Agriculture
Chair: Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)
- Max Baucus (D-MT)
- Michael Bennet (D-CO)
- Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
- Bob Casey (D-PA)
- Kent Conrad (D-ND)
- Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
- Tom Harkin (D-IA)
- Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
- Pat Leahy (D-VT)
- Ben Nelson (D-NE)
- Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
- Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)
- Thad Cochran (R-MS)
- John Cornyn (R-TX)
- Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
- Mike Johanns (R-NE)
- Dick Lugar (R-IN)
- Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
- Pat Roberts (R-KS)
- John R. Thune (R-SD)
Appropriations
Chair: Daniel Inouye (D-HI) Ag Sub-Committee
Chair: Herb Kohl (D-WI)
- Byron Dorgan (D-ND)
- Dick Durbin (D-IL)
- Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
- Tom Harkin (D-IA)
- Tim Johnson (D-SD)
- Ben Nelson (D-NE)
- Jack Reed (D-RI)
- Robert Bennett (R-UT)
- Christopher Bond (R-MO)
- Sam Brownback (R-KS)
- Thad Cochran (R-MS)
- Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
- Arlen Specter (R-PA)
Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions
- Chris Dodd (D-CT)
Agriculture
Chair: B Collin Peterson (D-MN)
V. Chair: B Tim Holden (D-PA)
B Joe Baca (D-CA)
- John Boccieri (D-OH)
B* Leonard Boswell (D-IA)
- Bobby Bright (D-AL)
B* Dennis Cardoza (D-CA)
- Travis Childers (D-MS)
B Jim Costa (D-CA)
- Henry Cuellar (D-TX)
- Kathy Dahlkemper (D-PA)
B Brad Ellsworth (D-IN)
- Debbie Halvorson (D-IL)
B Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-SD)
- Steve Kagen (D-WI)
- Larry Kissell (D-NC)
B Frank Kratovil (D-MD)
- Betsy Markey (D-CO)
B Jim Marshall (D-GA)
P Eric Massa (D-NY)
B Mike McIntyre (D-NC)
- Walt Minnick (D-ID)
B Earl Pomeroy (D-ND)
- Mark Schauer (D-MI)
- Kurt Schrader (D-OR)
B David Scott (D-GA)
B Zachary Space (D-OH)
- Timothy Walz (D-MN)
- Frank Lucas (R-OK)
- Bill Cassidy (R-LA)
- K. Michael Conaway (R-TX)
- Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE)
- Virginia Foxx (R-NC)
- Bob Goodlatte (R-VA)
- Sam Graves (R-MO)
- Timothy Johnson (R-IL)
- Steve King (R-IA)
- Robert Latta (R-OH)
- Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO)
- Cynthia Lummis (R-WY)
- Jerry Moran (R-KS)
- Randy Neugebauer (R-TX)
- Phil Roe (R-TN)
- Mike Rogers (R-AL)
- Jean Schmidt (R-OH)
- Adrian Smith (R-NE)
- Glenn Thompson (R-PA) *=House Organic Caucus member B=Blue Dog Democrat
Appropriations
Chair: Dave Obey (D-WI) Ag Sub-Committee
Chair: P Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)
- Sanford Bishop (D-GA)
* Allen Boyd (D-FL)
- Lincoln Davis (D-TN)
*P Sam Farr (D-CA)
*P Maurice D. Hinchey (D-NY)
P Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. (D-IL)
P Marcy Kaptur (D-OH)
- Jack Kingston (R-GA)
- Rodney Alexander (R-LA)
- Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO)
* Tom Latham (R-IA) *=House Organic Caucus member
P=Congressional Progressive Caucus
Education and Labor
P Chair: George Miller (D-CA)
- Jason Altmire (D-PA)
- Robert Andrews (D-NJ)
- Timothy Bishop (D-NY)
P Yvette Clarke (D-NY)
- Joe Courtney (D-CT)
- Susan Davis (D-CA)
P Marcia Fudge (D-OH)
P Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)
P Phil Hare (D-IL)
- Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX)
P Mazie Hirono (D-HI)
- Rush Holt (D-NJ)
- Dale Kildee (D-MI)
P Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)
P Dave Loebsack (D-IA)
- Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY)
P Donald Payne (D-NJ)
- Jared Polis (D-CO)
- Robert Scott (D-VA)
- Joe Sestak (D-PA)
- Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH)
P John Tierney (D-MA)
- Dina Titus (D-NV)
- Paul Tonko (D-NY)
P Lynn Woolsey (D-CA)
- David Wu (D-OR)
- Buck McKeon (R-CA)
- Judy Biggert (R-IL)
- Rob Bishop (R-UT)
- Bill Cassidy (R-LA)
- Michael Castle (R-DE)
