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Journalism Has Become More Challenging, for Reporters and Sources

Researchers are more reluctant to give interviews since Trump returned to the White House.

Policy•4 min read

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‘Sweetheart Deal’ Reached for Polluting Slaughterhouse

Agri Star was fined just $50,000 for violating its water pollution discharge permit 60 times.

Climate•3 min read

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In the Arizona Desert, Where Your Neighbor Is an Alfalfa Farm

Water resource “hedge funds” and corporate farms are running the desert dry.

Climate•16 min read

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Meat Is a Leading Emissions Source – But Few Outlets Report on It, Analysis Finds

Sentient Media reveals less than 4% of climate news stories mention animal agriculture as source of carbon emissions.

Climate•7 min read

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How Agriculture and Data Centers Compete for the Great Lakes’ Most Precious Resource

Water demand is spiking from both agriculture and data centers. Without intervention, the Great Lakes could be strained past their limit.

Climate•7 min read

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Could the Fight Against Animal Testing Help Farm Animals? Some Advocates Are Shifting Tactics

To win over conservative lawmakers, some animal rights advocates are stressing spending cuts in their pitch.

Policy•8 min read

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Farmworkers Already Face Harsh Conditions. Now They May Have To Deal With a Pay Cut.

Hard-line immigration policy, climate change and labor shortages are colliding to create a real problem for U.S. farms.

Food•7 min read

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USDA’s DEI Purge: How Trump and Rollins Are Reshaping American Agriculture

The Trump administration has cut funding for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives as part of an effort to reduce what it deems wasteful spending.

Farms•11 min read

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A Boston Suburb Banned Foie Gras. Philadelphia Could Be Next.

Advocates persuaded 114 municipal lawmakers on Brookline to vote for the ban.

Local Organizing•4 min read

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People Dramatically Misjudge the Climate Impacts of Their Actions, Research Shows

Recycling is easier than going vegan, but it’s also a lot less effective.

Climate•7 min read

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The Words We Use To Talk About Nature Are Disappearing. Here’s Why That Matters.

We’ll need to do more than "touch grass" to revive them.

Research•7 min read

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EPA Drops Proposed Rules to Limit Slaughterhouse Waste Pollution

Trump’s EPA cites “unleashing prosperity” as it withdraws rules meant to curb pollution from slaughterhouse blood in the water supply.

Policy•6 min read

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Raising Slower Growing Chickens Could Reduce Their Suffering for a Lower Cost Than You Might Think

A new framework aims to quantify farm animal suffering for better decisions about the way we produce food.

Research•6 min read

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Workers Are Facing Dangerous Heat — Even Inside Fast-Food Restaurants

Rising temperatures and chronically broken cooling systems are turning the lunch rush into a deadly risk for some workers.

Policy•7 min read

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Factory Farms Don’t Just Stink — They Make It Harder To Breathe, Too

New maps show that where animal feeding operations exist, higher percentages of Latino and uninsured residents also live.

Health•7 min read

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Could the U.S. Switch to Regenerative Chicken? Only if Americans Ate This Much Less

Going from 100 lbs of chicken each year to 63 would be quite the change.

Climate•5 min read

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A Small Wisconsin Town Bet Big on a Biodigester. Now the Project Is Defaulting on Its Loans.

Pitched as a boon to small towns, the biodigester financed $41.5 Million via the town of Gillett, promising jobs and future tax revenue.

Climate•6 min read

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In Rural Pennsylvania, a Free-Range Chicken Farm and Solar Project Is Not What It Seems

At a township hearing, a developer revealed the 350,000 chickens would be kept mostly separate from the solar panels and probably “don’t go outside much.”

Climate•8 min read

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A Former Tyson Executive Now Oversees the Safety of the U.S. Meat Supply

Justin Ransom helped launch Tyson’s controversial label for “climate friendly” beef. Now he leads the federal agency charged with meat label oversight.

Policy•8 min read

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Food Banks Are Getting Into the Carbon Credit Business

To stay afloat, food banks in the Global South are considering selling controversial offsets for revenue.

Climate•8 min read

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‘The Price of Milk’ Aims to Expose Big Dairy

The new docuseries digs into the dairy industry’s widespread influence in America.

Food•6 min read

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How Water Pollution from Chicago’s Infamous Factory Farm Got Cleaned Up At Bubbly Creek

Once the home of the massive Union Stock Yards, the infamous dumping ground is now a popular recreational area.

Climate•10 min read

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Des Moines Banned Lawn Watering, but Polluted Tap Water Keeps Flowing: Inside Iowa’s Nitrate Problem

Amid rising cancer rates, citizens are demanding Governor Reynolds take more meaningful action.

Climate•9 min read

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The Save Our Bacon Act Is Republicans’ Latest Attack on Prop 12

Another day, another dollar, another attempt by the GOP to repeal the animal welfare law.

