"Wild rice is sacred to the Ojibwe of Minnesota, but that may not be enough to protect it from the promise of jobs that a new copper-nickel mining industry would bring to the state."
High prices for agricultural crops are driving farmers to plant more acres. Some of that land had been previously held back from planting because it is highly erodible. Changing weather patterns and inadequate enforcement of erosion protections are making things worse.
"Indoor marijuana cultivation consumes enough electricity to power 2 million average-sized U.S. homes, which corresponds to about 1 percent of national power consumption, according to a study by a staff scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory."
"This country’s battle to curb oil imports is being plotted in high-tech laboratories and elite universities hunting for breakthroughs in alternative fuels. But the frontlines in the effort to bring such fuels to market can be found in places like a working-class neighborhood in this river town, not far from where Pony Express riders saddled up to journey west."
"Critics say it's a chemical that could cause infertility or cancer, while others see it speeding the growth of super weeds and causing worrying changes to plants and soil. Backers say it is safe and has made a big contribution to food production."
"Fast food chain KFC is to stop frying chicken in palm oil."
"Each year, an ever larger portion of the world’s crops — cassava and corn, sugar and palm oil — is being diverted for biofuels as developed countries pass laws mandating greater use of nonfossil fuels and as emerging powerhouses like China seek new sources of energy to keep their cars and industries running."
"Will the next Farm Bill, scheduled for passage in 2012, put public policy in service of a food system that works for farmers, eaters, and the environment?" Under the GOP's slash-and-burn budget assault, it is not currently looking that way.
"Gov. Terry Branstad and state lawmakers are working to put the state agriculture department in charge of key water-quality programs, a move critics fear will undercut the state's ongoing struggle to clean waterways choked with silt, algae and worse."
Questions are mounting about the possible role of a new family of pesticides, the neonicotinoides, in the "colony collapse disorder" that is decimating commercial honeybees. Will EPA reconsider its approval of those pesticides?
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