Local Texas wipeouts emblematic of Democratic Party's long-term challenges in the rural South

The depth of Democrats' despair in the rural South, in the wake of last month's elections, is brought home by R.G. Ratcliffe, statehouse reporter for the Houston Chronicle. His story starts not with a state legislative race or even a countywide race, but an election for one the most basic of community offices in a county (Wikipedia map) in the heart of "Little Dixie," the most culturally Southern part of Texas:

Angelina County Justice of the Peace R.G. Bowers easily won each of his elections since 1988 as a Democrat and expected to do the same this year against his game warden Republican opponent.

After all, game wardens "are not well accepted in rural East Texas." But voter frustration with President Barack Obama, the national Democratic Party and a Republican push for straight-ticket voting did in Bowers.

"They were so anti-Obama that they just pushed one button. I said they couldn't spell R.G., so they just spelled R," Bowers said.

Similar patterns were seen in Western Kentucky, which has voted Republican in most recent federal elections, and we suspect much the same happened in Arkansas and Tennessee, other states in the "McCain Belt," counties from Pennsylvania to Oklahoma where 2008 Republican presidential nominee John McCain did better than George W. Bush did as an incumbent president in 2004. In Georgia, a seventh House Democrat, the newly elected minority leader, has switched to the GOP, Blake Aued of the Athens Banner-Herald reports.

Ratcliffe's story is a template not just for regional stories, but local ones. "The media focus has been on Republican gains in Congress and the Legislature," he writes, but local results bode long-term ill for the Democratic Party. "The training ground for Democrats, particularly in rural areas, is dwindling fast." (Read more)

Predictions mixed about ending ethanol tax credits

We've been following the push from the ethanol industry to extend tax credits that some say are essential to its growth. Now, predictions of how expiration of the tax credits would affect the industry are mixed. Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley said last week in floor testimony, "A lapse in the ethanol tax incentive is a gas tax increase of over 5 cents a gallon at the pump." Conversely, "In a paper published in July and updated in November, an economist from Iowa State University's Center for Agricultural and Rural Development projected that an expiration of the VEETC and a 54-cent-per-gallon tariff on ethanol, taken together, could lower pump prices for drivers," Jenny Mandel of Environment & Energy News reports.

Grassley's statements were based on analysis from the Renewable Fuels Association, an industry trade group, which "equates the scheduled VEETC expiration next month with a 4.5-cent-per-gallon fuel cost increase," Mandel writes. Geoff Cooper, RFA's vice president of research and analysis, told Mandel in an email the analysis was based on a simple calculation of the VEETC's value to the refiners that blend ethanol into gasoline. "The VEETC is $0.45 per gallon of ethanol, and ethanol is blended in gasoline nationwide at a rate of 10 percent (called E10)," Cooper said. "So, it stands to reason that failing to extend the tax credit would increase the ultimate consumer tax burden on gasoline by 4.5 cents per gallon of gasoline."

The ISU study from Center for Agricultural and Rural Development Director Bruce Babcock is favored by groups including the National Resources Defense Council and Friends of the Earth that advocate ending the tax credit, Mandel writes. Babcock constructed a new economic model to assess the effects of tariff and tax changes on the markets for U.S. corn and ethanol and for Brazilian ethanol, concluding immediate impact would be negligible. "In 2011, he predicted, elimination of the tax credits would cause ethanol prices to fall by 12 cents per gallon, with domestic production falling by about 0.7 billion gallons out of the otherwise expected 13.24 billion gallons," Mandel writes. (Read more, subscription required)

Human threat to park rangers worse than animals

Two recent shootings of wildlife officers have brought new attention to the daily risk for rangers and wildlife managers. A Pennsylvania wildlife officer was recently killed in a shooting while confronting an illegal hunter, and a Utah officer was seriously injured after a shooting during a traffic stop, Kirk Johnson of The New York Times reports. The incidents "highlighted what rangers and wildlife managers say is an increasingly unavoidable fact," Johnson writes. "As more and more people live in proximity to forests, parks and other wild-land playgrounds, the human animal, not the wild variety, is the one to watch out for." (Services for a  Pennsylvania wildlife officer who was killed by an illegal hunter in November. Photo Darryl Wheeler/Gettysburg Times, via Associated Press)

"We’re seeing a little bit more of the urban spill into the wild spaces — city violence in the country," John Evans, an assistant branch chief of law enforcement operations at the National Park Service, told Johnson. Todd Schmidt, a Colorado game warden, said he always wears a bulletproof vest on the job now, noting "I know that everybody I confront has a gun." The risk may be further heightened after guns became legal in National Parks this year.  Rangers and wardens say their mixed roles of public resource stewards and full police authority sometimes leaves them vulnerable.

"Many parks and recreation areas around the nation have also suffered staff cuts in recent years, reducing the presence of badge-wearing authority figures on patrol," Johnson writes. "But rangers and wildlife workers say the key variable defining the job has not changed: because of the vast distances to be covered, especially in the West, every ranger is a solo act." Some agencies have countered the increased threat with new equipment. National Park rangers began carrying Tasers to immobilize would-be attackers in 2007. Ty Petersburg, who manages the district west of Denver, explained that when he recently called for backup from a police station he was left alone. "'We’d like to come help you,'" he quoted the nearest urban county sheriff’s office as saying, "'But we don’t have a clue where you’re at.'" (Read more)

Farm subsidies likely to be cut, just a matter of how much and which ones

The Republicans taking over the House of Representatives are promising to cut the federal deficit. For farmers, the question is no longer if farm subsidies will be cut but which ones and how much, the vice president of DTN writes. "Some legislators want to cut direct payments; others want to preserve them," Urban C. Lehner writes for DTN. "Some want to dismantle the Conservation Reserve Program; others are horrified at the thought." Those in the agriculture industry aren't speaking with a unified voice about possible cuts, either.

