation and grant them the right to work in the United States. The move may provide work permits to as many as 800,000 young immigrants.

"While this might be a step in the right direction, it could set back efforts by the agricultural industry to get a new guest worker program or other needed immigration reform legislation passed in Congress," said Tom Nassif, president and CEO of Western Growers. West Mathison, president of Stemilt Growers, a fruit producing company based in Washington state that relies on immigrant labor for a portion of its workforce, told Agri-Pulse that, "We're trying to understand how this is going to work and how we're going to work with our people who might be in this category. It's going to create hope in the lives of many young people who under no fault of their own have come to know the U.S. as their own, yet that don't have legitimate documentation."

However, Western Growers chief lobbyist, Ken Barbic, said the measure "is as at best short-term relief to something that Congress needs to act on, whether we are talking about the DREAM Act specificially, or larger immigration issues." Barbic noted that the industry has been waiting a long time for some kind of congressional solution.

Agri-Pulse is a subscription-only weekly newsletter, but it offers a four-week trial subscription.

Immigration policy changes under consideration could have major impacts on U.S. agriculture

Four writers for the Amber Waves publication of the U.S. Department of Agriculture have dissected the variety of proposed changes to U.S. immigration law as it relates to foreign-born farm workers. Steven Zahniser, Tom Hertz, Peter Dixon and Maureen Rimmer of USDA's Economic Research Service comprehensively analyze current law and what possible changes might mean.

"Some of these proposals would create additional opportunities for persons from other countries to work legally in U.S. agriculture, while others would use different methods to enforce existing U.S. immigration restrictions. Any of these proposals, if enacted, are likely to have a substantial impact on U.S. agriculture and the market for hired farm labor. Labor is a major input for many agricultural sectors, and persons not authorized to work legally in the United States constitute a large share of the farmworkers employed by U.S. agriculture."

They note that labor accounts for about 17 percent of agriculture's variable production expenses and roughly 40 percent for fruit and vegetable farms and nurseries." The chart below is helpful in understanding how that is substantial for some crops.

Coal supporters confront EPA in Central Appalachia

Industry supporters, left, confront mining
foes and state official between hearings.
(Photo by Chris Anderson)

This week marked the first time that members of the Environmental Protection Agency under the Obama administration visited Eastern Kentucky for an open, public forum, reports Chris Anderson of the Appalachian News Express in his story about two EPA hearings on surface-mining permits.

Yesterday was a chance for hundreds of people in the Central Appalachian coalfield "to be heard by a government agency that many feel is attacking their way of life," Anderson writes. EPA had announced its plan to veto 36 surface mining permits in the region, on grounds that they would cause too much water pollution. The meetings to discuss the government's controversial stance drew members of both sides of the mountaintop-removal coal mining debate, with Anderson reporting that those in support of mining far outnumbered those against it.

Miners spoke passionately about jobs and said President Obama was trying to ruin their livelihoods. Mine operators, like Don Gibson of Arch Coal, urged the meeting's participants to make their voices heard in November. Ama Bentley, an employee of Appalachian States Analytical Laboratory, argued that regional water quality is actually improved by coal mining in some places, and she and others said more harm is done by lack of proper sewerage.

Anderson notes that "a handful of environmental activists . . . spoke in favor of the EPA’s blocking of the issuance of the permits." They included Matt Wasson of the Appalachian Voices group, who countered pro-industry arguments about jobs by noting Appalachian coal jobs have actually increased since 2009. He said the coal industry's troubles are not the doing of EPA, but factors such the industry’s inability to compete with cheap natural-gas prices. "He also blasted Eastern Kentucky leaders for failing to expand the region’s economy."

The later the evening got, the less civil was the discourse. Anderson reports that "Roger Warton, who claimed to represent several pro-coal groups from West Virginia, told the EPA officials that those in attendance at the meeting were just as adamant about 'whipping somebody’s butt' as the soldiers who stormed beaches on D-Day in World War II. He also alluded to the possibility that the EPA officials would not be allowed to leave Charleston, W.Va., if they traveled there to fly out of the region." (Anderson's story is behind a paywall.)