Public Policy & NGOs
Here's a look at documents from public policy and non-governmental organizations
Featured Stories
Stephen Kohn Pledges to Support Congressional Term Limits
WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 [Category: Political] -- U.S. Term Limits issued the following news release:
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Stephen Kohn Pledges to Support Congressional Term Limits
Contact: Scott Tillman, U.S. Term Limits
Phone: (321) 345-7455
stillman@termlimits.com
Oakbrook, SC - U.S. Term Limits (USTL), the leader in the national, non-partisan movement to limit terms for elected officials, is gathering support from state lawmakers across the nation. Its mission is to get 34 states to apply for an amendment proposal convention specific to term limits on Congress. 2026 South Carolina state house candidate,
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WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 [Category: Political] -- U.S. Term Limits issued the following news release:
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Stephen Kohn Pledges to Support Congressional Term Limits
Contact: Scott Tillman, U.S. Term Limits
Phone: (321) 345-7455
stillman@termlimits.com
Oakbrook, SC - U.S. Term Limits (USTL), the leader in the national, non-partisan movement to limit terms for elected officials, is gathering support from state lawmakers across the nation. Its mission is to get 34 states to apply for an amendment proposal convention specific to term limits on Congress. 2026 South Carolina state house candidate,Stephen Kohn (district 98), has committed support for term limits on Congress by signing the term limits convention pledge.
The U.S. Term Limits pledge is provided to candidates and members of state legislatures. It reads, "I pledge that, as a member of the state legislature, I will cosponsor, vote for, and defend the resolution applying for an Article V convention for the sole purpose of enacting term limits on Congress."
In the 1995 case, Thornton v. U.S. Term Limits, the Supreme Court of the United States opined that only a constitutional amendment could limit the terms of U.S. Senators and House Representatives. According to Nick Tomboulides, Chief Executive Officer of USTL, the best chance of imposing term limits on Congress is through an Article V Proposal Convention of state legislatures.
"The Constitution allows for amendments to be proposed by either 2/3 of Congress or 2/3 of the states. While we'd like for Congress to take the high road and propose term limits on itself, we know they are too self-interested to do that without external pressure." said Tomboulides. "That is why it is important to get buy-in from state legislators," he added. Once proposed, the amendment must be ratified by 38 states."
Tomboulides noted, "More than 87% of Americans have rejected the career politician model and want to replace it with citizen leadership. The way to achieve that goal is through a congressional term limits amendment. Stephen knows this and is willing to work to make sure we reach our goal."
According to the latest nationwide poll on term limits conducted by Pew Research, term limits enjoy wide bipartisan support. Pew's analysis states, "An overwhelming majority of adults (87%) favor limiting the number of terms that members of Congress are allowed to serve. This includes a majority 56% who strongly favor this proposal, just 12% are opposed."
View Kohn's signed pledge here.
U.S. Term Limits is the largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization advocating solely on term limits. Our mission is to improve the quality of government with a citizen legislature that closely reflects its constituency and is responsive to the needs of the people it serves. USTL does not require a self-limit on individuals. Our aim is to limit the terms of all members of Congress as an institution. Find out more at termlimits.org.
*U.S. Term Limits does not endorse candidates. Candidates who sign the pledge endorse term limits.
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Original text here: https://www.termlimits.com/stephen-kohn-pledges-to-support-congressional-term-limits/
Scripps Research-led team receives $14.2M NIH award to map the body's "hidden sixth sense"
LA JOLLA, California, Oct. 9 [Category: Environment] -- The Scripps Research Institute posted the following news:
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Scripps Research-led team receives $14.2M NIH award to map the body's "hidden sixth sense"
An NIH-backed effort aims to decode how the nervous system monitors internal organs.
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LA JOLLA, CA-- How does your brain know when you need to breathe, when your blood pressure drops or when you're fighting an infection? The answer lies in interoception: an understudied process by which the nervous system continuously receives and interprets the body's physiological signals to keep
... Show Full Article
LA JOLLA, California, Oct. 9 [Category: Environment] -- The Scripps Research Institute posted the following news:
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Scripps Research-led team receives $14.2M NIH award to map the body's "hidden sixth sense"
An NIH-backed effort aims to decode how the nervous system monitors internal organs.
