SDFU joins Ganje in opposing the merger of Ag, DENR

Democratic former US Senator Tom Daschle gave the keynote address at the South Dakota Farmers Union's virtual December 9th convention where SDFU President Doug Sombke learned members overwhelmingly oppose merging the SD Departments of Agriculture and Environment and Natural Resources. 

David Ganje is an attorney based in Rapid City who practices environmental law. 

The Department of Agriculture is principally chartered to deal with supporting agriculture and economic development related to ag. It is agriculture’s advocate on behalf of the state. The Department of the Environment and Natural Resources is a regulatory agency meant to oversee, for good or ill, activity that affects the air, water, and earth in the state. The DENR is an agency whose effectiveness political leaders would prefer to dilute. The DENR is the real target in this merger. [GANJE: Combining departments is a mistake]

Republican leadership is an oxymoron. Like most, if not all, Republicans holding office today Republican Governor Kristi Noem is milking the prosperity gospel for every dime using every trick in the Koch playbook. Kristi Lynn Arnold Noem (KLAN) is a one woman death panel and the Koch soaked South Dakota Legislature will ignore all pleas to keep the departments separate. Backed by the Council for National Policy and the Kochs Noem is using her office to raise money for the Trump Organization.

President-elect Joe Biden wants to see trade relations loosened and improved between the U.S. and Cuba. South Dakota Farmers Union President Doug Sombke is pleased to see the new Administration focusing on that island nation so close to the U.S. as a possible trading partner. [WNAX]

Country of Origin Labeling was repealed in 2015 to shield American commodities from scrutiny because every ag product, meats both wild and domestic not grown organically in the United States and South Dakota is contaminated with atrazine, neonicotinoids, glyphosate, dicamba, DDT, mercury, lead, cadmium, PFAS, E. coli, Shigella, Legionella plus other toxins and pathogens. 

The grassland fire danger index will be in the extreme category Sunday for parts of Trumpistan because South Dakota is a perpetual welfare state, a permanent disaster area and a chemical toilet by design and also because DENR has already become the Department of Ecocide and Natural Ruination.