Growing Returns

Selected tag(s): climate change

Federal R&D funds are key to solving enteric methane challenge, keeping U.S. agriculture competitive

By Britt Groosman / Bio / Published: December 22, 2022

As the U.S. works to stabilize the climate and foster innovative domestic industries, reducing emissions from agriculture — currently about 10% of annual emissions — is a critical piece of the puzzle. Yet federal R&D investments in agricultural climate solutions remain 35 times smaller than clean energy R&D investments.

Of the limited agricultural R&D spending, funds aren’t going to one of the biggest climate opportunities. Enteric methane emissions, released as livestock digest their food, account for 28% of U.S. agricultural emissions, but only 2% of federal R&D mitigation funds go toward enteric methane solutions, according to new research from The Breakthrough Institute and Environmental Defense Fund.

This mismatch will increasingly put U.S. farmers and ranchers at a competitive disadvantage in global markets and misses a top climate opportunity. Congress and USDA can remedy the mismatch in the next farm bill. Read More »

Posted in Uncategorized / Also tagged climate policy, Congress, farm bill, livestock, methane | Comments are closed

Replicable revenue streams can help natural infrastructure projects receive State Revolving Fund financing

By Vincent Gauthier / Bio / Published: November 30, 2022

Natural infrastructure can provide protective barriers to reduce flood risk while also offering community green space and supporting green jobs. Louisiana GOHSEP, CC BY SA 2.0.

Authors: Vincent Gauthier (EDF), Tee Thomas (Quantified Ventures)

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will invest more than $44 billion in the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds, or SRFs, presenting a tremendous opportunity to finance natural infrastructure solutions that can improve water quality and protect communities against flooding. While natural infrastructure can be a cost-effective way to improve water quality and reduce flood risk, these projects have historically been difficult to finance through SRFs due to a lack of consistent repayment streams.

EDF and Quantified Ventures recently published a report that identified five replicable repayment streams that communities and conservation groups can use to access SRF financing for natural infrastructure such as wetlands, floodplain restoration, and riparian buffers. These repayment streams include stormwater utility fees, source water protection fees, and environmental markets.

Posted in Uncategorized / Also tagged clean water, Coasts, conservation, environmental defense fund, natural infrastructure, natural infrastructure projects, sustainability | Comments are closed

Five ways U.S. agriculture can adapt to climate change

By Eileen McLellan / Bio / Published: November 10, 2022

Farmers have a long history of steadily increasing crop yields through technological innovation and improvements in management practices. However, as climate change makes weather more extreme and variable than ever before, productivity progress will likely stall by 2030 — even if the U.S. maintains past rates of R&D investment and innovation. Adaptation efforts must begin now to protect food supplies and farmer livelihoods.

Adaptation options can be deployed at various scales to combat the unknown challenges ahead.

Posted in Climate Resilience / Also tagged adaptation, agriculture, cover crops, food, sustainable agriculture | Comments are closed

How will climate change affect U.S. crop yields?

By Kelly Suttles / Published: November 10, 2022

As the UN climate conference kicks off in Egypt, food and agriculture are central to negotiations for the first time. More severe droughts, warmer temperatures and heavier rainfall fueled by climate change are making it harder than ever for the world’s one billion farmers to grow food and fiber. While some farms and regions are more vulnerable than others, climate change will affect farmers everywhere.

Here in the U.S., where farmers have a long history of steadily increasing yields, climate change will likely cause crop productivity gains to stall — or even reverse — as soon as 2030.

Posted in Climate Resilience / Also tagged adaptation, agriculture, corn, cover crops, farmers, food, iowa, kansas, Minnesota, soybeans, sustainable agriculture, wheat | Comments are closed

New report provides a science roadmap for natural climate solutions

By Emily Oldfield / Published: October 31, 2022

Natural climate solutions, such as reforestation and wetland restoration, can help slow climate change and increase resilience in the face of climate impacts we can’t avoid.

These approaches have substantial and growing support from bipartisan lawmakers, the private sector and environmental nonprofits. However, big questions remain: Where are these strategies most effective? To what extent can they meaningfully remove and reduce greenhouse gases? How will increased drought, fire and pest outbreaks impact their ability to stave off climate change?

Posted in Climate Resilience / Also tagged climate mitigation, climate res, ecosystems, natural climate solutions | Comments are closed

My perspectives on how we can inspire the next generation of Black climate leaders.

