EPA clarification helps farmers secure the right to repair their own equipment

The EPA issued guidance that the Clean Air Act does not interfere with 
farmers’ right to repair equipment. (Photo by Lance Cheung, USDA)

After years of battling for the right to repair their own equipment, American farmers gleaned a victory from the Environmental Protection Agency.

As of Monday, the agency "notified manufacturers that the Clean Air Act does not prohibit independent repairs to off-road diesel equipment such as farm machinery," reports Cami Koons of the Iowa Capital Dispatch. "A news release from EPA said manufacturers 'can no longer' use the act to 'justify limiting access to repair tools or software.'"

The EPA news release outlined how equipment manufacturers have consistently used the Clean Air Act to force farmers to wait for company-certified techs, pay for repairs they could have done themselves, or work with older, less sophisticated equipment.

Farm machinery manufacturer John Deere "has been central to the right-to-repair issue," Koons explains. The company had used the Clean Air Act to restrict farmers from tampering with emission control systems, insisting that its machinery used "sophisticated technology that could only be [legally] worked on by John Deere technicians."

Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said that EPA's clarification is "expected to save farmers thousands in unnecessary repairs . . . .We are reaffirming the lawful right of American farmers and equipment owners to repair their farm equipment.”

During his January visit to Iowa, President Donald Trump said he planned to remove some emission requirements for tractors, Koons reports. In a speech to a crowd of Iowans, Trump said, "We’re going to get the tractors back where you don’t have to be a Ph.D. in order to start your tractor, in order to keep the environment clean."

A rural Minnesota town works to manage effects of ICE raids on local community

A group of concerned Willmar residents gather to discuss
recent ICE activity. (Photo by B. Froiland, The Yonder)

What would you do if U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement descended on your small town? Residents of Willmar, Minnesota, are working on an answer.

The town might have only 21,000 people, but as ICE has fanned out in Minnesota's bigger cities, such as Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn., it has also taken to raiding in smaller towns like Willmar, which has a racially diverse population, including many Somali and Latino residents.

A group of Willmar residents, who have been working together to prevent community ICE arrests, recently met at a local Mexican restaurant to discuss ICE actions and possible ways to help threatened neighbors, reports Betsy Froiland of The Daily Yonder. "The residents around the table were high school students and business owners, children and parents, white neighbors witnessing the terror in their community and neighbors of color living it."

One Willmar resident told the group, “You see things in the news and you think, ‘that’s never going to happen here,’ Froiland reports. “And then you’re witnessing it firsthand.”

The ongoing ICE presence is also having a chilling effect on the town's economy. Froiland explains, "With people too afraid to leave their homes to work or shop, many local businesses are taking a financial hit."

Location of Willmar within 
Kandiyohi County, Minn.

Right now, many Willmar residents are doing their best to look out for one another and provide for residents in hiding. Froiland reports, "They are picking up the pieces after ICE arrests a neighbor, contacting their family, returning their belongings, and arranging care for children and pets left behind."

Other residents have seen their relationships with neighbors fracture. Froiland writes, "While some cross-party relationships remain intact, others have devolved, particularly online, into political sparring about ICE."

The group at the table is trying to figure out how to handle present-day life in Willmar." Julie Vossen-Henslin, another resident in the room, wondered aloud about how the community might recover from an experience like this, Froiland adds. "Then, looking at her neighbors sitting around their big, makeshift table, she answered her own question, 'it starts like this.'"

As five states roll out 'no junk food' SNAP rules, retailers scramble to update their systems and educate SNAP users

States in green have been granted federal SNAP waivers to restrict SNAP benefit purchases. (USDA map)

State food-choice restrictions on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program purchases have some grocery stores in a conundrum, trying to determine which foods are allowed and which aren't.

Beginning Jan. 1, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Utah and West Virginia rolled out their new "no junk food" SNAP purchase limits, but a total of "eighteen states have adopted new food-stamp restrictions," report Jesse Newman and Laura Cooper of The Wall Street Journal. As a whole, rural Americans are more likely to use SNAP benefits, but less likely to know about benefit changes because of online access limits.

Each state has limited different items and has varied its wording of restrictions, which can be confusing. For instance, in Indiana, mini-donuts can be purchased with SNAP benefits, but candy bars cannot. The Journal reports, "Grocery executives said that determining which products are food-stamp eligible and which aren’t has become a complex undertaking."

