"North Dakota farmer Justin Zahradka will plant wheat this spring on 40 acres that has been off-limits for two decades, protected by a government conservation program that is shrinking as high crop prices make farmland more valuable."
The Food and Drug Administration is supposed to make its regulatory decisions on the basis of science and for the health and well-being of the public. But the White House often intervenes, trying to influence FDA decisions to achieve political goals. Often the White House pressure comes in response to fear of demagogic attacks from the GOP. So it was with movie popcorn.
Gardiner Harris reports for the New York Times April 2, 2012.
"GULFPORT — NOAA Fisheries has responded to the cry for information in this year’s string of dolphin deaths in the northern Gulf that includes 59 stillborn or infant calves."
"A page on its website now details the plight of dolphins and whales in the Gulf since February 2010 with graphs and charts comparing the deaths to previous years. The numbers update weekly.
"If you are a fly-fisher, a rafter, or heck, just a person who drinks water, here is some troubling news: Our waterways are in rough shape. An eye-opening new report from Environment America Research and Policy Center finds that industry dishcarged 226 million pounds of toxic chemicals into America's rivers and streams in 2010."
"Citing its corporate stance that climate change is real, General Motors announced Wednesday that its General Motors Foundation would no longer be funding the Heartland Institute, a free-market think tank that has attacked human-caused global warming as 'junk science.'"
"The Environmental Protection Agency has dropped its claim that an energy company contaminated drinking water in Texas, the third time in recent months that the agency has backtracked on high-profile local allegations linking natural-gas drilling and water pollution."
The Justice Department, Coast Guard, and EPA are trying to crack down on illegal ocean dumping of ship waste by stepping up prosecutions. They fight shipowners' "magic pipes" with cash rewards for whistleblowers who can take cell-phone photos. But the crackdown has not been fully successful.
Many girls seem to be entering puberty much earlier than girls did a few decades ago. Research suggests the cause may be small amounts of estrogen-mimicking chemicals in the food and water supply. For kids and parents struggling with this phenomenon, doctors seem to have few answers besides redefining "normal." Some unhappy families are turning to less conventional practitioners. A closer look at the research reveals that the causes may be more complex than originally thought.
"The US National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) today recommended the publication of two controversial avian flu papers."
"The Food and Drug Administration announced Friday that it was denying a petition to ban BPA from all food and drink containers, saying the science does not show an immediate cause for such action. However, the federal agency cautioned that this ruling does not declare bisphenol A, or BPA, as safe. The agency says it is continuing its assessment of the chemical, which is used in the lining of most canned food and drinks."
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