Something Must Be Done About Proposed EPA Rules and Continuing Food Debate

Something Must Be Done About Proposed EPA Rules and Continuing Food Debate

House Ag Chair Frank Lucas had the opportunity to spend some time with USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Chief Jason Weller recently. Lucas says the Environmental Protection Agency’s Waters of the U.S. proposal came up in their discussion.
Lucas: “He was very cautious in his comments to me. He understands why I and the rest of rural America is so uneasy with this proposal.”
Lucas says something has to be done about this proposed rule.
Lucas: “There is a piece of language that is passed out of a committee in the House to try and essentially overturn it from the Transportation Infrastructure Committee — their have primary jurisdiction — whether its that or riders on an appropriation bill, we have to do something about this. When you take away in affect the phrase “nagivable’ — for all practical purposes from the definition from what waters the EPA has control of. That really gives them the ability to supersede states and reach out and touch everyone. All the way back to the drip off the barn, the drip off our house, the drip off our parking lot in our business or even the brim of our hat. That is scary — especially with this present leadership of EPA in senior levels.”
Now with today’s Food Forethought, here’s Lacy Gray.
Gray: "More often than not people are ready and will to jump to conclusions, especially when it comes to subjects that they really don’t know a whole lot about. This seems to be most apparent when considering the continuing debates over conventional versus organic farming, gmo’s and animal ag practices. While so many are busy debating agriculture practices and food production issues, millions of people around the world continue to watch their loved ones slowly succumb to the ravages of starvation. It’s easy to argue over how one thinks crops should be grown and cultivated or whether animals should be raised for human consumption when one has a full stomach. The world’s population topped 7.1 billion at the beginning of this year and is predicted to double in the next fifty to sixty years. It’s not farfetched then to consider real food shortages extending beyond third world countries and encroaching on our shores. Ensuring adequate food supplies for generations to come is going to be challenging at best. There is room for organically grown, conventionally grown, and gmo foods in the consumer marketplace - there has to be."

 

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