1. HOUSE APPROPRIATORS COMMITTEE LOSES COOL The House Appropriations Committee yesterday approved a $17 billion Agriculture Appropriations bill, which failed to restore funding for mandatory country of origin labeling (COOL) for meat. Mandatory country of origin labeling for meat was included in the 2002 Farm Bill as a result of the hard work of small and independent ranchers and family farm advocates -- and fought every step of the way by large multinational meat packing companies and associations like the National Cattleman's Beef Association, National Pork Producers Council, and the American Meat Institute. COOL proponent Marcy Kaptur did not offer an amendment to restore funding for implementation of the program, but stated, "If your child dies [from eating contaminated meat], wouldn't you want to know who was responsible?" The bill passed by appropriators was $880 million less than in FY 2003, and $130 million smaller than the President's FY04 budget request. Speaking to the Ag Press, Ranking Member Charlie Stenholm said, "From the testimony received, it is apparent that if we are going to have COOL, more work is needed on the current proposal." Full details of the markup are not yet available, but there has been no indication thus far that the committee restored the cuts in conservation funding made by the agriculture subcommittee (see Rural Updates, June 19, 2003). 2. BUSH ADMINISTRATION DELETES BEST SCIENCE ON GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE The United Nations International Panel on Climate Change predicts that world temperatures could rise six degrees Celsius over the course of the next 100 years if nothing is done to halt the release of greenhouse gases. Researchers at the University of Bristol have now sounded dire warnings about what such warming could mean for biodiversity. Their research indicates that a similar greenhouse effect took place at the end of the Permian Period 250 million years ago, due to massive volcanic eruptions -- and the result was the extinction of up to 95% of the species that were alive at the time. Prominent global warming author Mark Lynas responded to the research in London's The Guardian: "This is a global emergency. People can no longer ignore this looming catastrophe." Unfortunately, "ignore this looming catastrophe" is exactly what the Bush administration is doing. The Environmental Protection Agency this week released its "Draft Report on the Environment," which details current national environmental conditions and trends in the areas of water quality, air quality, land protection, human health, and the sustainability of natural resources. However, according to The New York Times, a long section describing risks from rising global temperatures has been whittled to a few noncommittal paragraphs." Reports and memos from agency staff indicate that the White House had requested such drastic changes to the document's assessment of climate change, that EPA officials deleted the entire section rather than release a report that "no longer accurately represents scientific consensus on climate change." 3. NEW BOOK: FARMING WITH THE WILD Watershed Media has a great new book out called, "Farming with the Wild: Enhancing Biodiversity on Farms and Ranches." Written by Dan Imhoff, the publication features profiles from more than 20 states and "offers a compelling view of a future in which farming and ranching operations are integrated into regional networks of protected wildlands." With an inspiring foreword by Fred Kirschenmann, the book explores and highlights pioneers in modern agriculture; farmers and ranchers striving to foster methods of agriculture that protect and restore the wildness, and the wilderness, that is the great America's legacy. Beautifully illustrated, the book articulates a new path; one leading from accepted assumptions that food production and biodiversity cannot coexist, towards a future where agriculture and biodiversity exist in mutually-enhancing, mutually profitable systems. With regional highlights, individual profiles, and even a "getting started" checklist, the new book is important reading for anyone searching for a truly sustainable future. Order a copy online. 4. STUDY LINKS PESTICIDES TO SPERM DEFORMITIES A study published last week in the online journal "Environmental Health Perspectives" linked low sperm counts in rural Missouri men to three pesticides that are widely used in the area. A study published in 2002 had revealed that these men had lower sperm quantity and quality than their urban counterparts. The research released this week "confirmed that men with lower sperm counts and quality had higher concentrations of alachlor, diazinon, and atrazine metabolites in their urine than men with higher-quality sperm." A dozen other pesticides tested were not correlated with lower sperm counts or quality. Many of the men affected are not farmers and were not handling the chemicals directly, leading researches to conclude that exposure to the pesticides is coming from drinking water. Groundwater in the area had been previously shown to be contaminated with the chemicals. The study did not look at whether the reduced sperm counts were impacting fertility. More research is needed in that area, and also to assess the impacts to women, children, livestock and wildlife. Read more. Cultivating a vision where
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6/27/03