News & Commentary

Underinvested Communities Lead to Food Injustices

August 19, 2022 Expert BlogUnited States, CaliforniaMireya Arana

Mireya Arana, a rising senior at UC Merced, reflects on what can be done to address the food inaccessibility she sees in her hometown of Winterhaven, California.

California's Colorado River Reckoning

August 11, 2022 Expert BlogCaliforniaEd Osann

If you thought the consequences of climate change could be left to your children and grandchildren to deal with, 2023 will bring a different message. The era of the Colorado River as a security blanket for Southern California is over.

Californians Don’t Want PFAS in Their Clothes

August 9, 2022 Expert BlogCaliforniaYiliqi , Avinash Kar

The vast majority of Californians support phasing out PFAS in clothing and textiles

Curbside Composting Legislation on Launchpad in NYC Council

August 4, 2022 Expert BlogNew York CityEric A. Goldstein

Momentum is building for New York City to lock in a citywide curbside food scraps and yard waste composting collection program beginning as early as January 2023.

Top Climate Elements in Senate Budget Reconciliation

July 29, 2022 Expert BlogUnited States, Washington, D.C.Derek Murrow, Amanda Levin

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 will reduce greenhouse gas and other pollutants by giving people clean energy choices at low cost reduce household and business energy bills.

Californians Overwhelmingly Favor Curbing Neonic Pesticides

July 28, 2022 Expert BlogCaliforniaLucas Rhoads

Legislators can protect California from these dangerous pesticides by passing AB 2146, a bill authored by Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan.

Environmental Wins Abound in NY’s 2022 Legislative Session

July 14, 2022 Expert BlogNew YorkMarisa Guerrero, Rich Schrader

Read our recap of the environmental wins that passed in New York State's 2022 legislative session. With the tools to prevent climate catastrophe being dismantled at the federal level, this kind of bold action at the state level is more…

FDA's New Report on Animal Antibiotics Ignores Public Health

July 13, 2022 Expert BlogWashington, D.C., United StatesDavid Wallinga, MD

Amid a decades-long concern about widespread U.S. antibiotic overuse in livestock, the FDA continues ignoring the public health need to track and make that use visible.

Organic Agriculture Helps Solve Climate Change

June 9, 2022 Expert BlogUnited States, CaliforniaLena Brook

As farmers grapple with everything from extreme weather events to heat stress to wildfires, and agriculture becomes less predictable in the face of a changing climate, it is essential for governments to help farmers transition to practices that increase resilience…

NY Bills Would Ban Harmful PFAS in Clothes, Other Products

May 23, 2022 Expert BlogNew YorkAvinash Kar

The use of PFAS is not worth the risk of cancer, kidney, or liver damage, interference with vaccine uptake, or the myriad other serious health risks the chemicals are associated with.

A Mississippi Tribe Is Growing Its Own Organic Movement

May 16, 2022 DispatchMississippiNicole Greenfield

With programs for schools, elders, and diabetics across 10 counties, Choctaw Fresh Produce is making sure its tribal members have access to fresh, healthy food.

Questions and Answers About the Santa Susana Field Lab

May 10, 2022 Expert BlogCaliforniaCaroline Reiser

The Santa Susana Field Lab near Los Angeles is one of the most contaminated sites in California. Yet cleanup has barely begun. Here we answer common questions about the site and its cleanup, or lack thereof.

Delta Voluntary Agreements Are a “Plan to Fail” in Droughts

April 25, 2022 Expert BlogCaliforniaDoug Obegi

Rather than planning for droughts and ensuring that minimum water quality objectives are achieved in critically dry years, the proposed voluntary agreement appears to be a “plan to fail” to protect the Delta in future droughts.

Bay-Delta VA: A Sweetheart Deal to Subsidize Agribusiness

April 18, 2022 Expert BlogCaliforniaDoug Obegi

It’s not surprising, given who was in the room negotiating this backroom deal, that the VAs are a sweetheart deal that would subsidize the mitigation obligations of the state’s largest irrigation districts and industrial agribusinesses, undermining the Public Trust.

Health Experts to New York: Beware of Neonic Pesticides

April 14, 2022 Expert BlogNew YorkDaniel Raichel

Let’s hope that Albany legislators and Governor Hochul listen to the doctors’ orders.

Let’s Help More California Farms Become Organic

April 14, 2022 Expert BlogCaliforniaLena Brook

The California Department of Food and Agriculture, along with the Office of the First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, recently released a roadmap for our state’s new and ambitious Farm to School Program.

How Regenerative Agriculture Can Mitigate Drought

March 22, 2022 Expert BlogCaliforniaArohi Sharma

This is how we can help California farms and ranches be part of a drought mitigation strategy.

Learning about CA's Water Rights is the First Step to Reform

March 8, 2022 Expert BlogCaliforniaDoug Obegi

There is a growing recognition of the need to reform California’s water rights system, which is deeply inequitable, unsustainable, and all but broken.

New CA Program Can Deliver Organic School Lunches

February 25, 2022 Expert BlogCaliforniaLena Brook

By prioritizing procurement from organic farmers that avoid all or most pesticide use, our state’s farm-to-school program will also help reduce health risks faced by these especially vulnerable children. 

NYC Must Enact a Universal Food Waste Composting Law, Part II

February 18, 2022 Expert BlogNew York CityEric A. Goldstein

The time has arrived for the nation’s largest city to implement a universal, curbside organics collection program for all residents.