New Bush Rule Eases Pollution Restrictions on Factory Farms

With just months left in office, it seems that President Bush has a fire under his ass to destroy the environment in as many ways as possible before he vacates the White House. The Bush Administration is already rushing to ease endangered species laws so government-approved building projects can move forward; now, we’re hearing that they have made thousands of factory farms exempt from needing permits that limit water pollution. The EPA also decided not to improve controls for bacteria and other pathogens that pose risk to human health and wildlife.

From The Daily Green:

Confined Animal Feeding Lots or CAFOs, as factory farms operations are known, are huge polluters. They create large amounts of waste that doesn’t become fertilizer for farms but often runs off into waterways, contaminating drinking supplies and harming aquatic life. The release says that the EPA estimates that these facilities generate three times more waste than people do nationwide.

According to the NRDC, the new rule:

• Creates a loophole allowing facility operators to avoid permits by claiming they won’t have a discharge.
• Adopts a scheme that allows facilities to avoid certain environmental enforcement. For instance, if an operator certifies that the facility won’t have a discharge, environmental authorities will ignore enforcement action, even if the facility discharges to the nation’s waters.
• Rejects improvements in technology that would reduce harmful bacteria and other pathogens contained in animal waste, missing an opportunity to prevent water pollution and threats to public health.

Maybe this is just an extension of his gleeful “Goodbye from the world’s biggest polluter!” exclamation at the G8 summit – in other words, he’s a little kid willfully trashing the place in disobedience. Congratulations, Bush – you’ll go down in the history book for many things, not the least of which is being the WORST. PRESIDENT. EVER.

Link [The Daily Green]
Photo credit: StoptheMegaDairy.org

California’s Proposition 2: Money vs. Animal Rights

Proposition 8 isn’t the only battle raging in California this election season, with the lives of millions hanging in the balance. Farm animals raised for food will either get a big break next Tuesday, seeing better treatment than they’ve ever received in America, or they’ll continue to be treated cruelly, confined to tiny cages so they can’t even stand up or turn around.

From Grist, via The Huffington Post:

It’s not just another one of those far-out Left Coast things. The Prop. 2 campaign is playing on a mainstream, national stage. Oprah Winfrey devoted a show to the issue of food-animal care and Prop. 2 last week, and the New York Times editorial page voiced support for the proposition.

The changes called for in Prop. 2 are small but significant. The ballot wording says simply that Prop. 2 “requires that calves raised for veal, egg-laying hens, and pregnant pigs be confined only in ways that allow these animals to lie down, stand up, fully extend their limbs and turn around freely.” It would take effect Jan. 1, 2015.

There’s a lot at stake here, not just for the animals who live such heartbreakingly sad, painful lives before ending up on our plates or producing the eggs we eat, but for the quality of our food in the future. The nation’s big factory farmers will be watching the results of Prop 2 carefully, because if it passes, it’ll be sending them a strong message from voters: that we do care where our food comes from and how it’s raised.

If you’re a California resident, please vote yes on Proposition 2. Learn more about it at the California Voter Guide.

Link [Grist] + [Huffington Post] + [Voter Guide]
Photo credit: LA Times

Earl Butz, The Man Who Killed the Family Farm, Has Died

Plenty brings news that the Man Blamed for the Downfall of the Family Farm has Died. Former Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz was the man who told small farmers “Get big or get out”, who pushed policy changes that encouraged major consolidation in agriculture and who more or less killed the family farm during the Nixon Administration.

Here’s a quick snip, head over to Plenty and read the whole piece.

He encouraged large farms to buy chemicals in bulk and skim down labor costs. Tying subsidies to yields rather than acreage, loosening regulations, and beating back trade rules increased output by American farms and lowered food prices. Butz certainly accomplished his goal. But at what cost?

The president of the National Farmers Organization at the time of the Eisenhower administration told the Senate agricultural committee that Butz “is widely known among farmers for his callous lack of concern about their welfare.” More to the point, he was also a paid board member and stockholder of three agribusiness giants (International Minerals and Chemicals, Stokely-Van Camp, and Ralston Purina). A 2003 article in Believer magazine called “Children of the Corn Syrup” points out that Butz might have been fond of saying “Get the government out of the ag business,” but what he actually did was just the opposite: putting agribusiness in the government. Today, critics of big ag, from Michael Pollan to the filmmakers of King Corn, blame Butz for the demise of the American family farm.

Not to kick a man when he’s down (in the ground), but Mr. Butz sounds like he was a real Class-A Corporate Jerkass.

Link [Plenty]