EnviroPolitics Blog

Registry to help NJ minority farmers advances

News From The NJ Senate Democrats

TRENTON – In an effort to expand diversity in agriculture ranks, strengthen the farm sectors of the state’s economy, and foster greater inclusion and equity for minorities, women,

and other underserved populations, the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee advanced legislation that would direct the Department of Agriculture to establish a New Jersey Minority, Women, and Underserved Farmer Registry.

Through the Farm Liaison designated by the Secretary of Agriculture, the bill, sponsored by Senator Nellie Pou and Senator Joe Pennacchio, would direct the department to:

* coordinate outreach to minority, women, disabled, LGBTQIA+, and socially disadvantaged farmers in the State who have been historically underserved by farm loan assistance programs, including programs for beginning farmer loans, emergency farm loans, farm loan servicing, farm operating loans, guaranteed farm loans, direct operating loans, direct farm ownership down payment loans, microloans, and other business assistance available to farmers in the State;

* register minority, women, disabled, LGBTQIA+, socially disadvantaged, and historically underserved farmer-owners to receive notification of opportunities to apply for and participate in farm loan and business assistance programs;

* assist in the prioritization of applications of historically underserved farmers, who are State registrants, for farm loan and business assistance programs;

* provide each registrant with information concerning the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) minority farm register; and

* provide each registrant the opportunity to register with the USDA minority farm register.

“The vast majority of farmers in New Jersey and throughout the United States are predominantly white and have the advantage of coming from families that have farmed the same land for generations. For decades now, racial injustice has left Black, Hispanic, Indigenous and other nonwhite workers to endure a long history of discrimination in the farming industry, from violence and land theft in the Jim Crow South to banks and federal farm offices that refused them loans or government benefits that went to white farmers. This bill aims to begin to remedy those disparities, and to bring more diversity and equity into New Jersey agriculture,” said Senator Pou (D-Bergen / Passaic).

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In 1920, there were more than 925,000 Black-run farms, accounting for over 14 percent of all farms in the United States. However, U.S. Census data, as recent as 2017, reveals that there are under 35,000 left, representing less than two percent of American farmers. Most are concentrated in the Southeast and Texas.

The USDA Minority Farm Register was established to promote inclusion and diversity in the agricultural and horticultural sectors of the nation’s economy. Establishing a parallel registry in New Jersey would include and bolster the participation of New Jersey minorities, women, disabled, LGBTQIA+, and historically underserved farmers in the available State and federal loan and assistance programs for farmers.

“New Jersey’s agricultural sector has a proud tradition as the Garden State,” added Senator Pou. “Through the establishment of this Minority Farm Registry, we can begin to see the fruits of our collective farm labors and bolster our agriculture economy to better represent all segments of society.”

The bill, S772, was released from committee by a vote of 12-0.

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Electric school bus bill rolling in NJ Senate

TRENTON – The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee advanced legislation sponsored by Senators Patrick Diegnan and Linda Greenstein that would require the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to develop and implement a three-year electric school bus pilot program.

“On a typical school day in New Jersey, more than 800,000 students ride to school on one of the state’s 15,000 diesel school buses,” said Senator Diegnan (D-Middlesex). “As a state, we have goals to significantly lower our carbon emissions and become a greener place to live. Transitioning from the conventional diesel-fueled buses to those with zero emissions will significantly decrease our state’s pollution levels.”

Make school buses electric, advocates urge
EPA Awards $500,000 to Clean Up 25 School Buses in New Jersey

Under the bill, S759, the DEP would select at least six school districts or bus contractors each year to participate in the program. At least half of the school districts or school bus contractors are annually selected and half of the grant funding would be located in low-income, urban, or environmental justice communities.

The bill would make $15 million available to the DEP each year for three years to provide grants to the participating school districts to go towards the purchase or lease of electric school buses, the acquisition, and installation of charging infrastructure, and training for bus maintenance personnel, bus drivers, and inspectors. The committee adopted amendments that would align with the Assembly’s version of the bill.

“On average, children who ride in a diesel-powered school bus are exposed to 4-12 times the level of toxic exhaust than riding in a car,” said Senator Greenstein (D-Mercer / Middlesex). “School buses are known to emit greenhouse gases and carcinogens, both of which contribute to climate change and threaten exposed individuals with elevated lifetime risks of developing cancer, asthma, and heart disease. By implementing this program, we can offer students a healthier and more environmentally friendly way to get to and from school each day.”

The bill was released from the committee by a vote of 8-4.

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At the Bowery, a farm like no other, vegetables grow indoors on a former Bethlehem Steel site

Jonathan DeWain, an employee of Bowery Farming, is seen moving bins of leafy green vegetables around in the packing room of Bowery Farming’s facility in Bethlehem during the official opening of the company’s third commercial farm. (Joseph Scheller / The Morning Call)

By Anthony Salamone, The Morning Call

The “farmers” wore white coats; the gray floor was spotless. Eat off it? You could.

The aroma of fresh greens, basil, and more filled the air. Farmers packed the produce in clamshell containers at a room temperature of around 38 degrees for shipping.

At Bowery Farming’s new south Bethlehem facility, workers grow, harvest, package, and ship lettuce and other produce. Combining the benefits of local farms with technological advances, Bowery precisely grows crops in a controlled indoor environment without any pesticides and while using 95% less water than traditional agriculture.

