{"id":543299,"date":"2010-04-26T10:27:21","date_gmt":"2010-04-26T14:27:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/climateprogress.org\/?p=23501"},"modified":"2010-04-26T10:27:21","modified_gmt":"2010-04-26T14:27:21","slug":"climate-and-clean-energy-bill-delivers-real-money-for-farmers-inaction-threatens-farm-income","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/543299","title":{"rendered":"Climate and clean energy bill delivers real money for farmers &#8211; Inaction threatens farm income"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" title=\"Comprehensive clean energy and climate energy legislation will triple potential revenue streams for farmers and rural communities.\" src=\"http:\/\/www.americanprogress.org\/issues\/2010\/04\/img\/farm_onpage.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"488\" height=\"252\" \/><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>It remains conventional <span style=\"text-decoration: line-through;\">wisdom<\/span> ignorance that a climate and clean energy jobs bill would not be good for farmers.\u00a0 In fact, <em><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"More...\" src=\"http:\/\/climateprogress.org\/wp-includes\/js\/tinymce\/plugins\/wordpress\/img\/trans.gif\" alt=\"\" \/><\/em>the future  prosperity of U.S agriculture is tied to clean energy and  the effects  of climate change. Farmers are <a href=\"http:\/\/www.globalchange.gov\/publications\/reports\/scientific-assessments\/us-impacts\">particularly   vulnerable<\/a> to the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.americanprogress.org\/issues\/2009\/06\/acesa_farm.html\">increased   water shortages, widespread drought and floods, and lower crop yields   that would result from global warming<\/a>. And they are on the front   lines every day, living and working the land, highly aware of these   devastating consequences to farm productivity (see \u201c<a title=\"Permanent Link to A Stormy Forecast for U.S.  Agriculture\" rel=\"bookmark\" href=\"http:\/\/climateprogress.org\/2009\/06\/11\/2009\/06\/04\/global-warming-an-agriculture\/\">A  Stormy Forecast for U.S. Agriculture<\/a>\u201c).<\/p>\n<p>Clean energy legislation, on the other hand, creates 3 new paychecks for farmers: a pay check for leasing a small portion of land for sustainable energy development like putting in a wind turbine that can earn them $3,000 to $15,000 per year, a paycheck for sequestering carbon in their soils by engaging in more sustainable and productive farming practices, and a paycheck for producing 2nd generation biofuel crops. CAP Director of Agriculture and Trade Policy Jake Caldwell has the story in this <a href=\"http:\/\/www.americanprogress.org\/issues\/2010\/04\/farmer_money.html\">repost<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em><span id=\"more-23501\"><\/span><\/em>Curbing global warming pollution now through comprehensive,  bipartisan clean energy and climate legislation in Congress that  establishes a price on carbon pollution will bring real financial  benefits to farmers, while reducing America&#8217;s dependence on oil and  enhancing our overall competitiveness in agriculture and the wider  economy.<\/p>\n<p>Comprehensive clean energy and climate energy legislation will triple  potential revenue streams for farmers and rural communities. Farmers  can earn real money in at least three different ways in the new  low-carbon economy. Farmers can receive new income for leasing wind  turbines or providing land for other clean energy production, growing  switchgrass or other feedstocks for advanced biofuels, and sequestering  carbon under their crops and forestland.<\/p>\n<p>Here are the facts:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The Department of Energy estimates that if 5 percent of the  nation&#8217;s energy comes from wind power by 2020, rural America could see <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nrel.gov\/docs\/fy04osti\/33590.pdf\">$60 billion in  capital investment<\/a>. Farmers and rural landowners would derive <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nrel.gov\/docs\/fy04osti\/33590.pdf\">$1.2 billion in new  income<\/a> and see <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nrel.gov\/docs\/fy04osti\/33590.pdf\">80,000  new jobs<\/a> created over the next two decades.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.25x25.org\/storage\/25x25\/documents\/utenn_climate_change_ag_impact_study_press_release_blast.pdf\">A  University of Tennessee and 25&#215;25 study<\/a> predicts that a  well-designed carbon offsets trading system that pays farmers to  conserve carbon through good soil and forest management practices will  grow farm revenue by $13 billion a year.<\/li>\n<li>Other producers will be able to receive matching payments  through programs such as the Biomass Crop Assistance Program that  promote growing energy crops and biomass to feed the nation&#8217;s need for  advanced biofuels and lessen our dependence on oil.