AFBF urges committee to
strengthen climate bill for ag
The president of the American Farm Bureau Federation called on the House Agriculture Committee to make drastic changes to a climate change bill before it is considered by Congress, telling the committee that to do less could result “in the economic equivalent of unilateral disarmament” if the government’s optimistic assumptions don’t hold true.
In testimony, AFBF President Bob Stallman said Farm Bureau has serious concerns with House Resolution 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act.
“Those concerns are extensive,” Stallman testified. “They include not only mitigating the impact of higher energy costs but assuring that, whatever and however possible, we maximize the role of agricultural producers in any climate policy, including maximizing the opportunities to reduce and sequester carbon.”
Stallman went on to tell the committee that, “We can certainly devise a set of assumptions just as valid as those used by EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) that could cut farm income nearly in half.”
In his testimony, Stallman said any climate change legislation passed by Congress must include “a strong, robust, statutorily authorized program of agricultural offsets that are explicitly included in legislative language.” Stallman also said the U.S. Department of Agriculture must be given the primary role in developing, administering and overseeing the offset program.
Stallman also expressed Farm Bureau support for HR 2409, the Renewable Fuel Standard Improvement Act, and said its provisions must be incorporated in any climate change legislation considered by Congress. HR 2409 provides a clear way to correct the indirect land use issue and clarifies the way greenhouse gas emissions are measured for both petroleum and ethanol, Stallman said.
Farm Bureau remains “very concerned” about the broad, potential adverse impacts of a cap-and-trade program on U.S. agriculture, Stallman emphasized.
Stallman’s written testimony to the House Agriculture Committee can be accessed at http://www.fb.org/newsroom/nr/nr2009/06-11-09/climate-agcomm-testimony09.0609.pdf.