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LA JOLLA, CA-- How does your brain know when you need to breathe, when your blood pressure drops or when you're fighting an infection? The answer lies in interoception: an understudied process by which the nervous system continuously receives and interprets the body's physiological signals to keepvital functions running smoothly. Now, a collaborative team at Scripps Research and the Allen Institute have received the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director's Transformative Research Award to create the first atlas of this internal sensory system.
Nobel Prize-winning neuroscientist Ardem Patapoutian will lead the project with Li Ye, the N. Paul Whittier Chair in Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Scripps Research, and Bosiljka Tasic, the Director of Molecular Genetics at the Allen Institute. As a co-investigator, Scripps Research Associate Professor Xin Jin will lead the genomic and cell type identification part of this NIH-backed initiative. The team will receive $14.2 million in funding over five years.
"My team is honored that the NIH is supporting the kind of collaborative science needed to study such a complex system," says Patapoutian, the Presidential Endowed Chair in Neurobiology at Scripps Research.
Patapoutian, who shared the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering cellular sensors of touch, will use the NIH award with his team to decode interoception.
"We hope our results will help other scientists ask new questions about how internal organs and the nervous system stay in sync," adds Ye. Like Patapoutian, he's also a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator.
Established in 2009, the Transformative Research Award supports interdisciplinary projects that cross conventional boundaries and open new directions in science. This accolade is part of the NIH Common Fund's High-Risk, High-Reward Research program, which promotes ideas aimed at filling major gaps in our understanding of human health--the kind of endeavors that might struggle to gain funding through traditional channels.
Unlike classic senses, such as smell, sight and hearing--which are external and rely on specialized sensory organs--interoception operates through a network of neural pathways that monitor functions like circulation, digestion and immune activity. Because these signals come from deep within the body and are often processed outside conscious awareness, interoception is often described as our "hidden sixth sense."
Despite its importance, interoception has been historically neglected because of its complexity. Signals from internal organs spread widely, often overlap and are difficult to isolate and measure. Sensory neurons that carry these messages weave through tissues--ranging from the heart and lungs to the stomach and kidneys--without clear anatomical boundaries.
With support from the NIH, the team will chart how sensory neurons connect to a wide range of internal organs, including the heart and gastrointestinal tract. Using their findings, the researchers aim to build a comprehensive atlas that anatomically and molecularly catalogs these neural pathways.
The anatomical part of the project will label sensory neurons and then apply whole-body imaging to follow their paths from the spinal cord into different organs, generating a detailed 3D map of the routes and branching patterns. In the molecular component, the team will use genetic profiling to identify the various cell types of sensory neurons--for example, showing how neurons that send signals from the gut differ from those linked to the bladder or fat. Together, these complementary datasets will produce the first standardized framework for mapping the body's internal sensory wiring.
By decoding interoception, the team also hopes to uncover core principles of body-brain communication that could guide new approaches to treating disease. Dysregulation of interoceptive pathways has been implicated in conditions ranging from autoimmune disorders and chronic pain to neurodegeneration and high blood pressure.
"Interoception is fundamental to nearly every aspect of health, but it remains a largely unexplored frontier of neuroscience," says Jin, who's a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Freeman Hrabowski Scholar. "By creating the first atlas of this system, we aim to lay the foundation for better understanding how the brain keeps the body in balance, how that balance can be disrupted in disease and how we might restore it."
Chemistry Neuroscience Patapoutian, Ardem Ye, Li Jin, Xin
For more information, contact press@scripps.edu See More News
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Original text here: https://www.scripps.edu/news-and-events/press-room/2025/20251008-nih-award.html
Scripps Research discovery could improve type 1 diabetes prevention and treatment
LA JOLLA, California, Oct. 9 [Category: Environment] -- The Scripps Research Institute posted the following news:
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Scripps Research discovery could improve type 1 diabetes prevention and treatment
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New findings reveal how specialized cells shield the pancreas from autoimmune attack, providing new therapeutic strategies for type 1 diabetes.
October 08, 2025
LA JOLLA, CA-- Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system mistakenly attacks the cells that produce insulin--a critical hormone that regulates blood sugar in the body. Scientists at Scripps Research recently
... Show Full Article
LA JOLLA, California, Oct. 9 [Category: Environment] -- The Scripps Research Institute posted the following news:
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Scripps Research discovery could improve type 1 diabetes prevention and treatment
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New findings reveal how specialized cells shield the pancreas from autoimmune attack, providing new therapeutic strategies for type 1 diabetes.
