As part of President Biden’s goal to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in half by the end of the decade, the USDA will spend $300 million to more accurately measure and verify GHG emissions and carbon sequestration by climate-smart agriculture, said the White House on Wednesday. Climate adviser Ali Zaidi said the project would help “the people on the front lines of the climate crisis to be part of the solution.”
Agriculture generates 10 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, according to the EPA. “There is an income opportunity here,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack during a teleconference, because of consumer interest in food with a lighter carbon footprint.
Zaidi pointed to flash drought in the Midwest, unprecedented heat in the South, and wildfire haze in the East as examples of climate change. “These impacts are costing us [the U.S. economy] billions of dollars,” he said.
The USDA has committed $3.1 billion to 141 demonstration projects to show how farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners can mitigate climate change and develop markets for climate-smart food and agriculture products. The $300 million to improve measurement, monitoring, reporting, and verification of emissions and sequestration would strengthen the scientific foundation for such products.
“This is going to allow us to know what works and, frankly, what doesn’t,” said Vilsack.
Carbon markets and contracts that pay farmers for practices, such as cover crops, that capture carbon in the soil or plants are frequently mentioned as ways for agriculture to make money while mitigating climate change. But they have been slow to develop. Some growers say the contracts pay too little to make the additional practices worthwhile. And there are questions about whether the practices deliver long-lasting increases in the carbon content of soils and whether the carbon content was measured reliably.
USDA agencies, such as the Agricultural Research Service, the Economic Research Service, the National Agricultural Research Service, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service, will share the $300 million in a collaborative research effort within the department, said Vilsack. Outside researchers will be retained in some instances. The funding comes from $19.5 billion allocated to USDA conservation programs through the climate, healthcare, and tax law enacted last August.
Also on Wednesday, the administration asked for public comment on a strategic framework for improving accuracy and reducing uncertainty in greenhouse gas measurements in the agriculture and forestry sectors. The strategy was developed by officials from USDA, EPA, NASA, the Interior Department, and other agencies.