News
California's corporate climate disclosure rule moves from debate to reality " with agriculture in the crosshairs
1+ mon, 3+ week ago (1201+ words) California has moved corporate climate disclosure from political debate into operational rulemaking, and the consequences for food and agriculture could be profound. The vote comes at a time when federal climate disclosure efforts have stalled, leaving California as the de…...
CARB's draft cap-and-invest regulations raise cost and compliance concerns
1+ mon, 1+ week ago (1424+ words) CARB has released draft amendments to update the state's carbon market following legislation extending the program through 2045. The changes are intended to ensure California remains on track to meet its greenhouse-gas reduction targets while maintaining stability in the allowance market…...
CDFA unveils climate resilience strategy to prepare for a hotter, drier future
6+ mon, 6+ day ago (307+ words) The strategy is anchored in three pillars " supporting a resilient food sector, protecting natural systems and encouraging climate-smart practices " and integrates 12 key objectives ranging from water resilience and workforce health to biodiversity and energy efficiency. It builds on CDFA's Ag…...
Ross: COP30 marks a turning point for California agriculture's role in global climate solutions
5+ mon, 2+ day ago (654+ words) Fresh off her trip to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30), California Department of Food and Agriculture Secretary Karen Ross is returning to Sacramento with a sharpened message: Agriculture is no longer a side conversation in global climate negotiations, it…...
Plastic packaging rules could push fresh produce off California shelves, warn growers
2+ mon, 2+ week ago (1637+ words) California produce growers are sounding the alarm over the state's latest proposed regulations to implement the SB 54 Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act, warning the newest draft could make compliance impossible for some fresh produce packaging and drive…...
Court retains RFS 'set rule' but orders more environmental impact analysis
10+ mon, 1+ week ago (525+ words) The Environmental Protection Agency must reconsider the impacts on climate change of biofuel volumes in its "2023 "set rule," the D. C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday. The agency relied on an "admittedly outdated study instead of newer data," when it concluded…...
Households lead first post'pandemic drop in US food waste
1+ week, 6+ day ago (323+ words) Americans wasted less food in 2024, marking the first year-over-year decline in the post-pandemic period, according to a report from Re FED, a nonprofit focused on food waste. "With persistent food insecurity, shrinking federal food assistance programs, and significantly elevated grocery…...
Clean air rollbacks stir anxiety in the San Joaquin Valley
5+ mon, 2+ week ago (1281+ words) Federal efforts to strip California of decades-old authority to set its own clean air standards are triggering alarm across the state, but nowhere more intensely than in the San Joaquin Valley, where communities endure the nation's worst particulate pollution and…...
Former climate-smart grantees work to gain approval for new projects
2+ week, 6+ day ago (1236+ words) Some of the conservation projects under a $3. 1 billion program that has been rebranded from a focus on climate-smart agriculture to expanding markets for farmers are slowly moving toward approval by USDA. In January 2025, USDA announced it was changing the Partnerships…...
USDA to pause rural energy grant awards
3+ week, 6+ day ago (420+ words) The Agriculture Department will pause grant awards for the Rural Energy for America program until it finishes updating program regulations to meet an executive order calling for less federal wind and solar funding. "These changes reflect our commitment to ending…...