October 08, 2025
LA JOLLA, CA-- Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system mistakenly attacks the cells that produce insulin--a critical hormone that regulates blood sugar in the body. Scientists at Scripps Research recentlydiscovered a new kind of cell that helps protect insulin production, paving the way to understanding how researchers could prevent or reverse type 1 diabetes.
The new findings, published in Cell Reports on September 23, 2025, reveal how vascular-associated fibroblastic cells (VAFs) act as molecular peacekeepers in the pancreas--actively protecting insulin-producing cells from the immune system. This discovery helps explain several puzzling features of type 1 diabetes, including why the disease often has such a long preclinical phase--the symptom-free, early stage of the disease where the immune system is beginning to destroy insulin-producing cells, but blood sugar levels are still normal--and suggests that early intervention could be feasible in the future.
"Identifying these VAFs is an exciting step toward a better understanding of how the pancreas interacts with the immune system," says Luc Teyton, professor in the Department of Immunology and Microbiology at Scripps Research and senior author of the study. "This finding unlocks a new understanding of autoimmunity and could help us design better therapeutics for type 1 diabetes and inform how we prevent or reverse the disease."
For the 1.6 million Americans living with type 1 diabetes, managing the disease often requires time-consuming daily management. In addition to multiple daily insulin injections, blood sugar monitoring and a carefully regulated diet, type 1 diabetics face serious, life-threatening risks if their blood sugar levels aren't within healthy ranges or well controlled.
To identify VAFs, Teyton and his lab took an unconventional approach that focused on the physiology and pathology of the pancreas. The team zeroed in on a site often responsible for inflammation--the post-capillary venules--and then used a combination of imaging, cell-labeling and single-cell analysis to examine how a healthy pancreas kept inflammation at bay. They used a cell-labeling technique, called FucoID, which was developed by Scripps Research professor Peng Wu and allowed the team to quickly identify and isolate cells of interest.
The researchers found that VAFs have a variety of specialized functions that prevent autoimmune attacks on insulin-producing cells. As immune cells travel around the body to detect danger or damage, they depend on antigen presentation--a process in which other cells display protein fragments to help determine whether an immune response is needed. VAFs participate in this process by presenting pieces of the pancreas, while also sending signals that placate the immune system and induce a tolerant state called anergy--thereby halting an autoimmune response.
The pancreas faces unique immunological challenges as part of the digestive system: it is constantly exposed to potential inflammatory triggers from food and the environment. Teyton and his lab identified that persistent inflammation of the pancreas--whether from infection, environmental toxins or other triggers--causes VAFs to become overwhelmed, forcing the immune system to activate and induce type 1 diabetes. Once in a state of overwhelm, autoimmunity proliferates in the pancreas--destroying the valuable insulin-producing cells that balance the body's blood sugar levels.
"This discovery reframes how we think about type 1 diabetes," says former Scripps Research postdoctoral researcher and first author, Don Clarke. "Rather than just asking why the immune system attacks, we can now ask: what disrupts the pancreas' natural ability to maintain tolerance? And more importantly, how can we restore it?"
The protective nature of VAFs offers a new path for researchers to explore, shifting their focus to understanding how they can enhance the body's natural tolerance mechanisms. Looking ahead, the team envisions developing therapies that strengthen VAFs' specialized functions, such as increasing states of anergy and exploring anti-inflammatory treatments that could protect these cellular peacekeepers from being overwhelmed by inflammation. The work also has broader implications for understanding other autoimmune diseases and organ transplantation, where similar tolerance mechanisms may be at play.
As researchers advance these findings from laboratory discoveries to clinical applications, they aspire to develop personalized treatments that work with the body's own protective systems rather than against them and potentially improve the outlook for millions at risk for type 1 diabetes. Teyton and his lab were recently awarded $3.2 million dollars by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) to support this novel approach. In collaboration with Scripps Research Assistant Professor Joseph Jardine, the team aims to more deeply study and understand the role of VAFs as pancreatic cell peacekeepers. They also hope to develop therapeutic strategies that enhance or restore VAFs' protective functions when overwhelmed by inflammation. This way, treatment options could prevent type 1 diabetes by strengthening the body's own tolerance mechanisms, rather than broadly suppressing immunity.
