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The Senate returns to work this week with key elements of President Joe Biden’s climate agenda in peril, while the Supreme Court decides whether to hear several cases important to agriculture, including the latest challenge to California’s Proposition 12 standards for hog and poultry production.

Agri-Pulse readers kept a keen eye on a whole host of developments throughout the year, but none more so than the fresh faces of a new administration and Capitol Hill’s attempts to pass legislation to inject new funds into farm country.

A minor oilseed may be poised to take on a larger role as climate-smart policies emphasize low carbon fuels and the soil health benefits of cover crops. Camelina is seen by some as a cover crop that recoups a farmer’s investment because it can be harvested instead of plowed under.

The Environmental Protection Agency is reviewing further restrictions on over-the-top applications of dicamba, announcing Tuesday that curbs imposed this year had failed to reduce complaints of herbicide drift.

EPA finalized new greenhouse gas emissions standards for passenger cars and light trucks without including requirements that could have increased the use of ethanol.

Some $80 billion in climate-related agriculture funding hangs in the balance as President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats try to save at least part of his $1.7 trillion Build Back Better spending package.

The Biden administration will announce a trucking “action plan” today that emphasizes the use of apprenticeships to beef up employment in the industry, senior administration officials told reporters in a virtual background call Wednesday evening.

Environmental groups seeking regulation of pesticide-coated seeds have gone to court again on the matter, seeking an order requiring EPA to directly address the issue.

The White House is doubling down on blaming meatpackers for higher food prices. White House press secretary Jen Psaki was pressed at a news conference Tuesday to say how corporate greed had caused inflation. She immediately cited the “greed of meat conglomerates.”

Congressional Democrats are punting the next battle over the debt limit until after the 2022 elections, checking off a key item on their long December to-do list, but chances for moving their Build Back Better bill through the Senate are looking less likely.