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>U.S. agriculture is a critical bridge between global warming  challenges and solutions. Our agricultural and forest lands sequester <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gcrio.org\/OnLnDoc\/pdf\/usghg2001summary.pdf\">246  million metric tons of carbon annually<\/a>, absorbing 13 percent of U.S.  greenhouse gas emissions. And the Congressional Budget Office has  suggested that this number could rise to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cbo.gov\/ftpdocs\/86xx\/doc8624\/09-12-CarbonSequestration.pdf\">50  percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions<\/a> with the appropriate  incentives.<\/p>\n<p>But agriculture is also carbon intensive. Our farms produce more than  <a href=\"http:\/\/www.epa.gov\/climatechange\/emissions\/downloads09\/07Agriculture.pdf\">413  million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions<\/a> per year  and generate two-thirds of all nitrous oxide emissions and significant  methane emissions. Nitrous oxide and methane are both more potent  greenhouse gases than carbon dioxide. The agricultural sector is  responsible for 6 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions  overall.<\/p>\n<p>Farmers&#8217; central role in carbon production and sequestration makes  them critically important players in the clean energy and climate change  legislative efforts. Comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation  must clearly define a role for U.S. agriculture that reduces carbon  emissions, invests in rural-based clean energy to enhance our national  security and lessen our dependence on oil, and provides new sources of  revenue to boost incomes and jobs in rural America.<\/p>\n<p>We simply will not reduce global warming pollution successfully  without American farmers&#8217; full participation.<\/p>\n<p>The following policy provisions are key components of comprehensive  reform that can help ensure that energy and climate legislation provides  real benefits to America&#8217;s farmers:<\/p>\n<h4>Increase rural clean energy production<\/h4>\n<p>Comprehensive clean energy and climate change legislation must  promote energy cost savings and rural-based clean energy in wind, solar,  geothermal, bioenergy, and other renewables immediately by setting a  price on carbon, reducing emissions, and establishing consistent and  high-level national renewable and energy efficiency standards. Other  recommendations include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Extend the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act  grant financing program for wind, solar, geothermal, and bioenergy  projects that benefit rural communities.<\/strong> This Section 1603  provision has been a particularly powerful incentive to encourage  community-based renewable energy projects, including wind, in rural  areas. But Congress should improve the transparency and data-gathering  components of Section 1603 to expand its capacity to track the grants&#8217;  supply-chain aspects so as to ensure the program continues to create  good, well-paying jobs for U.S. companies and workers.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Provide direct grants for clean energy projects.<\/strong> Congress should dedicate $300 million toward increasing farm-based clean  energy, including the Rural Energy for America Program, by providing  grants and loan guarantees directly to farmers, ranchers, and rural  small businesses seeking to design and construct their own clean energy  projects. Projects and technologies might include bioenergy facilities,  manure digesters, energy efficiency projects, and wind and solar power.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Increase funding for Clean Renewable Energy Bonds to finance  wind, bioenergy, and geothermal projects.<\/strong> Revenue raised from Clean  Renewable Energy Bonds should be shared between state and local  governments, public power producers, nonprofit utilities, and electric  cooperatives.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Reinvest direct payment commodity subsidies in renewable  energy and energy efficiency.<\/strong> The federal government automatically  pays $5.2 billion in commodity-based \u00ecdirect payment\u00ee subsidies each  year to people who may or may not even farm. The Government  Accountability Office has found that USDA paid 69,120 individuals who  had been dead at least three years between 1999 and 2005. We should  reinvest the $5.2 billion per year in outdated direct payment commodity  subsidies into initiatives to promote low-carbon, agriculture-based  energy in USDA programs. This funding can provide incentives to  encourage energy efficiency on farms and renewable energy such as wind  turbines, solar, biomass, and geothermal power.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Establish time-limited agricultural offsets to carbon-intensive  industries<\/h4>\n<p>Investments in agriculture and forestry can help curb greenhouse gas  emissions. The agriculture and forestry sectors are good candidates to  provide offsets to reduce the greenhouse gas reduction costs for major  emitters in the initial stages of a carbon pollution reduction program.  