Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow, who last year sponsored legislation to encourage farmer participation in carbon markets, is expected to chair the Senate Agriculture Committee for the second time in a decade now that the Democrats will control the Senate. Stabenow’s return to power was aided by the defeat of a fellow member of the committee, appointed Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler, in a runoff election on Tuesday.
President-elect Joe Biden made climate change one of his priorities during the transition. Biden said last month that he wants U.S. agriculture to be the first in the world to achieve net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases and that his administration would “create new sources of income for farmers in the process, by paying farmers to put their land in conservation and plant cover crops that use the soil to capture carbon.” The leader of Biden’s USDA transition team advocates creating a “carbon bank” at the agency to finance investment on the farm in practices that slow climate change.
Stabenow’s tenure as chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee from 2011-15 included the drafting of the 2014 farm law, and she has been the senior Democrat on the committee since. Before the Nov. 3 general election, there were informal signals that she would head the committee again if the Democrats won a Senate majority. The twin defeats in Georgia of Loeffler and Sen. David Perdue gave Democrats the edge over Republicans. Perdue lost a runoff to Democrat Jon Ossoff in a race called by the Associated Press on Wednesday afternoon. Democrat Raphael Warnock defeated Loeffler to become the first Black senator from Georgia.
Stabenow was among four Senate sponsors of the Growing Climate Solutions Act last year. Under the bill, the USDA would provide information to farmers and forest owners interested in participating in carbon markets, and it would certify businesses to verify that participating landowners are carrying out practices that capture carbon, reduce emissions, or improve soil health.
“While farms and forests have been uniquely impacted by the climate crisis, they can also be an important part of the solution,” said Stabenow when the bipartisan bill was introduced last June.
A coalition of farm, conservation, and food retail groups supports creation of a carbon bank at the USDA along with tax credits to encourage carbon sequestration in the soil and forests, the use of “digesters” to convert manure into energy, and more aggressive action to reduce food waste. The Food and Agriculture Climate Alliance says voluntary action and “market-driven opportunities,” such as carbon trading, should be the foundation of climate mitigation in the food and ag sector.
Stabenow told a congressional “pool” reporter, “We’re going to lead an effort to create a voluntary climate exchange and … climate policy for farmers and ranchers, and that’s a top priority for me,” reported Agri-Pulse.