- Vernon Ehlers (R-MI)
- Luis F Fortuno (R-PR)
- Brett Guthrie (R-KY)
- Peter Hoekstra (R-MI)
- Duncan D. Hunter (R-CA)
- John Kline (R-MN)
- Kenny Marchant (R-TX)
- Tom McClintock (R-CA)
- Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA)
- Thomas Petri (R-WI)
- Phil Roe (R-TN)
- Todd Russell Platts (R-PA)
- Tom Price (R-GA)
- Mark Souder (R-IN)
- GT Thompson (R-PA)
- Joe Wilson (R-SC) P=Congressional Progressive Caucus
I know, I haven't been around lately. But the kids are out of school, and we are out and about during the day.
I was inspired to write this piece because of a conversation I had with a friend, but also I know that Jill has written extensively about her trip to Cuba. I went in 2002, but haven't shared much outside of family and friends. Enjoy! -Elisa
A quick google search tells us that BP has failed to cap the oil spill that has spread to Florida, and by now, possibly the Caribbean. So many barrels of oil have leaked into the ocean that we are looking at long-term damage to our food supply, ecosystems, and air and water quality.
All of this can make even the least-informed parent fret, which is why I don't make it a habit to google oil spill news. But it has had an impact on the way I, and even my children, think. We have been walking to church -- almost a mile away. We make it a point to drive only when absolutely necessary. As for me, the seafood lover that I am, I have kept my crustacean appetite in check. There is nothing to kill the mood at dinner than the thought of crude-covered shrimp.
I posted this last April, but there's no reason why it isn't still useful. I decided to re-post it because of Blog Action Day today (the topic is climate change). The last few items on the list are either new or were added due to suggestions from the first time I posted it. I'll be taking suggestions and adding to the diary as them come in.
I've got an investment opportunity for you. It doesn't involve a Nigerian prince, a billionaire investor, or any kind of mortgages. It is not the kind of thing that will cause another financial crisis - in fact, it could help solve multiple crises that we as a nation are facing.
Whether you've been laid off or you're doing fine and just care about the environment, I've got some answers for your problems. In this diary, I'll try to compile a list of things you can do to save money and conserve our resources without spending any money. If you have any good ideas in the comments, I'll be sure to update my diary as they come - this is a collaborative effort because this community knows more than any individual.
So join me below the fold to find out how you can save money and save the environment!
So how long until Monsanto or Dow seek to patent all goats? From state highway departments to vineyards to city governments, an increase is being seen nationwide in using goats and sheep to control invasives, maintain lawns and clear fire-prone grasses. Maybe Matt Damon was onto something when he told Robin Williams, "I wanna be a shepherd." So do I, man. So do I...
"We're using this to develop curriculum for the tribe's community school and also using it as a framework for developing a diabetes prevention program for the tribe's clinic," [Eric] Quaempts, [director of the CTUIR Department of Natural Resources] said. "The first foods themselves are healthy. The act of going out and acquiring them is healthy."
At last count (1990) there were over 200,000 Pacific Walruses. There is some controversy over last week's estimate, but either way it seems their numbers have diminished significantly. Maybe to as low as 15,164. As Brendan Cummings, spokesman for the Center for Biological Diversity, says - "You don't need to know if there are 500 passenger or 1,000 passengers on the Titanic. When it hits an iceberg, they're all endangered ". The final assessment is due in January.
