Claim:
“The EPA will tell our farmers how to manage their farms … this bill will tax you.” Rep Frank Lucas — (R-OK), 6/26/09
Truth:
Rep. Lucas is wrong. This bill specifically prohibits agriculture from being regulated under a carbon cap, which means farmers will not be “taxed.”
However, farmers will have the opportunity to voluntarily sell offsets, if they so choose. That will be a new income source for farmers who want to take advantage of the opportunity to reduce emissions from their operations.
What’s more, under the terms of the Manager’s Amendment, this program would be administered entirely by USDA — NOT by EPA — which is what a coalition of farm-state lawmakers wanted.
3 Comments
I think the farmers will love this! When I grew up, our small farm came with a tobacco allotment (bestowed by the government). Every year we could sell it to people who actually wanted to raise tobacco. Money for us, and no work whatsoever! Bigger farms are more efficient anyway and will be able to afford investing in green technology.
Will farmers receive money for using biochar from their crop residue to enrich their soil?
If farmers are supported for bio fuels farmers just might make a decent living from this bill, or does this bill even address bio fuels?
As far as farmers selling offsets…
What offsets?