Indoor farming
Bowery officials say they are shortening the time from harvest to table. About 90% of lettuce sold in this country comes from California, according to one farmers’ organization there and Katie Seawell, Bowery’s chief commercial officer. Seawell said those greens can’t be fresher for the 50 million people along the East Coast that Bowery intends to serve from its Bethlehem site.

“You can’t walk that supply chain,” she said.

Federal, state, and local officials gathered on May 26 to celebrate Bowery Farming’s grand opening. The 156-000-square-foot plant, on about 9 acres in Lehigh Valley Industrial Park VII off Route 412 and Interstate 78, has been ramping up since the beginning of April and is now fully operational and shipping its products. Plans were announced in December 2020, shortly after work began on the farm.

Read the full story here

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Biden moves to boost/protect domestic energy sectors

President Invokes Defense Production Act to Accelerate Domestic Manufacturing of Clean Energy

Farmland is seen with solar panels from Cypress Creek Renewables, Oct. 28, 2021, in Thurmont, Md. (AP)

By Scott Detrow and Eric McDaniel, National Public Radio

The Biden administration is ending its hands-off approach to a Commerce Department tariff investigation that has effectively frozen the solar power industry in the United States.

A probe into whether Chinese solar manufacturers had been improperly funneling parts through four other Asian countries had cut solar installation forecasts nearly in half — and done so at a time when the Biden White House’s ambitious clean energy agenda is stalled in Congress.

Solar projects are on hold as the U.S. investigates whether China is skirting trade rules (NPR)
What Is the Defense Production Act? (Council on Foreign Relations)
President Biden Invokes Defense Production Act (Dept. of Energy)
GOP senator rips Biden for overuse of DPA (The Hill)

Rapidly shifting the country away from fossil fuels and toward clean energy is one of President Biden’s top goals.

But a legally required trade investigation in response to a U.S. solar panel manufacturer’s complaint has put the administration into a bind: at once trying to spur a transition to zero-emissions power generation by 2035 and leading a “quasi-judicial” Commerce Department investigation the administration conceded it had no legal power to stop or dismiss had hampered the solar industry.

On Monday the administration announced a compromise: the investigation will continue, but solar panels will be allowed to be imported from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam for two years without fear of steep retroactive tariffs — granting the solar industry a measure of certainty as they await the Commerce Department’s decision.

Read the full story here

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Media health doc Oz vs. heart patient Fetterman in Pa’s U.S. Senate showdown

From Spotlight PA

David McCormick has conceded Pennsylvania’s GOP U.S. Senate primary to Mehmet Oz, the bow-out coming with an automatic recount well underway and McCormick gaining few votes in the process.

McCormick’s withdrawal, announced in a speech to supporters on Friday, means the Trump-endorsed Oz will face Democratic nominee and current Lt. Gov. John Fetterman in November.

The GOP quickly launched an attack ad, fact-checked by Politico here, that says Fetterman “sided with socialists, backed a government takeover of health care” and “embraced parts of the Green New Deal.”

Democrats, meanwhile, are tying Oz to former President Donald Trump and casting his campaign as yet another act of celebrity self-promotion.

Among the biggest wildcards in the race: Fetterman’s health. On Friday, he revealed he had ignored doctor’s orders for years — leading up to a stroke that sidelined his primary campaign last month — and “almost died.”

CBS 3 Philadelphia

THE CONTEXT: In a letter shared with news outlets, Fetterman’s cardiologist, Ramesh R. Chandra, revealed a previously undisclosed cardiomyopathy diagnosis, the reason doctors implanted a pacemaker with a defibrillator into Fetterman’s heart after his stroke.

Chandra said Fetterman did not follow doctor’s orders after a 2017 appointment but should be able to campaign and serve in the U.S. Senate if he follows those orders from here on out.

The U.S. Senate seat is a must-win for Democrats and rated the most likely in the nation to flip despite strong midterm headwinds for the party.

The outcome will help decide partisan control of the chamber — and with it the potential future of federal policy around health care, abortion, guns, taxes, the U.S. Supreme Court, and other pivotal issues.

Media health doc Oz vs. heart patient Fetterman in Pa’s U.S. Senate showdown Read More »

How bad is the drought in the West? How about the worst in 1,000 years

The megadrought currently choking the western United States is the worst drought in the region in more than 1,000 years. It’s having an enormous impact across many states and on several major reservoirs including Lake Mead, a water source for millions of people in the West. Alex Hager, who covers the Colorado River Basin for Northern Colorado Public Radio, joins Geoff Bennett to discuss it.

Meanwhile, a growing community in the Utah desert plans a pipeline to draw from the Colorado River
Washington County, Utah is one of the fastest-growing regions in the country and to sustain that growth they want to build a pipeline to divert billions of gallons of water from the Colorado River. Conservationists say the project could be a disaster for the drought-stricken Southwest.

Related environment news:
U.S. Drought Monitor (Jun2 2, 2022 map)
Grim 2022 drought outlook (The Conversation)
Drought pushing farmers to make difficult decisions (CNN)
Drought could cut California’s hydropower in half (CNN Business)

How bad is the drought in the West? How about the worst in 1,000 years Read More »