Don Carr

23 October

Welcome to the Republic of Awesome, South Florida

Written by Don Carr

The ROA did not expect to widen its borders so fast. In an October 7th City of South Miami Commission meeting, vice-mayor Walter Harris proposed a resolution to split south Florida off to form a 51st state. It passed 3-2. Mayor Phillip Stoddard backed Harris’s move as reported in the Sun Sentinel: “It’s very...

#ROA, Republic of Awesome Climate Change, Love It Or Leave It, ROA Comments are off

18 October

GMOs Expose Dangerous “Science” Disconnect in Agriculture

Written by Don Carr

This op-ed first appeared in Politico Pro. A contentious issue in the upcoming Colorado and Oregon GMO labeling referendums is the perceived safety of consuming genetically modified foods. Question a representative of the National Corn Growers Association or the American Farm Bureau Federation about the safety of eating GMOs and you’ll rightly be scolded...

#ROA, GMO, Republic of Awesome Ag Lobby, Climate Change, GMO 5 Comments

10 October

Any Port in a Storm for Ethanol and Oil

Written by Don Carr

The recent campaign against Environmental Protection Agency clean water rule proposals has descended into farce, courtesy of the American Petroleum Institute and the federal ethanol mandate. The issue of ethanol subsidies and mandates has generated opposition coalitions comprised of some pretty “strange bedfellows.” With ethanol’s threat to fossil fuel’s market share, its impact on livestock...

#ROA, Republic of Awesome Ag Lobby, conservation, ethanol Comments are off

06 October

Toledo Exposes Rep Upton’s Two-Sided Clean Water Stance

Written by Don Carr

By trying to have it both ways on the issue of clean water and agriculture pollution, House Energy and Commerce chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) exemplifies the precise qualities the Republic of Awesome’s status quo thrives on. Here he is in May excoriating the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed Waters of the U.S. rule at the...

#ROA, Republic of Awesome conservation, Honor Roll Comments are off

27 September

Wild Idea: O’Brien for ROA Agriculture Commissar

Written by Don Carr

My interview with author and co-owner of South Dakota’s Wild Idea Buffalo Ranch, Dan O’Brien, ran in Civil Eats Friday. The occasion was the publication of his new book, Wild Idea: Buffalo and Family in a Difficult Land. The piece focused on modern agriculture and the sustainability aspects of his business. There’s another side...

#Bundy, #ROA, Republic of Awesome conservation, ROA Comments are off

18 September

The Sanford Pheasant

Written by Don Carr

(Photo courtesy of SD GFP) My home state of South Dakota is famous for its ringneck pheasant hunting. It’s a statewide tradition every fall that also brings in hordes of out of state hunters. In high school it didn’t matter what your interests were, nearly everyone took to the fields after class. Pheasant hunting...

#pheasant, #ROA, Republic of Awesome conservation Comments are off

18 September

What is the Republic of Awesome?

Written by Don Carr

The Republic of Awesome is the collection of contradictions spawned when frontier independence collides with politics and greed. The ROA is a place where “conservatives” froth at Obamacare but champion federal farm subsidies. A region where ranchers are celebrated for refusing to pay for grazing their cattle on public land while hungry children and...

#housekeeping, #ROA, Republic of Awesome, Republicofawesome Featured 3 Comments

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