Lehner notes, "A Texas farmer expressed what’s on at least some farmers' minds ... A progressive farmer does not need subsidies. What USA farmers need is crop insurance to cover the growing risk." Meanwhile the Iowa Farm Bureau and others are "looking for a richer, county-based ACRE program, and are willing to give up direct payments to get it," Lehner writes. He cautions that the "Oklahoma Farm Bureau likes direct payments and the new chairman of the House Agriculture Committee is an Oklahoman. So the chances of Congress abandoning direct payments are slim."

Lehner acknowledges some cuts in farm spending are likely no matter what, but the deep cuts projected by many may not happen as "farmers' friends in Congress will fight to hang on to as much as possible and they've been successful facing budgetary pressure in the past." He adds that defenders of the status quo have one big factor in their favor: gridlock. With political gridlock between the split-party Congress, "we're more likely to see the whole government shut down for lack of accord on raising the debt ceiling than fresh legislative initiatives," Lehner writes. (Read more)

State to tell railroad to stop contaminating river and banks with lead paint flaking from bridge

Kentucky officials say they will tell CSX Transportation to paint or seal an old railroad bridge, right, that is is flaking lead paint into the Barren River and its banks at a main entrance to the city of Bowling Green, pleasing a local businessman and philanthropist who has been pushing the issue to the point of having soil samples taken and tested.

Shawn Cecil, manager of the Superfund branch for hazardous-waste sites, told Robyn Minor of The Daily News in Bowling Green, "We plan to discuss the flecking paint and the potential release (of contaminants) and ask them to abate that in some fashion or another. I don’t have any sort of direction they are required to go. We will tell them to meet certain goals, not how to get there. If they want to peel off (and properly) dispose of the remaining paint or seal it or paint it with a clear material, that is up to them." A CSX spokesman said, "We are reviewing options and are in discussions with the state." (Read more, subscription required)

UPDATE, Dec. 5: Philanthropist David Garvin told the Daily News that when he cleaned and painted two nearby bridges, "EPA monitored and required me to prevent any lead paint from entering the environment. We netted the entire bridges when we sandblasted off the old paint. They told me that I could not even spill a coffee cup of the lead residue into the river. Why should this same standard not apply to CSX?” The story updates the overall situation. (Read more)

Garvin told The Rural Blog that Kentucky's action has implications for other states. "If the state can force CSX's hand on this, it will be the first time that I know of anywhere in the U.S.," he wrote. "CSX has over 10,000 bridges. This would be a precedent that would have huge implications, both for the protection of the environment and for CSX's pocketbook." (Garvin photo)

Similar problems have come to light in several communities around the country but the issue has gained little national attention, For more background, click here.

UPDATE, Dec. 29: Garvin has lined up a qualified contractor to do the work and is seeking help from the state legislature, Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear and U.S. Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Bowling Green, to get things moving. (Read more)

Rural Kansas copes with fewer grocery stores

In Kansas, rural residents are sometimes living in a "food desert," reports Jill Wendholt Silva for the The Kansas City Star. On average, rural residents in Kansas travel 10 or more miles to reach a supermarket or supercenter. The Center for Engagement and Community Development at Kansas State University found that 82 out of 212 rural grocery stores in communities with fewer than 2,500 residents have closed since 2007.

Competition from large retailers and the economic downturn have caused many local grocery stores to shutter. For new ways to create access to healthy food, "I think the answer is looking at more innovative models instead of trying to replicate what is no longer there," said Diana Endicott, president of Good Natured Family Farms, an alliance of 160 small family farmers that supply Kansas City’s suburban Hen House stores. Among the possibilities: a church offered its building to be a distribution location for fresh food; creating community co-ops where residents organize and manage the store; or a virtual store where the food ordered online is picked up at a local library. (Read more)

Additional Information: The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a report to Congress, "Access to Affordable and Nutritious Food; Measuring and Understanding Food Deserts and Their Consequences."

Slate mapped the results of the USDA report.

Oregon power plant cuts deal to close state's only coal-powered plant

In a region known for its hydroelectric power, Oregon regulators may have set an important precedent. Portland General Electric is shuttering a coal-fired power plant in exchange for a smaller investment in pollution controls. PGE is planning to close the state's only coal-fired plant no later than Dec. 31, 2020, and state environmental regulators endorse the plan. The Boardman coal plant, built in 1977, "would be the youngest coal plant closed in the United States for environmental reasons, putting it on the national radar," Scott Learn and Ted Sickinger of The Oregonian report.

The proposal divided environmental groups who differed on short and long-term focus. "Supporters, including the Oregon Environmental Council and the Citizens' Utility Board of Oregon, say DEQ's recommendation would sharply reduce the state's pollution and global warming impact after 2020," Learn and Sickinger write. "Environmental critics say the recommendation low balls pollution controls and unnecessarily extends the life of Oregon's dirtiest plant." The U.S. Chamber of Commerce also spoke out against the plan, saying it "sets a precedent of regulating the nation's low-cost coal plants out of business," the reporters write.