Factory Farms•7 min read

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Alternative Proteins May Be Our Best Bet to Curb Food Emissions

New research argues tackling food-related climate emissions is more urgent than you think.

Climate•7 min read

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‘Farming in the Dark’: Brooke Rollins’ Leadership, Doge’s Grip and the Cost to American Agriculture

In her first six months, Donald Trump’s second agriculture secretary has altered the course of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Policy•21 min read

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How JBS — the World’s Largest Meat Company — Avoids Paying Taxes

By utilizing intercompany loans and dividends, and a network of shell companies based in Luxembourg, JBS has been able to dodge paying taxes where it conducts business.

Climate•9 min read

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Extreme Heat Has Animals Trapped in a Climate Doom Loop

Nearly all farm animals in the U.S. are confined in industrial operations that lack adequate space, ventilation or cooling systems.

Climate•8 min read

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How Georgia Residents Hope to Protect Their River From an Industrial Poultry Farm

A proposed 60-house poultry operation near the Satilla River has locals alarmed about pollution, health risks and the future of their water.

Climate•8 min read

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In Vermont, Residents Are Fighting to Free Their Dairy Farmworker Neighbors

The dairy industry in Vermont relies heavily on immigrant hires, workers who are now being detained and deported. And sometimes freed.

Food•10 min read

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Fourth of July Fireworks Can Terrify Animals, but There Are Alternatives

There are ways to make the Fourth of July safer for pets, wildlife and farm animals.

Animal Behavior•4 min read

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Inside the Fight to Stop Riverview Mega-Dairies From Being Built

How activists in the U.S. and Canada are working together to oppose new factory farms.

Climate•7 min read

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The Sneaky Way Even Meat Lovers Can Lessen Their Climate Impact

Blended meats could help omnivores cut back.

Food•6 min read

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Regenerative Agriculture Falls Short As a Climate Fix, New Study Finds

The tradeoffs — better soil health, lower yields — come with steep consequences for climate change.

Research•5 min read

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The Meat Industry’s Hidden Link to Wildfires

Cattle ranching fuels climate pollution, but its land-clearing effects can also make wildfires more likely to spread.

Climate•6 min read

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Why Anti-Trans Campaigns Keep Returning to the Politics of Meat

Recent anti-trans political ads were funded in part by meat industry trade groups, including multiple ads comparing trans people to cattle.

Elections•12 min read

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How Much Meat Can You Eat and Still Be ‘Climate-Friendly?’

Here’s what the latest research says.

Research•9 min read

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How Big Ag Thwarted Wetlands Protections in Illinois and Iowa

Two years ago, the Supreme Court made it easier to destroy swamps and marshes. Agricultural lobbyists want to keep it that way.

Policy•11 min read

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How the Beef Industry Is Quietly Rewriting Climate Science for Kids

Students do learn about methane, but not about eating less meat.

Big Meat•7 min read

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Whole, Skim or Soy? The Congressional Battle Over Milk in School Lunches.

Offering kids nondairy milk could be a climate solution. No one's talking about it that way.

Policy•8 min read

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Scientists Find DNA Proof of Swine Feces in North Carolina Homes

Residents and researchers teamed up to show the airborne spread of pig poop from nearby factory farms in Duplin County.

Breakthroughs•8 min read

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An Animal Rights Activist Rescued Four Sick Chickens From a Slaughterhouse. Now She’s Facing Five Years in Prison.

How ‘open rescue’ prosecutions reveal larger systemic issues.

Legal Action•13 min read

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Inside the Race to Track and Stop the Spread of Avian Flu

Amid fears of a potential pandemic, researchers are busy preparing for the worst.

Health•6 min read

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Meat Industry PR Group Hosts Panel at DC Climate Week

How a meat industry PR group is trying to pass itself off as climate-friendly.

Big Meat•7 min read

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Satellites Reveal Illegal Bottom Trawling in Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems

Research suggests this fishing practice releases up to 370 million metric tons of carbon dioxide every year.

Research•7 min read

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EPA Civil Rights Work Stalls Under Trump as Communities Wait for Justice

Thirteen civil rights complaints, including from communities impacted by poultry farm pollution, have been left in limbo.

Policy•16 min read

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Two States Declared Themselves Bird-Flu Free. But What Does That Really Mean?

Why the threat is far from over, regardless of state lines.

Health•6 min read

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Blind Taste Tests Reveal Some Plant-Based Meat Almost Indistinguishable From Traditional Meat

New research shows which products are closest to "taste parity" — and which need more work.

Food•6 min read

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The Beef Industry Knew Its Climate Impact as Early as 1989 — and Worked to Obfuscate the Science

Two new studies reveal decades of industry tactics to downplay beef’s role in climate.

Big Meat•8 min read

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High-Protein Diets Are Popular — but They Certainly Aren’t Sustainable

From Atkins to Carnivore, a look at the evolution and risks of high-protein diets.

Diet•9 min read