Comprehensive clean energy and climate change legislation should:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Establish a carbon offsets market.<\/strong> The offsets market  would be part of a carbon pollution reduction program and would allow  farmers to create and sell carbon offsets to polluting entities. This  would reduce the cost of emissions reductions for polluters, and farmers  would be paid for what they do so well\u2014their longstanding carbon  sequestration and land stewardship efforts.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Designate USDA as the lead agency for agriculture and  forestry offset projects.<\/strong> Establish a list of eligible projects  with precise definitions that rewards early adopters, including  producers that practice reduced tillage agriculture today.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ensure that carbon offsets are measurable, additional,  verifiable, and permanent.<\/strong> Efforts that fall short of full  compliance threaten to undermine the integrity and achievement of  pollution reductions.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Provide incentives to encourage global emissions reductions. <\/strong> The federal government should utilize carbon offsets or other means to  effectively encourage emissions reductions on a global scale from  permanent avoided deforestation through such initiatives as the United  Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation  and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Encourage farmers to reduce emissions and sequester carbon<\/h4>\n<p>Farmers should be rewarded for other activities in the agricultural  sector that reduce greenhouse gas emissions or sequester carbon, but may  not qualify as an eligible carbon offset project. Legislation should  set aside a number of allowances to fund an incentive program for  activities that:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Promote U.S. agricultural lands as a carbon sink.<\/strong> Incentives can encourage farmers to undertake projects in agriculture or  forestry that reduce greenhouse gases, or sequester carbon, and prevent  the conversion of land that would otherwise release emissions.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Enhance soil quality.<\/strong> Reducing disturbance of the soil,  producing more biomass, and ensuring that biomass is absorbed by the  soil will all help increase the amount of carbon in the soil. The  result: fewer harmful greenhouse gas emissions in the air.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Encourage restoration of federal forest and grazing lands.<\/strong> These restored lands can be used to sequester additional carbon.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Promote activities with carbon benefits and improved carbon  management. <\/strong> The federal government can utilize conservation  easements, carbon sequestration contracts, and similar tools to  encourage better carbon benefits on public and private lands, and should  monitor and verify all activities in an open and transparent manner.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Promote energy efficiency in rural communities<\/h4>\n<p>Energy efficiency retrofitting is the most cost-effective way to  reduce household energy costs while providing manufacturing and  construction jobs in local rural communities.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Implement a Rural Energy Savings Program to allow rural  homeowners to obtain low-interest loans to help pay for many of the  upfront costs of weatherization and energy efficiency home improvements.<\/strong> Farmers can pay back the low-interest loan through utility bills or  attached to property taxes, so payback continues even if the homeowner  moves away from the property. The USDA estimates such a program could  cost $995 million to issue $4.9 billion in low-interest loans. More than  1 million rural homes would become energy efficient, and 34,000  auditing and weatherization jobs, mostly in rural communities, would be  created by 2020.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Help manufacturers in rural areas build clean energy  products.<\/strong> Provide low-cost loans or tax credits, such as the  incentives in the proposed IMPACT Act and the Clean Energy Manufacturing  Tax Credit program, to help manufacturers located in rural areas to  retool to produce clean energy technologies and improve industrial  efficiency.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Increase support and availability of USDA&#8217;s Home Repair Loan  and Grant Program for rural areas.<\/strong> Low-income families who own  homes in need of repair under the current program are eligible to  receive loans and grants to undertake home renovations, including  replacing heating and water systems. The program&#8217;s priorities should be  expanded to include energy efficiency improvements and modernization of  homes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Invest in clean energy research, development, and deployment<\/h4>\n<p>Any comprehensive clean energy legislation should support the  establishment of a Clean Energy Deployment Administration, or Green  Bank, to rapidly and affordably develop and deploy emerging and existing  clean energy and energy efficiency technologies in all regions of the  country. It should also:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Establish an overarching clean rural energy venture capital  fund.