PGE had considered spending about $500 million on new pollution controls and operating the plant through at least 2040, which would have led to a significant rate increase for customers. PGE estimates the 2020 plan would bump up electricity rates by an average of 2.4 percent while the plant operates. "An ongoing lawsuit from the Sierra Club, Friends of the Columbia Gorge and three other environmental groups alleges that PGE should have installed a full suite of pollution controls three decades ago, including equipment to knock down pollution by at least 80 percent," the reporters write. (Read more)

Adoption of broadband in rural Iowa varies widely

We've written a lot about the federal investment in rural broadband, but that investment doesn't mean everyone in rural America is adopting high-speed Internet. "If 'wireless router' is about as far as you want to go with the computer terminology, don't worry," Kyle Munson of the Des Moines Register writes. "I encounter lots of Iowans in various stages of online transition -- or lack thereof -- as I travel the state." Nonprofit organization Connect Iowa and the Iowa Utilities Board report 34 percent of Iowa households remain without a high-speed or broadband Internet connection -- the vast majority by choice.

In rural Turo, Iowa, local telecommunications company Interstate Communications recently laid new fiber optic cables for broadband Internet access with the help of a $7 million, 20-year loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Local chiropractor Ann Borseth was quick to adopt high-speed Internet, but just across the street, Jerry and Charlotte Clarke said no thanks, opting to "to remain offline and let the digital revolution pass them by," Munson writes. Jerry Clarke explained, "The knowledge doesn't automatically come to you."

Librarian Betty Green told Munson as many as seven people a day access each of the local library's five computers to access the Internet every day. "If the library serves as a backup plan for local residents on the fringes of online access, the opposite end of the spectrum is just several miles away at Appcore Technology," a cloud computing company, Munson writes. The vast differences in broadband adoption is "rural Iowa for you -- a different angle on the digital revolution from mile to mile," Munson adds. Even Clarke is considering hooking up to the new fiber optic cables. "I'm going to consider hooking up to it," he said. "It's getting about compulsory." (Read more)

Obama administration wants to remove bears and wolves from endangered species list

The Obama administration plans to lift Endangered Species Act protection from two of the West's iconic animals: the grizzly bear and gray wolf. "The administration's intentions emerged in an interview on Wednesday with two top-ranking officials from the Interior Department, whose agency, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, oversees federal safeguards for the bulk of imperiled species," Laura Zuckerman reports for The Washington Post. Previous attempts to remove the animals from the list have been met with staunch opposition in court from wildlife conservation groups.

"Environmentalists have raised concerns that although both species have made a comeback under protection as endangered species, their recovery could falter if they were de-listed, a move that is likely to open the animals to public hunting," Zuckerman writes. "Sportsmen and ranchers, who make up a powerful constituency in Western states, have strongly advocated de-listing wolves and grizzlies, saying the predators are diminishing herds of big-game animals such as elk and are preying on livestock."

In April 2009, the federal government removed the wolf from the endangered species list in Montana and Idaho but kept protection in Wyoming. "A federal judge this year ordered full listing restored, saying the wolves' entire range in the Rockies must be treated as a whole and that protections cannot be left intact in Wyoming while they are lifted in other states," Zuckerman writes. Tom Strickland, assistant interior secretary for fish, wildlife and parks, told the newspaper the administration plans to propose lifting protection in all three states and will seek congressional action if necessary. (Read more)

Knife-rights advocates hope to build on successes

Illegal knives confiscated in New York City

The gun-rights lobby receives most of the attention in the debate over carrying weapons, but recent victories in Arizona and New Hampshire have given new life to its cousin, the knife-rights lobby. "Its vision is a knife-friendly America, where blades are viewed not as ominous but as tools — the equivalent of sharp-edged screw drivers or hammers — that serve useful purposes and can save lives as well as take them," Marc Lacey of The New York Times reports. (Photo by Hiroko Masuike)

Arizona, once considered an anti-knife state recently liberalized its regulations so that "everything from samurai sword to a switchblade can be carried without a quibble," Lacey writes. New Hampshire recently lifted a ban on switchblades, stilettos, dirks and daggers. Knife-rights advocates don't claim knife fights and knife attacks are not a concern, but say "the problem is with the knife wielder, not the knife itself ... sounding very much like those who advocate for gun rights," Lacey writes. D’Alton Holder, a veteran knife maker who lives in Wickenberg, Ariz., explained, "People talk about how knives are dangerous, and then they go in the kitchen and they have 50 of them."

"Knife advocates contend that the Second Amendment applies to knives as well as guns," Lacey writes. "They focus their argument elsewhere, though, emphasizing that knives fill so many beneficial roles, from carving Thanksgiving turkeys to whittling, that they do not deserve the bad name they often get." Urban areas remain the prime advocates of tighter knife control, Lacey reports. Knife rights advocates hope success in Arizona will help broaden the conversation. "Arizona is now the model when it comes to knives," Todd Rathner, the lobbyist for Knife Rights Inc., told Lacey. "We’re now going to be moving to other states, probably in the Rocky Mountains and the Southeast. There’s probably half a dozen or more places that are ripe for this." (Read more)

Blankenship out as head of Massey Energy; may have been against proposed sale of the company

UPDATE, Dec. 4: "The unexpected departure comes amid unconfirmed reports that Blankenship opposed the Massey board's consideration of a sale of the giant Appalachian coal producer," Howard Berkes reports for National Public Radio. Dec. 6: The Wall Street Journal says Blankenship's departure may spur a sale; Kris Maher and Joann Lublin take a detailed look. Also, here is Jeff Goodell's profile of Blankenship in Rolling Stone, "The Dark Lord of Coal Country."

Don Blankenship, who ran the biggest coal company in Central Appalachia and perhaps the most controversial in America, is retiring as CEO of Massey Energy, the company said around 6 p.m. today -- without giving a reason, beyond quoting him thusly: "After almost three decades at Massey, it is time for me to move on."

