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A dive into food and agriculture greenhouse gas emissions and net greenhouse gas reduction pathways

Animal Legal Defense Fund accuses the U.S. Department of Agriculture and its Agricultural Marketing Service of unlawfully withholding records related to federally funded beef advertisements that allegedly mislead the public about beef’s climate and environmental impact. The Freedom of Information Act complaint seeks to compel disclosure of documents showing how the government approved ads promoting beef as climate-friendly — despite evidence that industrial beef production significantly contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity loss, and water overuse.

Earthjustice Public Hearing Testimony on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Proposed Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), July 2025

The preliminary injunction urges the court to order restoration of vital grants and funding that support tree planting, growing food in underserved communities, training new farmers, and helping farmers adopt climate-friendly practices

The Motion for Preliminary Injunction, filed by Earthjustice, Farmers Justice Center, and FarmSTAND, calls upon the court to order the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to restore vital grants, enjoin USDA’s unlawful policy and practice of terminating grants in this manner, and return to the grant conditions that existed before USDA engaged in these unlawful actions.

Lawsuit pushes for ban on organophosphates after years of government delay and known harms to children

Farmworker and public health groups represented by Earthjustice, sued the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for failing to respond to a petition to ban organophosphates pesticides, a class of chemicals used on fruits, vegetables, and field crops. In utero exposures to organophosphates are linked to autism, attention deficit disorders and impaired cognition in school-age children. They also cause countless instances of farmworker and community poisonings every year.

EPA disregarded the results of its own climate review and made inconsistent statements

This action seeks to stop the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) policy, pattern, and practice of unlawfully terminating hundreds of grants issued to nonprofit organizations, farmers, ranchers, universities, cities, and states.

U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued its ruling in the challenge to the renewable fuel volume obligations set by the Environmental Protection Agency for the years 2023-2025. The court found that arguments made by the National Wildlife Federation had merit.

Wide range of nonprofits take action against U.S. Department of Agriculture for illegal withholding of important funding, seek order to reverse grant terminations

This action seeks to stop the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s policy, pattern, and practice of unlawfully terminating hundreds of grants issued to nonprofit organizations, farmers, ranchers, universities, cities, and states. Defendants’ policy, pattern, and practice has undercut efforts to strengthen rural and agricultural communities, address food security in low-income communities, support beginning farmers, empower urban communities to address climate and heat risks, and support the production and marketing of climate-smart commodities.

The U.K. wood pellet manufacturer pollutes low-income U.S. communities

The Trump administration agreed to restore climate-related information to government websites, many of which farmers rely on to adapt to increasingly extreme weather.

The Trump administration will restore access to vital resources for climate-smart agriculture, forest conservation, climate change adaptation, and rural clean energy projects

The parties write respectfully to inform the Court that United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) will restore the climate-change-related web content that was removed post-inauguration, including all USDA webpages and interactive tools enumerated in Plaintiffs’ Complaint.

Jeffrey Stein, Attorney, Sustainable Food & Farming Program: “We’re glad that U.S.D.A. recognized that its blatantly unlawful purge of climate-change-related information is harming farmers and communities across the country.”

Peter Lehner, Managing Attorney, Sustainable Food & Farming Program: “The sad recognition is that if we don’t address agriculture, even if we are successful in decarbonizing the rest of the economy, we will almost certainly exceed any quasi-safe target level.”