Earth Equity News

Farmers Question What They'll Get Out of Cap-and-Trade. By Philip Brasher, Gannett, March 14, 2009. "The Obama administration would like to convince farmers that they can replace their federal crop subsidies with payments for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It isn't an easy sell. The administration not only needs the budget savings from cutting farm subsidies. It also needs the support of farmers -- and their allies in the Senate - to win passage of a cap-and-trade system to limit carbon emissions. And the only way to get the agriculture sector behind a cap-and-trade bill is to convince farmers that the benefits they'd get would outweigh the expected higher prices they'd pay for diesel, fertilizer and other oil products. So far, farm groups aren't ready to buy the deal. The administration's proposal to phase out some farm subsidies is dead in Congress. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack tried to sell farmers on the idea that they could make up the money from future carbon payments. But he couldn't even get the National Farmers Union, normally aligned with Democrats, to go along."