"The move comes amid persistent rumors that Richmond, Va.-based Massey will be sold to another mining firm, and as the company struggles to recover from the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster in April, which killed 29 workers and was the worst U.S. mining disaster in more than 40 years," writes Ken Ward Jr. of The Charleston Gazette, Blankenship's primary journalistic adversary. There were many others. UPDATE, Dec. 10: Ward reports Blankenship will cite his rights against self-incrimination and refuse to testify at a hearing on the disaster.

"Blankenship's tenure has been marked by bitter disputes with the United Mine Workers union, a series of workplace and environmental disasters, and controversial political involvement that has increasingly drawn negative national attention for Massey," Ward writes. "In the past two years alone, Massey has paid the largest fines ever for a coal-mining death case and for water pollution violations by a mining operator -- $4.5 million for the fatal Aracoma Alma No. 1 Mine fire and $20 million in a water pollution deal with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency."

This week, Massey said it would close an Eastern Kentucky mine that the U.S. Department of Labor had gone to court to seize for its pattern of dangerous violations, the first time the department had taken such a step. UMW President Cecil Roberts said Blankenship's departure "brings to a close a long and difficult chapter in the history of the coal industry, one that has all too often been associated with human tragedy."

Blankenship poured millions of dollars into elections, unseating a West Virginia Supreme Court justice whose replacement was a deciding vote in dismissing a multi-million-dollar lawsuit against Massey. In a precedent-setting decision, the U.S. Supreme Court said the judge should have recused, but Massey won again after a replacement justice was appointed.

Roberts said in his prepared statement that Blankenship and Massey were much to blame for "the negative image that has cast a pall over our industry." Others made similar comments. "He was like a caricature of all that was wrong with the industry today," Cindy Rank, mining chair for the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, told Ward, adding that Blankenship may have perversely helped environmentalists by attracting attention to mountaintop-removal mining. West Virginia Coal Association executives seemed stunned; one called the announcement "unreal." (Read more) For the company's release, via Ward's Coal Tatoo blog, go here.

Main ethanol tax break would be extended one year and cut by one-fifth in new Senate tax bill

"The major U.S. ethanol incentive would be cut by 20 percent but given one more year of life in a Senate tax bill that also would revive a biodiesel tax credit that died a year ago," reports Charles Abbott of Reuters. The bill offered by Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, is "very unlikely to pass" in a rare Saturday session tomorrow, but would kick off negotiations on many tax issues, the Washington Research Group, a consultancy, told Abbott.

"With ethanol supporters under fire by livestock producers, foodmakers and environmental groups, ethanol leaders say the best chance to extend biofuel supports is to attach them to a must-pass tax bill," Abbott writes. The bill would reduce the 45-cent-per-gallon tax credit — set to expire at the end of teh year — to 36 cents, the level House Democrats have called for, "and it is supported by the Obama administration, which feels it must address calls to reduce federal spending during the next Congress," reports Manu Raju of Politico.

"Baucus also proposed extending for a year the 54-cent-per-gallon tariff on imported ethanol, as well as extending a small ethanol producer’s tax credit through next year at 8 cents per gallon," Raju reports.

Calif. county can make builders protect farmland

California courts have upheld a law requiring large-scale residential builders to protect an acre of farmland for every one they develop in Staniuslaus County, which has a $1 billion agricultural economy, reports Bettina Boxall for the Los Angeles Times. (Wikipedia map)

The county ordinance, which was put on hold by a lawsuit filed by the Building Industry Association of Central California, gives developers of fewer than 20 acres the option of paying a mitigation fee or buying mitigation credits. But the county wants builders using more land to acquire farmland conservation easements for an equivalent amount of land.

Attorney Matthew Zinn, who represented the county, said "The Court of Appeal recognized the county's right to protect farmland as part of its well-established authority to regulate land use." Attorney Dave Lanferman, who represented the builders, responded, "Basically the county has set itself up as a land broker and set the price." (Read more)

Budget woes leave some in jail too long, some out too soon, and many unemployed

Are criminals being let go, or released from jail early, or being denied justice because of budget cuts to your local and state judicial and corrections systems? It's probably time to ask. "Courtrooms and jails have become crowded to the bursting point, allowing justice to languish in many locations," Keith Matheny reports for USA Today. Experts told Matheny three factors are contributing to the sluggish distribution of justice:

• Tougher law enforcement without expansion of jail and court infrastructure;
• Failure to improve court procedures over many years;
• Overworked judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys continually postponing hearings.

Matheny cites examples: In Texas, 10 percent of all felony cases had no court date scheduled; in North Carolina, the continuance rate in cases involving child abuse and neglect or termination of parental rights topped 40 percent in nearly a quarter of the state's 100 counties; in one California county, 18 criminal cases, including two felonies, were dismissed because no judges were available to hear the cases.

Some states are addressing the problem by sending non-violent misdemeanor offenders to treatment programs rather than jail. South Carolina ended mandatory minimum sentences for first-offense simple narcotics possession, and expanded the use of probation, house arrest and work-release programs, reports Matheny. (Read more)

In several states, convicted felons used to go to state prisons, but now are serving their time in county jails. That leaves counties holding the financial bag for overcrowded state prisons, reports Deb Gruver of the Wichita Eagle. "As the state has downsized the number of beds in their prisons, we're kind of in a situation where we're ending up having to cover for them," Sedgwick County Commissioner Karl Peterjohn told Gruver. "It ties in to jail overcrowding."

