Climate

Calls for the Biden administration to prioritize our water infrastructure

Last week, IATP joined Food and Water Action and nearly 550 other national and regional organizations including Action Center on Race and The Economy, Center for Biological Diversity and Corporate Accountability in support of the Water Affordability, Transparency, Equity and Reliability (WATER) Act.

New EPA emissions data should guide Biden on agriculture and climate

“We must listen to science — and act,” reads President Joe Biden’s January 27 Executive Order on climate change. For the farming sector, the latest greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) indicates that the U.S. needs to transition away from factory farm systems of meat and dairy production to reduce rising agriculture emissions.

Paris Agreement: Biden's chance to restore international standing

The following op-ed originally appeared on The Hill on January 22, 2021. 

Smithfield’s false claims

Global pork giant Smithfield Foods makes a lot of claims about the environmental sustainability of its products and hog production system.

Five questions for Vilsack: What will be different in return to USDA?

When Tom Vilsack began his first term as agriculture secretary in 2009, IATP lifted up a series of challenges and opportunities for the department, urging him to follow in the path of another Iowan at USDA, Henry Wallace. We wrote: “the central challenges once again are markets run amok and the unsustainable farming practices they promote.” We pointed out “the real winners in the system are a tiny handful of agribusiness companies, who profit from the boom bust cycle and whose anti-competitive control of the market hurts farmers an

Hopes for new beginnings on US trade policy

This article first appeared as part of the "On the Precipice: The Progressive Agenda in the Biden Era" for the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung New York Office. 

Making carbon trading globally legitimate: the road show has begun

When companies seek to attract investors, they go on “road shows” to pitch their goods, services and projected Return on Investment (RoI).

A roadmap for the Biden-Harris administration: Re-designing farm systems for the climate crisis

As the Biden-Harris transition team rapidly fills key cabinet positions and senior leadership, it also is setting priorities for the first 100 days. If the “Build Back Better” mantra is to become reality, particularly in advancing equitable solutions to the climate crisis, the transition team will have to think systemically — not just agency by agency.

New factsheets on EU-Mercosur deal expose risks to both regions

Last week, Brazil National Space Research Institute (INPE) reported the highest rate of deforestation in the Amazon since 2008. Between August 2019 and July 2020, 11,087 square kilometers were deforested in the Amazon under the Bolsonaro government. The latest figures come on top of rising deforestation rates in previous years.