Beam me to Planet Gore !
Posted on 07/22/2009 7:58:38 AM PDT by george76
Agriculture's role in reducing greenhouse-gas emissions could take a backseat to debate about the higher costs farmers could face under the climate legislation as the Senate Agriculture Committee hears from farm groups and key officials in the Obama administration on Wednesday.
Republican senators throughout the ranks of the Agriculture Committee have made it clear since last week that Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson had better come armed with detailed data on what kind of costs farmers may face. Some senators want detailed information broken down by commodity and state.
The climate bill passed by the House last month ... Emission reductions would largely come by moving away from coal-fired electricity ...
But coal is cheap, and replacements for coal-generated electricity could be costly. Further, power plants could convert more to natural gas in the short-term, which would directly lead to competition with fertilizer production given that natural gas is a major ingredient in nitrogen-based fertilizer products.
Wednesday's hearing will be one of the last debates in Congress regarding cap-and-trade legislation before lawmakers recess in August. The Senate has opted not to push a climate bill into a floor debate before fall. Republicans will challenge the potentially higher costs that could affect agriculture and eventually food prices.
Studies on the potential costs to farmers are all over the place. Johanns cites studies by the American Farm Bureau...all state farmers will pay billions more each year for inputs under the legislation.
Beyond agriculture, Grassley said he worries about more jobs moving to countries such as China or India if those countries refuse to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions as well.
(Excerpt) Read more at tsln.com ...
Right now agriculture is probably trying to figure out if they lose their crops this summer, or just get a tiny yeild.
I drove up through northwestern Missouri, western Iowa and SE South Dakota recently and the corn and beans looked fantastic.
It’s further north where the crops are hurting.
We’re sitting on top of mountains of coal amounting to hundreds of years of cheap electricity and this administration wants to wipe all of this out. Nat gas is much more expensive and is better suited for uses where coal simply can’t be used. This cap and tax will drive the cost of electricity and products such as nitrogen fertilizer through the roof.
I think over in the Eastern orn belt they are really hurting. Way too much water in Illinois,Indiana, and Ohio.
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