In addition to Clarke and Teyton, authors of the study, " A vascular-associated fibroblastic cell controls pancreatic islet immunity," include Anne Costanzo, Siddhartha Sharma, Lisa Kain, Peng Wu of Scripps Research; Kelley W. Moremen of the University of Georgia; Alain Domissy of University of California San Diego Medical School; Jeremy Pettus, Kim-Vy Nguyen-Ngoc, Denise Berti and Maike Sander of University of California San Diego; Steven C. George of the University of California Davis; and Christopher C.W. Hughes of the University of California Irvine.
This work was supported by grants from the NIH: the Clinical and Translational Science Award issued to the Scripps Translational Science Institute; UL1TR002550 and TL1TR002551 to D.C. and S.S.; 1R01 GM130915 to K.W.M.; 1R01AI143884 to P.W.; 1R01DK117138 to L.T.; UH3 DK122639 to M.S., C.C.W.H., and S.C.G.; BioF:GREAT, NSF 2400220 to K.W.M.; and UG3DK1421188 to C.C.W.H. and L.T.
Immunology & Microbiology Teyton, Luc
For more information, contact press@scripps.edu See More News
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Original text here: https://www.scripps.edu/news-and-events/press-room/2025/20251008-teyton-diabetes.html
NSC Statement on Confirmation of David Keeling to Lead OSHA
ITASCA, Illinois, Oct. 9 -- The National Safety Council issued the following statement on Oct. 7, 2025:
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NSC Statement on Confirmation of David Keeling to Lead OSHA
Keeling is a proven safety leader who will help continue the agency's legacy of protecting worker health and wellbeing.
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Today, the National Safety Council issued the following statement regarding the U.S. Senate confirmation of David Keeling as Assistant Secretary of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) at the U.S. Department of Labor.
"The National Safety Council congratulates David Keeling on his successful
... Show Full Article
ITASCA, Illinois, Oct. 9 -- The National Safety Council issued the following statement on Oct. 7, 2025:
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NSC Statement on Confirmation of David Keeling to Lead OSHA
Keeling is a proven safety leader who will help continue the agency's legacy of protecting worker health and wellbeing.
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Today, the National Safety Council issued the following statement regarding the U.S. Senate confirmation of David Keeling as Assistant Secretary of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) at the U.S. Department of Labor.
"The National Safety Council congratulates David Keeling on his successfulconfirmation as the next head of OSHA," said Lorraine Martin, CEO of NSC. "David is a proven safety leader who will help continue the agency's long legacy of protecting the health and wellbeing of our workers. NSC looks forward to partnering with OSHA to continue to exert strong leadership on issues impacting workplace safety so that every American makes it home at the end of their shift."
There were 4,543 preventable fatalities in occupational settings in the United States in 2023. The biggest killer at work is driving on, or working near, a roadway. In 2023, 37% of deaths on the job were transportation related.
Occupational fatalities and serious incidents cost the United States hundreds of billions of dollars each year in wage and productivity losses, medically consulted injuries and administrative expenses. Furthermore, these tragic events forever change the lives of families and coworkers across the nation.
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About the National Safety Council
The National Safety Council is America's leading nonprofit safety advocate - and has been for over 110 years. As a mission-based organization, we work to eliminate the leading causes of preventable death and injury, focusing our efforts on the workplace and roadways. We create a culture of safety to not only keep people safer at work, but also beyond the workplace so they can live their fullest lives.
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Original text here: https://www.nsc.org/newsroom/nsc-statement-on-confirmation-of-david-keeling-to
[Category: Transportation]
Investigation Exposes 'Texoma Corridor' as Hub of Cockfighting and Corruption
WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 (TNSrpt) [Category: Animals] -- The Center for a Humane Economy posted the following news release on Oct. 8, 2025:
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Investigation Exposes 'Texoma Corridor' as Hub of Cockfighting and Corruption
New investigative report ties rural cockfighting empire to felons and international crime rings
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A blistering new report released today by Animal Wellness Action and Showing Animals Respect and Kindness (SHARK) exposes a vast criminal enterprise spanning from Tulsa, Oklahoma, to Dallas, Texas, centered around cockfighting but bound together with illegal gambling, narcotics trafficking,
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 (TNSrpt) [Category: Animals] -- The Center for a Humane Economy posted the following news release on Oct. 8, 2025:
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Investigation Exposes 'Texoma Corridor' as Hub of Cockfighting and Corruption
New investigative report ties rural cockfighting empire to felons and international crime rings
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A blistering new report released today by Animal Wellness Action and Showing Animals Respect and Kindness (SHARK) exposes a vast criminal enterprise spanning from Tulsa, Oklahoma, to Dallas, Texas, centered around cockfighting but bound together with illegal gambling, narcotics trafficking,tax evasion, political corruption, and international money laundering.