Sen. Tim Owens, R-Overland Park, chairman of the Kansas DUI commission and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the overarching problem is that people want criminals to be punished but don't want to see their taxes go up to pay for doing so. "Is it fair to shift the problem from the state to the locals without some kind of financial assistance? ... I don't think it is fair. But both sides have to balance it," said Owens. (Read more)

Inmates who are released early have more difficulty finding work, reports Alana Semuels for the Los Angeles Times. More inmates are competing for the same low-wage, low-skill jobs. The lack of work could lead back to criminal activity and ultimately back to jail. "As difficult as the recession has been on people, it's twice as difficult for people with a felony to make it in this economy," said Marc Mauer of the nonprofit Sentencing Project. The reduction of job opportunities in manufacturing and construction and a rise in the number of former inmates looking for work as state prisons and county jails reduce their inmate populations, make for an even more crowded job market and many unemployed former inmates. (Read more)

Outspoken Iowa congressman calls for probe of black farmers' discrimination claims

On Wednesday we reported Congress had sent President Obama legislation to pay $4.6 billion in settlements with American Indians and black farmers who say they faced discrimination and mistreatment from the government. Some Republicans have raised objections to the bill, and not just because of its price tag. Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King "argues that the eligibility standards in the case are too lax, because claimants don’t have to prove they were discriminated against," Philip Brasher of the Des Moines Register reports on the Green Fields blog. King called for a federal investigation into possible fraud in the claims

Complaints from King and other Republicans about the bill "have kind of a funny smell about them," Iowa Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin told Brasher. King countered, "Their first line of defense is to call me names, so that tells me they’ve already lost the argument." A Republican-controlled House of Representatives in 2011 could hold hearings about the claims, but King said negotiations were ongoing about how to deal with the issue. He acknowledged the issue made southern Republicans uncomfortable, telling Brasher "They cringe because they don’t want to have to deal with the subject."

Harkin said there is no evidence of fraud in regards to discrimination claims and the bill has adequate safeguards to protect against such concerns. "The legislation includes provisions requiring various reviews and audits of the settlement’s implementation," Brasher writes. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, who said he was disappointed by King's comments, told Brasher, "We’re obviously going to be sensitive and aware of the need to make sure that those who have been discriminated against receive their appropriate measure of justice and that we do our very level best to make sure that people who are not entitled to relief don’t get relief." (Read more)

Senator on debt commission opposes reduction plan, saying it paints 'big red target' on rural

A leading Democratic senator says he will oppose the federal debt reduction recommendations from the Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform because they are anti-rural. Montana Sen. Max Baucus, a congressional representative on the commission, said the proposal paints a "big red target on rural America," Jackie Calmes of The New York Times reports on The Caucus blog. Baucus is "chairman of the Senate committee that would deal with the sort of tax changes and spending cuts the plan proposes," Calmes notes.

Baucus said the recommendations would  lead to reduced retirement and health care benefits for older Americans and veterans, raise gasoline taxes and cut farm subsidies. "Baucus’ decision was long expected – he opposed the 18-member commission’s creation and participated little in its deliberations — but as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee he holds out-sized influence over the prospects for any debt reduction legislation," Calmes reports. His opposition all but ensures the 18-member commission's proposal will fall short of the 14 votes needed to send it to a vote in Congress, Calmes writes. (Read more)

Montana attorney general stands out as state official working for agricultural competitiveness

Most of the attention to the fight against anti-competitive practices in the agriculture industry has involved federal policymakers, but one rural state's attorney general is making a name for himself in the fray. Roughly a third of Montana's economy remains tied to agriculture, and Attorney General Steve Bullock's "concern with anti-competitive practices in the agricultural industry has prompted him to take a front-and-center role on the issue both within the state and nationally," Jason D. B. Kauffman of the online journal New West reports for the Daily Yonder.

Bullock added one attorney to his Office of Consumer Protection to deal solely with agriculture issues, and joined in a roundtable discussion with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, Colorado Governor Bill Ritter Jr., U.S. Rep. Betsy Markey of Colorado and other top-level agriculture and antitrust officials at a workshop focused on anti-competitive issues in the cattle industry in Fort Collins, Colo., in August. "My principal concerns are those impacting Montanans on the ground," Bullock told Kauffman, such as "whether our grain growers can get a fair price for their product, get that product to the market and whether there’s sufficient competition and opportunity for our beef producers."

Less competition in meatpacking and railroading are hurting Montana's cattle industry, Bullock said. Bullock and Bill Bullard, CEO of R-CALF USA, a Billings-based group of ranchers and their allies, see reason for hope in the Obama administration's emphasis on agricultural competitiveness. "This administration is the first to recognize that the hollowing out of rural America that is occurring all across the nation is being accelerated by the loss of competition in agricultural markets," Bullard told Kauffman. "It is the economic cornerstone for most rural communities. And it is the vehicle by which to revitalize the rural American economy." (Read more)

'Historic' child-nutrition bill has provisions for helping school kitchens use local farm products

A bill to renew and revamp federal child-nutrition programs is on its way to President Obama, with provisions that would "help schools and other entities implement farm-to-school programs, improving access to local foods," reports Dani Friedland of MeatingPlace. "The act also establishes national nutrition standards for all foods available on school campuses during the school day with the goal of decreasing childhood obesity and promoting student health." (Read more)

The bill is being hailed as historic. Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, told Amanda Paulson of the Christian Science Monitor, "This is not a baby step. This is a huge step forward in improving nutrition for children, especially low-income children." (Read more)

The bill would "authorize the establishment of nutrition standards for all food and beverages sold on school grounds throughout the school day," Nick Anderson of The Washington Post reports. "This provision, advocates say, would force out sugary beverages and snacks and clear the way for more healthful food and drinks to be offered through a la carte sales at snack bars and vending machines." School administrators' groups opposed the bill, calling it an unfunded mandate. For the text of the bill, click here.

