Consumer

"After Steven Barrows left his job at a hog slaughtering facility in Sioux City, Iowa, he sent a tip to the Environmental Protection Agency. In the tip, received by the EPA April 16, Barrows described the parking lot of Seaboard Triumph Foods LLC as a 'dump site for rotten meats.' He also sent photos -- some displaying dead pigs piled up outside of the building and others showing a smoky, noxious gas wafting inside."

"The Southeastern Louisiana University scientist who discovered alarming levels of toxic chemicals in Lake Maurepas was abruptly removed from her research position this week without explanation."

"The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will close its flagship, but deteriorating research site in Maryland as part of a major reorganization aiming to shift 2600 employees away from the nation’s capital area, the agency announced this week. At the same time, USDA said it plans to shutter most of its forest research stations around the country. "

"Brooke Rollins believes she is waging a new American Revolution, leading a crusade against Biblical darkness and guiding U.S. agriculture into a “golden age.” In her first six months as the nation’s top agriculture official, Rollins has reshaped the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s focus — “more farmer, less climate,” she summarized."

"Tesla had another dreary quarter and GM is doubling down on EV production as automakers gear up for the end of federal tax credits."

"A group of US lawmakers failed on Tuesday to beat back a provision in a congressional appropriations bill that would help protect pesticide makers from being sued and could hinder state efforts to warn about risks of pesticide products."

"As the climate warms, new data shows huge swaths of land across the globe are quickly drying, threatening humanity’s supply of fresh water."

"Petrostates and well-funded lobbyists at UN-hosted talks are derailing a deal to cut plastic production and protect people and the planet"

"More than 50 years after the Safe Drinking Water Act was passed to ensure that Americans’ water is free from harmful bacteria, lead and other dangerous substances, millions of people living in mobile home parks can’t always count on those basic protections."

"The Trump administration just dealt a blow to the biggest transmission line project currently underway in the United States." "The Grain Belt Express is over a decade in the making and would bring huge amounts of cheap wind and solar from the plains to the East. Its future is now murky."