Dubbed the "Texoma Cockfighting Corridor," this extensive crime network sends animals to their deaths in fighting pits peppering the Tulsa-to-Dallas corridor but also ships thousands of fighting birds from the United States to even more hardened organized crime networks in Mexico and the Philippines.
"We've uncovered an organized crime network that is not only violent but also vast in its global reach," said Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action. "Animal fighting is a crime wave in action, and when ignored, it puts communities at risk and breeds lawlessness."
"We have documented a supply chain of wanton cruelty that stretches across state borders all the way to the world's largest cockfighting arena in the Philippines," said Kevin Chambers, state director of Animal Wellness Action in Oklahoma. "The ill-gotten gains from this illegal trade fuel an underground network of cockfighting and associated crimes in communities across the Texoma Corridor."
Key Findings from the Investigation
- North Texas Livestock Shipping Company -- An International Cockfighting Pipeline. Investigators uncovered this Dallas-area front company that acts as a broker for fighting animals reared in the southeast and southwest and then traffics the animals to the Philippines, violating federal animal fighting and export laws. Our investigators documented that birds are crammed into crates and flown aboard Korean Airlines. These shipments of animals with "killing power" feed a semi-illicit billion-dollar gambling industry and are bound up with the mass murder of dozens of people involved in the enterprises.
- Local Political Corruption and Complicity in Oklahoma. The Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission, led by cockfighters Anthony Devore and Blake Pearce, illegally raised campaign funds by selling fighting birds and using the proceeds to influence state lawmakers -- including direct outreach to Gov. Kevin Stitt, who later appeared in a cockfighting convention video praising their work. In September 2025, the Oklahoma Ethics Commission fined the organization $10,000, ordered it disbanded, and cited gross campaign finance violations. Animal Wellness Action investigators not only documented these campaign-finance violations but also filmed Devore and Pearce attending and participating in illegal cockfighting derbies despite their public denials of involvement.
- Convicted Felons Operating Freely. The report documents criminal activities by John Bottoms of LeFlore County, Okla, and Bobby Fairchild of Coalgate, Okla., both well-known figures in the cockfighting world.
* Bottoms, previously arrested for illegal cockfighting and with a substance abuse history, admits on camera that cockfighting is "what we do for a living," has shipped more than 1,700 roosters through the U.S. Mail to Guam for fighting derbies. He also boasts of using "four-inch knives" and training birds to "fight until their last dying breath."
* Fairchild, previously charged in federal drug trafficking and money laundering cases linked to the Gulf Cartel, continues to operate one of Oklahoma's largest gamefowl farms, Clear Creek Gamefarm. His birds are sold and fought in Mexico and the Philippines. SHARK investigators recorded Fairchild's wife Brenda shipping crates of fighting birds through the U.S. Postal Service -- a federal crime. It appears that the birds in that shipment were headed to a Texas border town, perhaps to be picked up by cartel runners who control many of the cockfighting venues in Mexico.
Systemic Corruption and Organized Crime
The investigation details how cartel-linked cockfighting networks launder drug money through "gamefowl farms," using cockfighting events as cash-heavy gatherings for narcotics and weapons deals. Enforcement remains dangerously uneven: While Texas sheriffs have conducted aerial raids and multiple arrests, many Oklahoma counties and tribal jurisdictions have ignored cockfighting operations -- even when tipped off by investigators with GPS coordinates and video evidence.
In Adair County, deputies refused to intervene in a large cockfight despite advance notice and later invited the pit owner to press charges against animal cruelty investigators instead. In Bryan County, a major cockfighting ringleader received only a $200 fine after hosting hundreds of participants.
"These pits aren't backyard operations -- they're hubs for narcotics, illegal gambling, and sometimes even human trafficking," said Steve Hindi, president of SHARK. "The violence doesn't end in the ring and the people involved are lawbreakers through and through."
The report also exposes dozens of ongoing operations across Texas and Oklahoma -- many connected through a network of political front groups, online marketplaces for cockfighting knives, and international marketing videos filmed for Filipino betting networks.