<\/strong> The fund of $2 to $3 billion would act as a catalyst for  further private and public sector capital to promote research,  development, and deployment of clean energy technologies in targeted  regional areas. It would jumpstart capital to be injected into regional  areas with a strong mix of private and public research institutions,  natural resources, businesses, nonprofits, and a workforce conducive to  clean energy development.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Expand funding of the farm bill&#8217;s existing Title IX overall  clean energy initiatives.<\/strong> This should include clean energy research  and development programs such as the Rural Energy for America Program.  And it should increase support for renewable energy and energy  efficiency program research, development, and deployment activities in  wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal technologies beyond current $600 to  $800 million levels.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Provide additional research and development funding for  carbon sequestration in agriculture and forestry.<\/strong> Research should  examine the significant potential of biochar to sequester carbon. Other  areas of research should include efforts to reduce methane and nitrous  oxide emissions, as well as carbon dioxide and improvements in measuring  greenhouse gas reductions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Support sustainable bioenergy and biofuels<\/h4>\n<p>Comprehensive clean energy legislation must bring advanced  biofuels\u2014made from agricultural waste, wood chips, or dedicated energy  crops such as switchgrass\u2014to commercial scale as rapidly as possible.  Biomass growers are primarily located in rural areas, and the high costs  of collecting and transporting biomass means that many production  facilities are also in these communities. We must ensure a stable  long-term market for advanced biofuels by making targeted short-term  investments in the current generation of biofuels&#8217; fuel infrastructure  needs.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Support loan guarantees for the construction and deployment  of advanced biofuel refineries.<\/strong> USDA&#8217;s Biorefinery Assistance  program has in the recent past been the sole federal source of loan  guarantees to develop, construct, and retrofit commercial-scale advanced  biorefineries attempting to produce cellulosic biofuels at commercial  levels, and it should receive an additional $300 million. This core  funding will allow the program to issue loan guarantees for biorefinery  projects established primarily in rural communities.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Provide incentives to farmers to begin growing advanced  biofuel crops.<\/strong> USDA&#8217;s Biomass Crop Assistance Program provides  funding to producers and farmers of renewable energy crops of up to 75  percent of the cost of establishing the energy crop and annual payments  for up to 15 years for crop production, and should receive additional  support.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Increase support for the current national Renewable Fuel  Standard.<\/strong> This will require better funding and interagency  strategic implementation of the program, particularly regarding its  emphasis on rewarding biofuels&#8217; performance characteristics. Congress  should also ensure that legislative definitions of &#8220;renewable biomass&#8221;  adhere to certifiable environmental and land use safeguards on  ecologically valuable and vulnerable public and private lands, and  provide a means to measure lifecycle greenhouse gas reductions.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Encourage farmer-owned and -operated biorefinery and biofuel  plant cooperatives and biomass enterprise zones.<\/strong> Direct producer  payments and other targeted incentives can help farmers engaged in the  establishment of farmer and locally owned biorefineries and biofuel  facilities, but should be temporary and phased out over a 10-year  period, and should have majority local ownership. Farmers will also need  technical and financial assistance to encourage them to pool resources  and enter into larger biomass enterprise zones that would maximize  economies of scale and regional geographic proximity. Biomass enterprise  zones could facilitate the co-location of biomass growing, production,  and processing. And marketing alliances could encourage collaboration on  facility construction, storage, and transportation infrastructure to  enable biobased products to enter the retail market efficiently.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Spur consumer demand and retail infrastructure.