Northern Vermonters vote to welcome Walmart

The voters of Derby and Newport, Vt. (MapQuest image) voted in a referendum last month to support a Walmart superstore, according to a staff report in The Chronicle of Orleans. Several rural New England communities have shunned Walmart, but in Vermont's self-described Northeast Kingdom, the electorate was welcoming, voting 2,592 to 411 to support the store. A small complication, though: Walmart has no plans to build there.

Local developer Jeff Davis told Chronicle reporter Joseph Greeser in September that Walmart officials were thinking about building in Derby, but had made no commitment. Brian Smith, chairman of the Derby selectmen, promoted the referendum in an attempt to lure the discount chain to the area. The company showed interest in building a large store in Derby in 2005, but failed to move forward on the project. Smith told his fellow selectmen that if the vote was overwhelmingly in favor of the store, he would try to persuade other municipalities to follow Derby and Newport’s lead.

Agriculture secretary gives Stephen Colbert farm facts, official opinion and a cheese head

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, on Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report," sparred with faux-conservative host Stephen Colbert (right) about farm programs, nutrition and cheese. Questioned about subsidies, Vilsack said, "The reality is we do have to have a safety net for our farmers because it’s a tough business. You have no control over weather, you have no control over markets. You need to know probably 90 percent of America’s farmers are just barely making it. Ten percent are doing pretty well. But there are a lot of farmers out there who struggle, so it is important to have a strong safety net." At the end of their conversation, Vilsack presented Colbert with a 25-pound bust of Colbert's head carved from organic cheese. Colbert told Vilsack that he liked his likeness: "It may be cheddar, but I have to say, I look Gouda." (Read more from Philip Brasher of The Des Moines Register; view the video)

EPA denies FOIA request for mine permit review

The Environmental Protection Agency has noted that alternatives exist to reduce the environmental impact of the controversial mountaintop removal plan for the Spruce Mine site in West Virginia. After filing a Freedom of Information Act request of EPA's analysis of the Spruce Mine permit, the agency has refused to provide those alternatives to Ken Ward Jr. of The Charleston Gazette. Ward was told the analysis is protected from FOIA release under a legal exemption meant to cover inter-agency or intra-agency memorandums. Ward notes the FOIA exemption doesn't require EPA to withhold the documents, it just gives the agency that option.

In October, we reported that EPA had moved closer to blocking the Spruce Mine permit, which is the largest mountaintop removal permit in West Virginia history. The analysis is "a report prepared by Morgan Worldwide, the firm headed by mining engineer John Morgan," Ward writes on his Coal Tattoo blog. "EPA said the report would eventually be made public, but not until the agency finishes the process of considering whether to veto the Spruce Mine permit." Ward concludes, "If John Morgan came up with a way for Arch Coal to mine its reserves without burying more miles of streams, wouldn’t it benefit EPA to make this information public? Wouldn’t that put more political pressure on Arch Coal and the industry in general in the ongoing dispute over EPA’s crackdown on mountaintop removal?" (Read more)

Obama gets bill to list bighead carp as invasive

The U.S. House approved a bill yesterday that would add bighead carp to the national list of injurious wildlife, fish and plants. Bighead carp are the only of the four Asian carp species not on the list, Paul Quinlan of Environment & Energy News reports. The Senate passed the same bill by unanimous consent earlier this month so it now goes to President Obama for his approval. "The U.S. Congress took an important step today in the effort to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes," Michigan Democratic Sen. Carl Levin, who wrote the bill, said. "The devastating effects Asian carp could have on the Great Lakes are not fully known, and I want to make sure they are never realized."

"Listing the bighead carp ... will prohibit the interstate transportation or importation of live Asian carp without a permit," Quinlan writes. Asian carp have infested the Mississippi River system after escaping from Southern catfish farms, which used them to eat underwater vegtation, but they also eat other things and there are fears that they would devastate the Great Lakes ecosystem if they enter it through a Chicago canal. "Bighead and silver carp are the species that pose the greatest, most immediate threat to waters not yet infested, although black carp also pose a risk," Quinlan writes. (Read more, subscription required)

Study finds much arsenic in sediment downstream from TVA coal-ash spill

The environmental risks of coal ash may be worse than previously thought, says a new study from Duke University. Researchers found arsenic in water samples drawn below sediment downstream after the 2008 coal-sludge spill at the Tennessee Valley Authority power plant in Kingston, Tenn., Paul Quinlan of Environment & Energy News reports. In more than 220 samples drawn from sediment 18 months after the spill, the water had arsenic levels of 2,000 parts per billion. EPA's safety threshold for arsenic is 10 parts per billion in drinking water and 150 parts per billion for protection of aquatic life.

"The take-away lesson is we need to change how and where we look for coal-ash contaminants," author and geochemist Avner Vengosh told Quinlan. "Risks to water quality and aquatic life don't end with surface water contamination, but much of our current monitoring does." He added, "It's like cleaning your house. Everything may look clean, but if you look under the rugs, that's where you find the dirt." EPA is expected to release in the coming months its final ruling on whether to classify combustion ash from coal-burning power plants as hazardous waste.

Vengosh calls the EPA's impending decision as the "defining moment" in the coal-ash debate. "At more than 3.7 million cubic meters, the scope of the TVA spill is unprecedented, but similar processes are taking place in holding ponds, landfills and other coal ash storage facilities across the nation," Vengosh told Quinlan. "As long as coal ash isn't regulated as hazardous waste, there is no way to prevent discharges of contaminants from these facilities and protect the environment." (Read more, subscription required) Opponents of greater regulation have argued that high levels in sediment should not be cause for great concern because sediment is rarely disturbed.

