With Assistance, Agriculture Can Help with Climate Change

by Collin Peterson (Minneapolis Star Tribune/Governors' Biofuels Coalition) ... According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), agriculture accounts for just 10% of U.S. CO2 emissions, with livestock accounting for just 4%. On a net basis, agriculture and forestry actually eliminate more emissions than they produce, removing some 729 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent in 2017 alone.

Through no-till farming, the planting of cover crops, using methane digesters and other practices, U.S. producers are already sequestering carbon — producing food for 7.9 billion people in smarter and more efficient ways.

Biofuels also have significantly contributed to CO2 emission reductions, with the EPA noting that these renewable fuels had the effect of removing 17 million cars from the road in 2018.

Over the last 70 years, U.S. agriculture has tripled production while land, energy, fertilizer and other inputs have remained fairly steady.

I see on the horizon a robust set of policies emerging from bipartisan leaders on the House and Senate Agriculture Committees that would help incentivize farmers and ranchers to reduce greenhouse gases voluntarily and effectively.

For example, if American Airlines wants to offset its emissions by paying farmers and ranchers to sequester carbon, producers will need confidence in that kind of a private market. Bipartisan legislation by Sens. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., Mike Braun, R-Ind., and John Boozman, R-Ark., that achieves that goal recently passed the Senate by an overwhelming margin of 92-8.

Another bipartisan initiative includes the increased use of biofuels to reduce America’s carbon footprint. Lawmakers have pushed electric vehicles without recognizing that low-carbon biofuels reduce greenhouse gases. This is a missed opportunity. Biofuels should be viewed as a ready tool.

Other proposals significantly increase funding for some of the most successful environmental programs — namely the farm bill’s suite of conservation programs like the Conservation Reserve Program, the Conservation Stewardship Program and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program. This kind of investment will achieve great environmental returns if built on bipartisan consensus with a permanent funding stream to ensure that producers have the tools they need over the long haul. READ MORE