By Guest Author / Published: October 26, 2022

By Arianna Mackey, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) Summer 2022 Intern

I became aware of my community’s lack of environmental awareness at a very young age. Growing up in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, my family and I visited the Nauticus museum often. One afternoon, after spending time in the flooding exhibit, I explained to my mom that due to increased flooding, Virginia Beach would be inhabitable in the future, with standing water reaching the front door following a storm. She brushed me off by saying it was an “over-exaggeration” and our community was fine. That encounter piqued my interest in environmentalism. Read More »

Posted in Climate Resilience / Also tagged coastal, coastal communities, Coasts, ecosystems, environmental justice, flood risk, resilience, virginia coast, virginia flooding, water quality | Comments are closed

World Food Day has come and gone, with food security still out of reach for people and planet

By Tom Grasso / Published: October 24, 2022

Every October, the global community comes together to celebrate the founding of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization as World Food Day. Taking stock, it is plain to see just how far we still have to go to achieve the FAO’s founding mission to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security for the planet.

The obstacles to achieving this goal are many and complex: the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and the ongoing challenges of conflict, water shortages, flooding, and rising food costs are just a few. However, they all share one thing in common: they are exacerbated by the existential threat of climate change.

With less than a month to go before the 27^th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 27) in Egypt, world leaders must consider the importance of addressing food insecurity as a part of solving the climate crisis.

Posted in Uncategorized / Also tagged agriculture, ecosystems, food production, food security, sustainability, sustainable agriculture | Comments are closed

Crop-switching in the megadrought: Can guayule help Arizona farmers use less water?

By Kevin Moran / Bio / Published: March 21, 2022

This year, farmers in Pinal County, Arizona, will lose two-thirds of their irrigation water from the Colorado River because of a historic shortage declaration triggered by the driest period in more than 1,000 years. And within two years, they will be completely cut off from the Colorado River.

Some farmers are responding by fallowing fields. Others are selling their land to solar companies. And then there’s Will Thelander, a farmer who partnered with EDF, Bridgestone Americas and the University of Arizona to test a new crop that uses half as much water as the alfalfa he previously grew.

Crop-switching to a desert shrub called guayule used to produce rubber is one of just many strategies that will be needed in Arizona and other regions to adapt to water scarcity and maintain agricultural economies in a new era of aridification. However, it’s not nearly as simple as just planting different seeds in the ground.

Posted in Uncategorized / Also tagged agriculture, arizona drought, colorado river, farmers, western water | Comments are closed

Capturing water from atmospheric rivers will help build drought resilience in California. Here’s how.

By Anna Schiller / Bio / Published: October 28, 2021

This blog was co-authored by Nicole Schmidt, a recent graduate from UC Santa Barbara’s Bren School of Environmental Science and Management.

Several locations in California set all-time 24-hour rainfall records this past weekend when an atmospheric river delivered much needed precipitation as the majority of the state remains in extreme drought conditions.

In Sacramento, this wettest day on record followed the longest consecutive dry spell on record amid California’s second driest year.

As scientists have been predicting, climate change is causing more dramatic extremes in weather — both wet and dry — and that pendulum swung very dramatically to the wet side over the weekend.

Consequently, it’s critical we prepare now to capture and store water during these shorter, intense wet periods so that more water is available during the inevitable increasingly severe drought years ahead. Read More »

Posted in Uncategorized / Also tagged atmospheric river, California drought, california flood, california rain, drought, sustainable groundwater management act, western water | Comments are closed

3 acciones críticas para la equidad del agua en las comunidades latinas de California — ¡apúrense!

By Ana Lucia Garcia Briones / Bio / Published: October 15, 2021

Es una paradoja penosa para California, la quinta economía más grande del mundo: Algunos de los mismos trabajadores agrícolas que recogen nuestra comida no pueden beber un vaso de agua limpia, o ni siquiera tener agua, en fregadero de la cocina.

He trabajado en temas de justicia ambiental en EDF durante los últimos seis años, y he tenido la oportunidad de hablar con algunos de estos trabajadores esenciales, muchos de los cuales provienen de países de habla hispana como yo.

A medida que el Mes de la Herencia Hispana llega a su fin, la sequía en California avanza obstinadamente. Es importante reconocer cuán importantes son estos trabajadores del campo que cosechan los alimentos en todo nuestro estado y más allá.

Más allá del reconocimiento que se merecen los trabajadores del campo, los líderes estatales y locales deben tomar al menos tres pasos críticos para eliminar esta paradoja:

Posted in Uncategorized / Also tagged agriculture, california, central valley, drought, ecosystems, farming, farmworker, food production, latino, sustainability, water quality, water use, western water | Comments are closed