Are wolverines establishing themselves further south than thought? Researchers have now caught pictures of a second wolverine on Mount Adams in Southwest Washington, from where the last known wolverine populations were wiped out by trapping in the 1800s.
The feedlot fight is still on in Eastern Washington, where environmental groups and family farmers are suing to prevent a proposed new 30,000-head cattle feedlot from taking advantage of a state law that would allow the operation to draw unlimited water from wells in one of the driest regions of America.
I apologize for the short and rushed diary, but I really want you to take action (something anyone can easily do) on this issue that is near and dear to me.
The Pennsylvania Senate's proposed budget, SB 850, would cut the Department of Conservation and Natural Resource's budget so much that they might have to close about 35 state parks. With 117 state parks in PA, that's a huge chunk, and chances are there would be a state park near you closing if you live in Pennsylvania.
Want to know why we have a large dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico? I've got a two part answer for you. But first, here's some background. The cause of the dead zone starts on our farms, which use ammonia fertilizer or spread manure on their fields. If and when that runs off into waterways, it works its way to the Mississippi and then into the Gulf. The pollutants feed algae blooms, which then die. Their bodies are digested by microorganisms that use up all of the oxygen in the water, leaving none for any other life forms. The condition is called hypoxia.
So why isn't the government doing more about it? First, because Congress chronically underfunds our conservation programs (and continues to do so under Democratic leadership). Second, because the USDA doesn't target conservation funding at the areas most responsible for the pollution. I believe it was only recently that the Dept of Interior analyzed which areas are most responsible for the dead zone, but still - you'd think this would be a no-brainer! Why can't we use this money (what little Congress bothers to appropriate, anyway) where it will do the most good?
The Farm Bill authorizes a number of conservation programs - very successful conservation programs. But they are only successful when they are actually funded, and that's precisely what the Obama administration isn't doing. To be fair, that's not exactly a new thing. Conservation programs are perennially underfunded, so that many farmers who would gladly enroll their land in the programs are unable to do so.
According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), the shortfall is $700 million. My question is: How many days in Iraq is that money worth? And how many banks received more than that in bailout money?
EQIP is a deeply flawed conservation program, and for the next month (until April 17) we have the opportunity to send in comments about how the USDA can improve it. The major flaw in the program is that large, factory farms can receive government "conservation" dollars even though they (the factory farms) are enormous environmental hazards who we shouldn't encourage by giving them federal dollars. More details can be found here.
Instructions for action and talking points from the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition are below.
The USDA runs several conservation programs. Most are pretty good and would be better if they were fully funded. But one of them sucks. It might have been good once but in 2002, the rules were changed. Factory farms are now eligible to receive this "conservation" money. The program is called EQIP - the Environmental Quality Initiatives Program.
A report (Industrial Livestock at the Taxpayer Trough by Elanor Starmer and Timothy A. Wise, Dec 2008) found that nationally, factory hog farms comprise 10.7% of all hog operations - but get 37% of all of the EQIP contracts. Factory farm dairies make up 3.9% of all dairy farms - but they get 54% of EQIP contracts. All in all, between 2003 and 2007, 1000 factory hog and dairy farms ate up $35 million in EQIP conservation funding.
This happened at the expense of smaller farms that COULD HAVE gotten the money. Mid-sized hog farms make up 15% of hog operations but got 5.4% of EQIP contracts. Mid-sized dairy farms make up 13% of dairies - and got 7% of contracts.
THIS SUCKS. And we've got til March 16 to take action.
Thus far I've been silent on the State of the Union speech from two nights ago, but there's a major farm and food related bit of news to report. In his speech Obama promised to "end direct payments to large agribusinesses that don't need them." What's that mean?
In the past, Obama has supported capping subsidies at $250,000 per farm and closing all of the existing loopholes. But what does he mean about direct payments? We've had two days to speculate, and today he delivered his budget that fills in the details.
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