FarmSTAND attorneys Kelsey Eberly and Skye Walker join us on this episode to discuss an absolutely infuriating case, Blumm v Northwest Natural Gas Company. They explain how an increasing number of dairy farms are more in the business of selling the methane being produced by their manure piles, or, as they call them, “lagoons,” than selling milk. Now, in Oregon, natural gas consumers are actually being hornswoggled into paying more for the privilege of getting methane that comes from cow poop, even though it is just as bad for the climate as any other methane, and we are actually deliberately imprisoning cows on factory farms in order to produce it. Fortunately, FarmSTAND is on the case and, on behalf of some angry, deceived consumers, is fighting back.

This episode explores:

• How factory farms are marketing biogas as “renewable natural gas”

• The truth about methane digesters and manure management systems

• Why dairy industry “climate solutions” actually harm the environment

• Legal strategies for challenging corporate greenwashing

• Consumer protection laws and environmental marketing claims

• The intersection of factory farming and fossil fuel industries

• How deceptive carbon offset programs work

ABOUT OUR GUESTS

As a Senior Staff Attorney at FarmSTAND, Kelsey Eberly engages in strategic litigation and movement-centered advocacy to fight corporate control and expose the abuses in the industrial animal agriculture system. Before joining FarmSTAND, Kelsey was a lecturer and litigator with the Media Freedom & Information Access Clinic at Yale Law School, a policy fellow at the Brooks McCormick, Jr. Animal Law & Policy Program at Harvard Law School, and an attorney with the Animal Legal Defense Fund. Kelsey specializes in litigation to combat secrecy and increase transparency in the industrial food system—challenging efforts to silence investigations and whistleblowers and advocating for consumers misled by animal agribusinesses’ deceptive marketing. When not working to transform the food system, Kelsey can be found running over the hills and dales of Vermont, listening to investigative journalism podcasts. 

Skye Walker is a legal fellow at FarmSTAND based in Portland, Oregon, working primarily on environmental and consumer protection matters. Skye holds a B.A. in environmental policy from Oregon State University and a J.D. from Lewis & Clark Law School. Skye has diverse internship and clinical experience in the public interest field and recently concluded a fellowship at the Colorado Attorney General.

We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read this episode's interview.

**********

You can listen to the Animal Law Podcast directly on our website (at the top of this page) or you can listen and subscribe on iTunes or your favorite podcatcher. Also, if you like what you hear, please rate it on iTunes, and don’t forget to leave us a friendly comment! Of course, we would be thrilled if you would consider making a donation or becoming a member of our flock (especially if you’re a regular listener). Contributions of any amount will go towards our fundraising goal and are hugely appreciated. Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content!

Don’t forget to also listen to the award-winning,  weekly signature OHH podcast — now in its fifteenth glorious year!