Retailers, who are working to ensure that only SNAP-allowed items can be purchased, have had "employees sifting through state-issued flow charts, scanning product bar codes and checking ingredient lists across thousands of goods in stores," Newman and Cooper explain. Allowed items have to be cataloged and entered into computer systems as well.

Beyond the labor hours needed to update their SNAP catalogs, retailers and industry groups said "guidance from USDA and many state agencies on how to implement the new restrictions has been insufficient," Newman writes.

For states that implemented their restrictions on Jan. 1, many SNAP enrollees seem unaware of the changes. Mark Griffin, chief executive of grocery chain B&R Stores, said "his company is dealing with lines at checkout counters as clerks tell longtime customers they can no longer use food stamps to buy soda or candy," the Journal reports.

The SNAP changes are part of a federal push to help Americans make healthier dietary choices; however, opponents to SNAP restrictions point out that "limiting grocery options ignores the real causes of poor diets, such as low incomes, high food prices and access to healthy food," the Journal reports. Last month, the Trump administration unveiled new dietary guidelines that it hopes can address some of the chronic diet-related diseases in Americans.

Wind farm projects are 'teetering on the brink,' despite soaring electricity demand

Wind power is being blown over by opposition from local residents, who don't like the look of turbines, and the Trump administration, which ended federal tax credits and has worked to stall federal permitting approvals. Without robust growth in wind power, experts are doubtful the U.S. will be able to meet future electricity demand.

In states that were once turbine-friendly, "new wind project developments are teetering on the brink, despite growing power demand," report Dan Gearino and Anika Jane Beamer of Inside Climate News. "Even Iowa, the nation’s most wind-powered state, is 'closed for business,' experts say."

Graph by Paul Horn, ICN, from Energy Information 
Administration data 

Although the Trump administration's resistance to offshore wind farms may be more familiar to Americans, the administration's weakening of land-based or 'onshore' wind development will have a much larger impact on the nation's power grid. Gearino and Beamer write, "In 2024, the most recent full year for which data is available, wind energy produced 7.7% of the nation’s electricity, more than any other renewable source."

Atin Jain, an energy analyst for the research firm BloombergNEF, told ICN, "U.S. onshore wind is in its weakest shape in about a decade, not because the technology has stopped being competitive, but because the policy and, to an extent, the macro-environment have turned sharply against it."

During the early to mid-2010s, many Iowa landowners and local governments welcomed wind farm developments and the significant revenue they generated. Opposition from residents was sporadic and generally ineffective, but "in the late 2010s, something changed," Gearino and Beamer explain. "In both Iowa and nationwide, wind energy projects began to face local opposition that was more aggressive and better organized than before."

The era of growth in Iowa’s wind industry "is almost certainly nearing its end," ICN reports. "The resistance comes almost entirely from the local level. . . . Roughly 58 of Iowa’s 99 counties now have rules designed to limit wind power development, including many of the counties with the strongest wind resources."

How to stay safe when it's cold and there's a power outage

Photo by S. Modak, Unsplash

Whether it's 32 degrees or -5 degrees, prolonged exposure to cold air takes a toll on the human body. For rural residents living in remote areas far from help, or in regions not accustomed to colder temperatures, knowledge about coping with cold, including proper clothing, and supplies for extended power outages can save lives, reports Devi Shastri of The Associated Press.

Cold can be stealthy. "Some of the most dangerous situations happen when the temperature is low for a long time, even 30 to 40 F," Shastri writes, "In these situations, long-term cold exposure taxes the body, driving up blood pressure and working the heart." A person who is shivering needs to be warmed as soon as possible.

Drinking plenty of water helps people stay warm. Drinking alcohol isn't advised because it can make people feel warmer than they are.

Wearing layers of dry clothes, especially dry socks, is one of the best ways to help the body trap heat. "The North Carolina Department of Emergency Management suggests wearing warm, loose-fitting, lightweight clothing in many layers that are easy to add or remove," Shastri reports. "It also recommends covering your mouth with scarves to protect the lungs from directly breathing in extremely cold air."

Smaller spaces will stay warmer. If you're waiting for the heat to come back on, move into a smaller room. Some sources even suggest pitching a tent in a room and climbing into a sleeping bag to add heat.

Check on your neighbors. "Young children, older adults and people with chronic health conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure are the most at risk when it’s cold," Shastri adds. "Community awareness is key during dangerous cold spells. Many don’t realize they need help until someone asks."