A Look Back at Dr. King’s Demands for Food Justice

Sarah Reinhardt, Food Systems & Health Analyst

January 18, 2019 1:14 PM EDT

On April 29th of 1968, Reverend Ralph David Abernathy visited the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to talk about food and farming. And with the list of demands he carried, the Reverend brought with him the voice of the late Dr. King, assassinated just one month prior, and of many thousands of others—including farmers who were denied land, families who were denied food, and people who were denied dignity. So what, exactly, did he ask of the Secretary of Agriculture? And fifty years later—are we still asking for the same things? Read more >

Bureau of Land Management (Flickr)

New Mexico’s Clean Energy Opportunity Knocks

Julie McNamara, Energy analyst

January 17, 2019 9:58 AM EDT

Look out, clean energy leaders, there’s a new governor in town—and this one campaigned atop a wind turbine.

A Failure of US Biosecurity: How Federal Regulators Helped a Japanese Beetle Cross the Border

Christy Leppanen, Ph.D. UCS Science Network, UCS

January 14, 2019 4:28 PM EDT

With a partial government shutdown now in its 3rd week, many Americans are learning the hard way about the wide range of functions their federal government normally serves. One of those little-known functions is preventing the spread of invasive plants, insects, and other species that threaten native ecosystems and valuable natural resources, costing the United States an estimated $120 billion every year. Just last week, the shutdown forced conference organizers at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to cancel an annual meeting of 300 scientists working to coordinate research and find solutions. Even before the shutdown, however, USDA regulators had failed to fully live up to their obligations—designated by law—to protect US resources from invasive species.

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