Must-read recap: The New Lede's top stories

Plastic pollution treaty; eyes on Kennedy's nomination; regulating pesticide-coated seeds; climate risks to hazardous waste facilities; bioplastics and soil organisms; organic farming in Iowa.

Can the world agree to a sensible treaty to end plastic pollution?

As the US faces the upcoming inauguration of a president known for opposing regulations, delegates from the US and more than 170 countries are meeting this week try to finalize a global treaty to address plastic pollution, in a process organized by the United Nations Environment Program that launched back in spring of 2022.

Some advocates and countries say this meeting in Busan, South Korea, amounts to a last chance to set common-sense limits to prevent an upcoming wave of plastic pollution. The situation is already grim: The world makes approximately 430 million metric tons of plastic every year, more than the weight of all humans combined. Nearly three-fourths of this material ends up in landfills or the environment. If current trends continue, global plastic use and waste will nearly triple by 2060, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

On one side are the “high ambition” parties, led by Norway and Rwanda, and 66 other countries. They’re pushing for a legally binding treaty that caps production, addresses the design and makeup of products, limits toxic materials, and controls for the pollution and harm caused throughout the entire life cycle of plastic production and use.

Other countries, including those that produce a lot of oil and plastic — such as Saudi Arabia, Russia, and China — have been resisting limits on production and many of these other demands. (Read the rest of the story.)

Friend or foe? Environmental advocates eye Kennedy nomination warily

In the wake of the recent announcement that President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to head the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), some leading environmental and public health advocates say they’ve found themselves in a “weird” position.

On the one hand, Kennedy is a lifelong environmental advocate himself and is pushing a platform called “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA), which sets an agenda strikingly similar to those of many groups on the political left – “prioritizing regenerative agriculture, preserving natural habitats, and eliminating toxins from our food, water and air.”

But on the other, Kennedy’s alignment with Trump – who touts his intention to roll back regulations and undo many hard-fought consumer protections – and Kennedy’s controversial views on certain health-related issues, have left leading environmental health groups unclear on whether he should be seen as friend or foe. (Read the rest of the story.)

Court deals setback to efforts to regulate pesticide-coated seeds

A federal court last week dealt a blow to calls for new regulations on pesticide-coated seeds used in farming, ruling that US regulators were not acting improperly in exempting the seeds from registration review.

The US District Court for the Northern District of California on Wednesday granted a summary judgment in favor of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and agrochemical industry lobbyist CropLife America, turning back arguments by the Center for Food Safety and other environmental advocates who have spent years warning of a range of “devastating effects” they say result from widespread use of the specialty seeds.

The concerns addressed in the case focus on seeds that are coated in insecticides before they are planted. Three specific types of insecticides that are part of a class of chemicals known as neonicotinoids present particular threats to beneficial birds and insects such as butterflies, and can contaminate the air, soil and water with toxins, according to critics. The court case ruled on this week focused on three types of neonics – imidacloprid, thiamethoxam, and clothianidin. (Read the rest of the story.)

A call for EPA action on climate risks to hazardous waste facilities

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should be doing more to help address potential climate change-related risks to hundreds of hazardous waste facilities across the country, according to a recent government watchdog report.

The Nov. 14 report, issued by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), examined the risks to hazardous waste treatment, storage, and disposal facilities (TSDFs) from flooding, storm surge, sea level rise, and wildfires, events  expected to intensify and/or become more frequent with climate change.

More than 700 out of  1,091 federally regulated facilities, or about 68%, are located in areas vulnerable to these weather-related events, the report found. Roughly half of these facilities could be at risk of flooding and more than one-third are in areas vulnerable to wildfire, while almost 200, or 17%, are in coastal areas at risk of inundation from storm surge. (Read the rest of the story.)

Bioplastics may be toxic to soil organisms, study calls for more testing

Bioplastics, often considered a safer alternative to synthetic plastics, may in some cases be toxic to soil organisms, a worrisome finding that indicates a need for more thorough testing, according to a new study.

The work adds to a growing body of research suggesting that bioplastics, which are derived from plant materials or other biological feedstocks, are not necessarily safer than plastics that come from petroleum.

The new study, published this month in Environmental Science and Technology, found that two types of bioplastic fibers were more toxic to earthworms than were bits of conventional polyester. While promoted as “environmentally friendly,” the alternative materials actually may be more harmful in some ways than the conventional plastic, the study determined.

“We need more comprehensive testing of these materials before they are used as alternatives to plastics,”  said Bangor University researcher Winnie Courtene-Jones, who is lead author of the study. (Read the rest of the story.)

Despite critics, organic farming thrives in heart of US corn country

WEST BEND, Iowa – People searching for ways to limit the toll industrialized American agriculture takes on communities, land, and water may want to make a visit to Clear Creek Acres in northern Iowa.

With just shy of 800 residents, West Bend, Iowa is barely a blip on a prairie landscape, but it has become home base for an uncommonly large expanse of organically grown crops- operations that have found success in challenging the popular convention that pesticides and other agricultural chemicals are needed to feed the world.

Towering grain bins are surrounded by close to 50,000 acres of corn, soybeans, oats and other crops grown without the use of synthetic chemicals. Farmers fertilize the land with chicken litter and hog manure and weed much of the land by hand, or with non-chemical tools, such as new laser weeders. (Read the rest of the story.)