House Democrats released a massive report on Tuesday calling for widespread changes in the economy to achieve net-zero carbon emissions in the United States by 2050, laying out in effect a policy blueprint after the 2020 election. “To turn the tide on climate change, the United States needs to make different infrastructure choices than it has made in the past and do so at an enormous scale,” the report said.
The 500-plus page report, which had been in the works for more than a year, included a suite of actions in agriculture to help achieve these goals, from expanding conservation programs to crafting incentives for more climate friendly farming practices.
But the report also included a focus on climate justice, acknowledging that low-income people and communities of color pay a higher price for climate inaction.
The report said that although Covid-19, the economic crisis, and racial inequity were dominating the nation’s focus right now, the climate crisis could not be ignored. “We cannot wait. Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations in May 2020 exceeded the highest monthly average ever recorded. The planet suffered through the second hottest year ever in 2019, and May 2020 tied for the highest global May temperature in 141 years of record-keeping.”
Although the report laid out potential actions from electric vehicles to renewable energy, it pinpointed ways that agriculture could reduce its carbon footprint, which currently accounts for about 10 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.
First, it called on Congress to ramp up conservation programs, which cover just 15 percent of all farmland. It noted they are oversubscribed and offer a huge opportunity to sequester carbon. Congress should also “direct USDA to consider long-term carbon sequestration, climate adaptation, and biodiversity benefits when administering these programs.” It should also crack down on farmers who violate conservation provisions by farming on highly erodible parcels or ecologically sensitive wetlands, which it isn’t doing now.
Soil health should be national policy, with practices that would “restore at least a quarter of the soil carbon that has been lost in the last 300 years by not later than 2030 and at least half of lost soil carbon by not later than 2040.” It included diverse crop rotations, cover cropping, conservation tillage, agroforestry, composting and other methods to help achieve the goal.
As carbon markets for farmers expand, the report said Congress should support R&D “to develop cost-effective, scalable methods to measure and quantify carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas reduction on farms and ranches.” It also recommended developing a “climate-based producer” certification that would make it easier for farmers to participate in climate markets and receive government benefits. Organic farmers should also be supported by incentivizing climate-friendly methods they already practice.
Farm-to-school programs also got an endorsement, with the report saying funding should be increased and requirements modified to allow schools to specify “locally grown” when procuring food for school and child nutrition programs.
Biofuels, which are a contentious subject for environmentalists, also won the support of the House Democrats. The report supported “development of low-carbon liquid fuels for passenger vehicles and other transportation modes for which electrification may not be an option, such as aviation, shipping, and long-haul trucking.” It said these fuels could be alternatives to gasoline as vehicles transition to zero-carbon options.
However, the report also called for a reappraisal of the Renewable Fuels Standard that mandates the level of biofuels in gasoline. Once current requirements expire in 2022, it said, the RFS should “transition to a program that encourages the development and production of liquid fuels that meet certain carbon emissions standards.”