States vary widely in their abilities to make health-insurance companies justify rates

How ready is your state to use an important part of the federal health-reform law, which makes health-insurance companies justify their rates? Maybe not very ready, according to a study from the Kaiser Family Foundation, which has long been a good source of information about health reform.

"It finds dramatic variations across states, with some states having with no authority at all and others with robust authority to review and approve or disapprove rates before they are implemented," Kaiser says. "Many states do not have enough trained actuaries to review all filed rates. In addition, statutory clauses can 'deem' rates approved if not acted on within 30 or 60 days, limiting states’ ability to conduct thorough reviews."

Kaiser gives many other shortcomings of state insurance regulation. For a PDF of the full report, click here. For a sortable table that gives rate-filing requirements and review authority for each state, go to this page on Kaiser's State Health Facts site.

Massey to close mine feds threatened to seize

Massey Energy told Howard Berkes of National Public Radio today that it will close an underground coal mine in far Eastern Kentucky that was in line to be the first ever seized or shut by the federal government for a pattern of dangerous safety violations. "The Freedom Energy Mine No. 1 in Pike County is the focus of an unprecedented federal court action in which the Labor Department is seeking to have the court seize control of the mine," Berkes notes. (Map by Nelson Hsu, NPR)

Mine safety experts told NPR that the feds can claim victory. "I don't think Massey would have closed the mine without the government's action," said Tony Oppegard, a Lexington, Ky., lawyer. The department says it "will continue to seek a court order to ensure that miners who continue to work in any capacity at Freedom are safe." Some workers will remain to remove equipment; the rest will be transferred to other Massey mines, Berkes reports.

Congress sends Obama bill to pay black and Native American farmers for discrimination

Congress has sent President Obama legislation to pay $4.6 billion in settlements with American Indians and black farmers who say they faced discrimination and mistreatment from the government. The package would award $3.4 billion to American Indians who say they were cheated out of royalties overseen by the Interior Department and another $1.2 billion would go to African Americans who claim they were unfairly denied loans and other assistance from the Agriculture Department.

The lead plaintiff in the Native American case is Eloise Cobell, a member of the Blackfeet Tribe from Browning, Mont., who claimed that at least 300,000 Indians were swindled out of royalties overseen by the Interior Department since 1887. The plaintiffs originally said they were owed $100 billion, but were willing to settle for less as the case dragged on. The lead plaintiff in the African-American case is Timothy Pigford, a black farmer from North Carolina who claimed widespread discrimination by the local office of USDA. (Read more)

Shirley Sherrod, the former USDA Georgia Rural Development director who was mistakenly forced out of her job, said of the settlement: "Sixty-thousand-plus farmers have been waiting all this time to get their claims filed, and I'm just really happy that we're finally getting to the point where something is happening." reports Ben Evans for The Associated Press. "This doesn't solve everything. But at least this brings some type of resolution to the matter. It's good to see that -- at the least -- this country will do something for these farmers out there who still need justice." (Read more)

Farm income forecast up 31%, to all-time record

The Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service projects U.S. farm income will reach a record $81.6 billion this year, up 31 percent from 2009 and 26 percent higher than the last decade's average of $64.8 billion, Bob Meyer of Brownfield reports.

"The value of livestock production in 2010 is expected to be up 16.6 percent compared to 2009 led by a 29.6 percent increase in dairy products, 16.4 percent improvement in meat and 9.9 percent increase in poultry and egg value," Meyer writes. "Crop production value is projected at 3.1 percent higher thanks to strong gains in corn, soybean and cotton receipts." USDA projects a 1.5 percent increase in government payments from 2009 to $12.4 billion. (Read more)

The latest  DTN/The Progressive Farmer Agribusiness Confidence Index also reports, "As the 2010 harvest wrapped up, outlook among American agribusinesses has become even more optimistic," Pat Hill of DTN writes. Rising corn and soybean prices combined with good weather, led to a quick harvest and more cash for farmers, Hill reports. The index combines comments from 100 agribusinesses in 23 states "about current and future sales of products and services to farmers and ranchers, current and future profitability and overall business prospects for the next 12 months." (Read more)

New foes lobby against ethanol subsidies, due to expire Dec. 31 amid budget-deficit concerns

The latest challenge to federal ethanol subsidies comes from a coalition of conservative and liberal groups. "Strange bedfellows including the conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute, liberal network MoveOn and even a Catholic missionary group came together on a letter urging Congress to let $6 billion in ethanol tax credits lapse at the end of the year," Jenny Mandel of Environment & Energy News reports. In total, 58 groups signed the letter urging Congress to let the subsidies expire.

