One way to deal with bad press is to make it illegal. Exposés of inhumane conditions at feedlots and slaughterhouses are being made illegal by state legislatures that pass "ag gag" laws. Now a case in Utah is challenging whether industrial agriculture's claims of secrecy trump the eating public's right to know. Image: Sows in 7'x2' Smithfield Foods gestation crates. By Humane Society of the US [CC], 2010.
"Their beards have grown full. Their hair, greased with sweat and brushed only with mountain air, stands on end. Their fingers, raw and ragged from grasping at sharp crevasses in the stone, are bandaged and bleeding."
"New legislation to allow member states of the European Union to restrict or ban the cultivation of crops containing genetically modified organisms on their own territory, even if this is allowed at the EU level, was passed by the European Parliament on Tuesday."
"The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday proposed new requirements for testing the toxicity and effectiveness of chemical dispersants used to break up oil spills."
"The Indian government has launched a crackdown on Greenpeace and other U.S.-linked environmental groups after intelligence officials accused climate activists of harming the country’s economic security."
"So, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) was just named to be the chairman of the Subcommittee on Space, Science, and Competitiveness as Republicans take over the Senate. This subcommittee (which used to be just Space and Science but was recently renamed) is in charge of oversight of, among other things, NASA."
"Mike Boots, the acting chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, will leave the administration in March, according to a CEQ spokesperson."
"The Keystone XL tar sands pipeline faces a potential new legal challenge and the prospect of further delays from ranchers along its proposed route in Nebraska who say they “aren’t finished fighting” yet."
"Customers in 42 of the nation's 50 largest cities — including Charlotte and Raleigh — would save money by installing rooftop solar instead of buying all their power from local utilities, says the N.C. Clean Energy Technology Center."
"On the face of it, the new potato varieties called "Innate" seem attractive. If you peel the brown skin off their white flesh, you won't find many unsightly black spots. And when you fry them, you'll probably get a much smaller dose of a potentially harmful chemical.:"
