Last Thursday, the House Agrculture Committee questioned Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack in a hearing on pending climate change legislation. Vilsack stated congressional agriculture interests should take an active role in shaping HR2454, emphasizing that the USDA has a unique and significant role to play. Vilsack maintained that agriculture and forestry offer many opportunities for carbon reduction and sequestration because they are net carbon sinks. See the TCS statement on agriculture here.
Led by Chair Collin Peterson (D-MN 7), the committee expressed their concerns with a recent EPA proposal that incorporates indirect land use changes in other countries to determine a biofuel’s carbon footprint. Nearly all the committee members requested that the USDA handle farm and forestry offsets, not the EPA. Several committee members worried about a proposed cap on ethanol as well.
Vilsack believes the USDA is well-prepared to handle carbon offsets because of its technical expertise, access to data, outreach network, and longtime relationships with farmers and ranchers. He called for the committee to play an active role in crafting the legislation, a call which many committee members such as Ranking Member Frank Lucas (R-OK 3) shot down. Lucas stated that the committee will not get a chance to make significant changes to the bill, and will likely vote on the bill as written and not its ideological aspirations. Learn more about the TCS agriculture program here.
Vilsack also reminded the committee that this legislation should not be seen as a turf war between EPA and USDA, and that a cooperative partnership would benefit everyone.
Several members of the committee, including Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-SD At Large) requested that the definition of woody biomass be expanded.
The committee has not yet decided whether they will hold a full markup of the bill. Other committees that have jurisdiction and have expressed interest in conducting markups include Natural Resources, Science and Technology, and Ways and Means.
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