Could applying microalgae to the soil boost yield and strengthen plants? We spoke to Lance Smith, chief business office, Heliae Development LLC., based in Gilbert, Arizona, in the southeast Phoenixmetropolitan area. “Heliae is a company that is dedicated to unlocking the potential of microalgae,” said Smith. “We’ve been in business now for over eight years. We hope to be able to deliver microalgae products in a lot of areas, including in plant agriculture.” “While we work with hundreds of algae species, the algae we are currently marketing for plant agriculture is a green algae.

House and Senate leaders reached agreement Monday on a bipartisan bill to authorize $170 million for Flint, Michigan, and other cities beleaguered by lead in drinking water, and to provide relief to drought-stricken California.

A vote on the water-projects bill could be held this week as Congress wraps up its legislative work for the year. But the measure was jeopardized by sharp opposition from California Sen. Barbara Boxer and other Democrats who said it would harm drinking water quality and severely weaken the Endangered Species Act, threatening salmon and other endangered species.

 

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, teamed up Monday to slip a legislative rider into a giant end-of-year water infrastructure bill that would override endangered species protections for native California fish for the purpose of sending water to San Joaquin Valley farmers.

Retiring Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., angrily denounced the rider as a “poison pill,” calling a late-afternoon news conference, during which she lashed out against McCarthy, saying he lied by calling the more than 80-page provision a “little, small agreement.”