Minnesota Independent

GOP plans broad environmental, energy reforms in Legislature

By Molly Davis | 01.13.11 | 11:07 am

House Republicans are putting together a comprehensive environmental and energy agenda that they say will promote business and cut down bureaucratic red tape while protecting water, air and other natural resources. Among the provisions: expanding nuclear and coal energy in Minnesota, speeding the permitting process for facilities that discharge pollutants or manage waste products, and promoting the use of “greener” chemicals by farmers. Environmental groups are expressing concern over some of the measures.

Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Source: Wikipedia

Minneapolis Fed: Employment to grow, unemployment flat in 2011

By Andy Birkey | 12.17.10 | 8:00 am

The Minneapolis Federal Reserve officials said Thursday that the region can expect an increase in employment and little change in unemployment rates in 2011. Businesses in the region are optimistic about an economic recovery, they added, and the Fed’s model…

Rep. Michele Bachmann. Photo: Republican Conference, Flickr

Bachmann suggests Obama is buying votes with funds from discrimination settlement

By Andy Birkey | 10.06.10 | 8:46 am

Rep. Michele Bachmann “sincerely” wants to know: Is President Obama trying to buy votes in minority communities using funds from a class-action settlement against the U.S. Department of Agriculture over discrimination against African American farmers?

Ag groups endorse candidates – but one withholds nod in First District

By Andy Birkey | 09.24.10 | 9:50 am

Farm groups have released their endorsements for the November election, with gubernatorial candidates Tom Emmer and Mark Dayton garnering an endorsement apiece from two big ag organizations. And although it’s a heavily agricultural district, the right-leaning Minnesota Farm Bureau has declined to endorse anyone in Minnesota’s First Congressional District.

Court bans planting of genetically modified sugar beets

By Lynda Waddington | 08.16.10 | 2:02 pm

A federal district court judge issued a ban Friday on future planting of genetically modified sugar beets sold by Monsanto Co.

Dairy antitrust workshop might be most complex, emotional yet

By Lynda Waddington | 06.24.10 | 5:00 am

Federal officials will gather in Madison, Wis., tomorrow for the third of five scheduled national discussions on competition in the agricultural industry. To date, the joint U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Agriculture events have heard testimony on possible antitrust violations within the seed and poultry industries. But, Friday’s focus on the dairy industry, combined with the raw emotions of long underpaid producers, might make this event one of the most revealing of the entire series.

Feingold pushes for more public input at DOJ/USDA workshops

By Lynda Waddington | 06.02.10 | 9:14 am

U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., wants the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Department of Justice to allow more public input at upcoming joint workshops on competition in the agriculture industry.

Rural safety net disappearing in wake of funding denial

By Lynda Waddington | 05.14.10 | 8:17 am

Some of the Midwest’s hotlines to help farmers confronting financial and behavioral health problems are at risk of shutting down due to a lack of funding commitment from Congress. One expert didn’t mince words about what’s at stake if they do: “People will die. They will not get that two-in-the-morning chance to call someone and say that they are thinking about committing suicide.”

Justice with Monsanto ties should recuse himself, environmentalists say

By Lynda Waddington | 04.27.10 | 7:59 am

Oral arguments will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday in a case involving a federal judge’s temporary ban on a breed of genetically-modified alfalfa developed by Monsanto Co. One of the court’s justices, Stephen Breyer, has recused himself due to conflict of interest, and some environmental advocates are questioning if Justice Clarence Thomas, a former attorney for Monsanto, should also step aside.

Panelists search for answers to farmer drain

By Lynda Waddington | 03.13.10 | 10:50 am

Expressing “deep concern” that the number of young farmers is dwindling, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack asked a panelists of farmers at Friday’s DOJ/USDA antitrust workshop to tell him what else needs to be done to ensure the future of rural America.