Greenhouse Gas Control Legislation Questioned By Farmers

House Democrats say they intend to move ahead with legislation that sets limits on greenhouse gases and forces companies to reduce their emissions or buy credits from others who do, the Des Moines Register reports.

The bill passed the House Energy and Commerce Committee, 33-25, before the Memorial Day recess. It now has to go though other committees, including the Agriculture Committee, before it reaches the House floor.

Farm groups want to make sure that growers will benefit from a cap-and-trade system. And allies of the ethanol industry want to secure changes in the way biofuels are treated under previous energy legislation.

Ag Committee chairman Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN), said he won’t support the legislation unless Congress addresses the biofuel issue and restricts the role of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in implementing the climate bill.

Farm groups also have problems with the climate legislation itself. The bill could allow farmers to get paid for measures that can cut carbon emissions, such as: Generating electricity from manure gas; and Reducing tillage to retain decaying crop residue in the soil.

The payments would come from utilities, refiners and other companies that need to reduce their emissions. A provision added to the bill in committee could allow farmers to get paid for practices they started as early as 2001 under several voluntary carbon-storage programs. But it would be up to a new, independent board and the environmental agency to decide what measures qualify for payments and then to regulate those carbon offsets.

Farm groups, including those that generally support government controls on greenhouse gases, are insisting that USDA, not the EPA, regulate ag carbon credits. Some other farm groups, including the American Farm Bureau Federation, have simply rejected the bill, saying it would increase production costs excessively.