By The Defender Staff
Groups Cite Potential ‘Devastation’ Ahead of Looming Supreme Court Pesticide Case
America could face foreign attacks, food shortages, and agricultural “devastation” if the US Supreme Court rules against Monsanto in a closely watched case over pesticide regulation that is set for arguments later this month, according to a series of legal briefs supporting the company.
In contrast, opposing legal briefs warn that if the court sides with Monsanto, consumers will be stripped of their rights to sue when they develop cancer or other serious diseases they attribute to exposure to dangerous chemicals. Companies will be able to hide product risks with little accountability, they warn.
The case in the Supreme Court spotlight centers on glyphosate — a widely used weed killing pesticide that has long been a favorite of farmers, but also has been scientifically linked to cancer in multiple studies. The court’s task is to determine if federal law essentially preempts states labeling requirements for products that could cause harm.
Farmers in Northwest Ohio Use a Lot of Pesticides. Is There a Link to Cancer?
Farmers and farmworkers across the country are more likely to be diagnosed with cancers like non-Hodgkin lymphoma than the national average. Some scientists believe pesticide use could be partly to blame. “Of those 500 counties that used the most pesticides, 60% of those counties had cancer rates that were higher than the national average,” said Ben Felder, the editor in chief for Investigate Midwest.
Cancer can be caused by a number of genetic and environmental factors, so proving a direct cause can be challenging. But Felder’s findings are in line with a growing body of scientific research. “When you group those counties in various buckets, however you want to do it, the end result is usually the same: the more pesticides that are used, typically the higher the cancer rate.”
Felder has been examining the correlation between pesticide use and cancer rates — and how governments at all levels are responding — with support from the Pulitzer Center and the Fund for Investigative Journalism. He joined the Ohio Newsroom to break down their findings.
North Dakota’s Red River Valley a Pesticide and Cancer Hotspot
Eastern North Dakota is a top corn and soybean-growing region, with many of its counties among the nation’s largest users of pesticides and herbicides. It’s also home to higher-than-average cancer rates. Of the top 500 U.S. counties for pesticide use, seven are in North Dakota, all within the Red River Valley.
Three of those counties — Pembina, Cass and Richland — also have cancer rates higher than the national average, according to an analysis of data from both the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Cancer Institute.
In fact, across the state, the higher a county’s pesticide use, the higher its cancer rates tend to be. Many states across the Midwest have high rates of pesticide use and higher-than-average cancer rates.
California Bill Aims to Keep Toxic PFAS off Its Crops
California Assemblymember Nick Schultz is leading an effort to phase out the use of pesticides containing toxic “forever chemicals” to safeguard the nation’s produce.
Schultz, D-Burbank, introduced A.B. 1603 earlier this year to ban the use, sale and manufacture of PFAS pesticides in California starting in 2035. The state is the nation’s top agricultural producer, its fruits, nuts and vegetables landing on plates across the U.S.
California has passed so many laws to get these highly persistent, harmful synthetic chemicals out of homes and the environment, the assemblymember said at a briefing Wednesday, he was shocked to learn that pesticides with intentionally added PFAS are regularly sprayed on the state’s crops.
“I was even more startled to find out that these PFAS pesticides are present on the fruit and vegetables that we purchase at the grocery store, on the fruits and vegetables that we feed our families,” Schultz said.
North Carolina Tackles Toxic Firefighting Foam — and What It Left Behind
North Carolina Health News reported:
Within months of becoming chief of Double Creek Volunteer Fire and Rescue in November 2025, Jimmy Brown received sobering news: His station’s well water was contaminated with PFAS at levels that exceeded federal limits. The station in Pinnacle, northwest of Winston‑Salem near Pilot Mountain, is one of 392 rural fire departments across the state whose wells were tested for PFAS in a recent study.
Since the revelation in 2016 that PFAS, or per‑ and polyfluoroalkyl substances, were being released into the Cape Fear River by the Fayetteville-based Chemours, awareness of the chemicals has risen across the state. PFAS have come to be known as “forever chemicals” since they resist breaking down in the environment. They also have been linked to multiple health risks.
The study was conducted by the North Carolina Collaboratory, a research group formed in 2016 by the General Assembly. The collaboratory harnesses the expertise of university researchers to address state and local government issues.
Massive Louisiana LNG Project Could Pollute More Than All Existing and Proposed Terminals
When Louisiana launched the country’s liquefied natural gas export boom in 2016, LNG was touted as a cleaner, climate-friendly alternative to coal and oil. But the state’s first LNG terminal, Sabine Pass LNG, quickly became one of Louisiana’s largest sources of climate-warming pollution, releasing more greenhouse gases than its biggest oil refineries. An even larger source is on the way.
A sprawling LNG facility under construction near Lake Charles, about 40 miles east of Sabine Pass, is projected to produce substantially more emissions — eclipsing every LNG export terminal built in the United States so far and exceeding the dozens of LNG projects proposed for the next decade, according to a Verite News analysis of state and federal records.
“Wow, that’s really distressing,” said Anne Rolfes, executive director of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, an environmental group, in response to Verite’s findings. Louisiana faces several climate threats exacerbated by greenhouse gas emissions, including rising sea levels and more intense hurricanes. “As Louisiana becomes more vulnerable, we’re just adding to that vulnerability by producing more greenhouse gases,” Rolfes said. “That’s insanity.”
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