"At a time of spiraling deficits, we do not believe Congress should continue subsidizing gasoline refiners for something that they are already required to do by the Renewable Fuels Standard," the coalition wrote. The groups added, "Letting the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit expire will help control deficit spending without in any way hindering the development of advanced biofuels, which can help us meet our energy, environmental and food security needs in a fiscally responsible manner." (Read more, subscription required)

With bleak prospects for a renewable energy standard, advocates for renewables are fighting alongside ethanol proponents for extending tax credits. “If the RES doesn’t pass, and that’s a long-shot right now, and clearly we’re not going to have a price on carbon for a number of years, we’re left with tax policy as the only federal policy of any significance to promote renewable electricity generation,” Richard Glick, director of government affairs for Iberdrola Renewables, the country's second-largest wind developer, told Amy Harder of National Journal. Many ethanol producers predict if the tax incentive is extended it will be at a lower level than the 45 cents-per-gallon current level, perhaps 36 cents, Harder writes. (Read more)

Ethanol subsidies garnered another high-profile opponent recently as former Vice President Al Gore changed his previous position in favor of the subsidies. "It is not a good policy to have these massive subsidies for first-generation ethanol," Gore told a gathering of clean-energy financiers in Greece this week. He added that the benefits of ethanol are "trivial," The Wall Street Journal reports. Gore said of his previous support for ethanol, "One of the reasons I made that mistake is that I paid particular attention to the farmers in my home state of Tennessee, and I had a certain fondness for the farmers in the state of Iowa because I was about to run for president." (Read more)

FCC chairman proposes Internet rules that fall short of 'net neutrality' but draw GOP opposition

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski today outlined a framework for broadband Internet access that prevents service providers from blocking lawful content but allows them to charge different prices based on levels of service.  The approach appears to split the difference between advocates of "net neutrality," a policy that would ban Internet service providers from discriminating among types of information when it comes to price or access, and those who favor a completely free-market approach. "The fight may continue as neither side in the net-neutrality debate is expected to be completely satisfied with the outcome," Marguerite Reardon writes for CNET News. For rural residents, net neutrality is intended to guarantee that smaller, locally-owned internet users -- be they businesses or consumers -- would not be squeezed off the internet by companies that had paid a premium for unlimited Internet access.

"The proposal will allow broadband providers to impose usage-based charges so that customers using more bandwidth would get charged more than customers using less," Reardon reports. "The FCC will also allow providers to experiment with offering specialized services that could provide higher-quality access to consumers rather than sending applications and content over the public Internet. Broadband providers will also be required to justify why these services require dedicated bandwidth rather than being delivered over the public Internet." Also, broadband companies would not be able to give preference to "their own services or their customers' premium services."
 
"The agency scaled back its goals in the face of stiff political resistance," Jeffry Bartash reports for MarketWatch. "Genachowski has decided not to use the commission’s telephone regulatory powers to govern broadband Internet service, a move that he proposed in May that would potentially open Internet service to heavier government regulation," Edward Wyatt of The New York Times reported, based on an advance copy of the speech provided to the newspaper. Wyatt said the plan would "allow broadband companies to impose usage-based pricing, charging customers higher prices if they make heavy use of data-rich applications like streaming movies. The FCC would also allow companies to provide separate highways outside the public Internet for "specialized services" like health care or home security.

Wired and wireless broadband providers would be treated differently. Wireline companies "will be prohibited from blocking lawful content, applications, services and the connection of non harmful devices to the network," Genachowski said, adding that rules for wireless should be more flexible. "For wireless broadband, the fastest-growing segment of the industry, the proposal includes a transparency requirement and 'a basic no-blocking rule' covering Web sites and certain applications that compete with services that the broadband provider also offers," Wyatt writes. He reports that it is unclear whether the proposal has the support of the majority of the five-member FCC, because another Democratic commissioner favors stronger regulation. (Read more)

The proposal is expected to meet Republican opposition in Congress. U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee launched a preemptive attack, vowing to fight to overturn any net-neutrality order that the FCC may vote on at its Dec. 21 meeting, Eliza Krigman of National Journal reports. "This is a hysterical reaction by the FCC to a hypothetical problem," Blackburn said. (Read more)

Interior opens door to fracking disclosure as enviros cite bigger issues in shale gas drilling

The Obama administration says it has big hopes for natural gas as part of the U.S. energy future but is planning new regulations for shale gas drilling including disclosure of chemicals used on federal lands, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Tuesday. "The potential regulations would set general fracking standards and mandate companies leasing Bureau of Land Management lands for such exploration disclose the list of chemicals they employ to unlock shale gas," Dina Fine Maron of Environment & Energy News reports. Shale gas drilling uses horizontal hydraulic fracturing, which some say can contaminate drinking water.

"In hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a chemical and water mixture is injected deep underground under high pressure, breaking up shale rock formations that contain natural gas," Maron explains. The Interior Department reports about 11 percent of U.S. natural gas reserves are on public land, controlled by Interior's Bureau of Land Management, and 90 percent of gas wells on those lands use fracking. Regulatory power over fracking currently belongs to the states.  "We want to make sure that natural gas is developed on BLM lands and is developed in a way that is going to be protective of the environment," Salazar said. (Read more, subscription required)

"We have not yet settled on how exactly we are going to move forward with respect to that issue," Salazar said. "Natural-gas companies and drilling operators say fears about fracking chemicals contaminating water supplies are exaggerated," notes Tennille Tracy of The Wall Street Journal. "They are reluctant to disclose the chemicals because they say the composition of those fluids are trade secrets." (Read more)

The incoming chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, Republican Rep. Doc Hastings of Washington state, sent Salazar a letter criticizing his plans and asking him to explain them before the committee. "The request is the first of what Hastings has vowed will be many investigations into Interior's energy policies when he takes the committee gavel," Phil Taylor of E&E reports.

The Environmental Defense Fund notes fracking isn't the only element of shale gas drilling people should be worried, saying other facets have caused more problems. "If people over-emphasize hydraulic fracturing as a risk, they are doing industry a favor," Scott Anderson, senior policy adviser for EDF, told Mike Soraghan of E&E. "They're shortchanging attention that could be focused on practices that cause the bulk of the problem." Anderson said most documented problems with shale gas production have been spills of fracturing fluid, flowback or other toxic substances and methane leaking into water supplies. (Read more, subscription required)