Environment.org

Release: Funding Deal Delivers Disaster Relief but Fails to Support Farmers in Building Resilience Against Future Crises

For Immediate Release

Contact: Laura Zaks

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

press@sustainableagriculture.net

Release: Funding Deal Delivers Disaster Relief but Fails to Support Farmers in Building Resilience Against Future Crises

Washington, DC, December 18, 2024 – Yesterday, Congressional leaders reached an agreement to fund the government, extend the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill), and provide disaster relief funding for areas hit by natural disasters. The deal, which would extend fiscal year (FY) 2024 funding through March 14, 2025, and the 2018 Farm Bill through September 2025, does not incorporate Inflation Reduction Act conservation investments into the farm bill extension.

“While NSAC is heartened that Congressional leaders reached agreement on much-needed funding for revenue-based agriculture disaster relief that includes non-insured farms, we are deeply discouraged by the political decision to limit countless farmers’ ability to build both their

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‘All hands on deck’: How Watch Duty keeps up with the California wildfires

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| Pollution

For days, horrific wildfires have torn through Los Angeles, and they are still raging. The Palisades and Eaton fires in Los Angeles have moved so fast that people have been stuck in their homes or had to abandon cars and wheelchairs on the side of the road to escape the flames. Those waiting to hear whether their houses have burned are living in agonized dread. Many of them have turned to Watch Duty, a fire-tracking app that has become an indispensable source of information in an uncertain time.

Watch Duty is an app that tracks wildfires and disaster information and presents it to users in as close to real time as possible in the form of maps and notifications about fire perimeters, evacuation zones, and air quality. Its CEO and founding father is John Clarke Mills, a Northern …

Trailing edge contractions common in interior western US trees under varying disturbances

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| Climate

Nature Climate Change, Published online: 07 January 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-024-02235-4

Climate change and disturbances are changing forest tree composition, but it is not clear if disturbances assist trees in tracking their climate ranges. This study shows that the impact of disturbance on range shifts is dependent on the tree species and type of disturbance.
Nature Climate Change…

California and environmental groups sued Exxon over plastics. Now Exxon is striking back.

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| Pollution

On Monday, Exxon Mobil filed a lawsuit against California Attorney General Rob Bonta and a coalition of environmental groups over their criticism of the company’s plastics recycling initiatives.

In the complaint filed in federal court in Beaumont, Texas, the oil giant accuses Bonta and the advocacy groups of mounting a “smear campaign” motivated by “foreign influence, personal ambition, and a murky source of financing rife with conflicting business interests.”

“This is a suit … about the corrupting influence of foreign money in the American legal system,” Exxon writes in the suit’s introduction, “and the sordid for-profit incentives and outright greed that tries to hide behind so-called public impact litigation.”

Exxon’s new lawsuit is a response to two legal complaints brought last September by Bonta and four environmental groups — Baykeeper, Heal the Bay, the Sierra Club, and Surfrider Foundation — in …

2024 Year in Review: Key Wins, Challenges, and What’s Next for Sustainable Agriculture

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| Sustainability

There’s no such thing as a ‘quiet’ year when it comes to federal food and farm policy, and 2024 proved to be no exception! As the year comes to a close, we are reflecting on the progress we have made toward building a more resilient and equitable farm and food system. Amidst endless delays in Congress, a noisy election cycle, and major natural disasters that affected farmers nationwide, NSAC continued to do what we do best: advocate for better federal food and farm policy through legislation like the farm bill, annual appropriations, and ongoing engagement with USDA, all aimed at building a future where farmers, workers, and communities sustain a thriving food and farm system that nourishes people, stewards our environment and builds strong economies.

Farm Bill Reauthorization

As of posting, we anticipate …

Publisher Correction: Brazil’s coastline under attack

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| Climate

Nature Climate Change, Published online: 06 January 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02243-y

Publisher Correction: Brazil’s coastline under attack
Nature Climate Change…

‘We have been heard’: Montana youth score a major climate victory in court

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| Pollution

Montana’s Supreme Court has ruled that the 16 youth who sued the state in a landmark climate change lawsuit have a constitutional right to “a clean and healthful environment.”

The 6-1 decision upheld a lower court ruling in Held v. Montana, in which the plaintiffs argued that the state violated that right, enshrined in the state constitution in 1972, by limiting analysis of greenhouse gas emissions during environmental review of fossil fuel projects. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice Mike McGrath rejected a spate of arguments against the plaintiffs — including that they lacked standing to bring the suit and that Montana’s contribution to climate change is negligible in a global context.

“Plaintiffs showed at trial — without dispute — that climate change is harming Montana’s environmental life support system now and with increasing severity for the foreseeable future,” McGrath …

Navigating the technical dialogue of the first global stocktake from process to findings

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| Climate

Nature Climate Change, Published online: 30 December 2024; doi:10.1038/s41558-024-02220-x

The first global stocktake marks an important step in enabling Parties to the Paris Agreement to enhance their climate actions and support with the aim of achieving long-term goals. Two co-facilitators of the technical dialogue discuss the process, findings, relationship with political outcomes and implications for future negotiations.
Nature Climate Change…