Animal Wellness Action and SHARK are urging federal agencies -- including the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and USDA Office of Inspector General -- to take immediate action. They also call for passage of the FIGHT Act, bipartisan legislation to give law enforcement greater authority to prosecute animal fighting crimes.
The full report, "The Texoma Cockfighting Corridor," includes maps, videos, and firsthand investigative findings and is available here (https://animalwellnessaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/TEXOMA-Corridor-Report.pdf).
Center for a Humane Economy is a Washington, D.C.-based 501(c)(3) whose mission is to help animals by helping forge a more humane economic order. The first organization of its kind in the animal protection movement, the Center encourages businesses to honor their social responsibilities in a culture where consumers, investors, and other key stakeholders abhor cruelty and the degradation of the environment and embrace innovation as a means of eliminating both. The Center believes helping animals helps us all. Twitter: @TheHumaneCenter
Animal Wellness Action is a Washington, D.C.-based 501(c)(4) whose mission is to help animals by promoting laws and regulations at federal, state and local levels that forbid cruelty to all animals. The group also works to enforce existing anti-cruelty and wildlife protection laws. Animal Wellness Action believes helping animals helps us all. Twitter: @AWAction_News
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REPORT: https://animalwellnessaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/TEXOMA-Corridor-Report.pdf
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Original text here: https://centerforahumaneeconomy.org/investigation-exposes-texoma-corridor-as-hub-of-cockfighting-and-corruption/
Institute for Energy Economics & Financial Analysis: Risks Loom for Australian Thermal Coal as Growth Markets Stall
LAKEWOOD, Ohio, Oct. 9 (TNSbrep) -- The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis issued the following news release:
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Risks loom for Australian thermal coal as growth markets stall
Energy transition hits turning point in China and Southeast Asia
Key Takeaways:
China has been the major growth market for thermal coal exporters, and alongside Southeast Asian markets has more than offset declining demand in more mature markets.
However, China's energy transition has reached a major turning point, achieving a net decrease in emissions in the last year and a likely peak in coal
... Show Full Article
LAKEWOOD, Ohio, Oct. 9 (TNSbrep) -- The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis issued the following news release:
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Risks loom for Australian thermal coal as growth markets stall
Energy transition hits turning point in China and Southeast Asia
Key Takeaways:
China has been the major growth market for thermal coal exporters, and alongside Southeast Asian markets has more than offset declining demand in more mature markets.
However, China's energy transition has reached a major turning point, achieving a net decrease in emissions in the last year and a likely peak in coaluse for power generation.
Thermal coal demand is facing many headwinds in China and Southeast Asia as renewable energy and battery costs continue to plummet, and investments in gas and nuclear increase. Increases in coal generation capacity will not necessarily lead to increases in coal demand.
Amid increasing domestic production, China's national coal industry association expects that, compared with 2024, thermal coal imports will drop by 22% in 2025, and by more than one third by 2030. Australia will face increasing competition for those declining imports from closer suppliers.
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(IEEFA Australia): Australia's coal industry faces an increasingly bleak outlook amid faltering demand and shifting supply patterns among the key growth markets for its thermal coal exports, according to a leading independent think tank.
A new briefing note from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) reveals how international demand for thermal coal is facing growing headwinds. In recent years, China has become the largest single driver of global coal demand, with significant growth also seen in Southeast Asian markets. This has offset declining demand in more mature markets such as Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.
However, IEEFA's research highlights changes to the energy and supply mix in these markets that will have profound implications for Australian thermal coal exporters.
Amandine Denis-Ryan, CEO, IEEFA Australia and the report's lead author, explains: "China's energy transition reached a major turning point in the first half of the year: its power emissions fell by 3% as growth in solar generation counterbalanced the rise in electricity demand. Total coal consumption also dropped, with use of fossil fuels reaching plateaus in other areas too.
"This is indicative of a pattern that we're seeing across the region, as renewable energy and battery storage become more cost-competitive than coal-fired power generation. Investments in gas and nuclear are also increasing in the region, further eroding demand for coal."
Despite a large pipeline of new coal power plants in China, utilisation rates are expected to drop, leading to a structural decline in coal demand. Average utilisation rates of coal power plants have already dropped to just around 50% in 2024 and are forecast to halve by 2050.
In Southeast Asia, the pipeline of new coal power generation has significantly declined in recent years as countries move away from coal towards renewables and gas. There is now 10 times more renewable capacity and three times more gas capacity in the pipeline than coal capacity.
