Agricultural News
As the Full House Passed the Climate Change Bill- members of the House Ag Committee Rejected it by a 31 to 15 Vote
Sun, 28 Jun 2009 18:07:06 CDT
While the Climate Change bill, HR 2454, passed the House by a slim 219 to 212 margin on Friday, the members of the House Ag Committee, rejected the measure by a 31 to 15 vote. House Ag Committee Chairman Collin Peterson was able to persaude 14 of his Democratic colleagues to join him in a yes vote, which means that the Demcoratic majority within the Committee said yes by a 15 to 13 margin, while all 18 Republicans sided with Oklahoma Congressman Frank Lucas, the ranking Minority member of the Committee.
The Oklahoma delegation cast four votes against the measure, with Congressman John Sullivan of Tulsa currently not in Washington for any votes. In states around us, the Texas delegation turned it down by a 23 to 9 vote, Kansas rejected it with three no and one yes votes, Missouri also rejected the bill by a five no and four yes vote. Colorado and New Mexico sided with the Democratic leadership and each of their delegations voted in favor of 2454, Colorado by a four to three vote and New Mexico saw all three of their Congressmen vote aye.
A total of 28 state delgations voted against the measure, while voted to see the final measure pass. California's delegation approved the measure by a 33 to 20 vote, New York by a 22 to 4 vote and Masschusetts vote ten to nothing for the sweeping change in energy direction in this country. Some of the states that were not so certain they wanted to go this direction included Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Louisiana.
In the aftermath of the vote, the House Ag Committee's Majority relased the following News Release:
The bill's agriculture provisions negotiated by Chairman Peterson had the support of many agriculture, conservation, and forestry
organizations, including the American Farmland Trust, National Farmers Union, American Farm Bureau Federation, National Corn Growers
Association, National Association of Wheat Growers, National Milk Producers Federation, American Corn Growers Association, American
Forest Foundation, American Soybean Association, Dairy Farmers of America, Growth Energy, Minnesota Corn Growers Association,
Minnesota Farmers Union, Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation, National Association of Conservation Districts, National Biodiesel Board,
National Cattlemen's Beef Association, National Cotton Council, National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, National Farmers Union,
National Pork Producers Council, Renewable Fuels Association, United Egg Producers, Western Peanut Growers Association, and
Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation.
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin C. Peterson (MN) worked with the authors of the American Clean Energy and Security Act
of 2009 (H.R. 2454) to include several important programs that recognize and reward the agriculture and forestry sector for
conservation activities and clean energy production.
Under the legislation passed by the House, the agriculture and forestry sectors are clearly exempt from the bill's greenhouse gas
emission reduction requirements, which means that farmers, ranchers and forestland owners will not be subject to the greenhouse gas
emissions cap.
The bill establishes an agricultural and forestry offset program at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that will work with
farmers, ranchers and forestland owners to design and implement plans that reduce or avoid greenhouse gas emissions and sequester
carbon on their operations. Farmers, ranchers and forestland owners will earn offsets for these actions, and they can sell the
credits to utilities, refiners, or other firms subject to limitations on greenhouse gas emissions.
"The offset program run by USDA creates a new market opportunity for farmers, ranchers and forestland owners who can play an
important role in efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the United States," Chairman Peterson said. "Farmers, ranchers, and
forestland owners have been participating in conservation and carbon sequestration programs for many years, working to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions, increase energy efficiency, and support a thriving renewable energy industry. This legislation recognizes
those efforts and encourages these important activities."
The bill also boosts the renewable fuels industry by eliminating regulatory requirements that unfairly restrict U.S. renewable
energy production. It prevents the Environmental Protection Agency from holding U.S. biofuels producers responsible for
deforestation or other land use changes in other countries, and it expands the availability of biomass for energy production by
improving the definition of what qualifies as renewable biomass. It also includes a program that will help fund the installation of
blender pumps, making clean-burning renewable fuels available to more Americans.
"This bill promotes homegrown, clean burning renewable fuels, which is one of the best things we can do for the economy and the
environment," Peterson said.
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Meanwhile, the Republican minority, led by Oklahoma Congressman Frank Lucas offered this statement on Friday evening:
Ranking Member Frank Lucas issued the following statement after he rejected the Waxman-Markey climate change bill (H.R. 2454). The U.S. House of Representatives passed the measure 219-212.
“This vote, this bill is a disgrace to the American people and to the American form of government. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Chairman Henry Waxman pushed this bill through the House without any respect for our constituents, without any respect for the consequences of their actions, and without any respect for the legislative process.
More than 120 agriculture and food groups wrote Members of Congress asking them to vote no on this bill. And, the Democratic Majority in the House just ignored them. Rural America and its constituents may mean nothing to Nancy Pelosi and Henry Waxman, who live in San Francisco and Hollywood, respectively, but as Ranking Member of the Agriculture Committee, those folks in the countryside mean a great deal to me. I am one of them—a farmer from Oklahoma.
The Democratic Majority jammed a bill through the House that will cause higher energy costs, higher food prices, lost jobs, and lost opportunities. Now, those of us who are charged with working for and protecting our constituents in rural America must work even harder to make sure this bill does not become law,” said Ranking Member Frank Lucas.
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