<\/strong> The  United States must create requirements and strong incentives to make  biofuel blends reliably available at filling stations by promoting the  installation of new blender fuel pumps and distribution infrastructure  that allow drivers to choose between traditional 100 percent gasoline  blends and 85 percent biofuel blends. It should increase renewable fuel  infrastructure grants to $100 million in each fiscal year.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Spur rural innovation in clean energy<\/h4>\n<p>Innovation clusters\u2014designated regional centers where local  businesses, universities, public sector institutions, and others  interact in a coordinated manner to push forward research, development,  and deployment of innovative technologies\u2014should be encouraged in rural  areas. Local leadership and communities can set innovation priorities  appropriate to their regions and strengthen U.S. competitiveness in the  global marketplace. Innovation clusters, if properly implemented, can  drive the commercialization of new technologies and products, create  jobs, generate revenue, and attract skilled workers to rural areas.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Invest $150 million in clean energy innovation hubs.<\/strong> The  hubs will tackle high-priority technological challenges in the clean  energy sector by linking highly integrated solution-oriented teams in  designated regions to move technology from the laboratory to pilot phase  to commercialization. Support for clean energy hubs will solve energy  challenges, create jobs, and promote economic growth in regional rural  and urban areas.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Invest $100 million in regional economies and applied  innovation to support the creation of regional innovation clusters in  rural areas.<\/strong> The clusters should build on the momentum generated by  the clean energy innovation hubs and seek to address national economic  and strategic priorities, including clean energy and energy efficiency.  They should also rely on local (and often rural) leadership to design  and implement the initiatives. A key component of establishing regional  innovation clusters is to allow local decision makers to deploy their  knowledge of local and regional advantages and strengths of particular  geographic areas. Local leadership in rural communities should work to  bind together local businesses, nonprofits, universities, and research  and development institutions. These can combine with natural resources  advantages to pursue applied innovation in a manner that will move clean  energy technology from research to commercialization.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Promote U.S. agricultural exports<\/h4>\n<p>Clean energy legislation should strengthen agriculture&#8217;s role in  meeting the National Export Initiative&#8217;s goal to double U.S. exports by  2015. The federal government should also:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Support and conclude trade negotiations.<\/strong> The United  States should work on a variety of international trade fora and  agreements that provide market access for U.S. agricultural products,  including: the WTO Doha round of negotiations; bilateral free trade  agreements with Korea, Panama, and Colombia; and the newly launched  Trans-Pacific Partnership.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Conclusion<\/h4>\n<p>Comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation will deliver real,  tangible benefits to America&#8217;s hardworking farmers. New income  opportunities will emerge in clean energy generation, including wind  power produced directly on the farm and a variety of carbon conservation  efforts. Farmers growing energy crops for advanced biofuels will earn  matching payments while lessening our dependence on oil and enhancing  our national security. Clean energy and action on climate change  represents real money in farmers&#8217; pocketbooks, and a healthier climate  for all Americans.<\/p>\n<p>Related Post:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a title=\"Permanent Link to USDA: Economic benefits of  climate bill for farmers \u2018easily trump\u2019 the costs\" rel=\"bookmark\" href=\"http:\/\/climateprogress.org\/2009\/07\/22\/usda-benefits-climate-bill-for-farmers-agriculture\/\">USDA: Economic  benefits of climate bill for farmers \u2018easily trump\u2019 the costs<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It remains conventional wisdom ignorance that a climate and clean energy jobs bill would not be good for farmers.\u00a0 In fact, the future prosperity of U.S agriculture is tied to clean energy and the effects of climate change. Farmers are particularly vulnerable to the increased water shortages, widespread drought and floods, and lower crop yields [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-543299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=543299"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543299\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=543299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=543299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=543299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}