09 December 2020
President-elect Joe Biden plans to nominate former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack as his agriculture secretary, giving him a role in Biden's climate agenda if confirmed to the job he also held under Barack Obama.
Why it matters: The Agriculture Department is relevant here for several reasons, including that Biden's platform calls for investing in practices that increase CO2 storage in soil and removing "regulatory roadblocks."
- There's oil-and-gas projects and leasing on Forest Service properties, which means he would be part of Biden's (still vague) vow to ban new permitting on federal lands.
- The department also traditionally collaborates with EPA on decisions about biofuels policy.
What we're watching:Politico reports that the chance to work on Biden's climate agenda "likely made the job more attractive for Vilsack to return."
- Farm industry groups, after long resisting climate efforts, are becoming more interested in policies that incentivize soil carbon storage, per Politico.
- "An idea recently gaining traction is to expand the USDA's Commodity Credit Corp. borrowing authority to create a carbon bank to help pay farmers and other landowners for carbon sequestration," their piece states.
By the numbers: "The agriculture sector accounts for about 10% of current overall U.S. emissions, while U.S forests sequester the equivalent of about 15% of carbon dioxide emissions from combustion of U.S. fossil fuels annually," according to the Climate 21 Project.
- The group, which includes several Obama alums, is offering proposals for how a whole bunch of agencies can help address global warming.
- Their USDA memo is here.
Yes, but: Vilsack's support for corn ethanol and his agribusiness background — he's led the U.S. Dairy Export Council since early 2017 — will likely rankle the left flank of the green movement.
- Last night, Friends of the Earth said they were "deeply disappointed" with the choice.
- "In order to implement Biden’s climate and racial justice agenda, Vilsack must be willing to transform the USDA to support a more diversified, regenerative, healthy and just food system," they said.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.