Milk industry fights back against ‘antidairy folks’ [Associated Press]
The
milk industry is fed up with all the sourness over dairy. As Americans continue
turning away from milk, an industry group is pushing back at its critics with a
social media campaign trumpeting the benefits of milk. The association says it
needs to act because attitudes about milk are deteriorating more rapidly, with
vegan groups, nondairy competitors and other perceived enemies getting louder
online….On Tuesday, the “Get Real” social media campaign will be announced at a
dairy industry gathering in Boca Raton, Fla. in conjunction with the National
Dairy Council and Dairy Management Inc., which represent dairy farmers. The
campaign is intended to drown out milk’s detractors with positive posts about
milk on Facebook, Twitter and elsewhere. Milk brands, their employees and
others in the industry will post the messages and direct people to a website
where they can get more information.
Private
wells in California farm area show high uranium [Associated Press]
One
in four household water wells in parts of California's Central Valley contains
potentially harmful levels of uranium, a U.S. Geological Survey study said. The
federal study attributed the higher-than-expected uranium levels to farming in
the Central Valley, which is one of the country's leading agricultural regions.
Both heavy pumping of groundwater for irrigation, and man-made efforts to
refill underground water aquifers, are leeching more naturally occurring
uranium into underground water reserves used for drinking water supplies, the
U.S. Geological Survey said. The increased presence of uranium is mainly a
problem in the east and south of the valley, where agricultural use of
groundwater is drawing more uranium-bearing sediment out of granite formations,
said Bryant Jurgens, a research hydrologist at the geological survey's
Sacramento office.
New
county panel to lobby on Salinas Valley water advocacy [Monterey Herald]
From
building a tunnel connecting two south county reservoirs to clearing the
Salinas River and dealing with its half-century-old river diversion permit to
managing the Salinas Valley groundwater basin — not to mention the promise of a
recently approved $7.5 billion state water bond — Monterey County and its water
resources agency are facing an unprecedented number of crucial water-related
issues. Now, a new five-member water legislative committee will be charged with
seeking help from Sacramento in managing, and paying for, the list of water
projects and priorities confronting the county in its battle against seawater
intrusion and the ongoing drought. Board of Supervisors chairman Simon Salinas
called for the formation of the special committee during a board meeting two weeks
ago….In addition to securing state water bond funding for the Interlake Tunnel
project promised by Assemblymember Luis Alejo, D-Watsonville, Salinas said
there may be an opportunity for funding from the massive state water bond for
the Salinas River maintenance if local officials can make the case that
clearing the river of invasive weeds would help save an estimated 20,000
acre-feet of water per year now being soaked up along the vegetation-choked
waterway, a welcome addition to the local water supply during the state’s
historic drought.
Commentary: Water bond promises
must be kept [Fresno Bee]
If
you, like 3.5 million Californians, voted “yes” on the $7.5 billion water bond
last year, you should start paying attention to how Gov. Jerry Brown is
planning to spend the bond money. It may not be on building new dams to store
water for future dry years like he assured voters, farmers and legislators before
the election….Now, the actual language of the bond is so vague that it’s not
farfetched to think some in the governor’s camp don’t think creating surface
water storage is a mandate of the bond. We believe this raises serious
questions about whether funds designated for water storage will ever be used to
build the new dams we so desperately need.
Obama
team asks Congress for enhanced trade-deal authority [Associated Press]
A
senior Democratic senator's complaints Tuesday, and noisy protesters,
underscored the Obama administration's challenge in seeking congressional
approval for enhanced powers to cut trade deals with Japan, Australia and many
other countries. Sen. Charles Schumer of New York said he worries that new
trade deals will not help middle class incomes….Schumer addressed his remarks
to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, who made the administration's
pitch to Senate and House committees Tuesday. Froman said Congress must return
"trade promotion authority" to the White House in order to cut
important trade deals with Pacific-rim nations and others. That power, sometimes
called "fast-track" authority, allows presidents to send proposed
trade agreements to Congress for yes or no votes, with no amendments.
Q&A:
Humane Society pressures egg retailers on treatment of hens [Bakersfield
Californian]
With
the passage of Proposition 2 in 2008, California voters decided certain farm
animals in the state, including egg-laying hens, must be allowed to turn
around, lie down, stand up and extend their limbs on their own. To make sure
those requirements also apply to out-of-state farmers selling their products in
California, lawmakers passed AB 1437 in 2009. Both measures took effect Jan. 1.
But that wasn't the end of it for one of the new rules' biggest supporters, the
Humane Society of the United States. Not only is the group trying to build
support for its interpretation of the new measures, but it is working to ensure
compliance among supermarkets and others retailers it considers key to
affecting change.
Society
President and CEO Wayne Pacelle recently took questions from The Californian
about the group's next steps.
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