Free Republic

On Wednesday, Kansas Republican Sen. Jerry Moran called on Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to explain why the agency’s employee newsletter encouraged them to not eat meat and participate in the “Meatless Monday” initiative for the environment. “One simple way to reduce your environmental impact while dining at our cafeterias is to participate in the ‘Meatless Monday’ initiative http://www.meatlessmonday.com/,” The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) July 23, 2012 “Greening Headquarters Update” read. “This international effort, as the name implies, encourages people not to eat meat on Mondays. Meatless Monday is an initiative of The Monday Campaign Inc. in association...

The citizens of Arizona would like everyone who plans on boycotting them, to come on down and see the great contribution the Mexican Nationals and other illegal immigrants have blessed the once drab looking Sonoran Desert with. So why not take a vacation this summer and stroll on down immigrant Highway to see for yourself all the wonderful abstract works of art that they have left for us to enjoy. After all, Obama and the Democrats want us to believe that these innocent immigrants have contributed a lot to America. Well, I think that every liberal who desires to boycott...

The U.S. House of Representatives National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands Subcommittee heard testimony today on a bill that would set aside a consent decree and return management of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore to the National Park Service’s interim plan. Even as the witnesses were testifying in the House, the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources dealt the legislation what may be a fatal blow.The Senate committee voted 12-11 not to report the bill, S3113, out of committee. The vote split along party lines, with Republicans, including North Carolina’s Sen. Richard Burr, voting to report the bill out...

A controversial Bush administration plan that will triple the timber harvest in the Sierra as a means of fireproofing the region's national forests now appears locked in, with opinions ranging widely and fiercely about its likely effects on the ground. The Sierra Nevada Forest Plan Amendment -- the brainchild of Bush administration appointee Jack Blackwell, the U.S. Forest Service regional forester for California -- supersedes the Sierra Nevada Framework, a Clinton- era scheme fully implemented in 2001 that emphasized ecological restoration and halted most logging throughout the Sierra's 11 national forests and one special management area. Blackwell's amendment has been...

UNITED NATIONS (AP) The world is turning to dust, with lands the size of Rhode Island becoming desert wasteland every year and the problem threatening to send millions of people fleeing to greener countries, the United Nations says. One-third of the Earth's surface is at risk, driving people into cities and destroying agriculture in vast swaths of Africa. Thirty-one percent of Spain is threatened, while China has lost 36,000 square miles to desert an area the size of Indiana since the 1950s. This week the United Nations marks the 10th anniversary of the Convention to Combat Desertification, a plan aimed...

Top Stories - Reuters Report Calls for New U.S. Oceans Agency Wed Jun 4, 9:33 AM ET Add Top Stories - Reuters to My Yahoo! By Sue Pleming WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Overfishing, invasive species, pollution and urban sprawl threaten the oceans off America, according to a report released on Wednesday that called for a new federal agency to manage the country's troubled waters. In a review of U.S. ocean policy, the report by the Pew Oceans Commission said marine life and vital coastal habitats were straining under the pressure of increased use and that a "hodgepodge" of laws was doing...