While coal producers have flagged carbon capture and storage (CCS) as a potential lifeline for coal in a decarbonising world, its persistently high costs and technological challenges make it an unlikely pathway for coal-based generation. It is likely to be more costly to install CCS in an existing coal power plant than to build new renewable and storage assets to replace the plant.
Meanwhile, China is increasing its focus on domestic coal production, as well as shifting to suppliers closer to home such as Indonesia and Russia. In June slowing coal demand growth combined with continued increases in domestic production led to Chinese coal imports slumping to levels not seen since 2023. Compared with last year, China's national coal industry association expects imports to drop by more than 20% this year and by more than one third by 2030.
"Indonesia, the leading supplier of thermal coal to China and Southeast Asia, has captured the majority of the growth in thermal coal imports into both markets," says Denis-Ryan. "China also nearly tripled its imports of Russian coal following the invasion of Ukraine."
Hopes of these trends reversing with a shift to more advanced and efficient coal plants are likely to be met with disappointment, with financial drivers favouring the use of lower-grade coal such as that supplied by Indonesia and produced domestically.
"Coal's dominance in Asia's energy mix may soon plateau or even go into decline, while supply competition increases," says Denis-Ryan. "Ultimately, the changing landscape of energy generation in Asia paints a grim picture for seaborne thermal coal exporters like Australia."
Read the briefing note: Australian thermal coal producers are losing their growth markets (https://ieefa.org/sites/default/files/2025-10/BN_Australian%20thermal%20coal%20producers%20are%20losing%20their%20growth%20markets_Sep25.pdf)
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About IEEFA: The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) examines issues related to energy markets, trends, and policies. The Institute's mission is to accelerate the transition to a diverse, sustainable and profitable energy economy. (ieefa.org)
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Original text here: https://ieefa.org/articles/risks-loom-australian-thermal-coal-growth-markets-stall
[Category: Energy]
EWG Analysis Finds Farm Emissions From Fertilizing 'Continuous Corn' Crops Fueling Climate Crisis
WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 (TNSbrep) -- The Environmental Working Group issued the following news release:
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EWG analysis finds farm emissions from fertilizing 'continuous corn' crops fueling climate crisis
Conservation practices could slash agriculture's emissions of greenhouse gas nitrous oxide
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MINNEAPOLIS - Fertilizing massive "continuous corn" crops across the Midwest is a major driver of greenhouse gas emissions, a new Environmental Working Group analysis shows. But proven conservative practices could dramatically cut farming's contribution to climate change.
The new report (https://www.ewg.org/research/fertilizing-continuous-corn-drives-major-source-farm-greenhouse-gases-conservation-can?auHash=tNS_q4zP2bRWcJ0ARxRm8aD018Y8QvDb1dWN5zLerLQ),
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 (TNSbrep) -- The Environmental Working Group issued the following news release:
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EWG analysis finds farm emissions from fertilizing 'continuous corn' crops fueling climate crisis
Conservation practices could slash agriculture's emissions of greenhouse gas nitrous oxide
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MINNEAPOLIS - Fertilizing massive "continuous corn" crops across the Midwest is a major driver of greenhouse gas emissions, a new Environmental Working Group analysis shows. But proven conservative practices could dramatically cut farming's contribution to climate change.
The new report (https://www.ewg.org/research/fertilizing-continuous-corn-drives-major-source-farm-greenhouse-gases-conservation-can?auHash=tNS_q4zP2bRWcJ0ARxRm8aD018Y8QvDb1dWN5zLerLQ),focused on four Corn Belt states, draws extensively on cropland and climate data from the Agriculture Department. It highlights the outsize climate toll of continuous corn - when farmers grow corn on the same field year after year. Nearly 15 million acres in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin are planted this way, representing one-fifth of all cropland across those states.
Corn is the most nitrogen-fertilizer-intensive crop in the U.S. and accounts for more than two-thirds of all nitrogen fertilizer use nationwide. Nitrogen fertilizer is applied to crops and interactions in the soil turn it into nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas roughly 300 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. Agriculture produces nearly 80% of all nitrous oxide emissions in the U.S., four times more than all other sectors combined.
Applying nitrogen fertilizer to continuous corn crops also leads to nitrate pollution of drinking water. Drinking tap water contaminated with nitrate can increase the risk of health harms, including several types of cancer.
