The Southwest Farm Press posted a story yesterday showing some of the reactions from farm groups to the climate change legislation that passed the House late Friday afternoon. For Southwest Farm Press story, click here. Many farm groups still remain skeptical of the affect the legislation will have long term on farms and ranches.
The National Cotton Council
commended Representative Colin Peterson, chairman of the House Ag Committee, for his “stalwart efforts…to successfully negotiate amendments to H.R. 2454, which authorizes USDA to develop and administer agricultural offsets in a cap-and-trade program,” an NCC spokesperson said in a statement.The National Corn Growers Association President Bob Dickey released this statement,
“The NCC supports development of these offsets as a means to mitigate, to some degree, the impact of significantly higher energy and input costs to production agriculture and agribusiness.”
“We appreciate the dedication Chairman Peterson has shown to U.S. corn growers and the agriculture industry during this legislative process... His amendment to the climate change legislation will make several steps in the right direction. The amendment will create a workable agricultural offsets market under the jurisdiction of the USDA and will explicitly exempt agriculture from a greenhouse gas emissions cap while also creating opportunities for producers to be a part of the solution for addressing climate change. Corn growers and others also were pleased that Peterson was able to block the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from including international land use change when calculating carbon emissions from corn-based ethanol. NCGA will continue to advocate for producers who have been engaged in no-till and conservation tillage practices since earlier than 2001 to ensure they will not be unfairly penalized by being disqualified from an offsets market when continued carbon sequestration is achievable on their land... NCGA will remain neutral on the overall bill until we can fully analyze the impact on our growers[.]”The National Wheat Growers Association supported Peterson’s amendments to the legislation. According to Karl Scronce, President of the organization,
“Members of NAWG’s staff and leadership have worked for a number of years to ensure that agriculture has a place in any climate change legislation and that producers are able to reap potential benefits rather than just accept coming costs... This is not perfect legislation, but legislation rarely is.”To view statement, click here.
A statement released by the National Farmers Union praised the work of the House leadership to include agriculture in the final bill. The statement went on to say although the house bill is “not perfect, the House-passed bill is a step in the right direction. I look forward to working with the Senate as they begin considering climate change legislation.” To view press release by the National Farmers Union, click here.
The American Farmland Trust was extremely happy with the legislation that passed the House. According to Jimmy Daukas, Managing Director of American Farmland Trust’s Agriculture & Environment Campaign,
"It’s certainly historic in that hundreds of millions of acres of farm and ranchland will come under greater conservation and stewardship practices, and help our country address one of the most critical environmental challenges of our time.”To view statement, click here.“By taking this step forward in addressing climate change with agriculture’s participation, we will be able to recognize real conservation gains, new farm income and a new era of American farm ingenuity,” said Daukas.
Posted: 06/30/09
