Climate Solutions in Ag Pt 1
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson. The recently passed Inflation Reduction Act will funnel a decent chunk of money to agriculture to battle greenhouse gas emissions from livestock and soil tillage.
But, the Washington Policy Center’s Initiative on Ag Director, Pam Lewison says ag already does a lot of the things they’re calling for …
LEWISON … “And I think a lot of the reason people don’t talk about it is because it’s handy to say, well, ag, they’re not doing anything. Because a lot of what ag is doing is complicated, and it’s very scientific and it’s difficult to distill it down into something that’s easily palatable and easily understandable for people who are unfamiliar with it.”
In the meantime, farmers, typically, have better things to do …
LEWISON … “I think that is part of it too is farmers, in general, are sort of, of that frame of mind, what do you want from me?”
So, what, farmers will just go about their business? …
LEWISON … “There’s this sort of pervasive notion of, I’m doing what you asked, why do I have to explain it? And, I think that’s problematic.”
So, when the fingers point, the ag sector needs to educate …
LEWISON … “100% on both sides of that. I would love to see the ag community run, not walk, to the table and say, on a proactive level, these are the things that we do already.”
Lewison says agriculture contributes just 11% of the total GHG emissions in the U.S., the smallest of any sector tracked by the EPA.
Tune in tomorrow for more.
