Agriculture Secretary Vilsack Announces New Steps to Meet the
Challenge of Climate Change
CANCUN, Mexico, Dec. 9, 2010 – Calling it "one of the greatest threats
facing our planet," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced
that USDA is taking action to meet the challenge of climate change.
Speaking at the United Nations Climate Change Conference, the Secretary
said USDA continues to take steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions "by
helping farmers, ranchers and forest landowners to be even better
conservationists."
"We remain focused on steps to advance clean energy and reduce
greenhouse gas emissions while growing our economy," said Vilsack.
"Farmers, ranchers and forest owners have a great deal to contribute to
mitigating climate change, while also ensuring that farms adapt to
climate change, and they can benefit by embracing a range of
conservation practices."
Vilsack said USDA will demonstrate ways landowners can reduce greenhouse
gas emissions and increase carbon sequestration while improving their
financial bottom line. The effort includes providing opportunities to
leverage private sector demand for greenhouse gas mitigation services,
evaluating how emerging greenhouse gas markets can work in concert with
USDA programs to protect the environment, and building capacity within
USDA to understand voluntary greenhouse gas markets and to explore
improved approaches for greenhouse gas accounting systems.
Among the steps announced today, Vilsack said USDA's Natural Resources
Conservation Service (NRCS) will provide $15 million in
Conservation Innovation Grant funds and other assistance to
support large-scale demonstration projects to accelerate the adoption of
new approaches to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and promote
carbon sequestration on private lands. As part of this, NRCS will
provide financial assistance to support eligible producers as they
implement conservation practices associated with these selected GHG
projects.
Additionally, the Farm Service Agency (FSA) will implement a project to
provide information to landowners who enroll in certain tree planting
conservation practices under the Conservation Reserve Program and who
voluntarily request an estimate of the amount of carbon stored as a
result of these practices. FSA will develop a communications tool to
link companies, organizations and participants in carbon storage
activities and information sharing.
The project will begin next year.
Vilsack also announced the release of USDA's
Climate Change Science Plan. The plan's objective is to
incorporate management of the challenges created by climate change into
the scientific missions of USDA. It provides a guide for the Department
on scientific priorities to better serve USDA stakeholders by providing
them with information about the impact of climate change and it outlines
options to mitigate emissions and help producers adapt to expected
change.
In addition, the Secretary announced that institutions in seven States
were awarded Federal funding for research on the economics of reducing
agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. USDA will fund studies to
examine the economics of agricultural participation in proposed
greenhouse gas markets, including the potential impacts on GHG
reduction. The projects will help identify cost-effective ways farmers
can reduce emissions and also help design the incentives for their
participation in greenhouse gas markets or other agricultural programs.
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He also noted that the U.S. Forest Service, which manages 193 million
acres of forest and grasslands, has taken a number of steps over the
last year to integrate climate change considerations into day-to-day
operations. A scorecard has been developed to measure the progress of
each of the National Forests and Grasslands in integrating climate
change considerations into forest management. Also, the Forest Service
has developed a National Roadmap for Responding to Climate Change to
make forests more resilient to climate change impacts, manage greenhouse
gas emissions and increase carbon storage. As part of the scorecard and
the roadmap development, the Forest Service is integrating climate
change into a new National Planning Rule that will govern the way
management plans are written for all National Forests.
Vilsack underscored USDA's commitment to working with international
partners through the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse
Gases, which was launched a year ago at the Copenhagen Climate Change
meeting. The alliance is focused on identifying ways to sustain and
improve food production systems, while reducing greenhouse gas
emissions.
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