(U.S. Department of Agriculture) U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced it is requesting public input from interested parties, including potential customers and interested stakeholders, to help create a new Rural Renewable Energy Pilot Program. To ensure a diverse group of voices are heard, USDA is seeking written comments and will host a public listening session on April 22, 2021.
“When we invest in creating new sources of renewable energy, we invest in rebuilding the middle class by creating good-paying jobs in rural America,” USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development Justin Maxson said. “To meet this goal, we must put rural communities at the heart of climate action and climate-smart solutions, and that begins with getting feedback from a broad, diverse set of voices from the start.”
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A pine barrens tree frog. The Earth and Florida is a magical home for all of us.
We are all connected by the environment we share. The Earth is our home. This is the space where we share the environmental stories that caught our attention this week, in Florida and beyond.
This week saw Earth Day celebrations around the world. Governor Ron DeSantis marked Earth Day with the announcement that the South Florida Water Management District Governing Board has unanimously approved an agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers intended to keep the Army Corps on track with federal construction of the long-stalled Everglades Agricultural Area reservoir in Palm Beach County.
And here’s a consumer alert for all you new pandemic parents: “
When parents first serve solid foods to their babies, they often turn to infant rice cereal. The iron-fortified mix is nutritious and relatively easy to feed babies unaccustomed to spoons or strong flavors. But the Food and Drug Administration allows 10 times as much arsenic in this favored first food as it does in other products, like bottled water and apple juice despite the fact that, as a neurotoxin, arsenic can have an outsize impact on babies, whose brains are still developing.” Read more at E & E News. Or, learn about making your own baby food, including from veggies you grow yourself. There are plenty of resources online and in books at your favorite local bookstore.
And, you might only think cow waste contributes to global warming. But guess what? Human waste does too. Hence the “Urgent Global Quest to Transform the Toilet.” Read more at Mongabay.
Finally, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) “invites you to celebrate Gopher Tortoise Day on April 10. This year, you can celebrate gopher tortoises by making your yard tortoise friendly and participating in our new recognition program.” Learn more at FWC’s website.
Read all of WGCU’s environmental coverage here.
Linda Steele/Audubon Photography
Do & Learn
April 12, 2021, How long can two people live on food destined for the trash bin? Find out as the ninth annual “Ding” Darling Film Series wraps up with the documentary
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced it is requesting public input from interested parties, including potential customers and interested stakehol