"Continuous corn locks farmers into a system that demands enormous amounts of fertilizer and creates climate emissions," said Anne Schechinger, EWG's Midwest director and lead author of the report.
"But even modest investments in regenerative conservation practices could help farmers shrink agriculture's climate footprint while protecting drinking water and public health," she said.
Small investments for big payoff
Nitrous oxide emissions account for 52% of U.S. agricultural greenhouse gases. Corn production alone generates more than half of agriculture's nitrous oxide emissions.
Overall, U.S. agriculture is responsible for roughly 10% of the country's total greenhouse gas emissions from all economic sectors. With climate change intensifying, farmers are under mounting pressure to shrink their greenhouse gas footprint and keep agriculture from overtaking other sectors as the nation's top source of climate pollution. Projections show farm-related emissions rising by roughly 0.25% annually through 2050.
EWG's analysis finds that adopting just four proven conservation practices on a small fraction of continuous corn acres could yield major climate benefits.
The practices are riparian forest buffers, tree or shrub establishment, hedgerow planting and windbreak establishment. Implementing each practice on just 1% of continuous corn acres across the four Corn Belt states would cut total greenhouse gas emissions from those acres by 3.67 million metric tons every year. That's equivalent to taking more than 850,000 gas-guzzling cars off the road.
"These are relatively small changes with outsized impacts," said Al Rabine, EWG GIS analyst and co-author of the report. "Planting trees or shrubs along the edges of cornfields can sequester carbon, cut nitrous oxide emissions, and reduce water pollution - a triple win for farmers, communities and the climate."
The report also highlights the climate benefits of working lands practices that allow farmers to keep entire fields in production, such as adopting no-till, using cover crops, switching to different fertilizer types and diversifying crop rotations.
Beyond emissions, drinking water is at risk
EWG's analysis shows that fertilizer use on continuous corn doesn't just fuel climate change - it also contaminates drinking water.
Nitrate pollution, a byproduct of fertilizer runoff and leaching to water, has been linked to cancers and birth defects. In regions like southeast Minnesota, where karst soils allow contaminants to easily seep into groundwater, nitrate in private well water already poses serious health risks.
EWG's Tap Water Database, updated in February, shows the extent of nitrate drinking water contamination in the U.S. Tap water systems in agricultural areas often have the highest nitrate concentrations. Private drinking water wells can also have unsafe levels of nitrate, especially when near animal farms and intensively fertilized fields, or where septic tanks are used.
The Environmental Protection Agency in 1992 set a limit of 10 milligrams per liter for nitrate in drinking water. The agency has never updated this limit, despite it being decades old. Epidemiological research suggests that the EPA's nitrate limit does not sufficiently protect public health from cancer risks.
Policy reforms needed
Some farmers are adopting regenerative practices, which generally refers to efforts that aim to improve soil health and that might have climate benefits.
EWG's report stresses that, even with those efforts, far more crop acres must be put into conservation - and quickly. That requires reforms to federal and state farm programs.
The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act initially boosted funding for climate-smart conservation practices. But the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, enacted in July, stripped all climate-smart designations. As a result, additional federal funding to farmers will no longer prioritize practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
EWG recommends updating federal programs like the Environmental Quality Incentives Program to:
* Prioritize practices proven to cut greenhouse gas emissions
* Cover up to 90% of costs for legitimate regenerative practices
* Support longer-term contracts with farmers, between three to five years, ensuring conservation measures stay in place over time
Changes to federal farm subsidies could also encourage farmers to diversify crop rotations instead of planting continuous corn year after year.
Key findings
Some of the most important findings from the report:
* Fifteen million acres in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin are used for continuous corn, representing 20% of harvested cropland.
* Continuous corn requires massive nitrogen fertilizer use, fueling greenhouse gas emissions, including from nitrous oxide, that contribute to climate change.
* Nitrous oxide is 273 times more potent than the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide and stays in the atmosphere for over 100 years.
* Adopting key conservation practices on just 4% of continuous corn acres total in these four states could cut greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to removing 850,000 cars annually from the road.
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The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization that empowers people to live healthier lives in a healthier environment. Through research, advocacy and unique education tools, EWG drives consumer choice and civic action.
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Original text here: https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news-release/2025/10/ewg-analysis-finds-farm-emissions-fertilizing-continuous-corn
[Category: Environment]
